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A garden to kill th' beast within and without

A few years ago i grew my first garden. It was high in the mountains with no water source nearby. I had to haul water in a truck to our cabin every few days or so. We didn't get a lot of food from it. But every day in th' spring we had fresh picked snap peas, and salad, and let me tell you those were th' best salads we ate that season. Th' food was still alive. It was fresh and full of energy. The year after that we lived in a rented house in town. We had a small plot to garden. I tilled th' ground with a pick-axe and some other hand tools. We drew layout plans on a piece of paper, got some seeds from th' local food co-op and put them in th' ground. Again, we didn't have much room, we didn't get alot of food. Some salad, cilantro, parsley, and tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes, all from one bush. Lots and lots of tomatoes, we we're swimming in tomatoes, we ate tomatoes, drank tomatoes, gave tomatoes away. We fell in love with tomatoes. And this year we grew more tomatoes. Plus tomatillos, eggplant, basil,
and our very first pumpkins. A pumpkin is a wonderful plant to grow, and if you have th' room, and th' warmth, i strongly encourage you to grow a pumpkin or squash. It is one of th' most rewarding fruits to grow because it takes a long time to ripen, therefore you get to know your food very well before you eat it. You watch it grow day after day. You get to know it's shape, watch it's size grow and it's color change. It becomes a part of your life for a season. You secretly give it a name. It's almost like a pet. And then you pick it, and it sits there where you put it for awhile, being beautiful, attracting the admiring gazes of all who see it. "Wow, you grew that?!" "Yes" you say with a note of satisfaction. And then cooking preparation begins (which for us is where seed saving also begins) You make your soup, or bread, or your favorite squash meal, eat it with friends (most pumpkins are way too much food to eat alone, thus encouraging community!), and reminisce on it's life and yours, on th' connectedness of all things. You remember th' planning, th' ground work, putting that little seed (seemingly dormant, without life, yet all th' while waiting to burst forth into th' world) into th' ground. Watering, hoping, praying, checking th' spot where you put th' seed, rejoicing when you see that tiny bit of green poking it's head above ground for th' first time, pulling th' weeds that try to grow around it, and watching, everyday, as it grows. First leaves, then vines and more leaves, then those beautiful flowers, always with a bee inside, (which are a delicacy themselves, th' flowers, not th' bees) and then th' small green bulge that becomes, over time th' squash you are eating now.
And now a few words on how a garden helps to kill th' beast within and without. First, th' beast within, which shows itself in many ways: greed, haste, consumerism without thought of things past or future. First of all, a garden grows slowly. You're not going to get that tomato in one day. You have to have patience. You have to take care of a garden. In order to take care of a garden you must care for a garden, which means you will have to fall in love with at least a piece of God's creation. When God created the earth, and all things on it, He saw that it was "very good." Now, if something is "very good," we would be wise to pay it close attention. When you grow a garden, you have no choice but to pay attention to land and sky, the earth and it's weather (and while you're out there you'll probably notice the abundance of wildlife in the area), and you will begin to see why it is very good. (I could try and explain it, but you'd best see for yourself.) While spending all this time amongst th' very good, you realize that you too are a part of th' very good, and not at all disconnected. You cannot survive without it, and i dare say, contrary to popular opinion, that it cannot survive without you. Humans are not a virus upon the earth, we have simply been ignorant of and irresponsible with it, but it is our home, just as it is home to all creatures. And we too, like all creatures, have the ability to live in harmony with it. But in order to do so we must see it for what it is, and treat it as such. No one likes to live in a dump, which is what we're headed for. Which brings me to th' point of killing th' beast without. When you grow a garden, you know where your food comes from, what kind of attention it has received, what conditions it existed in before you ate it, and who handled it; in short, you know it's history. And knowing it's history brings with it an appreciation that cannot be bought from th' produce section of a grocery store. But besides knowing th' history of th' food you grow yourself, you also begin to realize that all food has a history. It didn't just materialize in th' store you bought it from. Most of th' food we buy from th' local grocery store travels hundreds of miles on a truck, or thousands of miles on a boat or plane, before we ever see it. And it has been away from it's source of origin for an unnatural amount of time, which in th' case of produce means that it was probably picked unripe, thus reducing its nutritional value (and in th' case of meat, which i will not go into much here, preservatives are usually added). Added to that, with the exception of organic produce, most of th' food we eat is grown in nutrient depleted soils, which means that chemical fertilizers, often coupled with chemical herbicides and insecticides, are used to make