"...i don't see any advantage to gardening on a big scale for the normal household..."

The picture can change in a hurry if you lose your job, your spouse loses her job (or you don't have one), or if there's a big local upset of some kind.

I want to do it so I will know how to do it (it isn't as easy as it appears), and I can control the nutrient level of my food. Farmers who insist on chemical NPK as their only fertilizer source have been shorting us on nutrition for many years.

Some people don't store food, either. Some people don't know how to do anything but operate a computer or a backhoe. The more you know, the more you have to fall back on.

Sue