betmo, betmo, how does your garden grow?

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

nursery rhyme

actually, not that bad. i ended up with mostly tomato plants through not having the time to really adequately plan the plot- and i will probably put some tomato plants here at my new digs too. it is more important than ever that we learn how to grow some of our own food- and that we change the way we eat. the news from around the world is not good- flooding and drought has shortened the supplies of grains and vegetables and this will directly impact not just our food prices- but the fact that some on the planet will starve. my thought is- why should i get the bag of rice because this country can afford the high prices- and folks in haiti and elsewhere starve?

anyhoo- many folks are getting into the act- even in urban settings.

from new york city; to philadelphia; to maine; to cuba- urban farming is growing:

in an era where giant corporates are pushing genetically modified seeds at every turn for a profit- and whose seeds don’t work in every situation and may even be causing bigger problems- we need to support heirloom projects and really downscale. the question is usually- local or organic? well, both when possible but always check out your locally grown foods because you don’t want to support pesticides and growth hormones and whatnot. also, look for fair trade membership before you buy- especially coffee- it takes a few extra moments- but my morning cuppa tastes a whole lot better

my own thought is that we all need to just stop and take a moment to think about how we live our lives. not everyone can farm- but everyone can grow a few plants to eat- whether it be square foot gardening, container gardening, raised bed gardening, or old fashioned back yard gardening. we all have freezers with our refrigerators- and can store some of the food we grow with simple blanching and freezing techniques (and the plastic freezer bags are washable and reusable). it won’t solve all of our issues but it will get folks thinking and reconnecting with how we live our lives here in the west.

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