them look "healthier". We are told that these fertilizers are easily rinsed off, but we are not told how much is absorbed through th' soil, or what th' effects of eating poison everyday are going to have on our bodies. We are not told that these chemicals end up in our ditches, rivers and streams, thus poisoning all life which depends upon water for survival (fish, turtles, everything alive). Most of our food is grown on large farms, with the aid of large machinery, which depend on foreign oil to run, thus making our food economy dependent on people and places that most of us can only read about. (When the oil runs dry, th' tractors stop running. When th' tractors stop running, large-scale farming ceases. When large-scale farming ceases, and only a few remember how to grow food naturally, starvation begins to look like a real possibility.) On these large farms, diversity of crops is almost unheard of. (There are, for example, over 4,000 known varieties of potato, 4,000 tomato, 3,600 beans, 900 peas, 1,200 peppers, 1,000 squash, 800 lettuces, 600 corns, 400 melons, 200 garlics. These numbers are astounding.) At most only a few varieties of any crop are grown, which end up on produce shelves all over th' world. Most are aware that certain animals are on an endangered species list, but few realize how many plant species are also in danger of extinction. Th' loss of these plants carry with them th' loss of genetic information, diversity and history. Ultimately, what all of these losses lead to is a loss of culture. Ours is a culture with little known history. We are a rootless people with a very bleak looking future. Our history is in the earth. In th' dirt that we are made from and that our food (at least our real food) is made from. And our future is also. Which brings me to the importance of buying locally grown food. There are several advantages to buying locally produced food. Because it will not have to travel so far and long before it gets to you, th' food will be fresher. If it is produce, it will be more nutritious because it most likely will be allowed to ripen before it is picked. The amount of oil needed to transport th' food will be dramatically reduced, thus strengthening our local economies and reducing air pollution, as well as our dependence on foreign oil. Local produce is often grown on small farms, which means that th' farmers can pay more attention to their crops, care for them more easily, and grow a greater diversity of produce. Also, most people with small farms eat th' food that they grow, th' same food that they offer to th' rest of th' community. This means, among other things, that th' food is taken care of, and usually organic. Not too many people want to put poison on their own dinner. Which leads me to say, if a farmer won't eat th' food he grows, you probably shouldn't either. Small farmers often grow a much richer diversity of food than that of larger, corporate farms. Another obvious advantage is that you can easily go to th' place where your food is grown. You can see th' land and meet th' farmers. You can talk to them about your food, learn where it originates, how long a certain variety has been around. You may even be able to trade with them, or share seeds. Sharing, self subsistence, taking care of your neighbors, all these are enemies of capitalism and consumerism. Great for th' communities we live in and care about, but very bad for an economy that cares nothing for us, that wants us to buy in ignorance everything that we need and want, and then buy it again, and again, and again. In our mad desire to consume the economy is made stronger. But th' more we buy th' less we have. For we trade intelligence and practical know how for disposable products purchased with our time. We are feeding the very economy that enslaves us. And we don't even know that we're enslaved until we try to live a different way. For example, try going a whole week spending less than five dollars. Over half th' world's population does this. But in this country it's very hard, even for th' poor. And you will not be looked upon fondly for it, at least by most people. You'll get a lot of "why would you want to do that?" questions, and few will understand your answers. Those who do not feed the economy are not highly respected in this world. For our economy, while in disguise as an abundant producer, is in reality an abundant consumer, feeding off of itself and any who will give to it. All it requires of us is all that we have, our very lives. In theory it is possible to stop feeding it, and it will consume itself. But i don't see this happening, except in th' lives of very few. It needs to happen in th' lives of very many to be effective, which is why any little thing that we can do to further that cause is worthwhile. Even if it's cheaper, less time consuming and easier to just buy something, it's still worth more to produce it yourself, or get it from a friend who produced it, for then you are strengthening and supporting real people, who will also strengthen and support you, rather than our economic beast which merely consumes to no end. Make anything you can. Grow anything you can. Buy from your friends and independent artists. Support those who do things, not for capital, but simply because they love to do something, and will do it whether or not they are paid. That's where you will find th' best quality, and th' most caring people. And our network of resources will grow, and together we shall exodus through, and eventually out of, this land of greed and gluttony. Till then let us pray, as Jesus taught us, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.