Growing my own food, anything that needs to be kosher?

[White Israelite]

So I am going to be growing my own food, I have fertilizer which is organic, worm compost, and organic non hybrid seeds of various variants. I got jalapenos, habaneros, serranos, anaheim peppers, cayenne peppers, Jamaican Red Scotch Bonnet Chili Peppers, zucchini, roma tomatoes, ace 55 tomatoes, rutger tomatoes, and that's pretty much it for now.

I understand that certain insects can render food unkosher, I won't be using pesticides, is there anything else I should be concerned about?

[muman613]

So I am going to be growing my own food, I have fertilizer which is organic, worm compost, and organic non hybrid seeds of various variants. I got jalapenos, habaneros, serranos, anaheim peppers, cayenne peppers, Jamaican Red Scotch Bonnet Chili Peppers, zucchini, roma tomatoes, ace 55 tomatoes, rutger tomatoes, and that's pretty much it for now.

I understand that certain insects can render food unkosher, I won't be using pesticides, is there anything else I should be concerned about?

For the most part all vegetables are Kosher... The only thing to worry about is the insects...

[White Israelite]

What should I do about the insects? I do not want to use chemicals.

[Rubystars]

Try to get seeds that you can collect from the plants to re-plant. There are seed stores that sell un-altered seeds. A lot of commercial seeds you can only get one generation from and then you have to buy more seeds from the company for the next year rather than collecting from your crop. In a true survival situation you want crops that you can keep propagating from themselves.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

What should I do about the insects? I do not want to use chemicals.

Just don't eat the insects, and it's all good.

[White Israelite]

Try to get seeds that you can collect from the plants to re-plant. There are seed stores that sell un-altered seeds. A lot of commercial seeds you can only get one generation from and then you have to buy more seeds from the company for the next year rather than collecting from your crop. In a true survival situation you want crops that you can keep propagating from themselves.

The unaltered seeds are the organic non hybrid variants, these are unaltered and can be reused.

[Sveta]

Congratulations on your new garden! I once had a great garden with bell peppers, broccoli, squash, chilies etc..
The broccoli, however was full of insects and sadly I had to throw it away.
Today I started a new garden with basil, mint, cilantro, beans (just because they are easy to grow) my baby oregano was killed.
Along with Morning Glory and Oriental and California Poppies

Anyways as someone who is very interested in gardens I found this site for you:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5232337_grow-vegetables-organically-pesticides.html

I hope your garden grows big and plentiful!

[White Israelite]

Congratulations on your new garden! I once had a great garden with bell peppers, broccoli, squash, chilies etc..
The broccoli, however was full of insects and sadly I had to throw it away.
Today I started a new garden with basil, mint, cilantro, beans (just because they are easy to grow) my baby oregano was killed.
Along with Morning Glory and Oriental and California Poppies

Anyways as someone who is very interested in gardens I found this site for you:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5232337_grow-vegetables-organically-pesticides.html

I hope your garden grows big and plentiful!

Thanks for that guide, I have some ghost peppers and Trinidad Butch T scorpion peppers I am growing too, they seem to be really rare and hard to find but I like to grow chiles, my dad and I used to grow a garden in Illinois, some of the best farm land was in the midwest. As I live in the south, I think the Chiles should do well in the sun, I am going to need to do a raised bed garden as our soil here is mainly sand.

[muman613]

You may want to say a blessing before planting a vegetable garden...


http://www.jewishanswers.org/index.php?p=3019


Blessing Before Planting a Vegetable Garden


Question: Is there a blessing to say before I begin planting a vegetable garden?

Answer: That’s an interesting question. Although the Rabbis did institute blessings before benefiting from this world and before performing many commandments, they did not institute specific blessings for other activities.  That being said, however, the Talmud says that a person should offer a prayer to G-d for the success of any endeavor. It would then seem, that a prayer, in your own words, before planting would definitely be proper.  You can ask G-d to give you success in your efforts, and that you should enjoy the fruits—or vegetables!—of your labor.

Feel free to ask anything further.

Rabbi Ephraim Nisenbaum


Some details of washing vegetables of insects..

http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-vegetables-washed.htm

[muman613]

This article implies that growing in sand may reduce the amount of insects...

http://www.kosherquest.org/book.php?id=INSECTS_IN_FOOD.htm

.
.
.
There is a company in Israel that grows their produce in sand, which has proved effective in avoiding insect infestation even in leafy vegetable. In the U.S., pre-checked lettuce, cabbage etc. are being marketed under a reliable hecher. The chart on page 195 will explain how to check for bugs in most cases.