You may not have noticed while grocery shopping, but commercial fruits and vegetables all have a uniformity of size, shape, and color. That is because the plants are basically designed to bear crops that will be ready for harvest at the exact same time, with a yield that looks identical. That’s great for the growers, but for the consumer it means products that don’t taste as good as they could, as well as the possibility of ingesting the chemicals that are used to ensure the biggest crop possible.

By planting your own garden, you will have the opportunity to grow great tasting fruits and vegetables, as well as saving a bunch of money in the process. If it’s a real distinct flavor and variety of crops that you are looking for, then you need to check out heirloom plants for use in your garden. In order to be classified as an heirloom, the variety of plant or seed that you are using has to have been used for a minimum of three generations. There are even gardeners that will take the best part of those plants to make new varieties that will produce different varieties and flavors with every crop.

California is a great place to have a home garden because of the great year round weather. If you live somewhere like Palo Alto or San Francisco, then you don’t really have to be concerned about a major deep freeze wiping out your entire garden. Even if you live in an apartment or only have a small space, you can still get your green on by growing an herb garden. That is actually a fun option if you have kids as they will love how quickly the herbs grow, and it might be enough to make them eat their veggies at dinner if they had a hand in making them.

A few years ago you would probably never have believed that your cheap moving boxes would ever be replaced by plastic moving boxes for rent, but we are living in a changing world. That change is heading for the better, so rather than simply heading to the produce section of the grocery store over and over again, try planting your own garden to taste the difference. The good news for San Francisco residents looking to start their own garden, California seems to be at the heart of the green movement. There are a number of local places that have heirloom seeds and plants available for purchase.

Once you get a taste at how much better heirloom fruits and vegetable taste, you are sure to be hooked on growing new varieties. Even if you don’t take the extra step of producing your own species of heritage plant, there are new ones available every year, which means that you will always have the opportunity to taste something new.

There is a lot to learn if you want to make that switch to heirlooms, but there is a ton of information online, both from experienced heirloom gardeners, as well as from the suppliers where you buy your seeds and plants. They will be happy to let you know which types of heirlooms are perfectly suited to the Bay Area, and which ones might not produce the best results. Once you have armed yourself with that information, then it won’t be long before the only real footprint you leave on the planet are the ones that will show up in the soil of your garden.

The move towards environmentally friendly products has really made a positive move in the right direction over the past few years. More and more companies and individuals are becoming aware of the footprint that they are leaving on the planet, and that means making changes to help make those marks less visible. The ZippGo team has been renting moving boxes that are plastic, reusable, and, oh yes, GREEN!! Seeing a company make a positive impact in the community makes locals want to try and do the same thing, and a great first step to do that is by planting your own garden.