Garden Time!

The Nettles are coming up, the pink plum blossoms are out, and it’s time to start preparing for the gardening season. Although I love the beauty of flowers and shrubs, I’m really in it for the food. I’m a really big proponent of food. We go way back and I relish having some everyday. That’s why I like to be sure I have a sufficient supply of the very best.

I keep coming back to resilience in this column, and that is why I want to remind you that 90% of our "eggs" are in two baskets, Thriftway and IGA. I suspect that a week-long ferry shutdown would make for a lot of unhappy campers. Since it hasn’t happened yet, we haven’t bothered to do anything about it. That’s the way those things usually go, especially if doing something, like planting vegetable gardens, involves something tedious.

I suspect the "tedious" aspect of gardening revolves around "busting your butt" and getting very dirty. Ever since petroleum gave most of us a ticket into the Aristocracy (We each use the energy equivalent of 50 slaves), the ideas of "unseemly toil" or "getting one’s hands dirty" have been looked down on. Add to that the fact that the monetary value of goods produced to the monetary value of labor invested is a disaster. Up to about 60 years ago, 40% of us were farmers, and it’s no wonder that we quickly reduced that to about 5% once we could fire up all those tractors and combines.

Maintaining our aristocratic heritage has resulted in some great ironies. Once I understood what an irony was, I realized that I’ve always enjoyed them. It usually involves doing something for which the original reason is unknown or forgotten. I like them because ironic moments, besides being a surprise, give me a chance to laugh, or at least smile, at myself, and that is always a good thing.

The irony of lawn maintenance is a great example. The original sheep pasture became a place to promenade and take tea around the manor house, but eventually the pasture became a "lawn" and a status symbol. The irony is that, in the extreme case, we still pursue that image and status, even though it involves hard work, expensive machines, dangerous amendments, precious water, no practical return, and the kicker is the "keep off the grass" sign!

Another irony is that, although we eschew unseemly toil in the yard, we pay money to work up a sweat on a machine at the gym, and then we pay someone else to work up a sweat in our yard.

The point of this ramble is that we have hundreds of acres of unused pasture and lawn that could be producing high quality food, healthy bodies, livelihoods, and a real sense of ccomplishment. I’ll be the first to admit that I sometimes bitch and moan at the prospect of working in the garden, but the feeling quickly transforms into pleasure once I get to it. Forget about comparing it to what your time is worth at work. Think about the pleasure of being outside, the food you are producing, the time and money you are saving by not having to go to the gym.

If that isn’t enough, there is the cerebral aspect as well, especially if you garden organically. Knowing what, when and where to plant, making judgments about the weather, assessing weeds, pests and soil fertility, are all very challenging. If that is intimidating to you, there is a lot of free help. Besides books, there are the master gardeners outside of Thriftway on many Saturdays, and there are the community gardens that you can volunteer for while getting hands-on instruction. Contact Jen Coe at Food Bank Gardens: jentree@gmail.com or Julia Lakey at Community Care Gardens: jlakey@centurytel.net.

If you either have the desire to garden and no space, or you have space but not the inclination or ability to garden, check out the Food Security Working Group’s Vashon Yard Share website: vashonyardshare.grouply.com and sign up to be a member. Once you’re a member, you will find a map with markers indicating the location of both people wanting gardens and land for gardens wanting people. Just follow the instructions on the main page once you’re in. In some cases, gardener and host may work together, one may learn from the other, or share produce. Whatever works for the two of you. There is not much activity as yet on this site, so be sure to put yourself on it and have patience. I urge you to put yourself on the map, even if you don’t know exactly what you want from it. There are no commitments here and no requirement that you strike a deal with anybody.

If you want, you can wait for that perfect person or plot to turn up, but it won’t happen if people don’t post themselves on the map.

We can be a lot more resilient in our food supply. Let’s put our good land to use.

The Food Security Group will hold their final session on Emergency Food Preparedness this Saturday, 10am-12pm, and again on Monday night, 7-9pm at the Fireman’s Hall. The presentation by Elizabeth Sullivan will be on affordable ways to gather an emergency food supply that is tailored to your family’s needs.

Comments?
terry@vashonloop.com