Why Go Shopping Anymore?

M E R I D I A N M A G A Z I N E
Why Go Shopping Anymore?
By Mel Bartholomew

Author Bill Kibbyn just wrote a wonderful book called Deep Economy. In one part of the book, he suggests that we might be better off to eat locally and supply our food more locally. This book has to do with world supplies, consumption and markets. It highlights the renewal of methods of providing ourselves with energy, food, entertainment, activities and education more locally?the whole works. But I've got an even better idea.

Let me ask you a simple question. If there is nothing in the house to eat for dinner, why would you want to search for your car keys, go move the bikes and playthings from behind the car, back the car out of the garage, then find the kids and tell them you're going to the store for a few items?

After backing out and turning around, you drive slowly down your street. Then you drive 5 or 10 minutes through traffic. Next you try and find a parking place near the grocery store, which may require going around the block twice before you finally give up and drive into the back lot. In your hurry, it's likely you forget to note where you parked the car.

After looking for a cart and getting in the store, you look over the groceries and decide the fresh vegetable department looks good. You're almost ready to buy a salad from the salad bar, but then you realize you're a little short of money this week, and you know this is a lot more expensive, so you decide to prepare the salad yourself. In fact, why not buy all the ingredients and let the kids help prepare dinner tonight?

As you look through the different kinds of lettuce, radishes and onions, you pick all the good things that go into a salad. Each individual item goes into a separate plastic bag. Then you're ready to scoot out the door, but, of course, it's late afternoon, so there are many other last-minute shoppers jamming up the express line.

There must be someone up there who has more than ten items. I remember a comedian who came over from Russia who said he decided he didn't belong in the express line because he had a whole loaf of bread with at least 15 slices in it. Ha-ha. Anyhow, it was funny when he was on the stage.

The next step is to use your credit card, which increases the time it takes to pay, but at least it doesn't have to be paid off for another couple of weeks. So you are in the clear for a while, and then it is out into the parking lot to try and find your car.

I remember my mother-in-law, a very funny lady, said she always put a big red ribbon on top of her car antenna?but of course, most cars don't have antennas anymore, so this isn't going to help you. Once you finally find your car, you begin the slow drive home. Once you get home, it's time to find the kids again. They've got to get home and washed so they can help prepare the salad tonight!

Now my question to you is this: Why on earth would anyone do all of that?

Why spend the time, money, gasoline and hassle when you could step outside your back door and grab the same items?fresh, organically grown, non-contaminated, never-to-be-recalled, nor handled by anyone else?in two or three minutes? You won't even have to use your credit card. And the kids could pick their own, which makes it a special treat rather than a chore of having to wash and trim the vegetables from the plastic bags you picked up at the store.

What would the table-side conversation be if you had been to the store? Would it have anything to do with family, or vegetables, or health? Probably not. It would involve subjects like not having enough time, overcrowded roads, jam-packed stores and irritation.

But if you had your own Square Foot Garden right outside your back door, I'll bet you the conversation would be around the garden?the vegetables you were growing, the harvesting, the eating, and maybe a list of what else you could grow, along with the question: ?Why didn't we do this a long time ago??

Remember Square Foot Gardening has a special advantage when each child has his own box. Kids only need a 3' by 3', but that produces 9 square feet of gardening space and nine different crops. Having the children sit down with pen and paper and listing nine different things they would like to grow is a lesson in itself of penmanship, spelling, pronunciation, reading a seed catalog, selecting, comparing, and getting the kids to think a little about what they would like to eat.

It might even get some of them to evaluate the pros and cons of having something like radishes, which are ready in four weeks, where a different plant like peppers may take a couple of months before you harvest anything.

Now of course, this example started with you having to go to the store to shop for dinner tonight, which is not always necessary. You might go to the grocery store two or three times a week and do several days worth of shopping. But I think it illustrates the point of the simplicity and the savings in time, energy, harassment, and dollars to have your own garden. It is virtually free, and it is also free from hassle, worry and time-consuming activities.

That's time you could be spending with your family!

Next week I'm going to tell you how easy it is to start a Square Foot Garden at your house. It doesn't matter where you live, how big or small your yard is?you can even do it if you live in an apartment or condo. I'll show you how to start.

If you can't wait until then, go to our web site: squarefootgardening.com. Of course, see?you're learning already. See you next week and Happy Ggardening.

I'm trying my hand at SFG this year. Here's a picture of my boxes before we planted. The best part is that they're just outside the back door.

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As much as I appreciate Mel Bartholomew's SFG method for others, it just doesn't work for me. I tried for two or three years his method and discovered that I couldn't grow what I wanted in the quantities I wanted by his method. I finally went back to gardening the way my father taught me: in rows 2-3 feet apart. I have enough room and I can grow as much as I want. The extra space I give the plants allows them to seek out water below ground without watering even during drought.

I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a memoir of her experience with her family moving from Arizona to Virginia to a farm and living off only local food or what they grew themselves for an entire year. So far I really like it.