Soul Food

I recently spent a long weekend working on my vegetable garden. This way when summer comes I will have lots of fresh veggies for the family dinner table. While doing so, someone who knows that I operate a commercial orange farm with thousands of orange trees asked me why I would want more “plants” to take care of. Without much thought I quickly answered…”because it’s good for the soul.” There is just something wonderfully positive about raising your own food. You know where it comes from, you know where it’s been, you know how fresh it is, etc. All of which are very good reasons to grow your own garden. However, there is one reason (in my opinion) which rises above the rest that makes it a good idea to break out the hoe and shovel, and that would have to be; KNOWING you can do it yourself! Self reliance is the key to any successful species or society. Having the ability to provide (or at least supplement) food for yourself or for others is as basic as life itself. At the end of the summer when you’ve picked your last cucumber, after all of the broccoli has been cut, and you’re sure you can’t look at another tomato; you’ll have the pleasure of knowing that you did it with your own hands. You planted the seeds (or the starter plants) you watered, weeded, fertilized, and harvested your own food. Not just for yourself, but for your family, your friends, and even neighbors who have threatened you with physical violence if you try unloading anymore zucchini on them. Yes, the ability raise and put food on the table is indeed nourishment for both the body and the soul. If you’ve never planted your own garden before, today’s the day! Get out there, there’s still plenty of time, and it is a good form of exercise. Sure you risk a sore muscle here and there, maybe even a little bit of a sun burn if you don’t “SPF” properly. But these are but small prices to pay for the glories of the backyard garden. Speaking of prices, let’s not forget the economics involved in the decision to grow your own. Have you tried to buy a tomato in the grocery store recently? Even in California where we grow an abundance of tomatoes, I found myself asking the produce manager if they had any “regular” tomatoes that weren’t lined with 14k gold. Not to mention the price of “hot house” tomatoes, wow. You will indeed save money on just about everything you grow yourself, and these days, cutting down on the grocery bill is just a “no-brainer.” So in the end, when the growing season is over and the tools are going away for the fall and winter, you will always know you did it. You got some exercise, you got some sun, you saved money, you fed others, and more importantly, you fed both your body and your soul.

And when you’re ready to feed your body and soul the best oranges on the planet, if you can’t grow them, you can get them from us! Please visit our web site; www.pearsonranch.com.

And if you have any orange farming questions or any other questions that you want answered, please e-mail me; tony@pearsonranch.com .

Thanks for reading,

-Tony