Summer has arrived!  Yippee!

Not only does summer gift us with the best weather of the year, endless opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy every activity imaginable but also the gift of the freshest organic produce to grace our tables (“hold” the harmful and dangerous pesticides!).

In fact, this weekend while visiting my in-laws house, I was assembling a wonderful BLT (I normally steer clear of bacon, but it smelled so temptingly good, I couldn’t stop myself!), but the lettuce was fresh from my mother-in-law’s garden so it felt a little more justifiable.  It was so organic that I actually had to wash off the dirt and lovingly picked off two tiny little green bugs and released them back into the yard!  (My sister-in-law and niece thought I was nuts!) If the lettuce had come from the grocery store I probably would have squealed in horror, but knowing it came from a true organic garden, it just kind of felt acceptable!

Maybe you have a backyard garden (not me, unfortunately… we have far too many trees and ravenous deer… they’ve even come onto my patio to get my veggies when I’ve attempted to grow them!).  If you were lucky enough to participate in a CSA, you’re probably already enjoying some amazing bounty.  But if not, remember to take advantage of the season.  Locate your nearest farmer’s market (check Local Harvest or the Farmer’s Market sites if you need help) and indulge in locally-grown, organic produce while you can.

Remember the dirty dozen and the clean 15 too… the necessary and unnecessary organic produce, if you feel you need to pick and choose what to buy.

Since our own garden isn’t an option in the foreseeable future, I will be visiting the local farmers markets and taking my mother-on-law up on her offer to “come by and just take what I need”… the dirt and bugs are just a part of nature’s goodness!