It’s spring! And indeed it is a gloriously warm and sunny day here in Perth, Western Australia on the 1st of September.

The garden is feeling it and thriving on the home-made compost we add regularly and the soil is still holding moisture from the winter rains, under all that mulch. Vegetables include cabbages, broccoli, silverbeet, beetroot, onions, tomatoes, lettuce (tons of it from last year’s self-sown seed), garlic and parsley. Passion fruit and Cape gooseberries are doing well.

But is this a Utopian dream of eating what you can grow yourself, when living in the city?

Half the world’s population lives in cities and its people rely on their food being brought in. What happens when, say a fuel shortage happens? Starvation within three days.

Now there is also a growing movement of city community gardens and farms, which address that problem.

An added benefit of this movement is that we can relearn to be in touch with soil, fertilizer, growth, seasons and cycles, rebuilding our inner capacity for caring about our environment.Because in cities many people never see where their food comes from, and what it takes to grow it.

Such care, based on real needs, not just wants, is the richest of renewable energies that we have left mostly untapped. With it we can do anything. Even build towards a sustainable, flourishing planet.

What do you think?

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