Over the weekend I read a great article on The Washington Post about the fact that women are reclaiming domestic activities.. ala cooking, canning, knitting and such, and it asks whether this is empowering or a step backwards for women’s progress. I think the article is beneficial because it is rightly painting domestic tasks in a favorable light and shows that women who pursue such things are finding enjoyment in them. But I also think it misses a larger point about feminism and domesticity.

Domesticity can be tied quite closely to self sufficiency and empowerment. Empowerment allows us to throw aside the shackles of slavery… slavery to corporations that provide products and services to us because we are not able to provide them for ourselves. The lack of these domestic skills is not empowering, as many modern feminists have tried to make us believe all these all years. Women were encouraged to look at their duties and situations as a homemaker and home “producer” and see it as something that was holding them back from “real power”. Those feminists were wrong though. Women had power already. They had the power to provide for their families, take care of them by nurturing them with real home cooked foods, and heal them when they became ill. They were producers rather than just mindless consumers. They worked with their partners to create good lives and healthy families and their contributions were every bit as valuable as men’s. In my opinion modern feminism did a lot of destructive things but one of the worst was that it made women shun domesticity. Women traded away a skills set that made them self sufficient, wise, and powerful. They traded it away because they thought it made them equal to men when in actuality it worked to enslave them AND their families to corporations and businesses who saw the potential in this movement to create consumers dependent on them for survival and basic necessities.

I think it is great that women are realizing that they find joy in domestic tasks and deciding that it is “feminist” of them to pursue whatever joyful path they want. But instead reclaiming domesticity simply because it is fun, why not encourage it because it is smart and empowering? And this isn’t just about women either. Men and women need to reclaim domesticity. It is not a duty that subjugates them. It is a powerful life choice that makes them more self sufficient and in control of their finances and future. It is actually incredibly sad when the idea of taking care of one’s self is considered a radically new idea or an antiquated one. How did taking care of one’s self ever go out of style? How did we ever buy into that load of malarkey? I will leave that to the social anthropologists.

One thing IS clear though, domesticity is making a comeback because we have so many broken systems in this country that are failing us. We cannot trust big agricorp or food corporations to feed us safe and nourishing foods. We can only rely on them to provide us with something that resembles food and that may or may not be tainted with toxic ingredients and chemicals. We cannot trust other corporations to provide us with safe household products, clothing, toys, and housewares either. When profit comes first we get lead laced, pesticide laden, planet killing products. We get bodies burdened with chemicals and carcinogens we never even dreamed we were being exposed to. We get government agencies working right along side them to tell us that “all is well. We’ve got your back.” Reclaiming domesticity is about standing up and telling them they are no longer our master. We can do that thing our ancestors did from the time of hunter-gatherers. We can take care of ourselves dagnabbit! Sure it may look a little different now and it may be a long road to learn some lost skills but every step we take to reclaim that part of our heritage is a step closer to self sufficiency and freedom. Oh, and it is kind of fun so that makes it easier.

Where to start? Usually the easiest place to start for many is with food. You can start making more of your own food from scratch and growing some of your own food. We have even better tools and gadgets than out ancestors did and there is no shame in buying them if the end result is going to be a better nourished and ultimately more self sufficient family. Get the right tools to Create a Real Foods Kitchen and start learning how to bake, cook, preserve, pickle, marinade, soak, sprout, ferment, etc. Growing your own food can start with one or two crops like some potted herbs in the window or a potted tomato plant on your patio. Start small and go bigger as you can and as experience allows. Square Foot Gardening is a classic book that shows you how to grow food in small spaces. I also like books like The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It. It gives you insight into new ways to increase your self sufficiency from butter making, to curing your own bacon (if you eat it), to making bee boxes. For a more modern and romantic twist I absolutely adore any book by MaryJane Butters but especially MaryJane’s Ideabook – Cookbook – Lifebook. She is the Martha Stewart of farming and homesteading whether you actually live on a farm or in the city.

Winter is the perfect time for planning your new endeavors and also to try things like sewing, quilting, knitting, and soapmaking. If you already do these things then work on teaching your kids, boys and girls. These skills need to be passed on! I sew myself, but I have never quilted so that is something I really want to pursue this year. Take classes or learn from family if you need to but LEARN. Other ideas to think about include raising animals for their products, food foraging, making your own beauty products, making your own cleaners and detergents, woodworking, composting, learning about car mechanics or solar energy installation, masonry… the list is endless and the amount of knowledge you have access to at your local library is vast. In fact I have have read some amazing books lately that delve into this area and all are new releases. Domesticity is really catching on eh?

Tales From the Sustainable Underground: A Wild Journey with People Who Care More About the Planet Than the Law – This book is all about becoming an activist for social change through homesteading and self sufficiency. It has lots of great info about intentional communities, alternative energy, and it also delves into some areas that are culturally taboo, like pot growing. It is partly about green anarchy and partly about smart self sufficient choices. It is a fun and entertaining read though it may be a bit “out there’ for some. ;)

Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes – A lovely book that has lots of backyard eggs/chickens stories, photos, and recipes. I just love personal stories mixed in with yummy recipes.

Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of Country Life – Reading this book is like picking up the journal of a whimsical farmer/artist. It talks about all sorts of farming topics and give instructions and diagrams but all are hand drawn. It is an amazing collection of knowledge but also a work of art. Look at the cover art and you will get the idea.

