One of my main goals in this experiment is to show people that living in a healthy and natural way is possible and affordable. This means that though I might normally shop exclusively at the New Pi Co-Op here in Iowa City, I acknowledge that not everyone has access to such invaluable food markets. I’ve never bought fresh produce from Wal-mart and I probably never will, but I urge people that though they might not be able to access fresh produce elsewhere, Wal-mart is just as good as any. In fact, they’ve been increasing their local organic section because of the great demand for it.
Anyway, I feel I’ve digressed a bit from what I was meaning to say. Today, I bought 21 packets of seeds. Normally, I’d have gone to the co-op or the Amana Colonies or Kolona since I have access to the amazing abundance of organic and fresh seeds. However, like I said, I want this experiment to be approachable, so I bit back my pride and went to Wal-mart for seeds. To my surpise the had an organic seed section! Normally, I’d have been a bit wary by this claim–since they also had fertilizers that were supposedly organic–but, they were all USDA certified!
So, I pretty much bought all of them, since they were inexpensive and organic. I pretty much was doing a happy dance in the aisles of walmart. Call me special, but even with the knowledge that Wal-Mart is doing this for profit and profit alone, it’s nice to know that I have power as a consumer to make such a large company spend more money on something healthy that I want.
Here’s a list of seeds that I bought today(green=organic; red=conventional):
- Spinach — pallo hybrid
- Radish — cherry belle
- Pea – mammoth melthing
- Pepper — orange sun
- Pepper — california wonder
- Lettuce — buttercrunch
- Arugula — rocket
- Beet — detroit dark red
- Tomato — brandywine pink
- Lettuce — salad bowl
- Cilantro – long standing
- Broccoli — di ciccio
- Cucumber — marketmore 76
- Summer Squash — early summer crookneck
- Carrot — danvers 126
- Yellow Onion
- Strawberry
I couldn’t resist the strawberries and onions, they were sooo cheap and they are some of my favorite foods! For my purposes, I want to be as organic as possible, however, if you’re growing your own garden, it’s completely up to you. I worry about the effect of genetically engineered plants because we don’t know the long term effects of what we’ve changed, but at the same rate, the seeds are 50 cents less than the organic ones and for low income families, that can be make or break. At the end of the day, you need to do what’s in your own price range and what you feel safe doing.
Cost of Organic Wal-mart seeds: $35.82(with tax) [Note: the cost also includes Popsicle sticks, glue and permanent markers for labeling the garden)
This might seem expensive to some of you. After all, that’s a lot of money to spend on food that isn’t going directly into your stomach within the week. However, with that crop, you’ll be able to feed yourself for several months. Since this is an experiment, and I am and will be working out all the major kinks, I’m not sure how much food this will yield…yet. Obviously, price calculations will be different for single persons like myself, couples and families.
After Wal-Mart, I went to the local dollar tree. (If you’re unfamiliar with this store, it’s pretty awesome. Everything there is a dollar. Literally, EVERYTHING. I’m sure it’s quite possible that some kid in a third world country is making pennies a week off their products, but at least they’re being priced appropirately, right? This is off topic, but I feel it’s important to note that it’s almost impossible to support every admirable cause. I think sweat shops are terrible, but if I focus on every bad thing in the world that’s happening right now, I’d never get anything done. That’s why I’ve decided to focus on agriculture. It’s the foundation of human civilization. Without it, we would not flourish, and when it’s broken…well, as it is now, you see the divide of the global north and south and the extreme wealth and extreme poverty that comes with our current agriculture infrastructure and free-market economics. Anywho, done with that random tangent.) I bought the following:
- Two things generically labeled “gardening tools”. Since I’m not much of a gardener myself, I’m unsure of what they’re actually called, so here, enjoy a picture:
- Gardening Globes
- Spray Bottle (for keeping the garden hydrated. I’m not sure if I’ll end up needing it, but it’s nice to have.)
- Vegetable Slicer (I’m terrible at cutting veggies.) If you’re not sure what that is, here’s a picture of that:
- AA Batteries (for my camera)
Total Cost of (random) supplies at the Dollar Tree: $6.42
So, the total cost fot the day was over $40, but these were just set-up fees. Today was kind of a spending day. Hopefully tomorrow, I’ll be able to get in touch with my landlord–who said that I could grow a veggie garden on our property. (I live in an apartment, so for those of you in the same situation, be sure to ask, I’m sure they’ll accomodate. Anything that requires less work from them, I imagine is always a plus!) I’d like to use the front lawn area, but I’m not sure if that’s government property or not. If it is, obviously, I’ll go to City Hall and talk to them about using the land.
And, if that doesn’t work or if my mom convinces me otherwise, I’ll do it in my parent’s yard. It’s huge and they said I can use it and they live five blocks away. Obviously, not everyone has parents with awesome yards five blocks away, which is why I prefer the small green area around my apartment, but it’d still be useful for my purposes.
I’m super excited about this project. I proclaimed during my hosting shift at work today that “This is my last Dr. Pepper for a year!” It’s my favorite soda, and while I don’t drink it often, it’s one of my loves.
If you’re curious what I ate today–even though it’s not part of the project yet–I had Cascadian Farm Organic Cereal(the cheerio-ish kind) with milk; homemade french onion soup, and leftovers from my sauteed veggies and rice I made the other night and the leftovers of my mashed potatos. Kind of a random day for food, but I’m kind of trying to eat everything before it goes bad and before I can’t eat it any more. I am excited I won’t have to throw out my penut butter though! It’s only ingredients are “penuts and salt”. 
