Faced with rising food prices, and shrinking wallets, citizens are becoming increasingly resourceful. Sunday’s Washington Post has an article on the unprecedented growth of home gardening in America. A $20 return in produce, for every dollar spent on seeds, is a hard number to ignore. Even I, whose nature did not bless with a green thumb, discovered the marvel of the homegrown vegetable patch.
Hubby Prad, also sometimes called Green Guru, tempers my enthusiasm with his usual cynicism. Prad thinks home gardening is not enough. And shares what he saw at the Honolulu Safeway yesterday. A family, obviously not rich, pushing a shopping cart filled with bottled water. That mother is just throwing away her already scarce resources on regular tap water, made to pass as a high price commodity. Shopping smart is an acquired skill, that many Americans lack. Knowing what to put and not put on one’s grocery list is as essential as looking for the best deals and clipping coupons.
We already knew Americans need to downsize, and not throw away their food. Now add to the list: home gardening, and ‘smart grocery listing‘.
La Marguerite 
One area where part of your government does well, offering guides to shopping cheaply and healthily. But people blog about it in simple terms, too.
Bottled water is a funny thing. For my part, I don’t think of it as a big issue, like those plastic bags – though I have neither bottled water nor use plastic bags myself, it’s just that I think we’ve bigger things to worry about. Nonetheless, bottled water puzzles me. When did we become delicate flowers requiring constant watering? People used to go to gyms and work – both manual and office – and for long walks all the time in the 1980s and earlier, and nobody dropped dead from lack of water. So why now? Strange stuff.
It’s like airconditioning – people often say, “oh, it’s so hot, I’d die without it.” But though in 2001 55% of US households had it, in 1980 it was just 27%, says the EIA. Were there twice as many deaths from heat exhaustion in 1980 as in 2001? Surely not. “But I need it!” Do you? Maybe, maybe not.
I think we just get accustomed to these little things, these plastic bags and water bottles and airconditioning, it’s got nothing to do with “need” – or even really “comfort”. It’s just something we do, like wearing a tie or whatever.
As the article points out “Victory Gardening” is starting to make something of a modest comeback http://tingilinde.typepad.com/starstuff/2008/04/getting-serious.html .
Community gardening is starting to become popular around here and most of the public plots are taken. A few solve the issues of people who have to travel for work or vacation. You can arrange to have others take care of your garden for a little money. I’ve seen nice gardens ruined when a clueless neighbor takes over for a week or two.
Time and experience are big factors. It isn’t a green thumb so much as green experience. At this point most people have not picked it up from their parents, so it needed to be learned. Prospective gardeners should read and/or watch videos on the subject (our library has a section of beginners gardening videos), or they are likely to have a bad experience.
It also takes quite a bit of time and effort to do anything at serious scale.
We live in a condo, so we use a combination of the balcony garden (mostly herbs and a few very high density vegetables), a small plot at a local community garden that is close enough to reach by bicycle, and local gardeners who provide a wider variety of great, although spendy, produce.
Northern climate people like us can extend this into the Winter by canning, bottling and freezing – but some of these are very labor intensive and the last is energy intensive … not to mention the food doesn’t taste as good. We put up a bit to take us through Winter and much of Spring, but at that point we generally rely on markets
The low cost of seeds is true, but there is a lot of “stuff” you need. Over a few years it might be cheaper, but there can be some sticker shock. If you are small scale you can probably borrow or rent things like tillers to work the ground.
I think time to do a good job is the most important thing you need. This means giving up a bit of time doing something else and finding the activity rich and motivating enough that you are willing to do it. People at garden centers tell me there is a lot of burnout.
This may be an ideal kid activity and is one of Colleen’s next projects. Some states even have agricultural agents who specialize in working with kids.
Hi, great post! Thought you would be interested in this petition urging our next leadership to look into the renewal of a Victory Garden Campaign:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/letsbringbackthevictorygarden/
Thanks! Pass it on!
Kyle, agree with you on the power of habits, even for things that do not really add much/any value to our lifestyle. Many were created by advertisers/marketers, out of greed.
Steve, I did not know you were such a gardener! I agree with you time is important to do a good job. The danger there is to discourage the gardening timids like me. Believe me, I spent very little time on my salad patch. Had our gardener prepare the soil. Went out to buy the seeds, borrowed shovel from neighbor across the street, used old gloves, dropped seeds in the soil, and then water once in a while. That’s it.
Done, Eve!
I also want to pass on info about hosting site for your petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/
For those of you, with an activist streak, ipetitions is a great tool.
You can also try http://www.thepetitionsite.com/ .
Just back from Spain I was amazed that all the women carry fans and use them! Very nice and cheap form of air conditioning! We should start a movement.
Rebecca, thanks for sharing. This reminds me of post I wrote while in Italy last month:
https://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/tuscans-know-how-to-do-laundry/
Meryn, thanks for the link.
green guru knows that the green road starts with a single lettuce. gardening alone , or solar alone will not solve the climate challenge.
that one head of homegrown salad will ease the path toward sustainability, conversations and education arise from this neutral point in daily life.
gardening is a productive hobby, a tool, a facilitator, a personal pleasure in a small first step for many.
Nadine, I was just thinking of you. Actually was on my way to visit you over at ‘greenadine’.
Going vegetarian, at least part-time, is also a sure win.
While I like meat, I’m almost always eating vegetarian, and never miss the meat. I do eat lots of dairy products though.
Northern climate people like us can extend this into the Winter by canning, bottling and freezing – but some of these are very labor intensive and the last is energy intensive … not to mention the food doesn’t taste as good. We put up a bit to take us through Winter and much of Spring, but at that point we generally rely on markets.
Ron, thanks for visiting La Marguerite. I remember with great longing, my times as a child, when I helped my mother and my grandmother can our fruit surplus. . . there is also a great social element to all these activities, that is lost in our commercial supply oriented society. And, trust me, there is nothing like home made canned peaches, or plums!
Meryn, you are right the not eating meat part, or at least not so much, is a clear win win for the pocketbook, the environment, and also personal health.