My garden is beautiful, and I tend to each plant with care. But my garden is small, and it will only produce enough to supplement my diet (that is, one person's diet).I've been thinking about how much space is needed to grow food to feed a household. One book, The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan, claims you can feed yourself on 1/4 acre. Of course, you have to be really smart about it and make excellent use of the space... and this all requires money (or physical labor, the right equipment, and handy skills) -- not to mention the right land, with the right sun, soil, and irrigation.
Not everyone can have a cute little hobby farm with a great set-up (greenhouse, chicken coop, productive garden, etc.) to grow their own food. Nor does everyone have the skill and physical capacity to take care of a subsistence farm.
So obviously, larger farms are necessary. But the larger the farm, the greater the work, and the less personal attention each plant can receive.
I suspect farmers have a totally different relationship with their crops than city folks do with their gardens. For example, I doubt farmers feel the same emotional attachment to each budding bell pepper that I feel to mine. And I doubt farmers would feel as sad as I did about finding a little green pepper on the ground before it had a chance to ripen.
I'm curious to explore this dynamic more in depth. I wonder: how do people's attitudes towards nature and land change as the amount of space they have and the amount of food they grow increases?
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