The best gardens are those tended by someone with thepatience to wait for the right time to plant, the diligence to perform timelytasks, and the perseverance to weather a few storms along the way.
Why plant a backyard vegetable garden?
An estimated 7 million new households put in a vegetable garden in 2009, including one at the White house and one at the US Dept of Agriculture. There are now one million community gardens in the United States and 43 million households participating. These are the largest numbers since the victory gardens of World War II.
People are planting their own vegetable gardens for a variety of reasons. Some people are looking at the economic benefits of growing their own food. Others see planting their own gardens as the only way to assure fresh and nutritious food for their family. Many are voicing their disapproval of a food system that is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and tremendously wasteful of our natural resources.
If you are going to grow vegetables this year, grow them organically. It takes less time, money and energy because plants that are healthy have fewer pest problems, are much more nutritious, and produce more food. This is the kind of food that you can’t buy at the store.
If you plant a vegetable garden with conventional growing methods -- using chemical or low quality organic fertilizers and pesticides -- you might as well buy your veggies at a grocery store.
Our food system is very good at supplying low quality food cheaply.
