Greetings:

For the purpose of this missive I'll stick with gardening rather than Permaculture. Over the last 11 years (prior to that my gardening was indoors) I have heard numerous reasons why people 'simply can not garden'. These phrases were always uttered with gusto, a few added !!!!!'s and a quirky smile or two. Not in any particular order, here are some of the biggest "excuses", not 'reasons' (that would imply some sort of cogitation).

"I don't have time"
Well, not ONE person who has stated this had turned off their tell-lie-visions in 89, like I did. If you have time to sit on yer buttocks and watch a glowing cube...you have time to garden.

"I don't have the space"
This is at least, a 'reasonable excuse' if you live on the north side of an apartment block or hi-rise or some similar dwelling.
If you have ANY lawn, it is an excuse, not a reason. You can not eat grass (though many may soon wish they could!) and should uproot that most nefarious of weeds, pronto. If you live in a hi-rise or similar con-trap-tion, do you have a balcony? You can at least have an herb garden and a few cut-and-come again greens like kale.

"I don't know how"
Again, in my experience (and maybe this is a West Coast phenomena, I don't know?) most decent used book stores are full of good gardening books. I'm working on a book list for a later post. Are there gardening courses offered by someone, anyone near by? Can you bear to pull yourself away from your TeeVee long enough to get to one? Does one of your neighbours garden?
Is there a garden service in your area that does food gardens for you (if not, there is a free business idea!)?

"Food is so cheap"
Ha! And how nutritious is it? How long have those 'fresh, crisp' greens sat on the shelf AFTER being shipped? And how much
is your health worth, gardening not only provides you with fresh wholesome food...it is decent physical activity.

"I'm a renter"
Good, get the okay to put in a garden if need be and leave a healthy bunch of great soil for the next person! I live in a high rental area and I've walked into messes that I've left thickly mulched and ready for the next person to go.

"I'm too old"
Build raised beds up to your waist, or hire a local kid to do that for you!

"I can't grow what I 'like' where I live"
Learn to like what you can grow. Most people can at least have a potato patch and some simple, dark, leafy greens. Learn to like them, I did and it wasn't that hard. Can't grow x, grow y.

I think by now you can probably see that there is absolutely no reason not to put in a garden of some sort. There are exceptions of course. Some 'gated community' type places won't allow them, move. Some strata councils do the same, move. I don't even know if there are such things as strata councils outside of Canada? Then there are the barriers that include living in a really, really crappy neighbourhood. Odds are you can't move from that position. I don't know what to tell you, move in with relatives elsewhere for awhile? Geesh, I can figure out lots of things but I can't solve all the problems of the world.

The point is, grow something! Anything. Grow pumpkins and hand them out to kids to smash at Halloween. Save the seeds once they are spilled everywhere though. It's cheap, it's not that hard (and downright easy once you get the hang of it) and remember to START SMALL. Which leads me to my final 'barrier':

"I'm no good at it"
I hear this from people who tilled up some great chunk of land, planted it all in one weekend and couldn't keep up with the work.
No doubt, a large enough garden to feed yourself year round is not doable the first few seasons. Start small and expand when you are comfortable enough. Remember God won't give you a task you are unable to do, but YOU might give yourself too big of a task!

Anyone, please feel free to email about topics you would like to see covered or as always, any questions you have. I allotted this time in my life to be surrounded by gardens working on projects that take little time. I am blessed with free time in a hectic world. My personal projects at this point are all long ranging with ample time in between for communicating.

In Lak'ech