For many the thought of gardening is turning to activity this time of the year. You may not be familiar with the acronym GRAS but maybe you should. A very high percentage of the food you may consume has added substances and chemicals that are “Generally Recognized As Safe”, that is, GRAS. It began in 1958 and to date approximately 1000 such ingredients and substances are allowed into what you may be eating. The approval of such ingredients basically relies on the input from a host of industry experts which in 1997 became an “honor system”. Gardening can be done without GRAS.
The benefits of gardening are many and positive for your health in numerous ways. It is hard to identify another activity that has more benefits. Exercise, great safe food, nature connections, better immunity, and less stress are great and help you sleep better (i.e., unless some wild turkeys ate your broccoli when you were not paying attention). It is also hard to find any activity that adds more to longevity. A well-known neighbor and hardworking logger, and once retired turned to gardening, and especially caring for flowers while he soaked the sun’s vitamin D along with other benefits which allowed him to coast to 102. This is a common gardening story for many. Even people with dementia and Alzheimer symptoms have cognitive improvements from gardening.
It is time to start gardening. Rainwater is superior, figure out how to collect it. Heirloom seeds are a good choice. Use no chemical or weed sprays, and there same goes for many types of retail fertilizers and processed soils. Composting and rotating are great regeneration practices. A little real grass and clover will not hurt you while GRAS might. Or a new meaning for GRAS can be: Garden, Rise And Shine!