With the fence recently removed, it's easy to see the big difference between the red peppers that got the compost applications and those that didn't:
Clearly not adopting the "red" of the red pepper just yet, but still one of the biggest peppers I've ever seen!
Just a few months ago, the Environmental Working Group released their 2012 Shoppers Guide-Pesticides in Produce. Since I had grown my plants organically with worm power, I was eager to see where they fell on the list.
This year, the EWG not only assembled the 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticides, but also the 15 with the least amounts.
Any guesses on which list my huge red green pepper falls?
It was #3 on the worst 12! Here's the rest:
Apples
CeleryPeaches
Strawberries
Nectarines- imported
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Blueberries-domestic
Potato
They even threw in two bonus veggies that sometimes contained unusually high levels: green beans and kale/greens. Out of this list, this year I grew strawberries, spinach, and cucumbers.
If you are thinking washing or peeling your food will help- get ready for some disappointment...they cited that 68% of their samples still had detectable pesticides after being washed and/or peeled.
After my grape filled week, I also wasn't happy to learn that their single grape sample showed the presence of over 15 different pesticides!
The 15 fruits and veggies with the least amounts are:
Onions
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Avocado
Cabbage
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Mangoes
Eggplant
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Sweet potato- domestic
Grapefruit
Watermelon
Mushroom
From that list, I grew onions (and I think I have a watermelon plant...not sure yet).
You can read some other interesting (alarming!) statistics about those tests, as well as summaries of tests done on baby food and water here, and you can even download the entire guide.
Great info for the shopping list and next year's garden growing list!
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