To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.
Mahatma Gandhi

I love to grow food and flowers - doing so makes me happy, productive and grounded. Gardening is an easy way to reconnect with the basics of life - soil, sun, water and plants - and to give back to the Earth, your community and yourself. When you grow food, you give the gift of beauty to your neighbors, you contribute directly to feeding your friends and family, and you live in a more sustainable manner.

Growing your own food is also a good way to reduce your carbon footprint, and most farmers are willing to share what they know to help get you started. In researching seed companies, I was heartened to find that all of the companies I checked out offer information on growing organic and heirloom foods. When you choose to grow organic food, you choose to do more than simply plant a garden - you choose to respect the planet and reduce your negative environmental impact on the land. And each time you choose to consume food that’s grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, ionizing radiation or genetic modification, you choose to place your health and the health of your community above the interests of agri-businesses and corporate food suppliers.

Once fall settles in and my garden is packed away for the winter, I like to spend time going through seed catalogs and looking for plants for next year’s garden. Check out the organic seed suppliers below - each company sells organic and heirloom seeds, tools and supplies to help in building your beds, and resources to help you know all you need to get started.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds is an employee-owned farm in Albione, Maine, that offers a selection of over 300 kinds of organic and heirloom seeds through their mail-order catalog or via their website. While they aren’t 100% organic, Johnny’s does ensure that none of their seeds or plants are genetically engineered, and they are expanding their supply of organic products. And when it comes to selection, Johnny’s offers a diverse array of vegetable, herb, flower, and cover crop seeds (such as oats and wheat).

Seeds of Change is an organic farm and seed supplier that is committed to living organically and offering organic products to the public.? Founded in 1989, the company’s mission is “to help preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable, organic agriculture” which they achieve by growing 100% organic seeds, seedlings and food. With a selection of over 600 distinct seeds for home gardeners and 100 distinct seeds for commercial growers, Seeds of Change is dedicated to preserving open-pollinated, organically grown, heirloom and traditional vegetable, flower and herb seeds. Looking around the Seeds of Change website, it’s clear that the company truly believes in the importance of living sustainably, and in harmony with the Earth.

Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply is an organic farm and seed company that supports commercial and home growers by offering a wide selection of organic seeds, and by providing their customers with information on organic farming. With a true desire to educate people about organic farming (the company started out in a garage, and sent out 4-page newsletters to growers), the company’s website has a range of resources aimed at keeping growers informed about farming education, grants, publications and news. Searching for seeds is interesting too, as you can “flip through” the company’s electronic seed catalog and flip from section to section with the interactive navigation tools.

The Natural Gardening Company has been around since 1986, and was the first certified organic nursery in the United States. Offering a selection of organic seeds and seedlings for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The Natural Gardening Company places a high value on the quality of their seeds, and, like the other growers listed here, does not sell any genetically engineered plants or seeds. You can select from over 50+ different kinds of organic vegetable seeds, and spend the spring sowing endive, okra and collard greens if you’re so inclined.The Natural Gardening Company also sells gardening accessories and offers helpful gardening tips on their site.

If you’ve never grown vegetables, I encourage you to give it a try. You can grow some vegetables in containers on your porch, dig up the grass and plant a big, sunny bed, or drop seeds into an existing flower garden - it’s not how much you grow that matters, it’s that you grow at all.

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Early fall is the best time of the year for tomatoes, and of those available at farmer’s markets, farm stands and grocery stores, heirlooms are the tastiest, most interesting tomatoes on the market. If you’ve ever bitten into a perfectly ripe Brandywine, or savored slices of an Old German varietal, you know the joy that is an heirloom tomato!

Heirloom tomatoes are classified as such when the plants’ seeds have been passed down from generation-to-generation, when they are open-pollinated (meaning they are pollinated by insects and birds instead of by hand), and when there’s been no genetic modification of the plant. According to Wikipedia, seeds used to grow heirloom tomatoes must be at least 50 years old (some claim that heirloom seeds must be at least 100 year-old), as hybrid seeds entered the tomato growing industry in 1945 - at the end of World War II.

Regardless of the exact definition of what it means to be an heirloom tomato, the fact is that there are many varieties of these old-fashioned seeds available from growers all over the country. Gary Ibsen’s TomatoFest site offers over 600 different heirloom tomato seeds to growers interested in preserving this part of our nutritional past. Gardeners can purchase seeds that have been part of a family’s history and grow their own varieties wherever they live. And since heirlooms are all grown using open-pollination, the genetic make-up of the seeds changes over time, as pollinators introduce different genetic materials into the plant during pollination.

Some people don’t like heirloom tomatoes because they aren’t the shiny, bright red, round fruit that we’re used to finding in our grocery stores. Genetically modified tomatoes are produced to be hearty (for transportation), consistently sized (for easy harvesting and storage/transport), and flavored (because people want to know what they’re buying tastes like on a whole). Heirloom tomatoes come in all kinds of sizes and colors and range in flavor from sharp and bitter to juicy and sweet. When looking through boxes full of heirlooms, it’s easy to think that the farmers picked the rejected fruit from the vines and threw them into the bins labeled heirloom!

