Gardening and Farming
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GARDENING AND FARMING
“Let’s not dissect the evils of corporate food – let’s feed ourselves! The creation of a garden is as simple as you make it. Be it a barren patch of Earth newly liberated from the smothering embrace of concrete, a rooftop or a porch smattering of five-gallon buckets, it can take any form you desire. Be resourceful! Imagination can manifest square-foot primitive horticulture just about anywhere… Free yourself from wage slavery by eliminating the need to buy some or most of what you eat. Grow enough to feed the nomads among us. Ingesting fresh, native, seasonal plants gives us vibrant health. And how delicious it is to sink our fangs into a succulent squash that we first knew as a seed!”
– The Moment is Ripe, aleksandra, Earth First! Journal, December-January 2002
“Today, 58 million Americans spend approximately $30 billion every year to maintain over 23 million acres of lawn. That’s an average of over a third of an acre and $517 each. The same-size plot of land could still have a small lawn for recreation, plus produce all the vegetables needed to feed a family of six. The lawns in the United States consume around 270 billion gallons of water a week – enough to water 81 million acres of organic vegetables all summer long.
Lawns use ten times as many chemicals per acre as industrial farmland. These pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides run off into our groundwater and evaporate into our air, causing widespread pollution and global warming, and greatly increasing our risk of cancer, heart disease, and birth defects. In addition, the pollution emitted from a power mower in just one hour is equal to the amount from a car being driven 350 miles. In fact, lawns use more equipment, labor, fuel, and agricultural toxins than industrial farming, making lawns the largest agricultural sector in the United States. But it’s not just the residential lawns that are wasted on grass. There are around 700,000 athletic grounds and 14,500 golf courses in the United States, many of which used to be fertile, productive farmland that was lost to developers when the local markets bottomed out.
Turf is big business: $45 billion-a-year big. The University of Georgia has seven turf researchers studying genetics, soil science, plant pathology, nutrient uptake, and insect management. They issue undergraduate degrees in Turf. The turf industry is responsible for a large sector of the biotech (GMO) industry, and much of the genetic modification that is happening in laboratories across the nation is in the name of an eternally green, slow-growing, moss-free lawn.”
– Heather Coburn, author of Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community; http://www.FoodNotLawns.org
In addition to wild foods, the best way to get fresh food bursting with nutrients is to grow your own organic food garden.
Growing a food garden is good for the soul, for the mind, for the body, and for your life. Growing and harvesting your own food gives you exercise; connects you with Nature; tunes you into the seasons; adjusts your frequency to a higher level; bonds you with your environment; and provides you with the freshest food you can possibly have.
If you live in nearly any town or city you are living on land that was once farmland of some sort. Cities now cover most of the ancient farmland. This is because people originally settled on land that was good for growing food. As the settlements grew into towns and cities, houses, stores, schools, churches, jails, office buildings, streets, and parking lots covered the farmland. By planting food gardens in your area you are bringing back an ancient culture of growing and harvesting food.
“Growing our own food decreases pollution because we reduce our participation in the pollution incurred by shipping, packaging, advertising, and selling of commercially grown food.”
– David Wolfe
By maintaining your own organic garden you can feel assured that there are no toxic farming chemicals on your food. Not only will you experience the benefit of getting food as fresh as possible, you will also benefit from food that is nutritionally and energetically stronger than food available at the store.
Chemically grown food is weaker in electrical frequency and has diminished nutritional properties. Studies have shown that organically grown food has a denser reserve of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients than food that has been grown chemically. Perhaps this is because the organically grown plants have to fend for themselves, and don’t rely on chemical fertilizers for nutrients, or depend on chemicals to protect them. Like people who become weak when they are pampered, plants also can become weak if they are grown in an atmosphere where too much is done for them.
In America today about 35 percent of all household water goes to tend lawns. Because there are so many lawns, including those on school campuses, golf courses, cemeteries, around government buildings, office buildings, and even prisons, the number-one crop being produced in the U.S., and many other countries, is landscape clippings.
It is amazing how much time, energy, money, and water is spent in the U.S. and other wealthy countries to try to keep home lawns green. The people get nothing out of it but a green lawn. They don’t have food gardens, even though they have the land to grow them, but instead buy all their food at grocery stores, snack shops, and restaurants. This scenario has helped create the situation that exists today where, on average, the typical meal in the U.S. has traveled 1,250 miles from farm to consumer. This is a terrific waste of resources and causes enormous amounts of pollution.