The Wisdom of the Radish: And Other Lessons Learned on a Small Farm – This follows the story of a young couple that graduate from college and decide they want to be farmers, without any actual experience with farming, and what that entails… complete with successes and failures. It is a fun read and applicable I think to anyone who wants to get into small scale farming, whether it be for business or for self sufficiency.

When making our New Year’s Resolutions every year we need to think about what we can do or what we can learn to be more self sufficient and dare I say it… domestic.

What is on your list?

Nowadays you hear everyone talking about stress, how much they have to accomplish, how little time they have, and how much clutter is in their homes and lives. It is no wonder that a big trend in books and media has been getting back to a simplistic, minimal lifestyle. Many want to have a life that is free of complications; a life that has been pared down to its most basic and fundamental needs. If this sounds good to you then you may be interested in looking into a minimalist lifestyle as well.

What is a Minimalist Lifestyle?

Being a minimalist is a way of living that is built around those things in life; those core values and beliefs that are the most important to you. Of course this requires that you know what exactly those things are, and for many, especially in consumer-driven western societies, discovering these core values and beliefs only becomes clear once you begin to strip away the layers of societal conditioning and extraneous clutter that fill up most of our lives. A green living journey actually does wonders to strip these things away as luck would have it.

Of course how you determine a life to be free of complications, or what you see as your most basic and fundamental needs is going to change from person to person, and from society to society, but it is the ability of the minimalist lifestyle to be able to adapt itself to each person and their own particular view that makes the concept so appealing to so many people.

How to Become a Minimalist

Divesting your life of clutter and its resulting complications is the first (and biggest) step to living a minimalist lifestyle. This can be clutter in the physical sense (as in things that you have collected that you do not actually need, want or use) but it can also be clutter in the emotional and psychological sense, as in relationships and outmoded beliefs.

While clutter can be obvious; like having too many books, clothes or knickknacks; it can also be found in things like cable packages, telephone plans and credit cards. For many living a minimalist lifestyle will mean cutting down to the most basic of cable packages or (revolutionary thought) getting rid of the TV altogether. It really is amazing how much time we devote to television; time that we could be spending on more productive ventures. But what about telephones – we need them, right? In today’s society, of course we do, but do you need all the bells and whistles? Do you need a house phone AND a cell phone or could you make do with just one or the other?

Which brings us to credit cards; revolving credit may be great for the economy, but it ties you down to payments for things that you probably didn’t actually need or even want but rather felt that you had to have. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for credit (think mortgages or school loans) but why are you purchasing consumable items with a promise of payment in the future? You are just extending your headaches over your accumulated possessions into the future. Paying off your credit cards is another big step on the road to living a minimalist lifestyle, and it is a step that the credit card companies will fight tooth and nail, even going so far as to penalize your credit record for closing an account. But the freedom that comes from not being tied to a financial obligation for your stuff is worth it in the long run.

You Can Get There

Living a minimalist lifestyle is not an instantaneous process. It takes courage and commitment and a deep desire to create a more meaningful life for yourself and your family. But no matter how cluttered and confused your life is right now, you can get there; you can live a minimalist lifestyle if you simply have the courage to take the first step. Here are a few ways to get back to basics and live with simplicity:

* Stop shopping at large chain groceries and instead buy a CSA share and make small weekly trips to the farmer’s market. Simple food, good food, less hassle.

* Stop buying books and start going to the library.

* Skip the gym one day a week and take a walk or hike outside.

* Use what you have instead of buying new.

* Get rid of the stuff you don’t really need.

* Prioritize the things that energize you and make you passionate about life.

*Take advantage of Frugal Luxuries.

* Pare down your wardrobe (or that of family members) to the basics and you’ll have less laundry to do.

* Read my article on Raising Minimalist Children in a Society of Excess.

Enjoy!

I have always been more than a little interested in self sufficiency. And I do mean always. When I was little I used to empty my closet of its considerable toy and clothing stash and put empty cardboard boxes in it so I could pretend I was homeless and living off the land. When I was older I used to pour over books like The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It. Then I got a dose of reality when I did in fact move to a farm and it was MUCH tougher than I ever bargained for. Yeah, a horse getting out of the barn in the middle of the night, in winter, when you are 8 months pregnant is not fun. It wasn’t long before I moved back to the city. But the longing for a self sufficient life never went away and I began to wonder if things could have been different if I weren’t so far away from town, if I weren’t pregnant and suffering from cancer at the same time, if my husband was actually home and not on the road 25 days a month as he used to be. I still read those self sufficiency books and memoires. Heck I read The Hunger Games (an awesome book BTW) this week and even it reminded me of that long held dream. Reading inspirational stories of small scale and urban homesteaders gives me incentive to one day try again.

A couple weeks ago I asked about self sufficiency skills on the Natural Family Living Facebook page and got lots of great answers from moms who are practicing a variety of these skills at home. Angela was one of those moms and she generously put up with my barrage of questions. All photos in this post are hers.

Tiffany: So tell us a bit about yourself… how many are in your family, where do you live, how much land do you have, etc.

Angela: My name is Angela, and I’m a 31-year old homemaker. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, who is 3.5 years old, and a baby due in June 2011. We moved from Arizona to Oregon five years ago and just two years ago we moved to our current home on 0.38 acres. Our property backs up to 9 acres of semi-secluded green space, so we have the feeling of having much more land than we actually do.

Tiffany: Did you fall into homesteading because you wanted to be self sufficient, was it finances that motivated you, how did you end up living this lifestyle?

