The not-for-profit Environmental Working Group ranks the pesticide residue content of over 40 different fruits and vegetables according to tests conducted by the USDA and the FDA. The fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues are commonly referred to as the “dirty dozen.” If your family enjoys the produce on this list, consider growing these fruits and vegetables in your organic garden to minimize your exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.
Here are the dirty dozen fruits and vegetables, listed in order of their pesticide load from highest to lowest. Read the growing tips and add one or more of these to your organic garden this year.
Peaches
- Mulch deeply, as peaches can’t tolerate drought
- Remove suckers and prune in a herringbone shape
- Leaking sap from trunk can indicate borers; impale with a wire
Apples
- Choose scab, mildew, and fireblight resistant varieties
- Remove fallen fruit to reduce diseases
- Control scab with dormant oil
Sweet bell peppers
- Prefer hot weather
- Deter cutworms with a plastic straw around the base of the stem
- Destroy plants infected with the leaf-deforming mosaic virus
Celery
- Add fresh ashes to the mulch to sweeten the soil
- Grow in well-drained soil to prevent fungal diseases
- Heap soil around base to blanch for tender stalks
Nectarines
- Culture requirements same as peaches
- ‘Mericrest’ variety is resistant to bacterial leaf spot
Strawberries
- Practice crop rotation and keep away from potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers
- Use bird netting when berries begin to turn red
- ‘Jewel’ is resistant to mold; ‘Benton’ is resistant to wilt
Cherries
- Sour cherries like ‘Montmorency’ and 'Early Richmond' are hardier and less bothered by insects and disease than sweet cherries
- Prevent brown rot by removing fallen fruit
- Run fishing line through branches to discourage marauding birds
Lettuce
- Reduce slugs and snails with beer traps or diatomaceous earth
- Lettuce requires constant moisture and heavy feedings with compost or aged manure
- Grow in cool conditions or partial shade
Grapes
- Easy to grow for beginning gardeners
- Healthy vines need potassium from fish emulsion, ashes, or granite dust
- Plant rot and mildew resistant grape varieties, such as ‘Ontario’ or ‘Buffalo,’ if you live in a humid region
Pears
- Cover crops produce healthy growth
- Avoid unnecessary high-nitrogen fertilizers, which encourage rank growth and disease
- Control fireblight by removing infected branches or planting the resistant ‘Seckel’ variety
Spinach
- Grow spinach to avoid the E. coli concerns of commercial growers
- Plant in spring as soon as the ground is workable
- ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘Vienna’ are resistant to spinach blight
Potatoes
- Hoe regularly to keep a soil mound over tubers, which prevents toxic solanine formation
- Buy and plant only certified disease free seed potatoes
- Discourage scab by acidifying the soil with ample amounts of compost
Source:
Rodale, J.I. (1999). The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. Rodale Books, Inc: Emmaus, PA.
Jamie McIntosh - Jamie has written hundreds of garden articles for the web, and is your guide to Flowers on About.com.
