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is, the savings accrued to the weekly
food budget just about offset the
cost of a few hand tools, seeds, ferti–
lizer and water. People normally do–
na te their time to a hobby without
expecting an hourly wage. Garden–
ing is no different. And this hobby
gives the same relaxation, recreation
and diversion as do other hobbies.
In addition, gardeners reap a fruit–
ful harvest of good food.
Of course, home-grown fruits and
vegetables require a little more ef–
fon. Even so. the hidden payoffs
more than roake up the difference.
For example, as late as the 1930's,
large numbers of French factory
workers, white-collar workers and
smaU shop keepers joined together
in an organization known as the
Workingman-Gardeners' Associa–
tion, which grew to severa! miUion
members. These working people
lived on small acreages in the coun–
try, but worked in the cities. Later,
when economic depression and
unemployment struck Europe, these
working people simply "dug in" and
subsisted on their small acreages of
ground. These proud Frenchmen
simply did not have to depend on
dote lines and welfare. Jnstead, a
vegetable garden, a few chickens,
and a couple of milk goats, along
with sorne good physical labor, pro–
vided them a comfortable means of
weathering the economic storm.
Psychological Benefits
Even during relatively normal
economic times, gardening is a re–
laxing. productive diversion from
the frantic pace of life in the city
where people a re battered , dis–
lodged and uprooted by many
shocking experiences. Planting a
seed and watching it grow exactly as
expected and realizing that your
own physical body is also dependent
on soil. air. water and living things
- just like plants growing in a home
garden - can be psychologically
stabilizing.
To pause and meditate on the
PLAIN TRUTH Morch 1973
HEALTHY SOIL
(left) is created by adding compost, which is made from leaves,
straw, animal manures and other organic material allowed to decompose. Children,
intrigued by an earthworm (above), make many exciting discoveries in a family gar–
den. Below, a tiny predator spider waits to capture an insect attrocted toa cucum–
ber flower - a little known example of the finely tuned ecological relationships
which can be observed in a home garden.
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