According to Ted Steinberg, author of American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn, there are 25 million acres of lawn in America, more land than what is used to grow cotton. To care for those lawns, there are more than 35 million gas-powered lawn mowers, and over 25 million leaf blowers. And all this produces things like landscape clippings, air pollution, and polluted soil and water.
Think of how much better people would be if, instead of spending time, energy, water, and money, and using toxic fertilizers and weed killers to try to keep their lawns green and hedges perfectly trimmed, they would plant organic food gardens, including fruiting trees – and let the rest of the land grow wild and free. Not only would they not spend money and time on landscaping, they would save money on food as well. They would pollute less: A typical lawnmower can use enough gas in an hour to operate a small car for over 50 miles.
The products commonly used to keep a residential lawn green and weed-free contain many toxic chemicals. Glyphosate, a chemical in weed killer, which is poisonous to a variety of plants and wildlife, has been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that is becoming more common. Other lawn chemicals are known to cause breast cancer, birth deformities, and learning disabilities. Lawn chemicals also cause health problems in pets and wildlife. Ironically, the companies that manufacture these toxic chemicals are often the same companies that manufacture cancer drugs.
When used as a well-organized food garden, a small plot of land the size of a common lawn can produce more food in a season than a family of four can consume. The result would be that people would be sharing their food with neighbors, family, and friends. The people, their environment, and their community would be healthier.
Growing your own food may be a new concept for those who have lived their lives relying on commercial and restaurant food. It isn’t new to a large percentage of the world’s population that has always grown some or all their own food. Some countries that have relied on commercial food are now encouraging their citizens to grow more food gardens. Venezuela and Cuba are two countries that have been promoting self-sufficiency through home food gardens. The U.S. hasn’t been involved in this type of program since the 1940s. At that time the government encouraged its citizens to grow “victory gardens.” That was a revival of what went on during WWI when the U.S. encouraged people to grow “liberty gardens.”
Even if you don’t grow part, or all, of your own food, you can at least get involved with purchasing foods that have been grown locally. You can find these at your nearest farmers’ markets.
You may also obtain locally grown food through “community supported agriculture” (CSA) co-ops that prepay local farmers for produce. This is an idea that began in the 1970s, and has been growing in popularity in Europe, the U.S., and other regions of the world.
Some people have the idea of moving the CSA and organic farming movement into the restaurant food sector. They want to gather people to gather the finances to open co-op vegetarian restaurants that use locally grown produce.
If you live in a city you may find that growing a garden in an abandoned lot to be an awarding experience. Many people have done this throughout the years and it has spurred activism to create and maintain food gardens in the largest cities. The city or other government department may own the land, or it may be privately owned. Many communities have grown food on such land for many years without any problem from the landowner.
When New York’s Mayor Giuliani announced that more than 100 city-owned lots where gardens had been planted were to be auctioned off to land developers in the Spring of 1999, a citizen’s campaign was organized to save the gardens. It was only a last minute arrangement by entertainer Bette Midler and some others that the gardens were saved as they were purchased by the Trust for Public Land.
In Los Angeles a plot of land that contained garden plots maintained by hundreds of families was bulldozed in 2006. The South Central Community Farm was planted with an enormous variety of food and medicinal plants and trees. It came into existence after the riots that took place after the 1992 Rodney King verdict. Originally purchased by the city through the eminent domain process, the city had planned to build trash incinerators on the site. The local community spoke out against this plan. The Concerned Citizens of South Central organized protests and the city eventually canceled their plan to build the incinerators. After the riots the city offered the land as space for community gardens. Many of the farmers were people who had moved to Los Angeles from Central and South America. As the years went by the farming gardens became a center of community with generations of families involved in planting and maintaining their gardens. Then, the person who originally owned the land wanted it back. In 2003 the land was transferred back to the original owner, who had plans to build warehouses on the property. As time passed, lawsuits were filed and the community organized protests. By the Spring of 2006 the future of the farm was dismal. Community activists gathered to maintain a 24/7 presence. Julia Butterfly Hill, who once famously lived in a redwood tree for two years, joined Darryl Hannah and other activists who camped in the farm. Finally, on a June morning hundreds of riot police were brought in to evict the protestors. Some, including Darryl Hannah, who were camping in a tree, were handcuffed and taken away. In the end the land owner won, bulldozing the gardens and placing people back in line at the supermarkets to purchase their food.
Wherever you are, get involved in growing some of your own food. If you don’t have land, borrow some, or use pots, a roof, or window boxes. Be sure to plant some native flower species so that your garden attracts native bees and other helpful insects.
