Grow Your Own – Garden Tour 9/18!

Local food is gaining in popularity, but it’s not a popularity contest.  It’s an act of self-preservation at some level and a rising consciousness about the impacts of our food dollars when spent in the industrial agriculture system.  The increasing number of food recalls in our country and the seeming acceptance of it by authorities has people questioning the safety of the food and the degree to which we can trust the people producing it.

It stands to reason that trust is enhanced when we can look the farmer in the eye, ask our questions, visit their farms and pay them directly. And so nationwide, we find farmers’ markets experiencing their best seasons ever this summer.

The other reliable path to local food you can trust is growing it yourself!  Who better to oversee the inputs in your diet than you?  Last year was the single greatest increase in people having their own gardens, an 18% increase over 2008, with 7 million households growing some portion of their own food.

Our own community reflected this same national explosion.  Not everyone has space at their own household, so Community Gardens offer an efficient and beautifully community-oriented solution.  Not only do people grow their own food, they come to know their neighbors and share excesses and gardening duties. Spokane now boasts over 11 community gardens, and some of our schools are fortunately starting to add them as well. This weekend, on September 18th, Spokane’s Community Gardens are open for self-guided tours from 10am-2pm.  Print the map above and choose your route!  Call Pat at 924.4572 if you have questions.