Here’s a stereotype that I heard recently. It needs to end.
It’s the idea that only grannies are gardeners.
That’s so wrong….
Up until recently in history, EVERYBODY kept a food garden.
In fact, some of the best and most powerful minds in the world were intensely interested in it. For example Thomas Jefferson spent countless hours thinking about his garden.
His perfectly design 1,000 foot garden in Monticello contained 330 varieties (89 species) of vegetables and herbs and 170 varieties of the fruits (pic via the Monticello Classroom).
Thomas Jefferson wasn’t only interested in food gardening, he was even interested in the commercial aspects of it. Here’s his chronicle of when vegetables appeared (by month) in the farmer’s markets in town.
But, you can take this refutation of that stereotype even further than that. Growing food, along with harvesting rainwater, generating energy, and “making” products is the most radical thing you can do in this day and age. Doing it smartly, with updated methods and technologies, has the potential to change everything.
How so?
Not only is the required work and the philosophy it requires one of the secrets to living a healthy, meaningful, and happy life. I believe it’s going to become the key to economic success for you, your family, and your community over the longer term.
I’m not the only one that’s thinking like this. Ron Finley, a guerrilla gardener from LA, has a great presentation on how food gardening can be transformative. It’s definitely worth viewing, if you haven’t seen it before.
Get productive.
It all starts with that.
Sincerely,
JOHN ROBB
PS: Attention. No grannies were disparaged or harmed in any way in the writing of this article.
