Afraid to take the plunge into organic gardening? How about dipping a toe in?

I'm serious. I believe strongly in organic gardening for all the right reasons - healthier, better tasting vegetables and fruits, no danger of residual pesticides, no worries about how many times it has been handled in the grocery store, and last but not least -- no cloned foods. I can't say cloned food is dangerous, nor can I say it's safe. In another five years, after testing on 100 million human guinea pigs, I might even try it.

In the meantime, although I can't go wholly organic because I can't grow EVERYTHINGin my own garden, I will be moving in that direction. I haven't got a big pile of natural compost and soil that is guaranteed chemical fertilizer and pesticide free -- yet!

However, this summer I will be buying or producing some organic compost, planting some organic vegetable seeds, and hopefully harvesting some organic tomatoes, potatoes, corn, green beans, beets, and lettuce. Not a lot -- I only have my wife and me to worry about. We will still be eating a lot of items from the local grocery store and we will still be eating out from time to time - restaurants are not going organic yet for the most part.

Eating organically is a lot like exercise - you don't have to go whole hog to benefit from it. A half mile walk is not as good as a five mile run, but it still beats being acouch potato. Having organically grown salads and veggies does not have the health benefits of a total organic diet from asparagus to zucchini, but it sure beats soft drinks and Hostess Twinkies!

So, I am a more or less organic gardener this year. Each year I plan to make it shift closer to the "more" side, but I will not feel that I'm a hypocrite because I can't be totally submerged in it right away. I'm still among the working class and evenif I wasn't, I like eating out now and then and I am NOT going to bring my own produceinto the restaurant and ask them to cook it up for me.

I will grow six organic vegetables this year - maybe next year it will be twelve. I will beeating healthy most of the time and if one morning I decide to have a stack of wafflesmade with Bisquick, slathered with Land O' Lakes butter and soaked in Mrs. Butterworth syrup, my well-balanced conscience will not trouble me a bit

Yes, a full glass is better than a half, but a half is better than none. Is organic gardening for you? If you can't dive in right away, join me in dipping a toe in to testthe water, then wading slowly and carefully toward the deep end!