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We all tend to think that the way we live today, is the way people have
always lived. The past seems long, long gone, and the future seems far
away. We live in suburbia or in a city, we drive to work, we shop in
supermarkets, we are far removed from nature. That, it seems to us, is the
way we are and always were. Our only contact with the outdoors are the
carefully manicured lawn and the ornamental plants in our garden -if we
are lucky enough even to have a garden. But in reality, this way of life
has only existed for around fifty years or less!
If you think back, you might remember that your grandparents grew fruit
and vegies. Our own grandparents grew huge quantities of food in their
gardens. They grew their own potatoes, beans, peas, cabbages, asparagus
and much more. They had chickens. They had different fruit trees,
cherries, apples, plums, pears. Berries were a part of the garden. And
when harvest time came around the kitchen was filled with glasses of
preserves. This was an important part of their lives. This was the way
they were brought up, a part of their heritage.
People in all parts of the "western world" used to have their
own gardens and used to produce at least some of their own food. Then it
all changed very, very fast. In the sixties and seventies gardening became
much less fashionable. In our modern societies growing your own food
suddenly became an admission of poverty. Ornamental plants and lawns took
over from fruit and vegies.
For us it's a little bit like reinventing the wheel now: we grow our own
food, but we make mistakes which our grandparents would never have made!
It's a little sad, but it's also a really great feeling to get back into
the old way of gardening, just with a few modern twists here and there.
And it's great to know, that when we grow our own food, we also help to
create a better environment. Our vegies come from our garden beds, not
from monocultures hundreds of kilometres away. Just try to work out the
input of fossil fuels in food offered at the supermarket! |
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