In fairness (and why I feel compelled to try to be fair to these 2 posers I really don't know) this would have been their first full gardening season in that house, had they lived to plant, tend and harvest through it. They were busy moving last spring/summer, and likely wouldn't have gotten much if any work done on a new garden aside from digging and raising the beds. The naked beds we see were probably the product of last fall or winter, if not just a few weeks ago, and may or may not reflect food-growing habits they had established in earlier gardens. I'd like to know what the neighbors in MN and OR observed in that regard.
When I kept a garden, our 20'x30' suburban-backyard plot supplied a wide variety of our vegetable needs for the year. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers and lettuce of course, but also peas, green beans, brussels sprouts, chard, carrots, summer and winter squash (which of course tumbled well outside the established plot), beets, turnips, garlic, ground cherries, a few other experiments, and a separate asparagus bed and a raspberry thicket. That was only for a family of 3, not 8, but I found it valuable to give our suburban kid a sense of where his food came from, and how anyone with access to a dedicated space could produce some of their own food instead of relying on supermarkets and long distance shipping for everything they ate.
Janewall, good post!
I know that this was their first full season in the Woodland house, but my hunch that the "growing their own food" thing was mainly virtue-signaling, and that the raised beds were part of that rather than the real thing, is based on many factors, one of which is that what they have plotted out in the photo looks very much like a typical suburban "tomato garden", or a garden that supplements dinner during the growing season. Nothing that would remotely sustain a family of 8 or even significantly compose part of such, and certainly not year round.
It's really the combination of things, such as a lack of "gardening/weeding/raking/hoeing/planting/watering, etc., etc., etc." photos, among what must be thousands of photos online. There are photos of camping/hiking, protests and festivals, but nary a one of "growing our own food". Really. Maybe a handful with a bucket of berries or something, but serious gardening takes mega time. Mega. But no photos. It's important enough to tell people about, but not to show them.
Then, there's just that hunch I have. It comes from many things, I suppose, such as a photo of the raised beds on a beautiful day in an area that isn't known for having an over-abundance of them. It's an absolutely gorgeous day, and no children out and about. There seems to be an adult with dark hair in the background of the photo -maybe it's one of the older children, but it doesn't seem so to me. So, where are the children?
There are previous neighbors who've stated they've seen the children, but I don't remember anyone saying anything about "they were always in the garden". "They loved that garden!", etc. You'd think they would be voluminous evidence of said "growing one's own food", like there is of protests and festivals, and dancing in underwear. But, no, at least not that I'm aware of.
So, perhaps I am wrong and this family "grew their own food". Unfortunately, they obviously didn't eat it if they did, or perhaps they only grew enough of their "own food" for Sarah and Jen.
