Dirt, bugs and rocks.
At the age of nine I took no enjoyment from prepping our large garden space for Spring planting. Especially since the rest of the children in the neighborhood were spending their Saturday riding bikes and playing games. I swore that rocks grew from the pebbles left behind the previous year.
Next came planting and then endless hours weeding. Again, instead of playing with my friends I had to work in the garden.
By the time mid-July rolled around though, I would love the harvest of green beans, squash, tomatoes, musk melons, and many other goodies my grandmother would fry up in a huge pan full of lard, or boil in a pot with bacon. That's when I earned my reward for all those days of play I had sacrificed.
Yes, I know that style of cooking is unhealthy, but we've learned haven't we?
Still, there is nothing like eating a fresh picked tomato, or even a pepper or green bean right off the vine.
After I became an adult I cherished the things I'd learned from my Daddy so many years before. At one time I even had a spot in my yard I could plant seeds and watch them grow. Canning tomatoes and freezing green beans were hard work but so worth it come winter.
Due to various circumstances in my life I no longer have a spot to garden in. I miss the therapy of being out in the garden at 8am with a hoe listening to birds serenade me while my thoughts would take me to a calmer world.
I have said all of this to lead up to a solution I have found for my problem. It is something I tried to do before unofficially, but now that I see there is a more official way I believe it's just a matter of getting the word spread. What in the world is this crazy woman rambling on about? Well, its Landshare of course.
What is Landshare? I'm so glad you asked.
The original Landshare organization (as far as I can tell), is in the United Kingdom and they started the whole thing on the internet -
Landshare - Connecting growers to people.
"Landshare brings together people who have a passion for home-grown
food, connecting those who have land to share with those who need land
for cultivating food. Since its launch through River Cottage in 2009 it
has grown into a thriving community of more than 55,000 growers, sharers
and helpers."
It’s for people who:
- Want to grow their own fruit and veg but don’t have anywhere to do it
- Have a spare bit of land they’re prepared to share
- Can help in some way – from sharing knowledge and lending tools to helping out on the plot itself
- Support the idea of freeing up more land for growing
- Are already growing and want to join in the community
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| One of the headers for a page on the Landshare.net pages |
Now for the best part..... We have a United States site that connected with Landshare last year and now, much in the same way one would use Craigslist, people can become connected with others who share the same interest.
SharedEarth.com is a site that connects land owners willing to share some of their land with potential gardeners that do not have land suitable for gardening. In looking over the site it appears that most states have both land owners and potential gardeners listed, even Alaska. However, with that being said there is still plenty of room for growth. I saw nothing listed in my part of my state, yet I know there are thousands of acres of unused land just in my county alone.
Why should one promote and participate in Landshare? Well, just to touch on things a little I will give you some general reasons now, but elaborate more in in a future post.
- Home grown veggies and fruit are very good for you
- The physical activity is good for you
- Part of the earth's job is to grow things; give it life!
- a large amount of oil is used to get food from earth to your table (look it up, it'll surprise you)
- Gardening is something the whole family can be involved in together
- Think of what the kids will learn and pass on to their kids
- someday the ability to take a seed and turn it into food may be all you need to survive
As you have seen in the title, this is part one of this subject. I am waiting on feedback to write part two.
Please, if you find this interesting, or know someone else that will, pass it along. It may be too late in the season to actually start planting for this year, or maybe not. Either way, it is never too early to start planning for next year and making connections.
This whole Earth belongs to everyone so not only do we need to take care of it, we need to be willing to share what we may not need.
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| Our current home |
