Saturday, May 26, 2012

Asparagus Etiquette and Organic Prices


I won't lie. I am quite frustrated at the greed and selfishness of some people in this world. In fact, it also saddens me. 

I go to pick the asparagus I found by my mailbox and I was ecstatic! It was too small to pick so I decided to give it a day so I could let it grow another day. . . 

Then it happens. 

Some people that I have not seen before (in other words NOT our neighbors) came in their little truck and picked MY asparagus at the base of MY mailbox! 

That is not all they did. 

I have a nice sized patch of asparagus on the fenceline about 4-5 feet off the road. In other words you actually have to walk past the beginning of the fence and onto our property to pick the asparagus. 

You guessed it. They cleaned out my patch. 

So here lies my topic: Asparagus Etiquette. When picking "wild" asparagus and it is close to or ON someone elses property (off the town/village/city/county roadside clearance) please, please, PLEASE be polite and ASK.

How hard is it to ask the people if you could pick asparagus in front of their house when it is CLEAR they have been harvesting from a patch on their property off the village clearance line. Seriously people?!?!?! 

How rude. Don't be rude. Ask first. I was going to serve fish and steamed asparagus. Instead we just had fish sans asparagus due to selfish rudeness. If you have the money to drive a gas guzzler around go and buy some organic asparagus from someone. Don't go picking on someone's property. 

As for picking in the roadside clearance and the asparagus is actually at the BASE of someone's mailbox it would be nice to ask if they mind if you pick it. Most likely they know it's there and possibly planted it there. Who knows. Ask first. 

If you are out in the country on the back roads and you stay in that clearance of roadside that is the county/village/town property then pick away! Just remember proper, polite, asparagus etiquette!


Now on to Organic Prices. More specifically I would like to mention organic body care and make up prices. Okay, even more than that let us just throw in the majority of organic products that are not food products. 

Is it just me or are things extremely overpriced? I was thinking last night as I looked down at my conventional nail polish, thinking of all the awful chemicals sitting on my nail. I was thinking about the chemicals I breathed in while painting my nails. Then I started getting frustrated. I would love to buy more natural nail polish. I LOVE nail polish. I just simply can't afford upwards of $15-$20 a bottle!  I love the new shade of purple on my toes which I paid $3 for instead of triple or quadruple that. 

Then I got to thinking about organic shampoo and conditioner. I already use a high end shampoo and conditioner but the organic is even more expensive and half the size. Then I started thinking about my facial care products. Eye cream, face cream, cleansing cream... Then I started doing a little research on making my own body care products and I realized how much cheaper I could do it not to mention how over priced the other stuff is. Plus I can use food grade organic ingredients. . . 

I understand why organic is a little higher than conventional but this is just ridiculous. With the local, organic food movement the way it is and the internet then it should be somewhat easier to get organic, products (local or not) out there without tripling the price. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying organic people are extortionists trying to get every dime, nickel and penny out of people wanting to buy organic. I'm just mulling over this thought inside my head.

What if more local people joined together to create a co-op of sorts to get their organic, natural and local products out to consumers wanting to go organic but can't afford the super high prices otherwise. What if by creating a co-op the cost for these amazing items could be more comparable to conventional items which should be a no-brainer for someone trying to be healthy. With all these tv shows touting healthiness, the slow food movement, organic and conventional awareness there are so many people searching but the prices are turning them away. 

Sure, we all need to make a living. So what if your total profit is, for example, $1 instead of $3. We should start to Pay It Forward for the people in our community. 

I'm not just going to preach here, I'm going to start practicing what I preach. After I preserve what my family will use (without going hungry or creating waste) I'm going to give away the rest of what my garden produces to people who either can't have a garden and/or can't afford healthy, organic produce! What if more backyard gardeners did that? What if we looked out for the well being of our family and our neighbors instead of just  pushing them on government aid? 

We are such a young country compared to other countries in the world. A majority of other older countries have more vacation, less stress and live better AND longer than us. (Okay, a little off topic here but it will tie together in the end) Is it their government? Healthcare? People? Climate? I think it's the people. I think it's the fact that there is this knowledge because of the age of their country and it's passed down. We just work ourselves to the bone and die stressed, diseased and in horrible shape. Sure not what I want to pass on to my kids. I think it's time more people start to pay it forward. Do one small thing each day to help out someone else. Even if all you can do is smile  and wave or just open a door to an elderly person or busy mom. You just have to start somewhere.

So now to tie everything together here, if we can make some craft out of our own home, then yes, we can make money off of it and we do need to make money to buy what we can't make or barter for or maybe don't want to make or barter for. Whatever the case we all need to make money to pay for certain things. So we need to make profit off things we sell. At what cost do we make our profit though? At some point in time will we sabotage ourselves a profit by charging too much forcing frugal or poor consumers to stick with products that are necessary but not healthy for them because of price? Oh there are many arguments that could be made on this for sure but I just don't have time to digress on all the different points so take it for it is. 

Well I have to get to gardening because the rest of the weekend will be too hot and I'd rather spend it enjoying family then slaving in 90 degree weather in the sun. It can wait a few days whatever I don't get done today. 

So my summary is to be polite and pay it forward even if "just" a smile!
~KT~

1 comment:

  1. I'm often flabbergasted that "city people" do not seem to realize that all that "empty" land actually belongs to someone. Those cotton bolls they pick for decoration are part of someone's living. So, yes, please, ask or leave it be!

    Nancy
    www.liveasavorylife.com

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