Why I Hate the Whole “Recession Gardening” Thing

It’s one of those phrases that makes me cringe each and every time I read or hear it, kind of like “compassionate conservatism” or “drill, baby, drill.” It’s a meaningless phrase, more B.S. spewed by both the mainstream and gardening media to try to inject my beloved garden with a little bit of the fear that sells magazines, newspapers, and air time.

I don’t want it. I do not want my garden in any way associated with the mortgage crisis, unemployment, Wall Street assholes or the idiots who decided that de-regulating our financial industry was a phenomenal idea.

More than that (as if that wasn’t all enough…) I don’t like what the “recession gardening” trend does for gardening. The underlying tenor of the whole thing is the same as when you go on a strict diet for a while: this is just something I have to endure until things get better. Once that happens, my life can go back to normal.

Is that what gardening is supposed to be?

It’s not so far removed from the Victory Garden movements during WWI and WWII, except, perhaps, in tone. The Victory Garden movements empowered people, at least for a little while (though many of those intrepid, patriotic gardeners gave up gardening as soon as life normalized again, as well). Recession gardening, to me, at least, screams of victimization and fear. As someone over on Garden Rant commented (See Garden Rant’s post about this here), the run by some on seeds and starter plants at the nursery to fend off starvation is disturbingly similar to those who are stocking up on ammunition in case this is it and society as we know it comes tumbling down.

Do we really want to live like this? Is this the basis upon which to form a lifetime love of soil, plants, and bugs? I’ve always seen gardening as the ultimate celebration of life, a truly optimistic endeavor, and an oasis of peace in our ordinarily insane and overscheduled lives. While I know that to our ancestors, an abundant garden meant survival, I hardly think we’re in that boat now. Nor do I think we will be again. Do I think we should grow as much of our own food as possible? Yes, of course. Do we need to know where our food comes from? Absolutely. But anything done out of fear is doomed to retain a negative connotation, especially for those who try it and fail (as so many of us fail, both at the beginning and throughout our gardening lives).

Gardening deserves so much more. Take the fear-mongering elsewhere. Gardening provides more than sustenance. A connection to nature, intimate understanding of how food reaches our table, and a stewardship of a bit of land, no matter how big or small, is what growing our own food is all about. Let’s not cheapen it by turning it into the gardening world’s version of the cabbage soup diet.

15 comments

15 comments to “Why I Hate the Whole “Recession Gardening” Thing”

Julie, May 12th, 2009 at 7:06 am:

Thank you! My husband and I grew up in families that had a love for gardening. True, it certainly helped to get us through the lean times, but our parents actually liked what they were doing. My father was an organic gardener long before it was trendy; he did it because he knew it was the right thing to do. Now, we garden for the same reasons they did: the food tastes better and it’s fun. I get so frustrated when I go the nursery and listen to people complaining because they have to buy plants. I think they expect the plants will grow on their own and save them from their credit woes.

Sheila, May 12th, 2009 at 8:40 am:

If there is a silver lining in all of this it is that some people that have not had the privilege to be exposed to gardening before in their life may find a new passion. Out of a crisis comes progress.

Lisa, May 12th, 2009 at 9:34 am:

It’s a shame that the garden movement has fear-mongering media pushing it. For me, gardening is a passion, something that I find joy and relaxation in…with the added benefit of fabulous produce. I can only hope that the people who are getting into gardening out of fear fall in love with it and continue to learn, grow and teach others. Self-sufficiency is not a bad thing, it can be empowering. But, I agree, this whole “chicken little, sky is falling, I need to grow my own tomatoes thing” is disheartening for people like us who love gardening and want to share that love with others.

