where does your food come from?

Creating a garden is about building an ecosystem.  You take your decomposed organic material (grass clippings, kitchen organic material) to mix into the soil which provides the nutrients for the plants. A rich soil provides food for earthworms. the plants grow and attracts insects, which provides food for birds and other critters, which help pollinate your plants. One sign that you have a thriving ecosystem is when you see earthworms and other insects that help your garden thrive.  You won’t find any life on a factory farm. The soil is basically dead from all the pesticide and weedicide. You’ll never see an earthworm. Its also void of any nutrients because organic material is never mixed in. Instead the soil is given its nutrients through chemical fertilizers which eventually renders the farmland dead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/business/energy-environment/11solar.html

A healthy garden is full of life. Ladybugs are commonly used in organic farms to fight off insects that would eat your crop.

I'd like to harvest honey next.

We need to take a step back and think about just where it is our food comes from.