A few weeks ago I read an article by Michael Pollen in the NY Times, an open letter to the next president "Farmer in Chief" encouraging lots of ways to improve the national food system including the idea of turning the White House lawn into a vegetable garden. I loved this idea and today I came across another website called Eat The View that expands on the concept and has a petition you can sign that they are going to send to President-elect Obama to encourage a First Garden. So click on Eat the View above if you want to sign the petition and while you are there watch the short video, This Lawn if Your Lawn it's great.
I can't speak highly enough of the idea of people having their own gardens as the best way to reduce the cost and transit of food and to really know where your food is coming from. And it takes very little space to grow a significant amount of food. Granted our veg garden is ridiculously large for 2 people and my friends are constantly trying to get us to start a CSA, but really you don't need that much space to have a good variety of vegetables and plenty of them.
In just the past week we have eaten fresh from our garden: lettuce, radishes, collards, kale, radish greens, mizuna, arugula, nasturtiums, celeriac, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, green onions, dill, parsley, cilantro, swiss chard, bok choy, tatsoi, purple mustard, peppers, and shitake mushrooms , plus onions and garlic dug and stored in the summer and stuff we froze last summer like tomato sauce, minestrone soup and whole tomatoes. I kid you not when I say we haven't bought a vegetable in months.
So if you aren't convinced yet, seriously consider getting some ground ready this winter and next spring PLANT A GARDEN!
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