No garden variety plan

I’ve got sun stroke, a burnt melon and I’m sure to be woken this evening by the thriving pains of leg cramps and to be honest this is the best I’ve felt in two weeks. It been almost two weeks since spring made her grand arrival and let us all know that her sister summer was on her way, a sure sign that in the garden is the place to be. As I began to plan my vegetable garden in the early days of May I was taken back by the amount of food related material popping up in the local press and not the typical, condom found in a big mac crap that we’re so quick to turn over our two quarters for, no, real hard nosed, issue laden copy involving research, quotes and a whole host of other true journalistic qualities.

All signs point to a total collapse of the world food infrastructure in the near future, some say months, some say years, some, decades but those most informed when in comes to the world’s food crises seem to believe that it could happen at anytime. A large earthquake, a meteor from space, biochemical warfare, fire, flood or drought could all sink the current food-frastructure in no time at all.

Being in a country that is amongst the privileged few attaches it self to a certain amount of guilt regarding things like over purchasing, over preparing, over producing and our general being of abundance all of which contribute greatly to the world’s food crisis. After two weeks of reading about how irresponsible we as North-Americans have become in terms of food waste well billions starve around the world I just plain, lost my appetite.

The completion of my vegetable garden couldn’t have come at a better time, despite working fifty hour a weeks I was struggling to putdown more than one meal a day. Mental hurdle, apparently.

Following a little blood, dirt and a whole lot of perspiration I sat exhausted in my backyard admiring my handy work and devouring a bottle of organic ale. It could be the ale, more likely the reward, for doing my little part in trying to curb the world hunger crisis but my appetite has returned. My backyard garden may not feed a belly in Manila or greatly reduce my eco-footprint but it certainly makes me feel like I’ve done my little part.

B.B.Q.’s up.

Zoltan Black