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Grow your own - it's good for the planet
Marika Wagner, nursery staff member at Bulleen Art and Garden (an SGA certified garden centre) raises some important issues regarding fruit and vegetable growing, and the politics of growing in drought conditions.
To 'grow your own' fruit and vegetables is one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do and here's why!
1) Saves water. According to a study done by David Holmgren, co-founder of 'Permaculture', (Holmgren Design Services) efficient backyard growers can use as little as one fifth of the water compared to commercial growers per $ value of produce.
2) Saves up to 25% of greenhouse gases, by eliminating 'food miles'. This means our fruit and vegetables don't use excess energies, that is, they aren't being machine harvested, transported to sorting sheds, stored in cool rooms, transported to market, then to supermarket, lit up by fluorescent lights, and then transported again to homes to be then stored again in the fridge. Plus they lose vitality and freshness along the way.
3) Reduces the overall Australia wide use of biocides like herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. This is because home produce gardens are naturally quite biodiverse and of a small scale, therefore more resilient, and easy to apply natural pest control methods to.
4) Frees up agricultural land to revert back to natural systems which means more beauty for our children, our grandchildren, our tourists, our wildlife and us to enjoy. It means a chance for the planet to gain back forests, biodiversity, water catchments and salt free topsoil.
Growing your own is good for us too
Home grown fruit and vegetables give us the best of nutrition by giving us access to fresh produce at our doorstep that still contains its maximum amount of vitamins and live enzymes.
Everyone knows that the fresher the food, the higher the vitamin content, but enzymes are important too because they aid the body to assimilate foods properly without causing undue stress and premature aging on the body's own enzyme producing systems. How many people become sick unnecessarily because of poor digestion and malnutrition? Stomach cancer, bowel cancer, fatigue and feeling old before you're old? For us to gain the benefit of live enzymes, the food must be uncooked and less than 3 hours old, something you can only get from a local garden!
Brings people and families together outdoors to gain healthy organic produce, fresh air, exercise and an awareness of our connection with nature. Get off that couch!
Saves money. Not all of us can afford an organic grocery bill every week, but most of us can afford some packets of seed and a bag of organic fertiliser that will provide for months.
Gives us something to be proud of, and not just for the reasons above but consider: Punnets of mixed herbs, tomatoes and basil, $14 Bag of organic fertiliser, $5 Serving your first, delicious, organic, home grown pasta sauce... priceless!
Now for the serious political bit:
Under Stage 3 water restrictions, we are only able to water our gardens twice a week with mains water and under Stage 4, mains watering on gardens may not be allowed at all.
While keeping high water use ornamental gardens and lawns maintained can be seen as a luxury in times of water shortage, forcing us to let our produce gardens become unproductive or die while existing swimming pools and spas can be topped up by mains water seems ridiculous!
We're forced go to the shops to buy our fruit and vegetables that have been transported from goodness knows where, and pumped full of water by someone else. Why can't we spot water our important plants from a watering can when needed in between watering days? Gardeners would still be using a lot less water than if we were allowed to use a hose or watering system whenever we wanted.
In the big picture, forgoing our produce gardens does not save water for Victoria and nor is it the most environmentally friendly thing to do. Most people are doing what they can and by now have got or are waiting (in a very long queue) for a water tank and are using grey water when and where they can.
Education on efficient water use is the key to saving water for Victoria, not forcing gardens to dwindle and perish. Don't even get me started on the imminent death of many trees that are older than our great grandmothers...
SGA staff member Ann Kostos supplied the photograph of her productive vegetable garden.
Footnote
Marika has been on the front page of local newspapers and even The Age. She has also been interviewed by numerous radio stations. The petition was presented to the Victorian Water Minister, Tim Holding, during February 2008.