When you look for plants and seeds to plant in your garden, seek out those that have been organically grown, and that have not been genetically altered. You also may want to try “open pollinated” “heirloom” seeds, which have not been hybridized, and that can provide a better variety of food plants. Look into planting some food plants that you have never heard of.
There are many organizations involved in getting people to grow their own food. From the Slow Food movement that started in Italy when McDonald’s opened at Rome’s Spanish Steps in 1986 to city farming activists, there is likely an organization that is near you and/or can help you get into growing food.
© 2009 John McCabe
Acres: The Voice for Eco-Agriculture, Austin, TX, 78709; 512-892-4400; http://www.AcresUSA.com
Sells books on organic gardening and farming.
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Community Supported Agriculture, http://www.NAL.USDA.gov/AFSIC/CSA/
American Community Gardening Association, Council on the Environment, 51 Chambers St., Ste. 228; New York, NY 10007; http://www.CommunityGarden.org
American Farmland Trust, 1200 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036; http://www.Farmland.org
AppleLuscious Organic Orchards, http://www.AppleLuscious.com
Avant Gardening, http://www.Avant-Gardening.com
Barefoot Farmer, http://www.BarefootFarmer.com
Big Barn, http://www.BigBarn.co.uk
Bio-Integral Resource Center, http://www.IGC.org
Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association, POB 61, Tillery, NC 27887; http://www.BFAA-US.org
Bountiful Gardens, 18001 Shafer Ranch Rd., Willits, CA 95490-9626; 707-459-6410; http://www.BountifulGardens.org
California Certified Organic Farmers, POB 8136, Santa Cruz, CA 95061; http://www.CCOF.org
California Rare Fruit Growers, http://www.CRFG.org
Canadian Organic Growers, http://www.COG.ca
Center for Food and Justice, 323-341-5099; http://www.Departments.Oxy.edu/UEPI/CFJ
Center for Informed Food Choices, http://www.InformedEating.org
Center for Rural Affairs, POB 136, Lyons, NE 68038-0136; http://www.CFRA.org
Center for Vegan Organic Education, POB 13217, Burton, WA 98013; 206-463-4520; http://www.VeganOrganicEd.org
City Farmer, Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture, Box 74561, Kitsilano RPO, Vancouver, BC V6K 4P4; Canada; http://www.CityFarmer.org
City Repair Project, POB 42615, Portland, OR 97242; http://www.CityRepair.org
Coalition of Immokalee Workers, POB 603, Immokalee, FL 34143; http://www.CIW-Online.org
Common Ground Garden Program, http://www.CELosAngeles.UCDavis.edu/Garden
Community Farm Alliance, 614 Shelby St., Frankfurt, KY 40601; http://www.CommunityFarmAlliance.org
Community Food Security Coalition, Venice, CA; http://www.FoodSecurity.org. Site contains listings of community gardening and urban farming resources.
The Cornucopia Institute, POB 126, Cornucopia, WI 54827; http://www.Cornucopia.org
Desert Harvesters, http://www.DesertHarversters.org
Eat Grub, http://www.EatGrub.org
Earth Works Gardens, 1820 Mount Elliot, Detroit, MI 48207; http://www.Earth-Works.org
Eat the View, England, http://www.Countryside.gov.UK/LAR/Landscape/ETV/Index.asp
Ecological Farming Association, Watsonville, CA; http://www.Eco-Farm.org
Edible Estates Initiative, http://www.FritzHaeg.Com/Garden/Initiatives/EdibleEstates/Main.html
Edible Forest Gardens, http://www.EdibleForestGardens.com
Edible Schoolyard, http://www.EdibleSchoolyard.org
Environmental Working Group, 1436 U Street NW, Ste. 100, Washington DC 20009; http://www.EWG.org
Fair Trade Resource Network, POB 33772, Washington, DC 20033-3772; http://www.FairTradeResource.org
Family Farm Defenders, POB 1772, Madison, WI 53701; http://www.FamilyFarmDefenders.org
Farm Aid, 11 Ward St., Ste. 200, Somerville, MA 02143; http://www.FarmAid.org
Farmers’ Legal Action Group, 360 N. Robert St., Ste. 500, St. Paul, MN 55101; http://www.FLAGInc.org
Farming Solutions, http://www.FarmingSolutions.org
Farm Labor Organizing Committee, 1221 Broadway St., Toledo, OH 43609; http://wwww.FLOC.com
Farm Worker Justice Fund, 1010 Vermont Ave., NW, Ste. 915, Washington, DC 20005; http://www.FWJustice.org
FedCo Co-op Garden Supplies, POB 520, Waterville, ME 04903; 207-873-7333; http://www.fedcoseeds.com
Food First, Institute for Food and Development Policy, 398 60th St., Oakland, CA; http://www.FoodFirst.org
Food Not Bombs, POB 744, Tucson, AZ 85702; 800-884-1136; http://www.FoodNotBombs.net
Food Not Lawns, POB 42174, Eugene, OR 97404; http://www.FoodNotLawns.com
The Food Project, POB 705, Lincoln, MA 01773; http://www.TheFoodProject.org
The Future of Food, http://www.TheFutureOfFood.com
Garden Project, http://www.GardenProject.org
Garden Valley Seed Trust, http://www.GardenValleySeedTrust.org
Global Exchange, 2017 Mission St., #303, San Francisco, CA 94110; http://www.GlobalExchange.org
Going Organic, http://www.GoingOrganic.com
Green Guerillas, New York, NY; http://www.GreenGuerillas.org
Helping establish community gardens.
