RE-POST

I've always been rather fond of this Pennsylvania Dutch Amish proverb: We grow too soon oldt and too late schmardt. I read it as a child off of a wall pocket, shaped like a tea kettle, that hung above the stove in my great grandmother's kitchen.

More recently, it calls to mind a comment that a fellow student in my solar panel installation class made one night, after a flurry of discussions on the still relatively high cost of solar panels and installation even with government tax incentives; especially since this technology has been around for decades, with a peaked interest in the late 70's after the first gas crisis. I mean, even accounting for supply and demand, the price is still extremely high and unaffordable to the common folk.  He asked, "If gas was still $2, would we even be having this discussion?"  Another queried in kind, if we would even be taking this class.  We all [laughed] in agreement.

It made me think, though.  Why does it take a national or personal crisis to force us to confront bad habits that we have developed over the years, before we start to practice or go back to practicing those good habits such as thrift and conservation that may have contributed to us having a nice little [bank] account; or by doing so may have helped us buy a nice home; and we probably had a smaller carbon foot print, then too.  For instance, instead of packing lunches, we now buy overpriced ones when at work because of the convenience, when we know that packing a lunch is far less expensive.  Instead of buying bus passes, we now drive the car to work, paying for gas and parking.  I believe we used to read more on those bus trips.  When was the last time that you were able to read a book [instead of short magazine or newspaper articles]?  Buying lunch and driving to work might be time savers perhaps, but budget busters, money wasters, and environmentally destructive, as well.

We used to do these things before...you know, before we got that 'GOOD JOB' that appear[s] to pay the bills and afford some perks like cable, cell phones, [internet], [flat screen tv],  ipods and ipads.  

We used to plant gardens and make meals from the harvests. We even used to share the excess, such as zuchinni, squash, tomatoes and green beans with our neighbors and co-workers. We used to can and preserve and give as gifts, jams and jellies. 

It doesn't cost much to [plant] a garden.  Many of the items can be gotten for free.  Supermarkets and stores throw away wooden pallets.  These can be reused and repurposed.  They can be made into square foot garden beds.  Until the recent housing crisis, you could even get dirt for free.

So, I have returned to that curious labor of summers long past, that Thoreau, spoke of, gardening. The picture above is one of the harvests from my urban garden with the Penn Dutch Amish proverb that I loved, as a child, lovingly placed among the 'first fruits'...Too soon we grow oldt, too late schmardt. 



08/2008

Here is a picture of my harvest with the 'little green sprout' smiling over the bounty.