Sow Those Seeds!

The February 15, 2009 edition of the New York Times features a great editorial by Verlyn Klinkenborg. In the editorial, she describes earlier articles she has written in Rural Life about the victory garden movement during World War II. Klinkenborg writes: "...a national crisis had turned Americans - for a few years at least - into a nation of gardeners. Now we are in the midst of another crisis. And perhaps this is the moment for another national home gardening movement, a time when the burgeoning taste for local food converges with the desire to cut costs and take new control over our battered economic lives."

Klinkenborg continues:

"There are signs that some people are already thinking this way. A number of friends have said to me, wistfully, that if things get worse, they'll just go to the country and learn to farm, as if learning to farm were like studying shorthand or learning to weld.

This is daydreaming. But there's every reason to think about putting in a garden. In fact, many seed companies are reporting higher sales - especially in Britain, which has a rich tradition of home gardening. At grocery stores and farm stands, the difference in cost between organic and conventionally grown vegetables can be substantial. In the garden, the difference is negligible.

Growing a vegetable garden isn't going to balance the budget or replace lost benefits or even begin to make up for the shock of a lost job. But part of the crisis we face is a sense of alienation and powerlessness. You don't meet many alienated gardeners, unless it's been a terrible woodchuck year.

It's also tempting to assume that a garden can't really make much difference in your annual food budget. But you would never convince my parents of that, who raised four kids on the fresh and home-canned produce of a big backyard garden."

Read the whole article by clicking here.