On Friday, I went into mourning for Canada, as the United States has inaugurated their new President, who I feel quite sure plans to swallow Canada (maybe Mexico will be ahead of us) as he decides to become the exalted President of North America, on his path to “Ruler of the whole wide world.”
Many other notorious leaders also had ambitious plans and there have been many others over the centuries, so we need to be prepared for such a cancer to spread its vile presence and we may again prove we can exist without oranges, grapefruit and bananas.
Our ancestors did, and so can we.
This brings us back to growing much of our own food on every piece of now-vacant land and in every container available — even digging up the front lawn and planting potatoes, carrots and corn — or start using a community garden if you are an apartment dweller (check out the plots available at Greenglade Community Center).
And always plant an extra row for the local food bank and seniors lunch program.
Maybe you could plant a few perennial flowers amongst the precious foodstuff, just to keep us cheerful, with our suddenly-narrowed food supply.
Our ancestors planted food out of necessity and here we all are, alive, just to prove it worked.
Remember what the great statesman Jack Layton said: ”Love is better than hate, hope is better than fear, optimism is better than despair,” and till your gardens with that in mind.
Helen Lang has been the Peninsula News Review’s garden columnist for more than 30 years.