Should the fruit that comes out of your own garden need to be washed before eaten?

Some things we wash, but not always. I rub the bloom off larger things like plums, but the smaller berries rarely make it as far as the tap. Mostly I just blow off the spiders.

We have plums, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, tomatos...figs would be nice, and I've been meaning to replace the apple tree that died of old age.

 

I don't know, maybe it's just me, why would I ever want to eat something dirty, when it's so simple to clean.....

 

Yes, Unless you don't mind eating some small amount of insect poop.

 

Do the birds flying over your yard ever poop? If they do, does the subsequent rain adequately wash the produce?

The actual risk from any one item is very low, but definitely not non-zero. Feasting on berries in the wild is great fun, but has led to the trots on several occasions.

 

of course, were talking organic. still like to wash off the dirt/whatever. i will eat things unwashed in the garden while i'm working. we have blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and a bunch of different veggies. wish i lived in california!

 

Around here, the risk of feasting on berries in the wild is sharing the berry patch with the bears. They usually don't mind sharing, but they much prefer protein, which can be a problem.

 

I think we have been a "germ obsessed" society! Somewhere I read that people who keep their houses a bit less than pristine have fewer minor gastro-intestinal ailments. It seems all these stupid sanitary bleach cleaners that kill all the bacteria, such that the folks that live like that have no tolerance to minor stuff.

That said, I'll rinse off the apples, but don't bother when I pick the berries. When I pick berries in the bush, I eat more than I take home,, un washed of course.

 

The several black bear I've encountered were satisfied to keep browsing the berries, though I still chose to make camp above the huckleberry line.

Grizz remain exceedingly scarce on this side of the 49th Parallel.

 

Well I certainly am not going to be the one to find out.....

I prefer the taste of my fruits and veggies sans ANYTHING!

 

I do like to wash the DDT off my garden stuff

Actually, it think last year it was Bill Gates trying to encourage 3rd worlders to use DDT because of the millions that die of malaria. Of course there are the trade offs.

 

I think Bill suggested this because he did not want millons more residents of the planet earth suffering and bitching about Windows Vista....

 

Should-Need?

What you put on your table and into your mouth is always your own choice. More so when you are dealing with your own garden.

Is it a matter of "should" or "need"? Who cares? I would personally agree with those saying might as well wash it off. Why Not? Worst case scenario, you are wasting a little water and time, best case scenario, you remove a contanimate that might ruin your day or week.

I simply think "washing" fruits and vegatables is part of consuming them.

 

Anything that makes it to the house and has been sitting there more than a day, yes. Anything that is eaten between garden and house, no.

Except the lettuce; I always wash that 'cause it's really sandy.

 

We generally wash to get the dust and shite off. I don't use any chemicals, so I'm not worried about that, but it is nice to get the grit off.

 

And there is the source of the super bugs and most illness... under-developed immune systems.

Which is a great source of B-12.

Okay, it's actually bacteria poop, but the bacteria grows really well in organic soils.

I read, recently, that chimps in zoos that are fed clean, perfect fruit and greens tend to get sick. In the wild, chimps eat fruit and leaves that bugs are in or have visited, and tend to be much healthier.

While I am not really interested in eating bugs, or visible signs of their recent visits, I do tend to eat berries from our own bushes pretty freely.

Pulling carrots, I'll wipe them on my jeans or shirt before eating them, to knock the hard rocks off.

When I pick greens, I will kinda look at them, and I've occasionally 'rescued' a tiny garden spider from the blender container when making green smoothies... which leads me to suspect that I've blended up a few well-camouflaged critters with the greens and fruit... oh well, I'm not worried about a B-12 deficiency! :thumb:

Oh, I should mention, I would only eat unwashed produce that I raise myself. I KNOW my garden is organic, and I don't have run-off from large agricultural installations, like feedlots, affecting my garden. It's unfortunate that what we buy in stores, even if it is labeled "organic", may be affected by things that are really bad for our health.

 

I believe the arguement for DDT isn't for wide scale spraying, but treating misquito nets.