Angela: Homesteading and self-sufficiency sort of found us, I suppose. We always had a desire to have our own garden, and that is how it all started. I began learning more about food, our food supply, health, household chemicals, etc., and the more I learned, the more self-sufficient I’ve wanted to become. My husband has always wanted to “live off the grid” but for slightly different reasons. He enjoys the independence and freedom it provides. Once we got the ball rolling, the snowball effect took hold, and now we want to do as much for ourselves as we can. What we can’t grow, we buy from local farmers. We find supporting our small, local farms and our community nearly as rewarding as being self-
sufficient. I have made so many wonderful friends and contacts that way, too.

As of late, finances have played a role in the growth of our homestead. We foresaw some tough times coming, so we decided to expand the garden and add chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. It has really come in handy, too. One month we only had $50 in our grocery budget, and we were still able to eat like kings.

Tiffany: What do you grow on your land? Do you preserve foods?

Angela: We grow organic vegetables, herbs, and mushrooms. We also have a mini orchard consisting of several varieties of apples, two varieties of Asian pear, Italian prune, almonds, olives, Meyer lemons, naval oranges, figs, persimmons, peaches, nectarines, three varieties of pears, and three varieties of cherries. All but two of our orchard trees are grafted on dwarf rootstock and pruning will help to keep them, and their fruit, at manageable heights. Additionally, we grow six varieties of grapes, goji berries, kiwis, elderberries, huckleberries, lignon berries, red currant, green currant, strawberries, 21 blueberry bushes, gooseberries, tayberries, several varieties of raspberries, boysenberries, and blackberries grow wild in the green space. To pollinate the orchard trees and early-blooming fruits, we keep mason bees.

Our orchard is still young (planted just two years ago), so we haven’t had much fruit yet, and my daughter devours all the ripe fruit. She’s so voracious, we feel lucky if we get even a half dozen blueberries each. I’m hopeful that next year we will have enough fruit to preserve…though, like the trees, my daughter (and her appetite) is growing, so we’ll see.

This year we had 28 tomato plants, and despite the cool, wet summer weather, we were able to put up several gallons of tomatoes for sauce and about a gallon of salsa (the rest was devoured the day it was made or given away to friends). The fruit from the Principe Borghese tomatoes was dehydrated, so we have about two gallons of sun-dried tomatoes. Extra veggies get fermented or frozen, though I do hope to do more canning next year. Last year we had so many potatoes we gave away bags of them AND still had enough to get us through till summer. We planted half as many this year (we’ll still have enough to get us through spring) and used the extra space for onions and garlic. The onions were a flop because we didn’t harvest and cure them correctly, but the garlic is delicious and we have enough to last us for another couple months. Since neither my husband nor I have much prior experience, we find that every year is a learning experience and there is always something we don’t grow or cure quite right.

Tiffany: Do you raise animals for food?

Angela: Currently we have 18 layer hens that have 1/8 acre to forage on. We feed them a corn- and soy-free locally-grown organic whole grain mix with fish meal that I blend together myself, and they get oyster shells on a free-feed basis. During this past summer, they were allowed to free range throughout the green space and the neighbors’ yards (they loved their two-legged visitors), but after one neighbor found a gift of nine eggs in his backyard, we decided to clip their wings. They also did quite a number on our garden beds and the seedlings, making it nearly impossible to grow a fall garden. This year we raised three ducks for meat…well, they were meant to be layers, but all of them turned out to be male, so we sent our feathered friends off to the processors. In the spring, we are going to try our hands at raising heritage breed turkeys for meat and (depending on how much time and money we have) we may raise a batch of red broiler meat chickens in a chicken tractor. We are also planning on building honeybee hives on the property either this spring or the next.

Tiffany: What other things do you do yourself? (aka bread, yogurt, etc.)

Angela: In an effort to avoid unnecessary chemicals, sugars and preservatives, I make raw milk yogurt, kefir and the occasional batch of butter, kombucha tea, ginger beer, wild-yeasted sourdough bread, fermented vegetables, toothpaste, laundry detergent, cleaning products (which are actually just baking soda and vinegar), body lotion (olive oil or coconut oil with the occasional essential oil added). I’d like to start taking up cheese making again…my previous attempts at mozzarella ended up as some tasty ricotta. In the past, we brewed and bottled our own beer. Currently, I’m looking into making my own bar soap and dishwasher soap, too.

Tiffany: Do you try to stay local with things you cannot provide yourself?

Angela: Absolutely. Every year we buy ¼ of a grass-fed, antibiotic-free cow for a local farmer. All our other pasture-raised meats come from Harmony J.A.C.K. farms in Scio, Oregon. I also buy raw milk from a friend in a neighboring town. During the fall and winter months, we order our fruits and veggies from Azure Standard. They either grow the food themselves in greenhouses on their farm in Dufur, Oregon or bring it in from Washington. Azure is also our supplier of organic whole grains for our hens.

Tiffany: What has been the most rewarding thing about this lifestyle?

Angela: The pride of knowing we can do it ourselves has been our greatest reward. We are not reliant on big companies anymore and we spend a fraction of what we used to at the store. It is also a wonderful feeling knowing that we are living more in line with nature instead of in opposition to it. Mother Nature is amazing and it feels wonderful to know that we are being good stewards of the earth.

Tiffany: What do you hope your children will learn along the way?