The difference in the appearance of these tomatoes is in large part due to the open-pollination of the seeds. With hand-pollinated tomatoes, farmers can control the genetic materials that mix with their plants. Once a seed is open-pollinated however, there’s no telling where the insects and birds have been and what pollen they’ve dropped in the process of pollinating your plants.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of heirlooms out there - if you want to taste food at its very best, try to find some locally grown heirlooms before the end of fall. Even if the fruit are funny looking and not what you’d normally expect in a tomato, I bet your mouth will thank you for your efforts!

Yellow Lollipop Cherry Tomatoes, available at TomatoSeeds.net, are small yellow tomatoes that have a sweet lemon-like flavor that is fruity and unique.

According to the folks behind the TomatoSeeds site, the Caspian Pink Tomato originated in southern Russia and produces 1 lb. pink beefsteak tomatoes that rival the famous Pink Brandywine for taste.

The Cherokee Purple, available from the Victory Seed Company, is over 100 years old - having been passed down from the Cherokee Tribes of North America, and is a good producer of medium sized, purple brown tomatoes with darker shoulders.

Offered by TomatoFest, the Peacevine Cherry Tomato is a tiny (dime-sized) tomato that grows in the hundreds per plant. These tomatoes have the highest Vitamin C content of any tomato and, because of their high amino acid content, have a calming effect on the body according to TomatoFest.

Yellow and red in color, these Arkansas Marvels are beefsteaks that can grow to be up to 1 pound. According to the growers behind the TomatoFest site, these beauties have a mild, peach flavor and produce a good yield on the vine.

I hope you find some delicious tomatoes this fall - and let me know if you have tips on how best to prepare these beauties, though I dare say it’s difficult to beat slicing them right off the vine and gobbling the fruit up while it’s still warm from the sun!

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One of the reasons we write about Green topics is to make the world a better place for everyone to live. So when natural disasters like Ike render thousands homeless and drain the supplies of local charities, we take notice.

The Capital Area Food Bank is trying to raise $5,000 in 5 days which can equate into $20,000 worth of food for the people inneed. This food will reach the families in Texas and help support the work the Capital Area Food Bank does.

Connie Reece at ChipIn describes the need far better than I could. Please give her article a read or click the ChipIn button below to make a donation.

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If you’re in the middle of planning a wedding and want to go as green as possible, one easy area to implement your green attitude is in your attire. The right dress should make a statement about who you are, so by wearing an eco-friendly gown, you get to express your taste, personal style and committment to the Earth.

While I’ve never purchased a wedding gown myself, I have trekked to all kinds of bridal boutiques with my girlfriends in search of the perfect dress. In doing so, I’ve seen how difficult it can be to find a dress that is flattering, affordable, stylish and produced in an environmentally-friendly manner. Because of this, I’ve taken some time to research eco-options for wedding dresses. Keep in mind that I don’t have any personal experience with the dress designers listed, so before you make any big decisions, make sure you do further research on your own!

Dubbed as “eco-couture” by the designer, the wedding dresses on the Annatarian website are custom made by Anna Mkhitarian. Working closely with her clients, and within the principles of “eco-effectiveness,” (the concept of creating industrial systems that emulate healthy, natural systems), the designer builds wedding dresses out of recycled, vintage and remnant fabrics including bamboo, organic cotton, and peace silk.

Designer Anna Mkhitarian encourages her brides to get involved in the design and development of their dresses, and is happy to incorporate a bride’s favorite fabrics into the the dress. Looking over the gowns on the Annatarian site, it’s clear that the designer enjoys creating gowns that are elegantly simple,? as the dresses spotlighted are all lacking in extensive ornamentation and embellishment. Photo by Annatarian

LA-based designer Deborah Lindquist has made quite a name for herself when it comes to eco-conscious wedding gown design. Designed using reclaimed, re-purposed and recycled fabrics, Lindquist’s dresses are both stylish and environmentally-friendly.

According to her website, Lindquist works with recycled cashmeres, re-purposed kimonos and saris, and vintage silk scarves to create gowns for her brides. With an eye towards all-things sustainable, Lindquist also uses hemp, organic cotton and organic wool in crafting her one-of-a-kind gowns. Lindquist’s dresses have a romantic, feminine air about them, with an emphasis on details. Lace, beadwork, and ribbons embellish her creations and give the gowns an air of elegance. Photo by Deborah Lindquist

If you’re looking for a custom-designed wedding dress, and you have strong ideas about the basic structure you’re looking for, you may want to consider ordering an Olivia Luca dress. Using the interactive website, brides-to-be design their own dresses online by working their way through the Olivia Luca dress design tool. Brides are presented with options as to the bodice, length, fabric, color, size and trim that they want for their dress, and the artists at Olivia Luca build the creation to order. In terms of ecological impact, the dresses are hand-made to your specifications, and Olivia Luca uses sustainable and organic fabrics including hemp, soy knit, silk, organic cotton and hempcel. Olivia Luca also uses fiber-reactive, low-impact inks and dyes that meet the Organic Fiber Association’s Fiber Procession Standards.

