Weather Report: The Economy — #5, Food — Community Gardens & 3 Gardens — Plus

THE ECONOMY: On December 30, 2008 (Tuesday), PrudentHome ran a tiny section called “What We See For 2009” giving four of our predictions for the U.S. in the coming year. There was a fifth and we neglected to include it.  Here it is:

# 5. The standard of living will decline for the average U.S. citizen during 2009. ‘Sorry’ we left it out on Tuesday and even more sorry we see it coming for 2009.

COMMUNITY GARDENS: Energy Bulletin (energybulletin.net) on December 30, 2008 in it’s Food & Agriculture section presented an excellent little piece entitled, “Community Gardens Contribute to Food Security” by Stephanie Nieuwoudt, IPS.. While the articles’ specific geography refers to South Africa, the rationale, technical contents of the article, and it’s relevance to families everywhere today is clear. Here’s an excerpt:

“In the global economic downturn where food insecurity has increased due to soaring food prices [projected to increase 6-9% in the U.S. in 2009], backyard and community gardens are some of the most basic survival strategies…A backyard garden four times the size of an ordinary door, can supply a household of six people with fresh vegetables for a year. By replanting and ensuring that the ground is fertilized well, the four-door garden can be farmed fruitfully for years.”

“Trench gardening is also popular in the townships,” said Visser. “The people dig trenches into which all their biodegradable waste is thrown. It is covered with soil and seeds are sown on top. The soil is high in nutrients and it can be farmed for up to four years before new compost is needed.”

3 GARDENS: Buy enough garden seeds to plant three full gardens. Here’s why:

1. One third of the seeds will be used to plant this years garden with any extras saved for a second sowing/planting later in the season or year.
2. The second third will be saved to compensate for bad weather or for next years’ garden.
3. The last third is your insurance policy for “eventualities”. Stuff happens: your early efforts at seed-saving aren’t as successful as you’d hoped/planned, a whole stretch of bad weather, helping out family or neighbors in need to develop their own garden, future seed availability or expense …

Note: All seeds should be open-pollinated, varieties developed to grow successfully in your climate, and represent foods you and your family will eat at minimum.

–PLUS : “Plus” here refers to perennial fruit and nut trees. These can form a foundation for your families’ on-going food security as they produce year after year with modest maintenance (fertilization, pruning, insect control, etc). Remember, if you have limited space there are dwarf varieties designed to use very little space or can even be grown in containers. Think “up” too, as there are some perennial food-producing vines that can be trellised.

Note: Perennial fruit and nut trees share the possibility, with garden seeds, of having their purchase and maintenance expenses shared with family, friends, or neighbors especially when a sharing of their production is offered.

Like vegetables, varieties should be chosen to grow successfully in your climate and represent foods that you and your family will eat.

We’ll have some more home gardening ideas to share next week. Until then, keep your eyes on the horizon.