Lessons From the Vegetable Garden

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Though the dung beetle’s work might seem like a crappy job to us, in the beetle’s world, this labor-intensive ball is soon to become a nursery.
Though the dung beetle’s work might seem like a crappy job to us, in the beetle’s world, this labor-intensive ball is soon to become a nursery.
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Growing food cultivates our awareness of other lives, such as this fluffed-out Baltimore oriole. 
Growing food cultivates our awareness of other lives, such as this fluffed-out Baltimore oriole. 

After a recent talk I gave to a Sierra Club chapter, someone asked what I consider to be the most promising evidence of humanity’s interest in sustainability. I’d never been asked that particular question before, but my answer sprang to mind immediately.

“Vegetable gardening,” I said without hesitation.

There’s a burgeoning interest, around the world, in the cultivation of vegetables for food. We see it in our correspondence, in our research, in the traffic to our website and in the growing volumes of advertising MOTHER EARTH NEWS runs for seed companies and outdoor equipment manufacturers. The spectrum of vegetable gardeners is expanding, from the container gardener nursing three tomato plants on the deck of a townhome to the enthusiast guiding a big rototiller up and down the rows of a half-acre plantation.

Some people make fun of us. They claim we spend more on seeds and tools than we save on groceries. They don’t understand that our time in the garden — up to our elbows in soil, weeds and bugs — can be as valuable as the same time spent with the most expensive therapist on Park Avenue or in Santa Monica’s best spa. It is about the food, but it’s not just about the food. The benefits are felt far beyond the taste buds.

Nature provides us with an incomparable education, and the tuition is free. We get regular reminders of nature’s simple laws and its profound wisdom.

  • Published on May 7, 2012
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