Urban gardening might save your life

Click image to see larger file. Homegrown food is homegrown wealth. The foresighted farmer makes a garden plan showing what to plant, when to plant, and when to make second plantings. The plan shows how to cultivate and keep the garden free of weeds, and what poison spray to use to kill the insects that might eat up the vegetables. A garden is meant to feed the family, not the bugs and worms. Lange, Dorothea, photographer Created / Published 1936 Feb.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the wonderful taste of truly fresh corn, a cucumber picked from the vine, sliced then soaked in vinegar or eating slices of a tomato still warm from the sun, trying to keep the juice from running down your chin.

By Bill Wadford
The Fayetteville Observer
Feb 15, 2018

Excerpt:

As I grow older I have become aware of how disconnected we have become from our food and the land. Family farms have become endangered species and the majority of folks that live in, and immediately around, the city don’t even bother with a small herb plot by the back door, a backyard raised bed containing a few fresh, nutritious vegetables or even some 5 gallon buckets on the patio or balcony with cherry tomatoes or sweet peppers growing in them.

Unfortunately, these gardening voids increase as one approaches the core of the city. Here in Fayetteville there are large voids that are considered “Food Deserts”. In these deserts folks have very few community, backyard or container gardens and no stores that stock fresh fruits and vegetables within reasonable commuting distance. They simply do not have uncomplicated access to affordable, healthy food.

Urban gardening helps correct this by increasing availability and reducing the overall price of healthy food. Also, freshly picked produce is more nutritious. Unfortunately veggies begin to lose nutrients soon after being picked. Imagine how much it loses when it is shipped in from outside the U.S. Food grown in your yard, on your patio or balcony can’t get any fresher or more nutritious. Parents, there are lots of stories about kids who participate in growing family food who start eating the fruit and veggies they grow. This in part is about the amazing flavor I mentioned earlier and part about the sense of pride the kids take in growing them.

Read the complete article here.