The Bane of the Small Gardener

[Durgan]

This is a psychological effort triggered by a report from the UN.

Food Production Must Double by 2050 to Meet Demand from World’s Growing Population, Innovative Strategies Needed to Combat Hunger, Experts Tell Second Committee Food production must double by 2050 to meet the demand of the world’s growing population and innovative strategies are needed to help combat hunger, which already affects more than 1 billion people in the world, several experts today told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) during a panel discussion on “New cooperation for global food security”.

We, the people, have handed over our food supply to mega commercial interests. This is probably acceptable for some products, but now almost all food is processed by large commercial interests. Certainly the nutritional value is of little consideration, and my view is that it is killing us in the long term.

Junk food fast outlets are often mentioned as contributing to the obesity epidermic, but this is probably a smoke screen, because the Supermarkets are full of junk food, which is where most people get their food.

A solution may be for people to produce their own food as much as possible. The major problem was how to preserve in quantity the produce from a modest garden or small holding. Long term food preservation is now possible to a large degree by most people in modern Western societies. The home preservation methods are Pressure canning, dehydration, vacuum packing, and freezing, and least beneficial salting, and sugaring.

Clearly few preserved foods are as pleasant as fresh produced. To have fresh nutritional off season food is difficult and expensive.There has to be a change in mindset to use the various preserving methods. Our preference for particular foods is based on habit, tradition, availability, which are all subject to modification if desired.

People are conditioned by media pressure in its various forms to believe food has to be desirable as to taste, etc. We have forgotten that food is to supply us nutrients and in some cases it may not be totally desirable. I suggest we are paying a terrible price health-wise for the ingesting of commercial supplied food.

A modest garden, and additional purchasing of various products from a bulk supplier, pick your own, with an appropriate preservation method would make a populace some what independent of the commercial processed food, which I believe is a desired aim and indeed a necessary.

There obviously is some preparation required, but what is more important than one's health in the big picture of life?

[mndtrp]

My grandmother was a fantastic gardener, had a huge garden, and even she couldn't grow enough to support her family solely from her growings. Given that people's plots are getting smaller and smaller, especially with condos and apartment complexes, it isn't feasible to expect people to grow their own garden. Not to mention that gardening isn't exactly easy, and it can easily cost more to grow vegetables than it costs to buy them from a store. I got organic tomatoes from Sprouts for .77 a pound yesterday, and have picked them up cheaper prior. There's no way I could compare with my own garden.

I believe local farmer's markets are a more sustainable idea. It would avoid a lot of the preservatives and nonsense that the big corporations add to their food, and it would boost local economies.

I also feel that the bigger problem with food is the waste. There's an awful lot of food that is being thrown out at restaurants, grocery stores, and especially in people's homes.

[Durgan]

I have not seen a so called Farmer's Market worth the powder to blow the whole place to hell.

Most of the produce is simply discards from the Supermarkets, or even worse purchased from the same wholesale supplier, with a few exceptions.

The concept is simply too expensive for producers to attend. Farmer's Markets are an illusion in this day and age.

I am not even remotely suggesting, that all one's food comes from a backyard garden, that is just one of the many prepare your own sources.

[daylily]

I've seen some good farmer's markets but they are expensive.

We grow about 26,000 sq ft of vegetables and dent corn (for cornbrean, grits, hominy and tortillas). I believe that is is possible to grow enough food to feed a family BUT you need enough land and enough farm hands. Those large families of the past made good farm hands. Of course the more family members, the more food you have to grow.

Obviously, one can't grow everything they would LIKE to eat. We can't grow avocados, bananas, some grains, etc. But many could grow everything they NEED to live and be healthy. Livestock take an incredible amount of land for the food they produce. Being vegetarian is much more cost effective.

[Russ]

The concept is simply too expensive for producers to attend. Farmer's Markets are an illusion in this day and age.

I respectfully disagree.

I know a couple of farmers that supply the local grocery stores and attend the farmers markets in downtown Detroit. To separate the good stuff for the grocery stores and the "discards" is simply non-productive. One of the farmers also works a full time job so his time is even more precious.

Furthermore, the local Mom and Pop markets go to the farmers market in Detroit to buy cases of vegetables for their stores. In other words, the farmer IS the wholesale supplier.

If you are ever in the Detroit area in mid-summer, I suggest a trip to the Detroit Eastern Market. Detroit Eastern Market - Detroit Eastern Market

[nuisance26]

My grandmother was a fantastic gardener, had a huge garden, and even she couldn't grow enough to support her family solely from her growings. Given that people's plots are getting smaller and smaller, especially with condos and apartment complexes, it isn't feasible to expect people to grow their own garden. Not to mention that gardening isn't exactly easy, and it can easily cost more to grow vegetables than it costs to buy them from a store. I got organic tomatoes from Sprouts for .77 a pound yesterday, and have picked them up cheaper prior. There's no way I could compare with my own garden.

