Because I was impatient for winter to end and the growing season to begin, I recently sought vicarious pleasure by reading others’ accounts of gardening.
First was Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, describing how her family made a commitment to grow as much food as possible, or obtain it locally near their home in Virginia, that they’d consume over a year.
But I also wanted to see what fellow New Englanders might be undertaking along those lines. My quest turned up Kitchen Gardeners International and their website (www.kitchengardeners.org) and introduced me to its energetic and visionary founder, Roger Doiron of Scarborough.
Doiron is passionate, that’s for sure. Starting in 2008, Kitchen Gardeners lobbied online, with their “Eat the View” campaign, for the creation of a White House vegetable garden, one substantial enough to provide food for the First Family as well as a D.C food pantry.
That idea won first place on the website of “On Day One,” in a contest soliciting initiatives for the new president. In fact, Doiron was in communication with Michelle Obama’s staff, as the suggestion became a real garden as the garden was planted on the South Lawn of the White House on March 20.
Since its inception in 2003, Kitchen Gardeners International has grown to over 10,000 members worldwide. Headquartered in Scarborough, Doiron oversees the online newsletter, regional and topical blogs sharing information, and other activities promoting home gardening.
This pre-spring tonic had its effect; I was inspired by the success stories. As I plowed through the literature, I felt buoyed and empowered. And I became convinced that even my own small effort-cultivating a summer garden in raised beds atop the rock of Vinalhaven-is an important one.
Gardening isn’t just about eating well. Doiron sees growing one’s own food as extending beyond the plate, connecting people with place and process. When you understand where good food comes from and how it is produced, you “tend to seek out food that is authentic, local, seasonal, and minimally-processed whenever possible.” You are “in tune with the natural world, the weather, and the seasons.” With the desire for an active role in their own sustenance, Doiron considers gardeners “self-reliant seekers of the ‘Good Life’ who have understood the central role that home-grown and home-cooked food play in one’s well-being.”
Doiron combines poetics and politics in his personal pitch. Sometimes the language even seems slightly sensual, words with the power to elicit a kind of hunger and yearning.
For example, his description of a “true tomato picked warm and juicy from the vine at the peak of its ripeness,” could metaphorically allude to more than just the chance for pleasure of a gustatory nature. He writes, “The enjoyment of the fruit is a complete one,” warns against the desire for “instant gratification,” and commends those who can “begin planning their pleasure months in advance.”
Doiron’s interests in the health of the earth and individuals’ well being coalesced in the 1990s when Doiron was living in Belgium, working for the environmental organization, Friends of the Earth. He learned from Belgians-including his future wife, Jacqueline, and her mother-how locally grown products made for high quality meals. When Doiron returned to Maine with his family, including three young sons, they transformed a suburban yard of one-third acre in Scarborough into an intensively planted garden that supplies most of the food they consume over the year. Now the boys are not only helping cultivate the crops, but mastering the culinary component as well, growing as agile with tools in the kitchen as those in the yard.
During our conversation in late February, Doiron described how economic, environmental, and health concerns have converged now to make home gardens a worthwhile undertaking. The last time there was such widespread interest was during World War II, when small-scale victory gardens provided over 40 percent of what Americans ate.
Doiron says there are currently 90 million homes in the United States with yards that could include gardens providing a healthy percentage of what a family eats. He expects that as we cope with rising grocery bills, less income, fears of tainted food products in restaurants and stores, and a host of political and environmental factors affecting agriculture worldwide, we will pay even more attention to how we can eat well and responsibly. That could result not only in more home gardens but increased support for local growers and Community Supported Agriculture groups, and menus highlighting regionally seasonal produce rather than imports. Doiron promotes his message through savvy use of medium, including posts on YouTube, Facebook, and eBay, making his case in myriad ways as he crunches numbers, incites enthusiasm, and confers with slow food gurus like Michael Pollan, Eliot Coleman, and Barbara Damrosch.
In promoting global sustainability, Doiron sees each kitchen garden as an opportunity to join in changing the world. While the electorate may not ordinarily welcome “manure” in connection with the White House, this spring will hold the exception.