Gardening is for Everyone!

Since the Industrial Revolution and the consolidation of agribusiness into fewer and fewer corporations over the last few hundred years, the average person has become increasingly disconnected with the food they eat. Throughout my childhood, food was nothing more than something to keep me going, picked up at a local store or drive-through. I didn’t consider were it came from, how it was made, who made it, or what animal it may have been from. As I would learn several years later, ignorance is bliss.

To reach greater profits to please stockholders and greed, corporations study the most efficient ways to produce food. In addition, they often act unethically and without consideration for sustainability. What combination and quality of preservatives, pesticides, genetic modifications, work conditions for humans and animals, government infiltration, deceit, water quality for the food and left for the surrounding community, growth hormones, cage layout, livestock feed, and cleanliness will maximize profits? The soil may become un-farmable, creatures, like bees, may go extinct (possibly diminishing the variety of our food supply), eventually leading to a food crisis of biblical proportions, but we need to make more money now. I’ll probably be gone by then anyway, or at least walled off in my ivory tower away from those poor, desperate peasants. It is no wonder the conditions of corporate farms are often kept secret and representatives of big corporations work hard to shape the law in big agribusiness’s favor; with filming of slaughterhouses being a crime in some regions of the United States, even if illegal activity is exposed.

You’re unlikely to drop dead from eating some of this stuff, but it is likely your body won’t function as well as it should. Unfortunately, you won’t know how you should feel until you’ve experienced it from eating and living well. While some of it may be attributed to the placebo effect, when beginning to watch what I eat I felt a noticeable improvement in my mental being and bodily health.

With the high cost of healthy food, you have to get creative on a budget. Thus, four summers ago, I decided to learn about small scale farming. I soon began digging up a medium sized (ten by fifteen feet) patch of residential dirt, one rooted square of grass at a time. A thrust with the shovel through thick grass, commonly crossing tree roots, uncommonly a rock, forcing the spade through about one half foot at about a six inch depth just beneath the grass roots, and lifting the square up, shaking out the dirt by hand (to not lose it) and tossing the husk of roots and leaves of grass to the side would earn you one square foot of garden space. Only one-hundred more to go. I learned first-hand why machines are typically used for such activity. Finally, once the area was dug up, I began loosening the dirt with a “scrape-‘e’ rake” before evenly distributing it throughout. Mixing in some compost and dead leaves for fertilizer, I shaped seven evenly spaced longitudinal hills across the ten foot width of the garden. The idea is to plant the seeds or pre-grown plants evenly spaced at the top, so that they would not drown in a puddle or be weathered as easily from the soil by winds and water pressure, and to have space for the crop to spread in its early stages. If the crop’s foliage or fruits touch the ground, it will be much more likely to catch diseases, get eaten by bugs, and die.

For my first attempt, I decided to plant seeds for two rows of spinach and one row of lettuce, and purchased plants of three tomato, one cilantro, two cucumber, one banana pepper, and one green pepper. Carefully digging the fraction of an inch depth necessary for each seed with the tip of a pencil, I dropped two for each hole, one as a backup, and patted the small amount of dirt back overhead by hand. I then continued for the three rows repeatedly at the recommended spacing between seeds. For the plants, I simply dug the recommended depth and plopped the plant it, shifting the displaced dirt back over into the hill formation. The last step was to add a layer of leaves around the plants and seeds to reduce the rate of moisture loss.

Throughout that summer, with regular watering and upkeep, which included plant trimming, crop removal and enjoyment, and the addition of a five-foot tall fence and a top net to keep away the hordes of deer looking for an easy meal, I had mixed results. The spinach, tomatoes, and cucumbers did very well. More than enough for a few people to have regular meals consisting of each—despite the amount that may have been lost to hungry deer. With this success, the tomato plants, supported by stakes, grew up to six feet tall, unable to support their own weight of dozens of tomatoes and branching stalks. One eventually collapsed to the ground, almost completely severing its base stalk. Tying supporting string in an attempt to aid natural mending processes, like a cast on an arm, the plant recovered and continued to provide tomatoes. The cucumbers thrived as well, climbing and filling out nearly the entire fence, bending it to the ground, and filling up nearly one third of the surrounding space. Up to one-hundred cucumbers grew. So much that I had to give many of them away. With this kudzu-like growth filling all the surrounding space, the other plants were cut off from most of the sun and produced only a few peppers and bits of cilantro.

Continuing these activities for the next three summers, I gained experience and farmed more efficiently. I learned what it takes to get the food to your fridge and how delicate farming can be. One unexpected event can bring a total loss. All you can do is prepare for each envisioned scenario.

Once the initial garden is planted, I needed only to set aside about ten to thirty minutes a day to maintain it. If groups of people come together to start community gardens, this burden can be minimized as the scale of growth is increased to significantly reduce dependence on purchased foods. With the addition of small scale animal husbandry, like chickens, for community gardens, animal products can be obtained as well. With just a little bit of work and cooperation, we can all begin to eat better, challenge the existing agriculture culture and law, and live better, healthier, and longer.