Home vegetable growing has been rather out of fashion for the last few decades. Landscaping, lawns, and flowers have been “in”: edible landscapes too, to some extent, with food plants incorporated into a decorative landscape.
But not full on, growing food in order to eat. Some people have continued to do it, of course, but to the larger culture it seemed like too much hard work and even too expensive, when you could buy vegetables so cheaply at the supermarket.
Over the last few years that has been changing, with the rise of local food and “100-mile diets”. This year, with the acceptance of climate change as real even by governments, rising food prices, and the recession/depression making many people feel very insecure, we seem to have reached a tipping point and now, suddenly, everyone’s doing it.
Michelle Obama on the White House lawn is only the most visible and media-hyped example. Seed producers and garden centers in Seattle are seeing business up 20-30% this spring. Our Seedy Saturday here in little Powell River, BC had a 28% increase in paying visitors and we sold nearly 1200 packages of seed as well as all the trading and swapping. The National Gardening Association in the US projects that the number of homes growing vegetables will jump more than 40% compared to two years ago.
Whatever the reason for any one specific person – you? – to start growing food, it’s all good. You can grow something wherever you are, even if all you have is a window-box or a balcony, and every time you eat something from your own patch, you’ve made a concrete, practical contribution to improving your diet, reducing food costs, and reducing food miles and transportation-related greenhouse gases. It doesn’t have to be expensive, either – you can scavenge, swap or yard-sale everything you need if necessary – and you’re helping the environment by re-using stuff if you do, so go to it!