Aphid Attack

My Black Seeded Simpson Leaf Lettuce has been attacked by aphids. This is my own fault for (I hate to admit it) several reasons. First I neglected earlier when the plants were at the proper stage to fully thin the lettuce. I also noticed about a week ago that my lettuce had quite a few ants. Now you might be thinking that ants isn't such a problem besides ants don't eat lettuce. Well if you thought that you would be correct ants do not eat lettuce. Ants eat a sweet nectar-like secretion from aphids and ferociously protect the aphids from their natural predators like, lady bugs. I know this and yet I still ignored the obvious clue that aphids were moving in on my lettuce. Anyhow it isn't that big of a problem since lettuce is not easily bothered by pests and aphids are easily whipped out with tobacco tea spray.

More on the Why

In my first post I didn't get too much into my purpose because I have a lot to say so here it is. It is my intention to be more self sufficient. I would like to be able to produce over fifty percent of the food my family consumes while still having enough to sell and make a living off of.

Growing the food is not an issues for me because I am very adapt at growing. My biggest hurdle is going to be marketing and selling which is probably the most important part of all of this. The sale of my products is obviously critical to my families well-being; where will the other fifty percent of food come from, the house payment, taxes, etc. It is also important to me because I believe that growing and selling produce locally can have positive effects on the local economy by keeping money in the area instead of allowing it to go into the hands of corporations. It also takes money away from the mega growers in the U.S. and elsewhere that have turned our food system into this mess of over processed hormone infested junk.

Another critical reason for this way of life is what it can do for my family. Growing and then eating the food you grow is a great confidence builder for kids (I know from first hand experience). Carring for a garden, fruit trees, or anything else is also a great way to spend good quality time together.

My final reason is the lowered impact on the earth. By producing a majority of my own food it greatly reduces my carbon footprint. I also create a situation where I can give others the same opportunity because by buying local a person can reduce there carbon foot print as well. My food is produced using organic type methods although I am not certified organically grown because the USDA has made that certification way to difficult and expensive to aquire. I do plan to become Certified Naturally Grown which is an equal but less expensive certification. You can read more on that here: http://www.naturallygrown.org/

So that would be my main purpose. Thanks for reading.