Angela: I hope they learn self-sufficiency, independence and interdependence, and I hope they will have a deep respect for and connection to this beautiful earth we live on. My children will grow up knowing that our sort of lifestyle is very doable and highly rewarding. I also feel that living this lifestyle is the greatest antidote to consumerism and the marketing tactics of large corporations. They will know what is truly important in life, and it’s not the latest technology gadget, the latest fashions or fancy cars. I also sincerely hope they learn how to respect their bodies by eating nutrient-dense, organically-grown and humanely-raised food. Their health is their greatest asset in life.

Many thanks Angela for sharing with us and being an inspiration for wanna-be homesteaders!

Neil Strauss is a writer and author. He has written for Rolling Stone and for the New York Times on many occasions. In the late 90s he started to become disullusioned with the US and in 2004 after Bush was re-elected…I think he went a little nuts. Yeah…I know the feeling. Strauss decided that the US may be on a collision course with disaster and he wanted an escape plan. If and when TSHTF (look it up if you don’t know what it means) he wanted a way to get the heck out of dodge and be able to survive in the aftermath of anything that came whether it be terrorism, chemical warfare, or complete economic collapse.

What began is the journey he outlines in this book which was well… awesome! He had one heck of an adventure and went from being a spoiled big city guy who lived on take out food to being what he describes as a REAL man… one that could take care of himself and survive in situations that most people nowadays would not be able to. Pretty much ALL the skills he acquired were brand new to him and very scary for him to pursue. It made for one great ride though, for him and for the reader of this book. Although a small warning is in order. The prologue was a little gruesome and since I had formed no attachment to the book I almost quit reading. Luckily before it got too bad it stopped so that the majority of the book could then explain how he had gotten to the point he had in the prologue. People who are sensitive to “hunting” details are warned. 

He did soooo much in his journey to being a survivalist but here are some of the major things:

He went through gun training and got concealed and open carry permits.

He learned to ride a motorcycle and bought a military grade bike.

He went through intensive survival training and learned to survive in the woods for any length of time with only the clothes on his back.

He went through urban evasion training, learning how to pick locks, hot wire cars, break padlocks open, get out of virtually any restraint including handcuffs, and create caches with survival supplies and disguises.

He learned to hunt and fish.

He learned to grow his own food and raise and breed livestock.

He learned to track animals and humans over virtually any terrain.

He obtained citizenship and a home in another country. He also opened up an overseas bank account.

He took FEMA courses and joined the California Emergency Mobile Patrol unit AND became a licensed EMT.

That only covers a portion of it too. The book basically follows him on this long journey and he shares with the readers his fears and his failures. It is also full of many hilarious yet scary moments, such as when he disguises himself as a woman to evade bounty hunters and nearly get his behind kicked by thugs who didn’t take kindly to finding a cross dresser in the men’s bathroom. Or when he has to get out of handcuffs and the trunk of a car. Yet it also has sad moments such as when he is called to the scene of that horrible train on train crash last year in California.

It is also full of extremely interesting and/or useful information. The survival information was useful of course and the info about citizenship in other countries was interesting. I thought US immigration was tough but I think many other countries have us beat.

If you want a fun and clever weekend read this is a good one. And if you want to learn more about survivalism and having an “escape” plan then this might be your how-to guide. ;)

One of the foremost things that attracted me to green and eco conscious living was the direct correlation to self sufficiency and personal responsibility. Going green is largely about taking control of your spending, your habits, your wastefulness, and YOUR contribution to the pollution of our planet. To live a more eco conscious life and reduce your impact on the planet I think you need to develop your skills set. We need some mad green skills. ;)

This is good news in my mind as I am and will always be a student of life. Learning new things is one of my greatest passions and I loved college more than anyone should I think. I still often think about going back to college to pursue my interests. Classes of any sort whether they be at a college or at my local community center make me stand up and take notice. I LOVE to learn! My hubby and I both enjoy “how-to” books and own a many of them. We subscribe to magazines that discuss self sufficiency and homesteading. We are very interested in expanding on our existing skills all the time and with the economy the way it is and the planet in the condition that it is…I think this is important. Instead of the skills to pay the bills maybe we need the skills to avoid paying the bills. Aka the more self sufficient we are the less likely we will need to rely on other people and services to get by. How can we reduce our consumption and rely more on the sweat of our own backs to get by?

In Mother Earth News this month they shared a survey they did of farmers and over 60% of the farmers they interviewed felt they were in a better position than other people in the country to rough it through economic hardship. Why is that? Cause they have skills.

So what kind of skills can save you money and help you reduce your environmental footprint at the same time? Here are some of the front runners in my mind:

Grow Your Own: I think it is incredibly important that people learn to grow their own food. Our conventional food growers use pesticides, genetically modified seeds, and all sorts of chemical nasties on the food they grow. We can opt to reduce the amount we buy and therefore reduce support to such industries. It is also entirely possible to grow all your own food if you want to. All it takes is hard work and the dedication to build new skills. Grow in your front and backyard, patios, decks, balconies, window sills, etc. Join a community garden if you have absolutely no place to grow. Start a freedom garden movement in your community.

Sew Your Own: Sewing is a lost art and one we need to revive. In this day and age of slave labor and cheap Wal-Mart clothes and goods it is easy to decide that sewing your own is too costly. But sewing your own clothing, bedding, bags and totes,  home decor, toys, etc. is just to rewarding and empowering to ignore. And you can pick up very low cost fabric at yards sales and estate sales all to often as well. I have often bought entire bolts of fabric (40-100 yards) direct from the manufacturing companies so that I can keep costs down on sewing projects. Get good at sewing and you also have a marketable skill. I made good money selling hand sewn goods online for several years. I still love to buy hand sewn items from other moms and do so all the time.