~I'm a bit surprised by this opinion but I understand why you have it based on your experiences.
I had a square foot garden last year. I had only 3 growing boxes at 16 square feet each. I grew over 70 pounds of organic vegetables with very little effort. Much of that was spinach and lettuce so it was a lot more servings than first glance. I do not have a green thumb at all. I spent about an hour a week of work. SFG is easy! Traditional gardening is hard and not necessary to get great results.
Since the investment in untreated lumber to make my boxes and vermiculite was high to begin, I only came out about $20 ahead for my efforts last year(when comparing to regular vegetable pricing. When comparing to organic produce, I came out a couple hundred ahead). However, every year thereafter, those boxes will grow veggies for just the $3 or so in seed plus homemade compost.
I estimate that I would need 9 boxes and a good system of food preservation to grow most of my family's vegetables. 9 boxes would take up a 24X24 foot area in a yard. That is a very small footprint!
If people have space in their driveway or yard to park more than one car, they have enough room to grow some food. Why not landscape the front yard with food instead of lawn and decorative plants? People just need to change the "norm".~

[daylily]

nusiance26, wow, it sounds like your gardens have done very well!

We are thinking more of edible landscaping lately. Fruit trees are just a pretty as ornamental flowering trees with the added bonus!
We have several fruit trees and berry bushes but hope to get more.

[nodmicks]

Junk food fast outlets are often mentioned as contributing to the obesity epidermic, but this is probably a smoke screen, because the Supermarkets are full of junk food, which is where most people get their food.

I don't know about a smoke screen but the supermarkets are full of junk. I can make a pretty quick trip since I skip most of the store.

[nodmicks]

I have not seen a so called Farmer's Market worth the powder to blow the whole place to hell.

Most of the produce is simply discards from the Supermarkets, or even worse purchased from the same wholesale supplier, with a few exceptions.

The concept is simply too expensive for producers to attend. Farmer's Markets are an illusion in this day and age.

I am not even remotely suggesting, that all one's food comes from a backyard garden, that is just one of the many prepare your own sources.

In no way are the two farmers markets we attend discards or from wholesalers. The closest one is ran by the Amish. I know most of these people personally. Their stuff is excellent, economically priced and pesticide free. The second market is 90% Mung farmers. Their stuff is also excellent but slightly more expensive. Still it is much less expensive that the grocery and of better quality.

My hubby is a big gardener but we still shop these two places. Besides hubby gets some of his gardening tips from the Amish!

[ladytoysdream]

I have not seen a so called Farmer's Market worth the powder to blow the whole place to hell.
Most of the produce is simply discards from the Supermarkets, or even worse purchased from the same wholesale supplier, with a few exceptions.
The concept is simply too expensive for producers to attend. Farmer's Markets are an illusion in this day and age.I am not even remotely suggesting, that all one's food comes from a backyard garden, that is just one of the many prepare your own sources.

I see farmers markets locally as good things. I did 2 last year setting up at. Farmers have to grow their own stuff. I never saw any iffy stuff on anyone's table. Quite a few small farmers and yes their expenses are higher than the big farmers. But we were told at the one market to check the store vegtable prices and stay up to date.
As the season went on, of course the prices came down. But if you were first with something, you could do real good. Stuff was real fresh, and people really liked being able to talk directly to the farmer. More people are getting back to the basics. Asking for recipes etc, for items they may never have seen. Lots of heirloom vegtables. Mostly organic too. They ask how chickens are taken care of when buying eggs. Farmer's markets are doing good in this area.

[Durgan]

What I would like to see: A complete neighbourhood growing a garden.

Every Saturday morning a small stand out front with people selling their excess, similar to a garage sale. The quantity is small and would never be reasonable or economical to transport to a Farmers market.

Often I have excess, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, Romaine lettuce, tomatoes.I could add carrots, beets, egg plant, melons, cucumbers, potatoes and probably other produce. My vegetable part of the garden is about 3500 square feet.

I try to give excess away to neighbours with little success.

This coming year I will Pressure can in juice form, dehydrate some. Freezing I avoid. Vacuum store some for longer short term storage. Root cellar for potatoes, onions and garlic.

[renmerc446]

There's a local garden near me but you have to sort of 'rent' a plot. (I'd love to do that once I start working again.) It's not to far from where I live so I can walk there in the evenings if I have to.

As for Farmer's Markets, I have to agree they're good things. We have one that runs from the beginning of May to the end of October. I know where some of the farms are so I know they're not just some local grocery store knock-offs.

[ferhoodled]

What I would like to see: A complete neighbourhood growing a garden.

Every Saturday morning a small stand out front with people selling their excess, similar to a garage sale. The quantity is small and would never be reasonable or economical to transport to a Farmers market.

That is an awesome idea! I wonder if you could get that going in your neighborhood by putting flyers out before springtime to see who would be interested. I know if someone in my neighborhood did something like this I would definitely be interested.

You could start a new type of food growing movement, Durgan! You could blog about it too. I'd love to read it if you did.

[Durgan]

A major obstacle!

I live in one of the best growing areas in Ontario. The yards in my area are large and all that people grow is grass. I often say with some truth that vegetable gardening is almost a lost art.

With a small rototiller (Honda Fg110) almost all the miserable work is removed with regards to gardening. But I suspect most people avoid this type of work or contemplate it as a misery. Many people consider even cutting the grass as a major physical effort.

It will be a long time before the urban dweller even contemplates growing some of his own food. It is an alien concept for most.

The articles in the media are mostly written by journalists who write without any practical knowledge and verges on being almost silly from the practical view point.

A well tended vegetable plot of even 8 by 10 feet is capable of producing a lot of fresh produce. But I am a voice in the wilderness.

[Trishagirl]

My uncle Tony taught me to garden even thou we lived in the city,we had a small garden in our yard. It was fun to plant seeds & watch them grow into plants then watch the fruit grow! He was the dad I never had.