Victory Gardens

As I search around the blogs not only on this site but others, I can find little information about small scale farming efforts and the importance of such efforts. Sure, everyone knows that gardening is a good way to cut costs, improve your well being, mitigate your carbon footprint, etc., etc. However, it seems to me that people are not taking it to the next level. That level is the one where people are active in small scale farming not just because they like to look at pretty colors, but because they realize that this world is too crowded.

Maybe this is taking the fun out of gardening - labeling it small scale farming and wanting people to think more seriously about where their food comes from. Perhaps.

I was over at a friend's place yesterday and I picked up a catalog of books that were about gardening. One was entitled 'So You Want to Start a Nursery.' Yes, yes I do. That would be awesome. When the time comes (March), I would like to grow more starter plants than I know what to do with and give them to people who can grow them in their own garden. Then, kind of like Johnny Appleseed, my starters will be all over town. I wish I could knock on people's door and ask them 'can I garden in your yard?' It would be fun to go around town, visit various gardens and work on them. It would be really cool if someone would actually pay me to maintain their garden. (I guess that is what a professional gardener does - take care of other people's garden.) In Boulder, there are a lot of rich people that have the money but don't have the time. What if I could sell myself, my principles, and grow food for these people. That would be sweet. But, alas, I don't think I am ready to start knocking on people's doors, asking them for money and permission to dig up their precious lawn. Who am I to knock on some one's door?

Whatever happened to the Victory Gardens? The Victory Gardens started as a movement to save oil for World War II. It was a way that us Americans could be patriotic and proud. Why don't we do that today? Are we not still fighting wars that have something to do with obtaining oil (plus, a lot of other issues)? Why did we ever give that up?

Michelle Obama single handedly increase the sales of seeds when she began her White House garden. She encouraged us once again to garden, just like the Victory Gardens. She goes on Sesame Street because she is an advocate for early child development. She gardens so that her own children (and local elementary students) will be encouraged to eat well.

What if all of our political leaders showed as much initiative as Michelle Obama and those who started the Victory Garden movement? That would be much more successful than me writing a blog or going door to door.