Raising a garden takes time over a significant number of months. As a
hobby for table use, gardening can be a real pleasure. Skillful persons
with the right tools and know-how can handle a garden of the size needed
for home food preservation with a few hours of work a week, once the
plants are well established. Novices can expect to spend a significantly
greater amount of time per week during the four or five month growing
season in northern areas and even more in areas with longer growing
seasons.
The author, an experienced gardener, kept records of the hours spent
cultivating and harvesting a 20 by 40-foot garden, planted primarily for
fresh consumption. Only three foods--tomatoes, green beans and
cucumbers--were raised in amounts sufficient for a limited amount of
home preservation. Over 40 person-hours were required. The actual
grocery store value of the garden food consumed by the family of three
was $45. Food given as gifts and preserved raised the dollar value to
$75.
Gardening often helps stretch cash income, but the dollar return is low
for hours of effort. And poor weather may cause crop failures and small
yields, regardless of effort. Food preservation also is time-consuming.
_Satisfactions._ Why garden or preserve food at home? Most gardeners
will cite a number of reasons:
--The best of good fresh food with no unknown additives or ingredients
--Healthy exercise
--Family pleasure working together toward a goal
--The joy of giving
--The challenge of growing a seed into edible food
--Prestige