If you drive through the streets of Westlock, you will see some nice gardens. You will also see many unused or underused spaces that are simply collecting weeds.
It’s a shame, really, but it’s inevitable in a day and age when gardening seems to have gone the way of sewing, quilting, and a host of other hobbies not driven by digital technology. People just don’t seem to have the time anymore.
Perhaps, people would do well to make the time.
There was a time when people grew gardens out of necessity, rather than just as a hobby — and it is entirely possible that the time will come when people again grow gardens out of necessity.
Food prices the world over are rising, which are directly related to increasing global populations and increasing demand for energy. Anyone who has been buying fresh fruits and vegetables over the past decade will tell you that a dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to, and it’s likely to get worse.
Even today, the benefits of a backyard vegetable plot are many.
For one, taking care of a garden plot gets you out of the house and into the sunshine, such as it is this summer. It’s not like summer television programming is good enough to justify staying inside through the short bursts of warm weather we get.
For another, growing your own vegetables will undoubtedly save you a bit of money at the grocery store, and the quality of the food is much better, to boot. Nobody can taste peas from a frozen bag and say they’re better than peas fresh out of the pod.
Most importantly, though, we should seriously consider gardening because it’s an important part of our heritage. Our ancestors who came to this country had to raise most of their own food as a matter of survival, and many would be rolling in their graves if they knew there were some among us who can’t tell a kohlrabi from a rutabaga.
It is a wonderful accomplishment for the Pembina Garden Club to have reached its 50th anniversary this year, but it should concern us — not as individuals but as a community — that the club’s numbers are dwindling and that gardening in general is going the way of the spinning wheel.
