Garden season, for us fair-weathered types, is finally here.

Poet, farmer, prolific author, and philosopher Wendell Berry is well-known for his statement, “Eating is an agricultural act.” I’m sure he’d agree that it’s also an environmental act. Gardening is both.

When speaking about the decline of rural areas, our loss of farmland – and even the loss of our farmers, Mr. Berry has been asked by city folks what they can do, and his answer is, “Eat responsibly.”

Many of us are more removed than ever from where our food comes from, or how it’s produced. A lot of our food – whether fresh or packaged – comes from big agricultural factories – and I say factory intentionally. Our food is mass-produced, maximizing yields and profits. Growing methods (from produce to meats) and their residual products are damaging to our health, our soil, and the air we breathe. Despite a growing movement, this is still uncommon knowledge.

So what does it mean to “eat responsibly?” Here’s where gardening comes in. But first, I’ll take a guess at what he’s getting at:

• Shop responsibly. Some things to consider: Know where your food comes from. Is it grown or manufactured? How far has it traveled? Is it laden with chemicals or pesticides? Local and organic is usually best, unless you know your farmer (many local producers grow sustainably but aren’t certified organic). Or sign up for a CSA, pick your own, or engage your local grocer. A great resource for finding local farms and food is the Puget Sound Fresh guide, produced each year by Cascade Harvest Coalition. Look for the 2011 guide soon or find it online.
• Learn the labels. In the supermarket, “natural” and organic by themselves often don’t mean a lot. USDA organic, while now watered down thanks to corporate food lobbies, still has some standards. Explore your options. Read your labels, and again, look for local.
• Eating out? If you’re not cooking at home, more and more restaurants support our nearby producers.
And…
• Grow your own. Dig some dirt. Plant some seeds. Watch them grow.

To nurture a garden is to nurture ourselves and the earth. The act of gardening not only provides us with food to eat, but it feeds our bodies – and our souls – in other ways. My grandfather had a big garden, so I have an affinity, and in many ways, it’s where I feel most at home. I don’t, however, have the green thumb he did. Which is why, in part, I’m now sharing my space with others. Now it also feeds my need for connection.

To help you with your gardens, or to perhaps plant a seed, so to speak, what follows are some thoughts, ideas, and resources.

Here in Ballard, we’re a community of growers.  While the city’s P-Patches all have lengthy waiting lists (the website has useful resources, though, including key changes ushered in by last year’s Year of Urban Agriculture), Seattle’s oldest is located here, and it’s a great place for inspiration. Take a walk-through anytime – it’s just north of 85th on 25th NW on the backside of Our Redeemer’s parking lot.

Ballard also has one of the city’s newest at 28th and 58th. Thyme Patch Park, nestled between single-family homes, includes Master Gardener demonstration gardens, both for viewing and scheduled classes and clinics. And I understand another community garden is in the works.

What to do if you don’t have a yard, and can’t get a plot in a P-Patch? Check out Urban Garden Share, which currently sports more than a dozen opportunities for growing. I’ll happily vouch for UGS, as readers know. Or ask your neighbor if you see a patch of unused yard.

Have the space and inclination but don’t know how to get started? There are many ways to learn. Informative sessions are offered by community centers across the city, as well as through Seattle Tilth and Sustainable Ballard’s Urban Crop Circle. If you’d rather hire someone to get you started, get in touch with Amy Pennington, founder of Urban Garden Share and proprietor of GoGo Green Garden, or Seattle’s Urban Farm Company (founded in Ballard, but recently relocated).

Your gardening needs can be served without ever leaving Ballard, too. Walt’s Organic Fertilizer Co also offers a great selection of vegetable starts, and at Emerald City Gardens, heirloom tomatoes should be arriving soon. Ballard resident Laurette Chasse sells fabulous starts from her Ballard home. A long-time gardener, she got her greenhouse license so she could legally sell the starts she grows.

“Some of the nurseries and home stores put starts out before they should be planted,” Laurette said. She wants gardeners to be successful, so she only puts hers out for sale when she’s planting her own. Look for herbs, flowers, edible flowers, peas, and salad greens in the coming weeks. Her cottage business, Earthsprout, is now listed in the phone book, but you can drive by her place at 61st just off 14th, on weekends and if she’s there, pick up some garden-ready starts.

If fruit trees are more your thing, edible garden expert Ingela Wanerstrand of Green Darner Garden Designs says, “Right now, I’m concentrating on fostering the fruit half of urban fruit and vegetable production by teaching classes through City Fruit and helping Seattle Tree Fruit Society with educational events,” she says, as well as helping to restore the 120-year-old Piper's Orchard in Carkeek Park. “There are many fruit trees in Ballard that together form our urban orchard and are often overlooked, although they contribute tons of food to our local food supply.” Ingela knows her stuff; she’s “happily creating” her own mini-farm in NW Ballard with hens, milk goats, and a vegetable garden. She’s helped many a Ballard gardener, including our neighborhood Homestreet Bank. So if you need advice about fruit trees or growing all things edible, she’s your gal.

Even mainstream media is finally catching up: articles about fresh food and urban farms can be found in glossy magazines and on mainstream news sites. There’s also more information about the potential dangers of genetically modified foods, the real cost of food miles, nutritional comparisons, pesticide risks to migrant farm workers, and even our dirt (see this recent CrossCut article about why our soil is so important).

So the best part of all this, after the crispness of fresh flavors, a healthier body, and knowing I’m doing well by the environment, is being part of something bigger. Gardening and urban farms are on an upsurge – a good thing since we may have to one day rely on locally produced food to eat.

Oh, lastly, speaking of eating, as the season progresses and you want to hang onto the season’s best, classes to learn how to preserve or can are springing up everywhere. And Sustainable Ballard’s Food & Health Guild offers monthly Community kitchens (May, 2010); with their emphasis on local and fresh picked, they can both help you learn to prepare a great meal and stock your freezer. Still have too much? The Ballard Food Bank might also take your surplus.

If you have resources you’d like to share, please post in the comments section.