Green People, http://www.GreenPeople.org
Site contains a list of companies that sell organic seeds.
Growing Gardens, 2003 NE 42nd Ave., #3, Portland, OR 97213; http://www.Growing-Gardens.org
Growing Power, 5500 W. Silver Spring Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53218; http://www.GrowingPower.org
Guerrilla Gardening, http://www.GuerrillaGardening.org
A group of people in London who have late night planting parties to enliven previously neglected small plots of city land.
Home Orchard Society, http://www.HomeOrchardSociety.org
Institute for Community Economics, 57 School St., Springfield, MA 01105; http://www.ICECLT.org
International Confederation of Autonomous Chapters of the American Indian Movement, http://www.AmericanIndianMovement.org
International Culinary Tourism Association, 4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd., #440, Portland, OR 97214; http://www.CulinaryTourism.org
International Society for Ecology & Culture, http://www.ISEC.org.uk
The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well Rd., Salina, KS 67401; http://www.LandInstitute.org
Land Stewardship Project, 2200 4th St., White Bear Lake, MN 55110; http://www.LandStewardshipProject.org
Land Trust Alliance, 1331 H St., NW, Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20005; http://www.LTA.org
Local Harvest, Santa Cruz; http://www.CALocalHarvest.org
Searchable database of farmers’ markets, small farms, and related groups and businesses.
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University; http://www.Leopold.IAState.edu
Linking Environment and Farming, England; http://www.LeafMarque.com/LEAF/
Local Harvest, http://www.LocalHarvest.org
Lost Valley Educational Center, http://www.LostValley.org
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, POB 170, Unity, ME 04988; http://www.MOFGA.org
Mindfully, http://www.Mindfully.org/Farm
Mindfully, http://www.Mindfully.org/Food
More Gardens Coalition, 376 E. 162nd St., #2, Bronx, NY 10451; http://www.MoreGardens.org
Mountain Gardens, Burnsville, NC; http://www.MountainGardensHerbs.com
A botanical garden featuring the largest collection of native Appalachian and Chinese medicinal herbs in the eastern U.S.
Mycorrhizal Applications, http://www.Mycorrhizae.com
Information on beneficial fungi that improves soil health, plant health, and crop yields.
National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns, http://www.BeyondPesticides.org/PesticideFreeLawns/DoorHanger/Index.htm
This organization offers door tags you can put on your neighborhood doors encouraging people to stop using pesticides on their lawns. The first 50 are free, and they ask only for a donation to handle the postage. You can also purchase more.
National Family Farm Coalition, 110 Maryland Ave., NE, Ste. 307; Washington, DC 20002; http://www.NFFC.net
National Farm to School Program, Center for Food and Justice, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA; http://www.FarmToSchool.org
National Farm Transition Network, http://www.FarmTransition.org
National Immigrant Farming Initiative, 88 Atlantic Ave., #8, Brooklyn, NY 11201; http://www.ImmigrantFarming.org
Native Seeds, http://www.NativeSeeds.org
New England Small Farm Institute, 275 Jackson St., Belchertown, MA 01007; http://www.SmallFarm.org
New Farm, http://www.NewFarm.org
Sponsored by the Rodale Institute. Community Supported Agriculture information.
New World Publishing, Auburn, CA 95602; http://www.NWPub.net
Books on small-scale farming.
