Urban Farming Oz

You hear it all the time, "We just bought a new house", "it's has 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms, a separate parents retreat........." They go on to describe it's location, views, schools, shops but how often do you hear about the land. Sadly less and less, and I guess justifiably so as the McMansion almost fills the block, the space between you and the neighbours is paved, as is most of the front yard to allow for extra off street parking. Ah... the back yard, the retreat, well once space is taken out for a clothes line (yes some people still have them), the barbie, the pool well........ no space left. No room to garden, besides there is no sunshine for plants to grow, the eternal shade of the neighbouring McMansions, just meters away.

And in 50 years it will all be gone, collapsed and worn out, but the land will remain. So for those of us who do have land, it is our responsibility to take advantage of what we do have. Use it wisely and get people thinking about using what little they have. Besides why own a lawnmower to mow 20 square meters of lawn, grow your salad instead!

Have you ever noticed that often, when tomatoes that sprout from your compost grow, they usually only produce cherry tomatoes?There is a reason for this, they are the offspring of hybrid plants. When hybrid plants pollinate themselves they usually produce a less productive plant.

Up until the 1960's farmers kept some of their crop as seed stock to use in the following year. In fact they kept several years worth on hand as insurance. With the introduction of hybrids and GM (Genetically Modified) this all changed. Not only was the resulting crop of lesser yield and quality, it may also be illegal to save seeds from these crops. In recent years courts have allowed companies to patent DNA strings so that they are the only one who can sell that seed stock or seedling. Why were these varieties introduced? This was done for a number of reasons, for the ability to store them for long periods of time and transport them over long distances and to produce varieties resistant to various weed killing sprays. The final result is to increase production, efficiency, supply and profits.The recently released documentary, Food Inc. explains the process very well.

To make it even worse for the farmer, some big chain supermarkets nominate the varieties of produce they choose to buy. When they choose these hybrids producers are often unable to sell their produce and are forced into producing only particular varieties. As consumers, we're left with no choice but to buy what the supermarkets stock.

Fortunately though, we still do have a choice, we can either choose to grow our own, open pollinated, non hybrid, or heritage varieties or choose to buy from the farmers market or local green grocer who sells organic, non hybrid varieties. Growing even some of your own produce gives a great sense of satisfaction and achievement, as well as a unique freshness and flavour.

Next time you buy seed stock for your garden, do some research first. Make sure that the seeds you buy are open pollinated, non hybrid, or heritage varieties that you can keep the seeds from, not only legally but so that you have your own seed vault ensuring that you are not dependant on others for the supply of seed stock. Check out Seed Savers, http://www.seedsavers.net/. Saving seeds is of vital importance if we don't want to live in a world where we are dependent of huge global corporations, and their survival for our most basic needs. When I said we have a choice, we do now, but maybe not if we don't act now.