Food and Gardens
Food has been in the media a lot lately, what with hunger strikes, biofuel causing the price of all grains to shoot up and failed rice crops. I even saw an odd article about how butter has become all but unavailable in Japan (the article did not explain exactly why, or maybe I just forgot). This is one of the problems with biofuel that I have been talking about for years. Increased cost of food, land depletion, increased water usage, all for a very small net gain in energy (if there is a net gain).
So I was listening to one radio program in which the reporter tells how people in third world countries have started to have more gardens because it is an effective way to supplement their diet with some much needed vegetables. This reminded me of a book I've read called "Food Not Lawns," which advocates growing more food instead of decorative plants such as grass or bushes. By growing food not only do you get delicious, fresh fruit and vegetables, you help the environment by decreasing overall water usage and decreasing the amount of oil used to get your food from the farm to your table.
Conflictingly, another radio program I listened to was a story of a woman who decided that she wanted to grow more of her own food to save money only to find that it cost her far, far more to grow the food herself. After buying seeds, fertilizer, tomato trellises, plant food and tools, she estimated that each tomato cost her around $16. How are we to save the environment by growing our own food when it costs us so much more to do so?
The answer is to use a more guerrilla approach to home gardening. You do need a certain initial investment in tools, but you don't have to buy so much fertilizer, plant food, or other chemicals. Use scraps of wood and metal to help the garden take shape rather than buy expensive gardening hobby items from the store.
So I was listening to one radio program in which the reporter tells how people in third world countries have started to have more gardens because it is an effective way to supplement their diet with some much needed vegetables. This reminded me of a book I've read called "Food Not Lawns," which advocates growing more food instead of decorative plants such as grass or bushes. By growing food not only do you get delicious, fresh fruit and vegetables, you help the environment by decreasing overall water usage and decreasing the amount of oil used to get your food from the farm to your table.
Conflictingly, another radio program I listened to was a story of a woman who decided that she wanted to grow more of her own food to save money only to find that it cost her far, far more to grow the food herself. After buying seeds, fertilizer, tomato trellises, plant food and tools, she estimated that each tomato cost her around $16. How are we to save the environment by growing our own food when it costs us so much more to do so?
The answer is to use a more guerrilla approach to home gardening. You do need a certain initial investment in tools, but you don't have to buy so much fertilizer, plant food, or other chemicals. Use scraps of wood and metal to help the garden take shape rather than buy expensive gardening hobby items from the store.