Actually that 70's Brit sitcom caused more of a Felicity Kendal craze.
Posted on 07/09/2009 4:25:41 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
The dream of self-sufficiency popularised in the 1970s comedy is not beyond the reach of people living in Britain's five million flats, the organisation says.
Lettuce, tomatoes, beetroot and a variety of herbs can all thrive on windox sills – allowing those without gardens and allotments to join the "grow your own" trend.
Kingston Lacy, a country mansion in Dorset, is one of the Trust properties where windox boxes have been installed. At other properties, hanging baskets have been converted to grow vegetables.
The National Trust has calculated that the nation's windowsills could provide the equivalent of 600 acres of farming land, producing tonnes of cheap, locally-sourced food a year.
The "vertical vegetable garden"campaign is part of the trust's drive to encourage more people to get involved with the growing and preparation of food. It has already given over land on its properties across the country to be create 1,000 allotments.
"If we can share our expertise from our farms and our kitchen gardens and make that available to people who only have a couple of feet on a windowsill, that's a really good start," said Lucy Bendon of the National Trust.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Let the farmers make a living. I love and support my local farmers.
So, is this the English way of telling people that hard times are coming?
Actually that 70's Brit sitcom caused more of a Felicity Kendal craze.
If people have balconey’s then I’d be buying something like large sandboxes filling them with soil and growing as much as I could. Tomatoes can be hung upside down in 5 gallon buckets with a hole drilled in the bottom where the plant can survive. window boxes on the ledge. A balcony could provide a lot of veggies in the summer. I’m glad I have a yard though!
I must be a pesimist...that's the way I Read it.
The Germans have a better way. They make an agricultural area near their big cities, and subdivide it into hundreds of small lots, each of which is surrounded by a fence and has a small tool shed. Every weekend, it is like a flea market, but with hundreds of people gardening, side by side.
There are some limits on the use of chemicals and motor equipment, as it is as much psychological as physical recreation. But such garden parks are well appreciated by the city folk.
Homegrown container veggies in the summer will hardly hurt the farmer. However, it could actually introduce some people to the concept of being self-sufficient. They won’t be, of course, but there is pride and a feeling of control when one can grow something to eat.
Who knows where that might lead?
Every marijuana grower is smiling at yoiur comment!!
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