![]() |
Mr. Charles Coursey |
We also shared a love of orchids. Although I still grow a few species at home, Mr. Coursey grew most of his in Florida. Drinking tea and sharing orchid culture was how I remember first talking to him about his fondness of growing vegetables in his garden. One year, I bought him some organic Old German tomato seeds which yielded the best tasting, meaty tomatoes the size of grapefruits!

In his class Mr. Coursey introduces basic concepts about soil, how vegetables grow, and their nutrients. He also cooks some of the produce for the students to taste and eat. One such student said to him recently, "Mr. Coursey, you are making us like vegetables!"
The vegetables are eaten raw, boiled or steam. Every now and then, when time allows, he will let some of the teachers taste his delightful produce.

Recently, in an October blog entry, I suggested simple things we all could do to reduce our carbon footprint and help the earth. I also suggested to eat more plant based foods. As I mentioned in that entry, less consumption of meat and dairy products may lead to less of it being produced since about 18% of emissions come from the raising of livestock for food. Eating one plant based (or meatless) meal a day can be a start. Not only are they delicious, but they provide more nutrients than processed foods.
Eating more vegetables helps us in more ways than one. Let's continue to support local gardeners and farmers by buying local fresh produce. And perhaps one day, you will also grow your own vegetables like Mr. Coursey.
R. Aguilar
No comments:
Post a Comment