Hope

Over the last year and a half, Paul's job has had its share of ups and downs...actually, come to think of it, there haven't really been any ups. We've seen his shift canceled, the plant closure next year, reduced shifts, temporary shut-downs and now possible bankruptcy. And regardless of what anyone thinks about bailouts, bridge loans and such, it all makes me feel a wee bit stressed. To make things worse, I read the news way too much and have discovered that lots of information isn't necessarily a good thing. Especially when it's information overload on a tanking economy. It all leads me to believe that we're in for some dark times.

This got me thinking about food. Not supper. Or frunch, as Nolan would say. Just food in general. As jobs are lost, will more people want to, or indeed need to, start gardens? Will seeds be harder to come by? Last spring, when I was ordering from my favourite seed place, the Cottage Gardener, I ran into a problem getting some of the veggies that I wanted. No big deal, I found something else, but I wondered if they were sold out because I had left it too late or if it was because more people were ordering. Turns out that they were also backlogged and it was a couple of weeks before they could mail out my order. Again, no problem, but it was unusual. When Dorito and I visited their greenhouse later in May, they told us that they hadn't expected so many orders and as a result, had been working overtime getting the orders out. Sounds like more people were planting backyard gardens.

The day after these thoughts about food and seeds, Sharon Astyk shared a post titled "Are We Seeing the Early Signs of a Seed Availability Crisis?" Interesting reading. And timely. I will say that my outlook tends not to be as severe as Sharon's but her writing is always thoughtful and incredibly thought-provoking. As Theresa at Myriad Things pointed out, Sharon's 2007 & 2008 New Years predictions were pretty bang on and, after reading her for most of this year, I tend to take Sharon's words to heart. Which brings me back to food.

I decided to send the Cottage Gardener an email and see if I could order seeds now and, sure enough, I could. I asked Dorito if there was anything she wanted, she gave me a list and I ordered. And guess what. They arrived today! I do love getting seeds. There's so much hope in them. Hope for spring and the life that returns to the earth. Hope for the bounty that they provide. Hope for the simplicity of it all. And as sappy as it all sounds, they bring hope for the future.

I'm pretty sure we're in for tough times ahead, although I don't think things will get so bad that we'll face another Depression. Hope not. But I don't know. And despite the uncertainty of Paul's job, I doubt that we'll have problems getting food. But again I don't know. These seeds mean we eat in good times and in bad. They mean that we'll have a bounty to share with our friends and our neighbours and our family. (I bought a lot of seeds. ;o)) We'll freeze them, can them, store them and eat well into next winter. Ah, hope.

~Liz