Start Now Gardens on Bloomington Avenue

There are some flower beds along the sidewalk outside the fence, and along the front of the house. Otherwise, vegetables grow in the yard at 1134 Bloomington Avenue, and also on the roofs of the garage, the carport and the back room of the house. Oh, and some fruit also. This is how we feed ourselves, and raise some food for others as well, but mainly, this is how we make the point that lawns are pretty much a wasteful relic of the value system that preceded global warming.

This is a time of massive readjustment in how we live our lives. Suburbs and commuting don’t work any more. Heating and cooling costs are rising dramatically. Shipping (and packing and refrigeration and storage) takes a larger and larger share of dollars spent on food. Many of the ramifications of climate change are negative and beyond our direct control, but growing our own food is something we can do, and doing it reverses global warming in our space, and brings a cornucopia of benefits at the same time.

Gardening makes sense – Gardening makes us happy

Gardening is America’s favorite hobby. For us, it’s so favorite that it has become our avocation. Garden planning, preparing garden structures and working with soil, composting, planting, transplanting, weeding and watering, and of course, harvesting, capture our interest, challenge our ingenuity and fill our days with enjoyable and rewarding activity. The plants we raise suck carbon dioxide out of the air and replace it with pure oxygen. This might be the best thing we’ve ever done.

At first our goal was to grow our own food. That was easy. Then a neighbor who loved gardening but no longer could gave us space in her yard for garden beds, and the neighbor on the other side who didn’t want to have to mow the inconvenient front strip of his yard gave us more space. More beds on the roof, more beds along the alley, and soon we were raising enough vegetables and berries to stock a table at the farmers market. We are now the proprietors of an urban farm, set right in our busy neighborhood!

People walking along the sidewalk stop to look. Some ask questions. Maybe they are getting the idea that they can do something similar at their homes. When we go for walks we see lots of yard space that would work just fine for gardens.

We are even starting to see more gardens. The local food idea is taking hold around the country, around the world for that matter. See the local food news reported here. People are understanding the powerful ecological reasons to eat local food, and realizing that besides doing good, it IS good, the very best food there is! We know now that “fresh” produce shipped from a distance isn’t fresh. Produce picked today is fresh! We can all tell the difference.

Imagine vegetable gardens in every yard, and big ones in public spaces. If we have the will, there is a way.

Eating local food is important, and it’s possible. It can happen as soon as right now. People can take care of their own needs, and then the needs of others. Cities can spend money cultivating gardens instead of spreading toxic lawn chemicals and driving mowers. Gardens can provide healthy employment for those out of work. Governments will learn quickly from citizen action. It’s still true.  When the people lead, the leaders will follow. Values will change, cities will change, the atmosphere will change.

There is nothing but benefit to be had from the local food movement. Join us!