Make Your Own: Why not try to make your own bread, soaps, candles, cleaning supplies, etc? Cook your own food and make your own dog/cat food. How much of the “stuff” you buy can you make yourself? Not only can this save money it is really rewarding to be able to make your own stuff and not have to shop for it. Right now I am reading the Outlander series and in a nutshell the heroine decides twice to to go back in time and live in 18th century Scotland where she and her family have to grow their own food or starve, make their own candles in a week long process and harvest the beeswax themselves, make their own clothes, build their own shelters, and set their own broken bones. It is a really fascinating read and every time I catch myself wondering why on earth she would CHOOSE to live that way I am reminded just how strong and self reliant this character is…yet you will NOT find a sub heading here called “Set Your Own”. :) Please don’t try to set your own broken bones.

Entertain Your Own: The biggest budget killer for my family is entertainment. I grew up in an affluent family that traveled a lot and generally just spoiled me. If I wanted something, I got it. Hubs and I ended up passing on a lot of that to our own kids and now we are back peddling. If we don’t watch it the kids will talk us into a bunch of worthless toys and we will spend a $100 a week on DVDs and movie theatre tickets. This past year I let my son choose an an out of state destination for his birthday and he chose Pittsburgh, PA. We could handle that request. This year he wants to go to Paris! We had to put an end to the destination birthday thing. ;) Now we invest in season passes to educational places like the zoo and the Science Museum. We buy second hand books and do a lot of reading.  We do crafting and painting. I encourage the kids to put on plays for us (last week they re-enacted Star Wars). They listen to audio books. We search out our community for free or low cost events. We create fun outdoor play areas at home and we take them hiking and camping. Sometimes in lieu of traveling to warmer places in the winter we get a cheap local motel room with an indoor pool and let the kids spend the whole weekend in the pool. We are doing this in February in fact. There are so many low to no cost entertainment ideas out there. Check out my TV Free site for ideas. It is a skill for many to get creative and entertain themselves.

Build Your Own – This is my hubby’s favorite learning area. He reads DIY books on building and carpentry with abandon. By developing building skills you can do home renovations yourself, you can build raised beds for your garden, build furniture, etc. The possibilities are endless. My hubby and I both want to pursue education and training in sustainable energy and building systems. We want to learn how to install solar panels and grey water collection systems.

Reuse Your Own- It is both frugal and green to reuse everything as much as you can. You can use egg shells, old rain boots,  and milk jugs in the garden. Old wool sweaters and t-shirts can be turned into cloth diapers and covers. Torn clothing can be used to make rag rugs. Glass jars can be turned into candle holders and vases. One of the greatest cost savings opportunities available is to use and reuse what you already have.

What green skills do YOU want to pursue?

What is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

You may have heard of farm sharing programs or Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs) before. They are gaining popularity and getting a lot of media exposure in recent years for their ability to help bring real and local food back to the table every night and support local economies. They are instrumental in helping people to eat their meals from farm to plate.

All those small scale farmers in your area are at a serious disadvantage these days. They simply cannot compete with large agri farm operations that sell to major grocery markets. Small farmers usually have to sell to their neighbors, at roadside stands, and at farmer’s markets. They have had to work hard to find a loyal customer base and unlike large agribusiness operations, small farmers might find themselves out of business the very first time their crops are destroyed or fail to thrive. It is such a sad state of affairs. So….realizing that smaller farms serving the locals might soon be gone with the wind some of them have gotten creative and decided to extend an invitation to their local communities in the form of CSAs.

I am happy to see that many have answered that call.

So how does it work? CSAs work when the farmers sell a portion or a share of their harvest to their neighbors. For a seasonal fee they get a box of fresh farm fruits and veggies every week. I remember being giddy on delivery days each week…just waiting for my box of farm fresh goodies. The CSA that I belonged to in Arizona was run by a gal named Kelly and she included pertinent recipes every week so I was in culinary heaven each week. It was that first year that got me hooked on Kale…because I was swimming in it, LOL. Before that I had never even tried it so being a CSA member also exposes you to new and exciting foods. I did an interview with my local CSA farmer in Arizona at Desert Roots Farm if you want to read about it.

Here was Kelly’s definition of a CSA:

Community Supported Agriculture is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm’s yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season’s harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

As Kelly touched on, the farmers have more freedom, security, and flexibility when their costs and products are paid for up front. The consumer benefits by having continuous access to local and healthy foods that don’t have to cause planetary destruction on their way to you. The consumer also absorbs some of the risk involved in farm management because if the crops fail for whatever reason the farmer has already been paid and he or she will not be forced out of business. The consumer, although unhappy to see no food that season, is satisfied in supporting his local community and protecting his or her local food sources.

There are some CSAs that allow you to pay for your farm share or a portion of it in trade for labor. You might be put to work weeding, harvesting, packaging CSA boxes, or delivering the food. This arrangement keeps costs down for both the farmer and the consumer. In my area (Ohio) a whole share from May to October costs about $650 and that pays for a box of farm fresh goodies every week. You can also do a half share for a smaller family. In Arizona it was a bit more expensive.

You may also be able to find CSAs that raise livestock and thus offer shares of beef, raw milk, chicken, eggs etc. There was nothing like that in my area but I get fresh eggs from the local Amish farms and hoorah….I found a herdshare program nearby that offers a share in a dairy cow and I will be getting 2 gallons of raw, organic milk every week. For the first year the price works out to be $3.65 a gallon and every year thereafter it is $2.65 a gallon. I have to pinch myself that is such a steal….I was paying $8.00 a gallon in Arizona.

