Sign of the times in DeLand
“Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow
With silver bells, and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row”
This old English poem came to mind when I saw this sign in DeLand. The rhyme has been related as to its meaning to Queen Mary, or “Bloody Mary”, as she was called for he torture and execution of Protestants during her reign. Some have also said that the line,”How does your garden grow”, to be mocking her for her potential lack of fertility due to her never giving birth to an heir; that her soil, so to speak, was barren.
So as I saw this sign, and after researching the meaning of this rhyme which came to mind, I wondered, “Survival Gardens”, wow, “be ready!”, huh?, what’s this all about? At the very least, its a great sign and definitely a sign of the times. Survival, you bet, we all are “just trying to survive” as goes the familiar refrain along with “hang in there”, the title of this blog.
Yet, “survival food gardens” speaks to something deeper, like an invasion of aliens or the end of the world. It speaks to defeat and discouragement and fading hope; it doesn’t speak of “victory”, as in “Victory Gardens”. It makes me wonder, is our “soil” , meaning our economy here in Volusia County, barren and unable to nurture itself back to productivity? If so, why?, and what can we do to make things better?
I called the number on the sign to find out just what this was all about. Steven Behncke of Eco-Zone Landscape was who answered and is the mind behind this sign and rather innovative service. Steven has moved back to DeLand after spending several years in Costa Rica as a project manager with Kopali Communities. He trained people in Costa Rica in the maintenance of the grounds for this community of Americans and European who moved to this peaceful Central American country to retire. Except, instead of maintaining a homeowners’ association’s common area grounds filled with ornamental plantings and expanses of sod, Steven trained workers to plant and maintain food gardens whereby the residents could find fresh produce year round just outside their doors. Just how cool of an idea is that – very cool indeed. Yet all was not well.