  |
|
|
|
The seed catalogues have arrived. There is something quite comforting about leafing through a seed catalogue, enjoying the pictures and dreaming of your garden when outside the temperature hovers around minus 20 and there is a foot of snow on the ground. It gives you hope. Hope that spring will indeed come. That day, which seems so far away right now, will eventually arrive. I don't plan to buy any seeds this year. Last year I saved more than enough and my personal seed bank is in good shape. I will plant out some of the older seeds in order to keep the stock healthy.
I have been re-reading E.F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful and recommend it to anyone who is interested in healthy communities and sustainable living. Food production works best on a small, local and interconnected scale. Farming and food prodcution requires considerable knowledge and planning. It becomes even more complex when you want to strike a balance between your family's food needs and creating a space that belongs to Nature. Diversity is essential and this is one reason why small farms can meet society's food needs better than the large industrial farms can. Successful small farms do not rely on a single crop. They are diverse in their nature. The most prosperous become an ecosystem where each part feeds another part until all are full. The urban farmer is looking to emulate the small farm and develop as diverse a crop as possible. The Urban Farm requires this same diversity if it is to meet the goals of providing food for the family while maintaining a thriving ecosystem. If the small farm system, urban or rural is to be successful it is essential that the growers have control over the seeds which they require to produce next year's food crop. If they do not have access to seed and are forced to buy them each year, not only do they lose control of this (the seed) irreplaceable part of the food production system, they lose control over the complete food production system. The seed is the beginning and the ending. If you have land and are not yet growing food, then I recommend that you give it some serious thought. If you don't want to grow your own, then perhaps you'd be willing to let someone else farm your property in exchange for a share in their production. You could also look for local farmer's markets, community shared agriculture or a local farmer who sells from the roadside stand. Whatever way you find to increase your own food security, remember that if you think globally and eat locally, you have set out in a positive direction. Go To Page: 1 |
|
|
|