Other benefits of joining a CSA include the fact that the whole family starts eating healthy veggies and leafy greens more frequently. It also makes eating raw easier. Joining a CSA in your area might be one of the best things you can do to support your local economy and make a commitment to healthy eating.

So where do you find one? Try Local Harvest for a listing in your area. And if there aren’t any don’t worry, you might be able to do what I am doing which is take a blended approach with a little grow-your-own, farmer’s marketing, shopping with the Amish, pick-your-own day trips, and herd sharing. You would still be eating healthier, eating local, and supporting your community by keeping your dollars local.

Other important links:

Real Milk – To help you find raw milk, raw cheese, and herd share programs.

Pick Your Own – A farm directory where you can visit local farms and pick your own food.

Here is a video I did last summer of our berry picking adventure. Doesn’t it make you long for spring????!

[tags]CSA, community supported agriculture, local food, farms[/tags]

So here is a run down of what I generally use to clean:

Furniture Polish - 1 cup olive oil, 1/2 lemon juice. Mix in a spray bottle and shake before every use. Spray on rag and then rub furniture.

Window Cleaner – Put 1/4 cup vinegar in a spray bottle along with several lemon peels and then fill to the top with water. Spray all surfaces and use a lint free rag to wipe off. Crumpled newspaper works well to wipe up after too.

Scented Soda Scrub – Mix several cups of baking soda with several drops of peppermint or Candy Cane blend essential oils. It smells heavenly and can be used as a deodorizer too. Often times I sprinkle it on carpet and then vacuum to make the whole house smell yummy. I use this along with my window cleaner to clean tubs and sinks.

Floor Cleaner- For floors I use a small amount of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap diluted in water and a 1/2 cup vinegar. Plain vinegar and water works too. I use a broom and dustpan to sweep them first (no vacuum) and I wash them by putting two cloth rags on the floor and sliding around on them with my feet…no mops. It is a good workout. Just put on some music…The Hustle…and away we go.

Natural Dishwasher Soap Recipes – Follow that link to 2 homemade recipes I use.

Natural Carpet Cleaner Recipe- I also use soap nuts on occasion but I am using BabyGanics now. I have white carpet…these natural cleaners DO work.

I also use lemons to clean my garbage disposal, bleach cloth diapers in the sun, and boiled in enamel pots to remove stains. Also, because I have white Corian sinks (and counters) I will throw some cut up lemons in the sink and them seep in boiling water to remove stains…which I find that Corian is prone to get. They come right out.

For rags I use old towels cut into squares and I have some microfiber towels as well.

So…as you see my cleaning regimen is pretty simple and no fuss. I hope you enjoy trying some of these recipes in your home!

For additional info I really like the book Clean House, Clean Planet.

I just finished reading The Self-Sufficiency Handbook – A Complete Guide to Greener Living by Alan and Gill Bridgwater who began their own self  sufficient life in the 1960s. Being self sufficient and living off the grid was once considered something pursued by “hairy hippies”. Now though, self sufficiency is trendy and cool. If you can unplug from the energy grid then you are envied. If you can feed your family all year with nary a trip to the grocery store you are model of frugality and practicality. To me self sufficiency means something very simple…it means being able to care for yourself and your family and this is an admirable goal. How many of us can say that we would be just peachy if tomorrow we didn’t have the option to run to Wal-Mart or Kroger? Could we grow our food if we had to? Could we make our own clothes? What would we do if we didn’t have garbage pickup? I think a great number of people in society today would be peeing in their pants if they suddenly had to take care of themselves.  Personally I like to pursue self sufficiency because I like to know that if I needed to…I could take care of my own. I imagine that doing so must bring a great sense of freedom.

The book starts off by addressing how you can choose the right plot of land for your self sufficient life. How much space you need, how to pick the right location, making sure you have access to water, etc. It is great information for those that are in the planning stages.

The next section addresses the self sufficient house which was of greater interest to me than the land part because I am pretty settled…for now anyway. ;) You can learn to be more self sufficient in the house or space you already have. Four different house types of varying degrees of self sufficiency were discussed at length. One of the houses had me chuckling a bit with solar powered, motorized drapes and an intercom system. I guess it just shows that self sufficiency doesn’t mean you have to give up creature comforts.

The book also addresses heating and cooking options, wood-burning stoves, lighting, water, toilets (loved the gray water flushing info), solar power, wind power, geothermal heating, recycling, and insulation. I have so many ideas for ways to increase my own self sufficiency in these areas it is exciting.

The second half of the book discusses feeding yourself with an organic garden….how much space you need, how to care for your soil, how to compost, how to rotate crops, how to control weeds, and how to grow just about every fruit and veggie common to your area. This book will be totally dog eared come spring. ;)

It also goes into raising animals for food or their byproducts…cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, bees, etc. And going a step further it gives instructions for things like curing your own bacon, making butter, canning and preserving, making beer and cider, and making soap and candles. It is a very helpful book.