North American Fruit Explorers, http://www.NAFEX.org
North American Native Plant Society, http://www.NANPS.org
Northeast Organic Farming Association, Barre, MA; http://www.NOFA.org
Northern Nut Growers Association, http://www.ICSERV.com/NNGA/Index.html
Organic Volunteers, http://www.OrganicVolunteers.org
Oregon Tilth, http://www.Tilth.org
Organic Gardening magazine, http://www.OrganicGardening.com
Osborn International Seed Co., http://www.osbornseed.com
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, POB 419, Millheim, PA 16854; http://www.PASAFarming.org
Permaculture Institute, http://www.PortlandPermaculture.com
Pesticide Action Network, San Francisco, CA; http://www.PANNA.org
Planet Natural, 1612 Gold Ave., Bozeman, MT 59715; 800-289-6656; 406-587-5891; http://www.PlanetNatural.com
Plan Organic, http://www.PlanOrganic.com
Plants for a Future, 1 Lerryn View, Cornwall, United Kingdom; http://www.PFAF.org
Portland City Repair Project, http://www.CityRepair.org
Portland Permaculture Institute, http://www.PortlandPermaculture.com
Pro Active Ecology, http://www.ProActiveEcology.org
Real Goods, 966 Mazzoni St., Ukiah, CA 95482; 800-762-7325; http://www.RealGoods.com
Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security, http://www.RUAF.org
Robin Van En Center for Community Supported Agriculture; Center for Sustainable Living, Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA; http://www.CSACenter.org
Sacred Earth Institute, http://www.SacredEarthInstitute.org
Safe Food and Fertilizer, http://www.SafeFoodAndFertilizer.org
Salt Springs Seeds, http://www.SaltSpringsSeeds.com
San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG),
Seasonal Chef, http://www.SeasonalChef.com
Seattle Tilth Association, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. North, Rm. 120, Seattle, WA 98103; http://www.SeattleTilth.org
Seeds of Change, POB 15700, Santa Fe, NM 15700; 888-762-7333; http://www.SeedsOfChange.com
Seeds of Diversity, http://www.Seeds.ca/EN.php
Seedsaving and Seedsavers’ Resources, http://www.Homepage.Eircom.net/%7Emerlyn/SeedSaving.html
Seed Savers Exchange, http://www.SeedSavers.org
Seed Savers Network, Australia; http://www.SeedSavers.net
The School of Self Reliance, Los Angeles, CA; http://www.Self-Reliance.net
Slow Food, http://www.SlowFood.com
Slow Food USA, http://www.SlowFoodUSA.org
Small Farm Association, England, http://www.Small-Farms-Association.co.uk
Snow Seed Organic, 831-758-9869; http://www.SnowSeedCo.com
Soil and Health Library, http://www.SoilAndHealth.org
Soil Food Web, Inc., http://www.SoildFoodWeb.com
South Central Farmers, http://www.SouthCentralFarmers.com
Sow Organic Seed, POB 527, Williams, OR 97544; 888-709-7333; http://www.OrganicSeed.com
Spiral Gardens Community Food Security Project, 2880 Sacramento, St., Berkeley, CA 94702; http://www.SpiralGardens.org
SunFowFarm, http://www.SunBowFarm.org
Sustainable Food, http://www.SustainableFood.com
Sustainable Table, New York, NY; http://www.SustainableTable.org
Sustain: The Alliance for Better Farming and Food, London, UK; http://www.SustainWeb.org
Toledo Garden, http://www.ToledoGarden.org
True Food Now Campaign, Greenpeace USA, http://www.TrueFoodNow.org
Trust for Public Land, 116 New Montgomery St., 4th Flr., San Francisco, CA 94105; http://www.TPL.org
United Plant Savers, http://www.UnitedPlantSavers.org
Via Comesina, http://www.ViaCampesina.org
Virginia Association for Biological Farming, Lexington, VA, http://www.VABF.org
Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, POB 915, Charlottesville, VA 22902; http://www.VICFA.net
Washington State University’s Organic Agriculture Program, 888-468-6978; http://www.World-Class.WSU.edu/2006/Organic/Index.html
In 2006 Washington State University became the first university in the U.S. to offer a major in organic agriculture.
White Earth Land Recovery Project, 32033 E. Round Lake Rd., Ponsford, MN 54575; http://www.NativeHarvest.com
Wild Food Adventure, http://www.WildFoodAdventures.com
Willing Workers on Organic Farms, http://www.OrganicVolunteers.org
Women, Food, and Agriculture Network, 59624 Chicago Rd., Atlantic, IA 50022; http://www.WFAN.org
World Social Forum, Rua General Jardin, 660, 8th Flr., Sao Paulo, SP 01223-010; Brazil; http://www.WorldSocialForum.org
Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, http://www.WWOOF.org
Worm Digest, POB 2654, Grants Pass, OR 97528; http://www.WormDigest.org
Zenger Farm, http://www.ZengerFarm.org
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