{"id":18931,"date":"2013-09-20T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2013-09-20T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/?p=18931"},"modified":"2013-09-12T16:54:42","modified_gmt":"2013-09-12T22:54:42","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-backyard-garden-economics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/what-you-need-to-know-about-backyard-garden-economics\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Need to Know About Backyard Garden Economics"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you ever<\/strong> get frustrated trying to garden, it is because of economics. Really. Your garden is trying to teach you some important lessons, lessons that can help you vote better, make better decisions in spending, and aid you in teaching your children money and time management. Your garden is trying to expose to you the fallacies of romanticized self-sufficient living<\/del> subsistence farming. Your garden is attempting to impress upon you the benefits of specialization and transportation of products. Your garden is even trying to show you why central planning is detrimental to everyone’s livelihood.<\/p>\n

Don’t let<\/strong>\u00a0the word\u00a0“economics”<\/em>\u00a0make your eyes glaze over. Everyone who is alive is somehow involved in what is called “economics”<\/em> because it is so fundamental. Whatever your philosophical perspective on it or lack of awareness about its impact on your life, it is happening regularly to you and by you. That is, everyone is involved somehow in the production or consumption of goods and services. You cannot\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0be economic about life. It is not some dry, esoteric subject that has no bearing on reality. Quite the opposite. Every decision you make about how to spend your time and resources is an economic decision. In light of this, it seems wise to know what the factors and dynamics of economics<\/a><\/span> really are. Fortunately, it is not anywhere near as complicated as the government schools or politicians would like you to think it is.<\/p>\n

For all<\/strong> of the glory that home gardening gets, it is a waste of your time in many respects. At least any home gardening that purports to be economically efficient or important to your survival. From an economic point of view, you would be much better off spending your time doing something that allows you to specialize, then using the money (not at all implying that the government controlled system of money is the best money system)<\/em> from that to buy basic ingredients to cook from. Less time than is spent on the act of gardening, could be used to find acceptable sources of food that allow you to prepare meals from scratch. As long as you are buying basic ingredients, minimally processed for storage or usability, you will have great potential for getting food as healthy as what is grown in your very own garden.<\/p>\n

It takes<\/strong> quite a bit of planning and supervision to monitor a garden with the variety of vegetables that appeal to the modern gardener. Especially if the gardener is trying to grow enough to put by for non-growing seasons. Timing all the plantings, learning about all the pests and diseases, keeping track of all the things involved in harvest is inherently less efficient than using all the space to grow one or two types of plants. Who among us has not missed harvesting one thing because we were busy taking care of another? The juggling that needs to go on with a home garden is often overwhelming and presents the gardener with many conflicts. In reality, the only reason these conflicts continue to be allowed to exist is because we are stubborn, deluded, or just enjoy it. Someone who really has to make a living or survive off of what they grow would be much more careful about use of resources.<\/p>\n

Think of<\/strong> all the times when you had an abundance of a particular produce. If you had been concentrating on just a couple of crops, with selling them in mind, there is a better chance that not so much would be wasted. You could have time and motive to find retailers to sell to, who are good at providing a location for people to buy many things, instead of running around to each farm or garden. But with a home garden, there is often no incentive to find other people to sell to. It is just too complicated for such a small amount.<\/p>\n

The idea of<\/strong> the government deciding to monitor backyard gardens, doing such things as deciding who should grow what or greatly limiting availability of seed has already been suggested in general. It is really just a small interference considering all the other things those in power already feel the need to meddle in. If they have departments to come regularly check building codes and weed infestations, how far fetched is it that they would do the same to regulate our landscape further? Why wouldn’t they be looking for ways to charge us to pay for us to be monitored? Gardeners who are otherwise in favor of governmental policing, tend to be aghast that this might happen. The mantra tends to be, “Please, only regulate what we want regulated.”<\/a><\/em><\/span> That isn’t going to happen. Those who gain power typically live to regulate whatever they can get away with.<\/p>\n

Just asking<\/strong> yourself a few simple questions (in this case, about gardening)<\/em> can result in self-teaching:<\/p>\n