By Kim Sykora

Blog czar’s note:  Kim sent this to me a year ago and we didn’t have a chance to run it.  But with the current economic situation I thought it might be timely for some guys.  I’ve seen Kim’s garden and it is a work of art!  The man knows his produce!  But lest you think he be some kind of gentleman farmer, I can tell you that Kim was a missionary dentist for years and runs his own full time dental practice plus leads one of our Family Life Community Groups.  So if you’re interested in talking to him about it you can contact him through Churchbook. 

When Yvonne and I started our sizeable vegetable garden a few years ago, our neighbor brought over the review for a book she, tongue-in-cheek, thought we should read, entitled “The $64 Tomato:  How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden (by Wm. Alexander).  Although we chuckled at the title, the parody appeared to propagate the myth that gardening is an expensive waste of time.  We’re here to tell you it might be worth the effort.

At a time when most of us are feeling the squeeze of rising prices on our family budgets and shrinking income in our jobs, we’ve found that one of our best “investments” is our vegetable garden.  Even a single tomato plant or package of seeds can yield pounds of produce, saving real money, with modest involvement.  Sure, the old “time vs. money” rule applies, as it does take some effort to make it happen.  But you don’t need a ‘back 40’ and a John Deere to produce a budget helping harvest.  With a little time and energy investment out in the fresh air (itself a great benefit) you can develop your own lifestyle-sized vegetable garden. 

If you’ve never gardened or feel you wouldn’t know how to start, don’t despair.  Keep it simple.  Find a small sunny area to dig up and plant a few tomatoes and perhaps a small row of green beans.  Water and weed when necessary and in six to eight weeks, you’ll be enjoying the freshest food you’ve ever eaten.  Asparagus straight from the garden is, in my opinion, absolutely the best!

If you want to jump in this year, you still have a bit of time to plant warm weather crops like eggplant, peppers and tomatoes.  You’ll need to get going right away for beans and cucumbers.  It’s already getting a bit late for peas and lettuce – think of next year for those.

I’d suggest that families make it a family project so it doesn’t just get dumped on Mom.  Perhaps home school families could, with a little creativity, incorporate gardening into their curriculum.  Families who live near each other could even share in the work and yield.  Even if you don’t have much of a yard you can still make it work.  Certain varieties of tomatoes and peppers can be grown nicely in patio containers and still yield good crops.  And if you’re blessed with more than you can eat, a gift of fresh garden produce is a wonderful way to bless someone else – perhaps leading to a Gospel Outreach opportunity.

God originally supplied food to Adam and Eve from a garden.  Surely He knew what He was doing.