The situation with energy in our world is too fragile to leave our food supply subject to the vagaries of supply and demand. Moreover, with all the pesticides and fertilizers being dumped on our farms, the safety of mass-produced food has never been more of an issue.

We have a responsibility to our families, indeed to our nation, to insure that we have a reliable food source in order to survive.

That's why we're proponents of gardening in all its forms as a way to supplement, if not replace, store bought foodstuffs.

We call it the Peace Garden.

What's a peace garden? A Peace Garden is simply our term for the age-old concept of growing your own food.

I've had the idea for a while. It seems to be catching on all over. Perhaps it started with me when visiting John's family home in West Virginia, where I fell in love with his uncle's garden. When visiting in the summer, we'd have fresh corn, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, and more!

Gardening has been a core component of feeding their family since before the Great Depression. I guess when you have a family of seven kids, you have to do SOMETHING!

The idea is nothing new. Back in World Wars I and II, the government encouraged people to grow their own vegetables in home gardens. They called them Victory Gardens.

I break the idea of peace gardens into several categories:

Backyard Gardens
Window box or Container Gardening
Community or Neighborhood Gardens
Regional Food Cooperatives

And of course, to deal with all the excess we can't consume or to get foods we don't/can't produce for ourselves:

Farmers' Markets

We've assembled a number of links to help get your creative juices flowing. You'll find them in our Peace Garden Resource Guide.

Gardening's a great way to reconnect with this wonderful planet that is so gracious and hospitable to allow us to experience life here. Perhaps one day you'll give it a try.