I had to find some way to keep myself sane and building a healthier food system that could help us mitigate and adapt to climate change... seemed like hopeful work.
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If you’re like me and have only a windowsill to work with, no worries. According to Acadia Tucker, there’s plenty you can do with it to get to a point where you’re growing herbs all year long, and even harvesting peppers and tomatoes in February.
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The resurgence of Victory Gardens is more than a simple trend—it’s exciting and meaningful. The last time a community of citizen gardeners joined together on such a broad scale, empowered to grow their own food and stand as one to rouse positive change, was during World War II, when nearly 20 million Victory Gardens popped up in backyards and patches of land all over the country.
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Pest populations can explode even if you keep your soil healthy and maintain a balanced garden ecosystem. Pest management is a natural part of growing plants and occasionally gardeners need to rely on external control measures like spraying pesticides. Organic gardeners shy away from using pesticides for some very good reasons. Sprays, particularly if they are not organic, can kill beneficial bugs and insects, like the bees that pollinate your raspberries or the insects that cycle nutrients through your soil. Pesticides also find their way into the food chain because plants absorb chemicals through roots and leaves. Fortunately you can mitigate the risk of using pesticides by relying on ones certified for organic use, which tend to be derived from plants or bacteria.
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When I moved to the Pacific Northwest eight years ago to start a market farm, it was my first experience growing food on a large scale. My focus was on planting organic crops and finding enough customers to eat them. It took only a couple of years to add a new farm priority: managing the area’s extreme weather challenges.
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