This is a euphoric time of the year for home gardening, everywhere you look is a sea of green, as early vegetables are already being harvested and flowers are in full bloom. Trips to the gardening store are like a childhood candy store fantasy. There is something very basic about either growing (or purchasing from your local farmers) healthy, pesticide and package-free vegetables and flowers. But my sense of goodwill is often tempered by the mounds of plastic vegetable flats and discarded mulch and compost bags that seem to be a by-product of establishing a viable garden.

Seriously, what ever happened to peat pots, those organic, water-retaining plant starters that were the norm a decade ago. Likely the big box stores opted for the plastic alternatives for the sake of speed and price-conscious consumers don’t stop to think about how the promise of affordable, fresh healthy eating could result in landfill trash that will still be around in 100 years. There are alternatives; buy compost and mulch in bulk, our local Yankee Farmer’s Market will even sell their buffalo compost by the drywall bucket and locally owned Sweet Beet Market is committed to products in returnable packages that are sourced within 30 miles of Bradford, also when possible start plants from seed or buy directly from friends and neighbors, the big box stores likely won’t notice.

Glen Kerkian

Warner