Not In My Backyard

You can use the land you have to grow the food you need.

This is one of the slogans from a WWII victory poster that was plastered across the UK and the USA encouraging people to utilise their suburban backyards to increase local food security and independence.

Fast-forward a generation of two and people value lawn over food production ten-to-one. However I take enormous pleasure and gain a deep satisfaction in converting lawn into food.

I’ve just moved into a new rental property. My backyard, currently a blank slate pictured above, will not sit idle (and neither will our front yard if our landlord concedes). Instead it will contribute to making our suburbs and cities a more edible, healthy and vibrant place to live. It will be a conversation starter between my new neighbours and I, a reference point for my friends and family and a daily joy for my husband and I. Growing food makes us happy and healthy, inside and out. It also helps us stay connected to the largely invisible (for city folk at least) Australian farmers who feed our country and portions of the world.

After my recent travels overseas I have a renewed appreciation for how awesome Australia truly is. We really are a lucky country in terms of access to resources and infrastructure to allow us to grow food anywhere…. And I do mean anywhere, from paddocks to urban spaces to apartment balconies and rooftop gardens. Anything is possible.

Long ago I decided to not take a back seat in watching our society disconnect from where our food comes from.  No sir, not in my backyard will I allow complacency, convenience and laziness to grow… only carrots, lettuces, radishes, potatoes, pumpkins, corn and tomatoes.