Country gardener, May 12th, 2009 at 2:23 pm:

Thanks, you have really expressed what I’ve been feeling, but hadn’t quite been able to articulate as well as you have. It all adds up to gardening being a fad. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Sande, May 12th, 2009 at 3:51 pm:

Thank you! I totally agree and appreciate your well said statement on the whole thing. I did start gardening this year for the first time in 25 years but I started before I ever heard the recession garden phrase. My motivation was totally from seeing a really cool cauliflower (romanesque veronica) that I wanted to grow. Now 120 sq ft of raised bed gardens later, the cauliflower is planted and growing. We should garden because we want to not because we feel we have to.

entangled, May 13th, 2009 at 5:48 am:

A very thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I hope that Sheila and Lisa are right and that new gardeners who came to gardening out of “necessity” will continue once the necessity is over. I fear there will be a wave of discouragement in newcomers once the inevitable battles with weather, critters, and insects begin.

But before the gardening fad of the 2000s was the gardening fad of the 1970s. Some of us who were drawn to that fad are still around.

Chiot's Run, May 13th, 2009 at 7:00 am:

So true. I am happy that more people are interested in gardening. I really hope that they find true joy and stick with it, instead of just growing some veg to get by. I started doing it mainly to have healthier local food, and I fell in love.

Katie, May 13th, 2009 at 7:33 pm:

God I am so glad you did not quit blogging. I agree with you 100%. I am hoping that this “fad” will attract some folks who are in it for the long run.

Colleen Vanderlinden, May 14th, 2009 at 3:32 am:

Thanks for all of your comments! I wasn’t sure when I wrote this post whether anyone would agree with me. I definitely hope that, as a few of you pointed out, at least some of the new gardeners who start out as “recession gardeners” will fall inlove with it and become lifelong gardeners.

Julie–See, that’s the perfect example: I can’t imagine complaining about having to buy plants!

Sheila–I definitely hope so!

Lisa–I’m absolutely with you about self-sufficiency. It’s empowering and makes life more fun (I think so, anyway!) And you’re right—we’re seeing a lot of “the sky is falling” chaos right now. Thanks for stopping by!

Country Gardener–Thank you. I was trying to figure out what I meant for a while before I realized “fad” was the right word for it

Sande–That is probably the world’s best reason to start gardening. It means you’re already a bit of a plant geek Thanks for commenting!

entangled–That’s what bugs me, too–that so many of these new gardeners will become discouraged and decide that gardening sucks. Gardening is not a guarantee, and even when we do everything right, we can still have a dud year. It’s a process, and I think many of the “recession gardeners” probably don’t have that mindset.

Chiot’s Run–Me too!

Katie–Thank you, my friend I hope so, too!

Blue Ridge Gardener » Another view on “recession gardens” | from the mountains of WNC, May 20th, 2009 at 6:49 am:

[...] Why I Hate the Whole “Recession Gardening” Thing [...]

susan harris, May 22nd, 2009 at 4:28 pm:

I’m with you. And I SO glad Michelle O calls her garden a kitchen garden, not Victory. Ugh. Sadly, there’s a new nonprofit group in my county called Victory Garden Montgomery that I’ve agreed to help, and I wasn’t able to talk them out of that awful name, and image. Sigh.

Dani in NC, May 31st, 2009 at 8:32 am:

Although the term “recession garden” wasn’t being bandied about when I started my first garden last year, I have to admit that I started gardening with that mindset. Tomatoes went up to $4/lb in my area and my husband refused to buy them, so I decided I need to grow my own. I was lucky in that I didn’t do very much preparation beyond throwing the seeds out there and watering them, yet I had a pretty good harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, and basil. This year’s garden isn’t going so well, but I’ve been bitten by the bug. I always thought that people were exaggerating when they said that homegrown tastes better, but now I’m a believer!

As for the term “Victory Garden”, I like it. I think of it as victory for my family. Even my kid who hates veggies is looking forward to the green bean harvest. The term also hearkens back to a time when everyone was in pretty much the same situation and they were pulling together. Our family has been having its own personal recession for the past three years, so now I feel like everyone has caught up to my state of mind .

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Why I Hate the Whole “Recession Gardening” Thing

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