Because the dresses created by Olivia Luca are essentially made using standard patterns, the final products tend to be similar in nature. Have no fear however, the dresses on the designer’s site are all beautiful, and individually crafted for each and every bride. One thing I really like about the dresses I saw is that most of them have little bits of color incorporated into their designs. And if a bride wants to move completely away from a white gown, she can choose to have her dress made from any number of muted pastels. This site - and the concept - is different and fun - just make sure you leave at least 12 months before you need your dress if you want to have the artists at Olivia Luca design it for you. Finally, if you’re looking for custom-crafted bridesmaid dresses, Olivia Luca makes those too! Photo by Olivia Luca

Other sites that carry eco-friendly wedding dresses include:

The Bridal Garden offers pre-worn couture wedding dresses.

Fancy Wedding Center is a Brooklyn-based shop that rents wedding dresses and other wedding attire.

ANGeLRoX builds custom wedding gowns using sustainable and renewable fabrics.

Threadbare Creations offers handcrafted bridal gown and accessories made from all natural fibers.

CoutureSF is a San Francisco-based eco-friendly custom wedding dress designer.

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Weddings are a huge industry in the United States - with 2.4 million couples spending an average of $20,000 on their weddings, for a national annual total of $7.2 billion according to The Knot. With so many people sinking so much money into their nuptuals, I thought I’d track down some green wedding options for those looking to apply their eco-principles to this most important of days.

For an all-purpose site dedicated to supplying nearly-weds with eco-options, check out Portovert. Dubbed the “Gateway to Greener Weddings,” Portovert is packed with links to environmentally-friendly vendors for all-things wedding including attire, flowers, transportation, ceremonies, receptions and honeymoons. When I started looking around the site, I was focused on finding eco-dresses, and was impressed by the selection of different options available. If you’ve never looked up eco-wedding options before, I’d recommend you start at Portovert and go from there. You can also find out what’s new in eco-weddings by following the Portovert Blog.

Canvas & Clover is another all-purpose wedding blog that’s directed toward, “the green girl wearing white.” This blog provides a variety information about where to find eco-alternatives including beauty products, honeymoons, rings, food and fashion. While Canvas & Clover isn’t a guide per se, it is packed full of links to eco-vendors and helpful tips on how you can green your day.

Eco Chic Weddings is a blog and a book by author Emily Anderson. Anderson defines the need to plan a wedding according to your lifestyle, and states that her site is more about creating sustainable events than it is about living an “eco” life. I like the philosophy behind Anderson’s site - part of planning a wedding should include conserving resources (on every level), and not simply spending money, buying stuff or wasting time because it’s for your big day. Check out this blog if you want to learn more about throwing a sustainable wedding that matches your lifestyle.

My Eco Chic Wedding is a green resource for couples planning environmentally-friendly weddings, and offers a selection of planning tools and ideas to get any green couple started. Although their vendor directory is still relatively small, and the shopping section of the site is listed as “Coming Soon,” the site offers interactive tools and galleries that provide the kind of inspiration and motivation couples need to get their green ideas off the ground.

Ethical Weddings is a site for those looking to throw a fair trade, green, organic, local, eco-friendly, cruelty-free, recycled wedding! Couples looking to go green on their wedding days can ask experts for advice, explore real-life ethical weddings, and take in tips on how to pull off their own eco-events. Based in the UK, the suppliers listed on the site might not be what US couples are looking for, but the site offers a range of otherwise useful information to get the eco-conscious prepared for their big days.

Green Elegance Weddings is an, “up-to-date online resource for planning the environmentally and socially responsible green wedding of your dreams.” The site is packed full of useful tips and tools meant to help couples plan the green wedding of their dreams. With resources for helping people plan their ceremonies, select eco-invitations, find environmentally-friendly apparel, and book honeymoons that don’t hurt the Earth, this site contains a wealth of information for anyone looking to cut down on their carbon footprint.

The Green Bride Guide is a wedding site that provides advice, links to real-life green weddings and a comprehensive list of eco-retailers. Also available as a hard-copy resource guide, The Green Bride Guide (whose name I love, by the way) is filled with practical, usable advice to couples wanting to lesson their impact on the planet as they join together in matrimony. Personally, I was more impressed with the eco-products available on this site than I was on any of the other sites I visited - make sure you check it out if you’re looking for eco-options!

Weddings can be hugely complicated, or relatively simple affairs depending on the preference of each bride and groom. It’s easy to forget our green attitudes when we throw parties or events, but with so many weddings taking place every year, it’s becoming increasingly more important that we make these special days green. If you make basic eco-choices, such as selecting invitations made from recycled materials, recycling any bottles and cans trashed on your big day, and serving locally-grown, organic food, you will be making an impact - and a statement - on this most special of days. Remember, by going green you can start your married life by showing your friends and family that you love your planet as much as you love one another! Good luck with the planning process and feel free to drop me a line if you know of any green wedding resources I may have missed here!