When I was a small child I recall so vividly many things my mother would say,time and time again. Talk about life coming full circle.

She would say,"Girl there is going to be a time when we are going to be starving in a land of plenty." She would go on to say,"I may not live to see it but you might." I certainly might.

I have never been an alarmist.However the state of this world we live in, in terms of the Economy,Water Rationing,Global Warming,Germs and diseases entering our food supply. Most recently,Tomatoes.

After having warned of the salmonilla.findings,yes I was immediately concerned and certainly apprehensive.I had some of that very type tomatos in my home...Roma,the only brand I have purchased for the past 8 years.Before that it was the rounds So here I was faced with a decision I didn't think I should be faced with.Perhaps on the one side,it should've been a no brainer-throw them away. On the economical side, I was thinking back to how much I had to pay for them.If I kept them of course the decision was made.I would be consuming them.

Health vs Finances is what it boiled down too.Yesterday I purchased more Romas. Those from California recently cleared for transport and sale per the FDA.

My question is," Will we ever be safe again?" "Will be be able to sit down to dinner again; confident we are not going to be made ill?"

Home and block garden are coming back...For some of the same reasons as in 1897,some 111 years ago!!!! In 1897 Philadelphia provided spaceto neighborhoods and individual families for planting food source gardens to soften the blow of high unemployment in the city.

Gardening projects have served many causes over the centuries.Even the Government,during both world wars sought to increase the amount of food that would be sent to the troops serving our country,while not jeopardizing the home supply.Some gardens came about as an economic stimilus of sorts,they were For-Profit-Gardens.

Getting back to the bascis and the more simple way of life may just save our lives or we live longer.Either is a win-win.For several years I have been longing to "return to the farm" Economics is definately a factor but more than anything else, I want to again raise and enjoy my own food.

I grew upon a farm.My parents were ol school and had lived through the depression and they knew what it took to survive.Every year we had a huge garden.Corn,Green Beans,Squash,Butterbeans,Blackeyed Peas,Tomatoes,Baked and Sweet Potatoes to name a few.We had chickens that not only provided all our eggs, but meat too. We canned virtually everything in the garden.We ate all year on that supply of food.

Thinking now how we have managed to damage the soil with all the chemicals and pesticides and who knows what else we have used to make the work easier.I go back to how we kept the garden clean and the soil fertile,Hoes and Hands were used to remove the weeds.There was some type dusting powder my dad used peridocially on the okra,cucumbers and squash for some relentless bugs that took great liking to the aforementioned.We used Manure for fertliizer I have to believe my father knew then, what I am just taking stock of..Chemicals will and do great damage to our earth and soil and to the food grown there.