I guess it was about 5 years ago that I ever even thought about starting a garden. It wasn’t of my own volition. We had recently emigrated to rural Washinton Parish from the suburbs of New Orleans, and my eldest sister (who I live with)  decided that one of our main obligations, now that we were country folk, was to grow our own vegetables. She also decided that I was going to do all the hard work like digging and making the beds and, oh, just about everything. I wasn’t thrilled about this at the time, but being the loving brother that I am, I went along.

      Now that garden didn’t go over that well. I don’t recall ever harvesting anything, but I do remember my sister checking out all sorts of books from the library on the subject. One of these was called The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It by a fellow named John Seymour.

      It had been lying around on the coffee table for probably longer than the library allowed us to keep it, and one day I decided to crack it open and see what the fellow had to say.  I was immediately engrossed. This caused several Google searches for ‘Homesteading”, which eventually led to finding the publication ‘The Mother Earth News’. I then happened to find a stash of 50 or 60 of these for 5 cents each at a local booksale, with dates ranging from the early 70s to late 80s. An era when doom and gloom was pretty darn popular.

 After some time reading these and similar outdated articles/books, I decided two things-

1. That the world would be completely unable to feed itself by the year 2000 (it was 2003 at the  time), and

2. That come spring I would start a vegetable garden.

     Of course at the time it was my intention to become completely self-sufficient, as recommended by these illustrious magazines.  I vaguely defined this as something to do with rusty hog shacks, an outhouse, and heavy duty boot scrapers- made from old tires or something- by the front door of a log cabin. 

    Those goals were dropped almost as quickly as they were picked up, but boy, did the garden thing stick. In a very real way it changed the direction of my life. My career goals changed, my outlook on nature changed, and I met a slew of great people I wouldn’t have otherwise.

     Okay, so we didn’t run out of food by the year 2000. We haven’t run out of oil, and all the nuclear plants in the world haven’t blown up and turned us into mutant zombies. All the same, the world agriculture situation we find ourselves in is riddled with problems. And growing your own food CAN make a difference.

 Let’s talk about some of these problems, shall we?

       Soil has the remarkable ability of replenishing itself. As temperature warms and cools, rocks crack, things die on top, and the soil deepens. In fact, as much as 3.4 tons of soil per acre per century can be created through this never ending process. This is great, right? More mineral-rich soil. Yay!  Unfortunately, in the United States 7.6 tons per acre of soil are lost through erosion every year. And in poorer countries this rate can be as much as 40 tons/year. Erosion is intensified by soils with low organic matter, and modern cultivation almost always lowers soil organic matter drastically. Heavy tilling, aside from forming hardpans and increasing erosion of it’s own accord, also speeds up the rate that organic matter is burned off. This releases carbon into the atmosphere and makes it easier for the soil to blow or wash away.

     Luckily, in one way, no-till farming is becoming increasingly popular. This greatly reduces the level of soil erosion, but it carries with it it’s own problems by using herbicide to knock down the plants that don’t get tilled into the soil.

     Modern farm soils are completely dependent on chemicals derived from a limited supply of fossil fuel. These chemicals make it possible to grow food on otherwise biologically dead soil. Chemical Fertilizer can wipe out whole sections of the soil food web- many of the microbes that help make the fertilizer available to the plant in the first place. Herbicides kill soil algae, which is the sole food of some beneficial microbes. Pesticides can do further damage to soil life. The end result of this is effectively dead soil, which is little help to the plant beyond holding it up. As the prices of these chemicals go up, farmers, who are growing ever more dependent on them, must buy them, and so the price of food goes up. When (not if) we run out of fossil fuels, if a replacement isn’t found then you can say good-bye to food.

    And while all this is happening, world population isn’t slowing down either. According to the U.S. Census Bureau world population could reach over 9 billion by 2050. This means more people to feed in a world of degrading agriculture soils and diminishing energy supplies.

   I’m not trying to scare anyone. Humanity has gotten itself out of worse messes (maybe), but this all makes it quite clear just how beneficial growing your own food can be. So much of the American population lives in suburbs. Just imagine if all those backyards had vegetable gardens and were growing even a small percentage of their own food. It would certainly relieve pressure on the food system! Small gardens can much more effectively control environmental concerns. By growing organically, dependence on chemicals can be taken out of the picture. By mulching or raised beds, soil erosion is taken out of the picture, and by composting, materials that would be hauled off to the landfill can be recycled.

    It can also be economically feasible. In fact, as your skill and gardening knowledge improves, you’ll discover just how much sense it makes to your wallet. After my first gardening season, which was a total flop, I looked at the amount of money I had put into it and how many vegetables I had gotten out of it and despaired. How could it ever pay off? But with a little experimentation and a slew of diligence, you’d be surprised just how much food you’ll get out of your garden- be it a collection of containers or a huge half acre plot. I bring baskets of vegetables in every day and know that in the future, as I continue to learn and build my soil sustainably, I’ll bring in much more. Most of the time and money is in your first year. As you learn, you’ll be able to cut costs until eventually you’re just paying for packets of seed that you pop into the beautiful, dark, rich soil you’ve built.

     On the other hand, if you make 30 dollars an hour at your job, you could easily argue, as most economists do, that your missed opportunity costs more than make up for any amount of food you could produce yourself in an hour’s worth of work. But consider the following scenario-

     It takes me about  two hours to set up my 50×25 foot watermelon field for planting using a deep mulch system. Tack on 30 minutes to plant some seeds and transplant the seedlings later. Give it another two hours of care throughout the season. I don’t weed much due to the mulch,- so watering, picking, and inspecting for bugs and such. Heck, it’s probably less than two hours but will be generous.  I usually get about 30 watermelons from this patch. If make 30 dollars an hour at my job (which is a blatant lie. I make 13 bucks an hour at an upholstery shop) that’s 135 dollars I would have made if I hadn’t grown any watermelons.  30 watermelons at 6 bucks a melon comes to 180 dollars. Score. I just “made” and extra 45 dollars.

 Of course…then I have to try and eat 35 watermelons…Yikes!

 But, in a way, there’s no denying that the economists are right. You’d probably be better off financially if you focused on your job and bought nasty, mushy tomatoes at the store.

  But let’s set the record straight, people- Time isn’t money.  Time is your life. Money is  a tool. Do you want to work for the tool or do you want the tool to work for you? Live your life. Get out there and grow some food! And maybe save the planet while you’re at it.

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