As for needing sufficient space and light, I attended a conference of community gardeners in the Bronx several weekends ago and was surrounded by hundreds of fellow city dwellers of diverse backgrounds and means who are growing food in all kinds of seemingly improbable spaces in their front and back yards, their rooftops, and even their windowsills, as well as in community gardens.

You’d be surprised at how much food can be grown in such places–witness the Dervaes family in Pasadena, California, who grow enough food on their urban fifth of an acre to not only feed themselves but sell to their local restaurants (learn more about them at pathtofreedom.com).

Yes, gardening can be hard work, and there are always challenges in the form of pesky critters or mysterious maladies that strike without warning, but there are glorious triumphs as well. And there are few things more satisfying than walking outside your back (or front) door and harvesting homegrown greens or berries or herbs that you grew for a fraction of what it costs to buy them in a store–assuming that your neighborhood markets even sell fresh produce, which, sadly, is not the case for many folks.

In neighborhoods where there are no farmers markets or even conventional supermarkets, growing your own veggies may be the only way to have access to fresh produce.

This is a national disgrace, and those who are working to improve access to fruits and vegetables for everyone should be applauded–including the community gardeners who are bringing homegrown produce to these underserved neighborhoods.

The revival of interest in home vegetable gardens is also reconnecting people with nature in a profound, and valuable, way. We have become so disconnected from our food chain, so ignorant of how food is grown and processed. That more and more Americans are becoming enthusiastic about growing food can only be a cause for celebration.

pampered mom try to feed or reasonably supplement a family of 3 from a family/kitchen garden.

even hobby gardeners can testify to the disappointment of slight miscalculation in the angle of the sun that burns the lettuce patch, the rodents or bugs that ate the leeks, the 2-in long carrots with the 12-in high tops….; and to the feeling of thankfulness that their families will not go hungry because of the “crop” failures.

perhaps more importantly, at least here in CA, few have access to sufficient open space/light to plant such a crop.

I’m glad that Fedco chose to go Monsanto-free and that you chose to highlight it!

But I also think that to suggest that so-called “recession gardens” are a viable alternative for the economically downtrodden is naive and a little insulting. Considering the value of time and real estate, hobby gardening is just that–a wonderful hobby.

The Recession Garden: Seeds of Discontent