For anyone that wants a great intro into self sufficiency and how to incorporate bits and pieces of it into their existing life and home this is the book for you. If you want to go for broke and go completely off grid and be 100% self sufficient I would chase this book with a few others from my personal library:

The Encyclopedia of Country Living

The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour

Just the Greatest Life by David Schafer

[tags]self sufficient, homestead, solar power, gardening, organic, hippie, off grid, farm[/tags]

. Read part one

Chapter 19 discusses Avian Influenza and chapter 20 talks about bioterrorism. They are closely related because they both work to taint our food and the USDA without fail will always try to claim that small family farmers are the ones propagating diseased food and/or are the ones most likely to be the source of a bioterrorism outbreak with their unsecured facilities.

Several years ago there was big scare about local chickens having the bird flu and Salatin shares some stories and theories. He even shares a widely held theory that the chicken industry “planted” the bird flu and accidentally let it get out of control. I buy that theory 100%. In fact I have a similar theory about almond growers and a salmonella outbreak. It was conventional almonds and not raw ones that were the source but somehow…miraculously raw almonds were the ones that got banned. Funny how things just work out like that for big agricorp? They get to stick it to their competitors when they should have been grabbing their ankles. ;)

Even when it is the large, industrial chicken farmers that are spreading disease it is the small family farmer that takes the heat. The USDA certainly won’t tell you Tyson did this to you….they want you to think that birds raised outside that can come into contact with air and other birds are the ones getting infected, when that could not be farther from the truth. They simply will not allow the media to portray their benefactors in a bad light. The local food chain is the fall guy.  I guess some people really are dense enough to believe that 100 chickens crammed into a small cage that eat manure and never see the light of day are safer to eat than a bird that gets fresh air, sunlight, and grass to eat.

Salatin goes on to compare small, local farms with that of industrial ones as far as access for bioterrorists goes. The USDA wants us to believe that industrial farms are immaculate, stainless steel wonder worlds that are guarded ferociously to protect all the wonderful people of this country. Small local farmers are dirty, careless, and certain to let any old terrorist on their property to taint food. Does this sound logical to you?

Industrial farms are almost devoid of people. Machines feed and water them, computers monitor temperature, and there is hardly anyone around. They are prime for terrorist infiltration. The actual processing facilities however, where they slaughter and process all that raw product is crawling with people, many of whom have no legal status to be in this country and do not even speak English. How hard would it be for a foreigner (because terrorists are always foreign don’t ya know) to get a job there and taint up to 10 tons of food? I don’t think it would be to hard….at all.

A smaller, local farmer would be much less likely to be targeted. It is also unlikely that they ever would be considered a viable target because they do not do the same volume and a terrorist will want maximum impact. The USDA is trying to make us fear the local food system when it would likely be the safest thing for us in the event of a bird flu outbreak or a bioterrorism event.

Chapter 21 addresses the NAIS or National Animal Identification System that the government wants to impose on us by 2011. Basically it would require microchips be implanted in all cows, pigs, chickens, horses, sheep, and goats. I think the program sounds crazy but supposedly it would make our food much safer if we tag all the animals. The fines you can rack up for stupid things, like forgetting to declare and animal dead or for having an extra chicken are outrageous. Also, the smaller farmers will have to tag each and every animal but industrial farms can have one tag per 10,000 animals. How fair is that??

Chapter 22 is about Mad Cow disease and how it became a problem. Also discussed is the disgusting practice of industrial farms to grind up animal remnants and manure (even from sick and diseased animals), mix it up with some grain and molasses, and feed it back to the living animals. It is practices like this that make mad cow disease possible but the USDA is not about to change things. They don’t really care about food safety.

If you recall a couple years back a company in Missouri called Creekstone Farms was upset because the mad cow scare in the US was causing foreign buyers to ban US meat products. Creekstone managed to secure a deal with a Japanese buyer that they could still do business if the farm tested every piece of meat they sold. Well, the USDA sued them! Why? The USDA said that if this farm tested every product then that would make all other meat processors who choose NOT to test look suspect in the consumer’s mind. So here the USDA is suing a company because that company is testing for mad cow disease. Creekstone eventually won that case but the USDA plans to appeal. If they really cared about food safety why would they sue companies testing for diseased meat?

Chapter 23 was not a favorite of mine. It talked of animal welfare and how farmer’s get vilified for buying chicks via mail order or using farrowing crates for sows. Salatin explains that when he orders 2000 chicks in the mail and the post office accidentally suffocates them or leaves them out in cold temperatures and they freeze to death this is the post office’s fault. Hence the farmer should not be vilified for a practice that would have been harmless to the chicks if not for careless post office workers. But I don’t buy that. The post office shouldn’t need to baby-sit your mail. If you elect to ship a living thing in the mail then deal with the backlash when it dies and people get mad.

The final chapter just sums thing up for us and tells us where we need to go from here. I particularly like this quote:

The political rationale for food safety ultimately rests in the notion that we are wards of the state. Not a free people.

I for one do not want the government telling me what I can and cannot eat. This is a basic freedom that I don’t think anyone should give up. The crack down on food is just getting worse everyday. Anything raw, even vegetables are getting the evil eye these days. Are we ready to throw ourselves under the bus of government protection because we are too stupid to know what is good for us? Are we ready to start eating sterilized, irradiated, processed, antibiotic laden “clean” foods for the rest of our lives?

Make your voice heard that this won’t be tolerated, find back door methods to get illegal foods such as raw dairy through cow share programs or donation based markets. Withhold your compliance from the tyrant that seeks to take our food freedom away…

[tags]Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal, book, review, Joel Salatin[/tags]

The following book review, or discussion rather, has gotten long (think novella) so I will break it up into different posts. This is part one.

