Our Hoophouses #10: Go eat dirt

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When I was young, we frequently heard the phrase: 
You will eat a peck of dirt in your lifetime. 

That was definitely true, back in the day.
Today, in 2023, I wonder how much dirt we do consume and what are the benefits?


In the olden days

When I was young, and I walked to school uphill both ways, we ate a lot of fruit and vegetables fresh from the garden, while we were still in the garden! 

And, back then, the soil was rich with minerals and other beneficial components. 

Today, much of the land that grows our food has been depleted of a lot of the nutrients and is enriched with three: 
Nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus. 

Growing organically

In my gardens, I grow plants as naturally as I can, given that I am surrounded by farm land and whatever additives the farmers  use. 

My greenhouse / Hoophouse has soil to which I’ve only added compost, straw, worm castings, and dried leaves.

Each year, the soil will (hopefully) get richer and richer, healthier and healthier, and more complex with minerals drawn up from deep in the ground through plant roots and through the natural water from my well. 

Today’s snack

Today, after dumping the snow off the roof of the Hoophouse, I stopped for a snack - a carrot, pulled from the ground, brushed off, and eaten just seconds after I had harvested it. … along with the specks of dirt that clung to the root vegetable.

Talk about fresh. 
Talk about raw.
Talk about organic.
Talk about healthy eating!

Can’t get better than that.
-
Debbie




Have you eaten some dirt today?

a simpler life