Well, actually, it is because I have a sad, little garden. When I started this blog in March 2007 it was to be more than just gardening. I wanted my life-style to be a lot more sustainable and this blog was a way of pushing myself into action. I looked at all the negative impact my western lifestyle has on the planet and angsted about all the little things I could do which would, in theory, add up to big changes. I felt though that I (and, by association, my family) weren’t really getting anywhere.
I’ve come to feel now though that the garden is the answer to everything. Want to reduce the rubbish you send to landfills? Eat from your garden. Want to reduce your carbon footprint? Eat from your garden. Want to teach your children about the natural world? Eat from your garden. Want to save a pile of money? Eat … well, you get it. If I can get the garden right, everything else will just be right too.
Linda Woodrow says it better in her introduction to The Permaculture Home Garden:
” I can’t help thinking that developing systems of clean, ethical agriculture is the most important step towards making sure this earth survives. Really clean, ethical agriculture can only be done by gardeners, in small intensive plots for very local consumption. Gardening is a way of doing something about the greenhouse effect, soil degradation, the ozone layer, fossil fuel depletion, genetic diversity, wilderness preservation, recycling – just about everything from Star Wars to saving the whales. The wonder of it is that it is a step I can take individually, in my own backyard.”
I’m proud to say that I’m no longer the kind of person who kills spider plants and succulents. I’m even keeping my son’s collection of carnivorous plants healthy. We’re eating something out of the garden most days and I’m slowly getting better at organising things out there.
That’s not to say the garden isn’t still a bit sad. We’re still a long way from self-sufficiency!
Here is a picture of the sad little garden at its birth in November 2006:
Here is a picture of my less sad and far less little garden in January 2008:
Ah well, at least some people in this world do worry, such as yourself. Otherwise the world would have gone belly-up ages ago ; ) Good luck with your garden! Don’t worry, plants tend to die at my hands, too. But I have grown basil from scratch and made pesto with it, so I can’t be too bad
Comment by shelleys — March 2, 2007 @ 12:24 am
Great site – and brilliant links. Thanks! A real inspiration to those of us with similar aspirations and concerns. Keep up the blogging
Comment by occasionalgoat — September 19, 2007 @ 10:11 am
Cheers for that! I love comments like this.
I really should update this page. My garden is still pretty sad but now it’s a sad, enormous garden…
Comment by nzecoworrier — September 20, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
Great to read a Kiwi blog. The beans don’t look sad. Cheers, Jenny.
Comment by Jenny Litchfield — May 20, 2008 @ 9:04 am