What GMOs are at the Grocery Store? My opinion on GMOs.

It is well known that many fruits and vegetables at the supermarket (as well as salmon) are genetically modified. As to whether it's safe or not, I am not sure, but at the same time, it irks me that GMO crops can affect normal varieties through cross-pollination. For example, some of Hawaii's papaya trees are contaminated by GMO, so it would be hard to avoid them at the grocery store. Not to mention, GMO seeds are patented, so farmers have to spend additional money that they wouldn't have to spend if they could save their seed.

Most packaged foods have GMO foods in them, so most people in the US consume GMO products whether they like it or not. If a search is done using the query "Why do people not trust GMO", only pro-GMO articles come up. That makes no sense, as I would expect to see at least some reasons from anti-GMO writers on the web on page 1. Scientific studies are unanimous on the finding that GMOs are perfectly safe (no surprise there), which is what many of these pro-GMO folks lean on. Although this is reassuring to those who have to consume GMO products due to convenience, availability, or price, science is not perfect, and GMOs are still relatively new on the grand scale of agriculture.

Regardless, if I am growing my own food, and non-GMO seeds are available at low cost, why not non-GMO? The most common modification is to make the plant more resistant to herbicide or Round -up. Do you really want to eat pesticides? The other reasons, like making a crop more productive, drought resistant, or disease resistant, are more noble, but then again, there are plants that are suited to each area. This is the problem with centralized, big farming, with not enough people growing their own food in their backyards. Making a crop sweeter is another thing that contributes to a sweet tooth that many in the US, including me, have a problem with. Some sweet is okay, but super sweet? I beg to differ.

If you are a small area, you can just have one cash crop that grows well in your area, without having to worry about it being drought resistant, or disease resistant. Some plant varieties are naturally that way. Wheat was altered to be more productive, but it is now less nutritious. It is debated whether this contributed to the rise of gluten allergies as well. At the very least, I want to grow things that require the least effort from me, with good yields. So far, kale and tomato can handle the heat excellently.

According to the Monsanto website,  the 10 varieties are: corn, soybeans, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, canola, squash, papaya, potato, and apple. I recall hearing that some strawberries have been crossed with fish DNA to create a more freeze-resistant strawberry, and that those are the large but flavorless variety seen at stores in the off season, but I am not sure on that.

For me, what I like about GMO the least is that animal DNA and plant DNA are possibly crossed. Couldn't they just stick with crossing plant DNA?

Even though organics are sold, they could easily be GMO fruits and veggies without use of pesticides, so if I saved seeds from them, I am not sure the plant that grows will be non-GMO. There's also no guarantee that what you grow will not be crossed with a GMO crop someone else is growing, so one can't be too concerned about things, at least in this world.

This Summer's Garden - Part 1

This year, my dad cleared out an area in the back garden, tilling away all the grass that had grown up there. This was nice, as I had a lot to plant! (Too bad I had to split the space with my younger brother, who was only interested in planting a few melons). So, let's begin the tour!

The Porch

My front garden has a lot of things jam packed, due to lack of room (and bad gardening sense from me). I recently dug up all the mint I planted in the ground last year - since I found out they were invasive - and put them in pots. Hopefully I got it all. On a side note, they probably aren't the exact pure varieties since they had opportunity to cross-propogate for a year. Anyways, there's three varieties: Citrus, Chocolate, and Common.

Three varieties of mint in pots: Citrus, Chocolate, and Common.

My dad had some sweet potatoes that were already rooting (with leaves!) on the living room table, so I decided to try growing them. I separated a few shoots and placed them in pots. Hopefully they grow well!

Four sweet potato plants in two black pots.

I also tried to grow ginger from a root in the store, but there's no picture because it failed to sprout. Hopefully it sprouts soon. Finally, my mom bought me a pineapple plant from Trader Joe's, and it hasn't been growing at all. It came with the fruit on it. The cactus plants behind it are my other little brother's.

A store-bought pineapple plant.

The Front Garden

I have all sorts of things here. However, it's not good for everything to be by the house, which is why I'll try to fit more things in the backyard garden. First things first, we will visit the side closest to the porch. There's some things purchased from the local nursery: Two Roma tomato plants (purchased with green tomatoes on it for only $2 each!), two bell pepper plants (one up front and the other in the far left corner) and a lavender plant. I'm interested in making lavender tea with this, so hopefully it's possible. The other tomato plant to the left is from Home Depot. It's nearing the end of its production, sadly. Finally, there's a small bit of oregano I purchased from the 99 cents store.

Right side of the front garden.

Next we have a random tree that sprouted from the days when I was guerrilla gardening a few years back. I think it's apple, but it may not actually produce anything since it's from a store fruit. There's also a few carrots that have been in the ground for over a year. They were stunted since I didn't pull any up, so I need to pull the rest up and get the ground free for other things. To the back (and behind my shadow), there are a few sunflowers my mom purchased for me from a yard sale. Below that, and hardly visible, there are the sage and chives plants from the 99 cents store. Yes, I had been very happy to see quality herb plants there! To the left, there's an organic tomato variety my brother ordered for me from an online seed distributor. I forgot the variety name.

Middle area of the front garden.

Finally, this is the end of the garden. I allowed the lettuce to flower, so I may get seeds out of it! At the very end, I planted some dead mini-roses and one came back, producing a nice pink rose. I also planted a box of random flowers, and they seem to be sprouting to fill up the empty area nicely. The problem is that the grass and weeds are still non-removable, since they grow deep into the old water sprinkler system. Two years ago, I accidentally cut the electric cord attached to it while trying to deweed, so it leaks water and continually fuels the weeds' growth. Any ideas?

Left side of the front garden.

My next post will be on the back garden, so stay tuned!