People have been growing their own food for centuries! It was a means of living – a way to survive.
Do you know that George Washington as well as Thomas Jefferson were avid gardeners that would collect seeds in Europe during travel, and bring them back to their gardens here in the U.S.? Mary Washington grew in her own garden, a kitchen garden. This is called the lower garden at Mount vernon and it is the garden where most of the herbs and vegetables were grown for consumption by her family. At all of the grounds mentioned, growing food, and raising animals for meat, eggs, and dairy products, and just farming and homesteading was really the heart of the activities. Everything was centered around the mindset “to provide”.
When you visit places such as Mount Vernon, Monticello, The White House, or Williamsburg, you will notice that vegetable gardens and herb gardens are a standard thing. These were wealthy people in their day, and albeit with the help of slaves, they grew their own food!
Until the first actual grocery stores opened, people depended on markets and vendors for their unique groceries such as teas and spices, as well as dried products. You had your baker, a butcher, your fishmarket, a cheese shop, and at the market, you could find your textiles, vegetables, etc. You could barter and trade within communities as well and many people grew food in their own backyards.
With the first grocery store in the U.S. which was Piggly Wiggly that opened in 1916 in Memphis Tennessee, a new era started. The era of conveniences. A convenience store allowed for the sale of prepackaged dried and fresh items, and with this convenience, people got well spoiled and persuaded.
Industrial revolution allowed for rapid expansion and grocery stores opened up everywhere, ultimately at cost of your smaller mom and pop shops, like the bakery, butcher, produce market, because stores became larger with a place to conveniently buy everything on hand.
One may say: “We have done well, and it is awesome that we have convenience stores!” Is it really?
We have gone from a society that knew how to survive war, a great depression, and one that knew how to live without refrigerator, airconditioning and electric appliances, to a society that is depending on services for everything! Electricity, gas, food, water, and technology as well, to the point of home delivery of your groceries, directly to your home.
Think about this… Your money is in a bank who maintains your account for you, they now charge you to maintain your account, that used to be free! Banks used to make money on lending money at interest! That was their business. Now they make money just to send you an online statement each month, which, by the way is a fully automated process. We have Internet, cellphones, laptops, tablets, all to maintain convenience of information, which put the printed newspapers in a bind and several went out of business or just modernized their business model. It saves trees, yes, though what if something knocks out your powergrid, where are you going to get your news?
You pay your bills electronically, no more physical money is exchanged in most transactions…if you need something, you look online, buy it, and items are delivered to your doorstep. You really do not even get out of your house anymore because thanks to Covid, many people can now work from home!
Let’s make a jump to the past. You blink your eyes and you are transported to 1929. This was the start of the great depression, where the economy collapsed, banks collapsed and people were really suffering under the inflation because people did not have money.
Look at all of these conveniences that you enjoy today, then think about what if power was out for a month, or what if your gas and groceries became so expensive due to inflation that even upper middle class people have to make choices between gas or food? (Many seniors on fixed income and minimum wage people already are in this situation). What if your food supply chain is threatened? If Covid taught us one thing, it is uncertainty, and how sensitive our infrastructure really is, how corporate America as well as politicians are not out there to support you for your best interests but rather for their own financial gain and special interests, and how easy it is to go upside down when there is no solid social network to fall back on
I have a vision for Deltona Garden Club and for anyone that we can get involved in Deltona and surrounding areas.
I want to bring back the old homestead gardens, as well as victory gardens.
I am challenging anyone who reads this to help build a community where people help each other, where people share their stories, ideas, and even barter for produce. You do not need to live in Florida to do this, you can do this anywhere. At Deltona Garden Club we want to help people grow by educating them on how to grow food in their own backyards.
I believe that the trend that has been happening throughout western society is a dangerous one. We have gotten away from doing things for ourselves. If we were forced to do this now, we would have a massive failure and breakdown of society. I know that this is an extreme but it could happen…. We no longer have the knowledge of basic survival skills and we depend on large corporations to do for us instead for anything from food to medicine to clothes, everything! It comes at a big cost, because if the supply chains break, you are in trouble. When you can grow your own food, you may fail at some things and succeed at others, but at the end of the day, your food is there, fresh, healthy and you can still stay home in your own backyard!
I am calling on everyone, young and old to join us in our efforts with Deltona Garden Club to work towards a better, secure tomorrow.
Your efforts to gain independence from the food supply chain by growing your own produce may prove to be one of your most valuable skills yet! Anyone can plant a seed, everyone can grow, even if it is lettuce or herbs on your kitchen counter. We are here to guide you in growing your own food and become more self-sufficient and we are here to ensure that you are supported in your efforts.
If you want to learn more about Deltona Garden Club, you can visit the site or even sign up as a member here. We are a chapter of Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, and nationally recognized under National Garden Clubs.
Inga’s Creations 