Gardening to Survive

Apparently home gardening is experiencing quite a boom during our little recession. Am I surprised? Actually, yes.

Although Matt would like to one day live in a valley (I'm not entirely sure where this desire came from) and grow all our own food, his attempts at gardening so far probably have not saved us any money. And I don't think this reflects poorly on him by any means - I just think it is hard to save money by gardening.

Last year Matt grew peppers, potatoes, and onions at our community garden plot, and a traditional mix of corn, squash, and beans in the garden bed at our house. We ended up with way more zucchini than we could ever eat, but the corn only gave us a couple good ears, and I don't think all the bean plants together would have made a burrito. We had a few potatoes and onions and they sure were tasty, and the peppers were just starting to come in when we moved. And he had to give away tomato and grape plants before they reached maturity. I would guess that we didn't cut back on buying vegetables; we may have just eaten more. And we were paying for a community garden plot, seeds, and soil for some containers.

Here, Matt is just starting a container garden on our balcony, where we worry they might not get enough sun. The potatoes and parsley have just started to sprout. He's also attempting spinach, peppers, and some other things I can't remember.

Matt loves gardening. He gets super excited when his plants sprout and start to produce. But gardening is also hard work and you have to remember to water a lot, especially when you don't have soaker hoses and you have a 9-5 job.

Don't get me wrong - I am all for gardening. I think everybody should garden, especially if they enjoy it. (I am personally content to watch Matt :) I am just doubtful that gardening will protect many people from the recession. Hopefully it will improve diets simply by accessibility and the awesome taste of garden-grown veggies. And maybe people won't use pesticides and herbicides and nasty fertilizers in their own gardens. That would be another big bonus.

Or maybe I am wrong. Maybe other people are much better at gardening than we are. After all, the article claims that some families are feeding all their members for months at a time from the garden and cutting monthly grocery bills by $150. Good for you.