This morning I read an article in our national paper on Greece. Yes, they’re throwing firebombs at one another and protesting up and down in Athens but — one woman’s quiet voice made itself heard. From her balcony. Where she’s started growing veggies outside her parents apartment to feed the family.
Her plan is to expand her patch of lettuce, carrots, onions, coriander and spinach from the balcony to the roof in due course. The way things are heading in Greece many more will have to do something similar to make ends meet.
And Greece is just one country. Admittedly it’s well and truly in the news but it’s far from being alone when it comes to people having to face facts. That food is expensive. That money is short. And that growing your own food is the only rational way of helping to make ends meet when the housekeeping budget goes the way of the national budget.
The article (sorry it’s in Swedish) also describes how a local organization called something like “Gardens in the City” is involved in helping people get started. As we all know, there’s usually a ton of trial and error before your first carrots look like the ones on the seed packet, but once you get the hang of it it’s all astonishingly easy.
Which is where we have to help one another out. Gardeners who “can” help gardeners who want to learn. Generation to generation, neighbor to neighbor. I know I’m an optimist but this is hardly rocket science. And we all, deep down, want things to be good. At least that’s what I believe.
Now this article doesn’t say a word about Bokashi. Chances are they don’t even know about it yet. But it’s the obvious missing link and in due course things will fall into place.
Meanwhile the most important thing is to get the first little salad patch going on every balcony and every rooftop. In Greece and everywhere else. And then give your neighbor a hand with theirs…
Bokashiworld 