From the pages of American Way magazine, writer Cathy Booth Thomas gives a post-Katrina Victory Garden a nice mention:
I knew times had changed when I stood in Francesca’s yard and stared at neat rows of Italian arugula, red-leaf lettuce, carrots, and collard greens. Francesca used to be a master of the universe, wheeling and dealing in the media world. Contracts worth millions passed through her hands. Yet here she was, in her little patch of green, unemployed and giggling over a Victory Garden....
These days, Francesca, whose Victory Garden started out as a preschool experiment for her son, is sharing the bounty from it with us at long dinners followed either by too much vino (if the market gyrations are over five percent) or by cards and games with the kids (if our losses look “normal”). “What’s valued in hard times are friends,” she says, and then adds rather fiercely, “and the old-fashioned, fun things.”
Did I need a financial meltdown to remind me that self-reliance is required but community is better? Did we?
Well?
And as a reminder, hurricane season is here. Be safe. Be prepared.
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