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Alright, this is John Kohler with growingyourgreens.com. Today I'm sitting in my garden. It's wintertime
here in California. I'm grateful that we can grow year round here in California. The sun
is setting here, so it might be getting a little bit dark. I'm sitting here next to
my bed of lettuce and kale and basically snow peas growing back there and some Chinese broccolis
such as bok chois and other things, and the reason for todays video is this; I was thinking
about, you know, why do I grow all my food? You know, I was actually buying a car yesterday
for a friend and a gentleman's house, and he basically spent $6000 to put up a 10X12
greenhouse. Now, the greenhouse was part of that expense but he had to basically slope
his land, and get a lot of bricks, and basically raise up the grade and a whole bunch of other
things, but why did he do that? Why did he want to put up a greenhouse so that he can
grow his own food? Well, for him, it's a lot about the taste. He relayed to me, even $4
a pound heirloom tomatoes, to him, don't really taste that good. I mean, to taste his own
tomatoes that he grew, are much, much better. So, he's growing for the taste. He grew up
in Europe, where there's more traditional, where, you know, you go to the market every
day and you buy your fresh produce, and here in America, we go tot the grocery store, there's
no fresh markets in the town center, you know, there's farmers markets in many places, but
most people don't shop at farmers markets, and as at grocery stores, you know, produce
is shipped in probably form California or out of the country, and it's meant to make
the shipment. Tomatoes are pink, they'll almost bounce off the ground, they won't break, they
won't crack open when you drop them, and this is to preserve the monetary investment that
the company's made in the tomato. So, when you grow your own food, you're goanna have
a higher quality and it's goanna taste much better. So, one reason is for the taste. Another
reason, for me, is basically saving the planet. So, grow your own food to save the planet.
Basically, there's a lot of petrochemicals and basically greenhouse gasses generated
from growing food. So, from the, you know, petrochemicals and, you know, pesticides sprayed
on the food, and fertilizers made out of petrochemicals put on the food, to the transportation, the
fuel and the diesel used by the tractors and the semi trucks and the refrigeration to keep
that produce cold, is, you know, form electricity, which is probably from fossil fuels. So, there's
nothing better than, you know, growing it yourself, literally picking it, putting it
in a salad bowl and eating it yourself, or literally picking it and putting it in your
mouth. There's zero transportation and there's zero carbon emissions and there's minimal
impact to the environment. I use compost here, I compost, and things that come on my land
stay on my land, on my property, and go back into the earth for the next crop. Another
reason is basically the health benefits. So, food that you grow yourself is a lot higher
quality. I mean, the lettuce and the kales I grow are really sweet and this is because
I grow in 100% organic compost and rock dust. Rock dust is really important; you want to
look it up if you haven't seen it. Remineralize.org is a website where you can read all about
rock dust. Rock dust basically adds minerals back into the soil and when the plants absorb
those minerals, the plants are healthier, and when we eat those minerals, we're going
to be healthier, because as we know our topsoils are depleted. Another reason to grow your
own food is that it's less expensive. So, growing your own food is also less expensive.
So, when growing your own food, you can buy a pack of seeds for, you know, a dollar or
two, plant it out and have a whole bed of lettuce. When you go to the store to buy organic
lettuce, it's like two dollars a head. That's in California, but if you're in the east coast,
I was just in Florida, it's like 3 or 4 bucks a head. It's insane. So, grow your own food
and save money. I mean, it does take a little time and I recommend setting it up on a drip
irrigation system, you won't have to water it. Basically plant it and walk away. I mean,
here in the wintertime I turn off the irrigation 'cause it rains so much. So, those are 4 good
reasons to have your own garden. Number 1 the tastes; number 2 to save the planet; number
3 it's healthier for you; and number 4 you're goanna save some money. So, I'm sure I'm missing
some, and if you have any ideas on why you grow your own food, please post them down
below in the comments, 'cause I love to see them, love to read them, and love to see why
others are growing their own food, and I encourage everybody to just grow a little bit more food.
You don't have to convert your whole front yard like I did here. You could grow a little
pot. You could get what's called an aero-garden and grow in your kitchen. I mean, those things
are toys, and it's more of a novelty, but at least you're taking a step in the right
direction to grow more of your own food, to take responsibility for yourself, and plus
it tastes just so much better. This is John Kohler with growingyourgreens.com, and remember;
you can grow your own greens. It's so fun and delicious.