I was thrilled when I heard about Joel Salatin’s new book, Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal. I think I was foaming at the mouth at the thought of getting my hands on it and yes, it is everything I hoped for. It is an honest look at how our freedom to participate in traditional food growing and purchasing has been taken away. Every year the government tightens the noose and forces the American farmer to industrialize and centralize his or her operation and they force the consumers to purchase food products that fall within the realm of their total and complete control. We have little freedom to make our own food choices anymore and MANY people don’t even know it.

I first learned about Joel Salatin and his farm in Virginia called Polyface farms in Michael Pollan’s book Omnivore’s Dilemma (read my review). Pollan was prompted to write about Salatin when the latter refused to ship T-Bones steaks toNew York. It went against Salatin’s approach to an efficient food system which included eating locally. This got Pollan’s attention and he decided to visit Polyface farms and write many chapters about the farm and the farmer in his runaway best seller. The book launched Polyface into the spotlight as the epitome of the nations’ ecological farms.

Although the book did brush upon Salatin’s struggles against government agencies and beurocrats, Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal provides us with a detailed look and it is frankly quite shocking. It furthered my own unpopular opinion that the great old US of A is heading towards a closed democracy. Our food is one of the foundations of our culture and our freedom and it is assaulted daily by a government who feels we cannot possibly make healthy or responsible food choices without them. The irony is that the food deemed acceptable by government is really the LAST thing we should be eating. I touched on this in my post about why I think our government wants to make us and keep us sick.  If we value freedom and health we must do one very important thing…withhold our cooperation with the tyrannical and intrusive government food system. As mentioned in the Forward section of the book, Ghandi once said:

How can a few thousand Brits control millions unless we comply? We now propose to withhold compliance!

These words need to invigorate us to fight for our freedoms that are being taken away even as we speak. This issue is just too important to ignore and reading this book will help you to understand that. Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal I is quite simply one of the most important books I have ever read.

The introduction contains an essay by Salatin that he published in Acres USA. The essay had the same title as the book and he came upon the title when he was invited toLondon to participate in a panel discussion about the pressing needs of a heritage based food system. One by one participants at the 30 person table highlighted what they perceived to be the biggest impediment facing our food system. Some talked about the trafficking of cheap organic food, another mention labor issues, and so on. When it came time for Salatin to speak he blurted out “Everything I want to do is illegal!” It is funny how such a simple sentence sums it up.

Read part two of this book discussion.

[tags]Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal, book, review, Joel Salatin, Michael Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma[/tags]

Well it appears I have found his limit. When I told him of my plan to invest a million dollars into starting an eco-village he had to put his foot down. Okay…in actuality the million dollars was hypothetical…it was my answer to ProBlogger’s birthday bash question about what you would do with a million dollars…but when I told my husband of my “plan” he said he was extremely NOT interested in founding or even living in an eco village.

We talked at length about it because this kind of bothered me as I would LOVE to live in an eco village/co-housing community and have been considering going to planning meetings for one such community being started in southern Ohio. But as I dug deeper into why my husband has strong negative feelings about the concept I realized he is imagining a bunch of earth children dancing around a fire, holding hands, praying and singing to the birds. He is thinking that he would have no privacy and no freedom to enjoy anything that might be considered less than green.

So now I am doing my research to “sell” him on it. Basically eco villages are “urban or rural communities of people, who strive to integrate a supportive social environment with a low-impact way of life. To achieve this, they integrate various aspects of ecological design, permaculture, ecological building, green production, alternative energy, community building practices, and much more.” This definition was taken from The Global Ecovillage Network.

Many times it means a group of people with like values come together and combine resources to buy a plot of land and build earth friendly homes (usually attached), gardens, conservation areas, and a community building where they enjoy meals and activities together. These communities could consist of a half dozen families or a hundred but they share the same desire to live in harmony with people and planet. They build energy efficient homes, use alternative power when they can, share many possessions like cars, garden as a group and even run CSAs and farmer’s markets together. They work together to maintain their homes and land and they really help each other in any way they can.

One of the most well known examples is the Eco Village at Ithaca. You can read a wonderful book about this community and get a real feel for this type of living. I reviewed the book here and I continue to admire what they have accomplished….if I could move there I would…in a heartbeat! Of course IF my husband would agree. :)

I just love the idea of forming a real tribe of people with the same values. It would be like picking your extended family.

So what about you? Would you? Could you? Won’t you be my neighbor?

[tags]eco village, co-housing, intentional community, tribe, values, family[/tags]

So…..we went to Millersburg, OH and Yoder’s Amish Home. It is a wonderful place to see how the Amish live and find out the history behind their faith and how there are different sects of Amish and how they are different than Menonites. They actually all came from the same group of people but their views on modernization drove a rift between them.

Yoder’s Amish Home is actually a huge 116 acre farm that has preserved the Amish way of life. It feels as though you step back in time when you visit.

The farm has two different Amish homes on it…an older style for more conventional Amish and a new style that is used by the more modern Amish in the area. The newer Amish home is more modern with indoor plumbing, gas lamps, and tile floors. We had the opportunity to walk through both houses with a tour guide who explained all the Amish beliefs and gave us insight into the daily life of an Amish family. In the second house, the last stop is the kitchen, in which two young Amish women were baking cookies and blackberry and peach fry pies that were available for purchase in the next room. They looked so delicious we had to buy some and they were as good as they looked. Yum!

Both homes had established gardens where they grow all thier own food. One garden was conveniently sitting just outisde the kitchen door where you only had to go out a few steps to grab some veggies for dinner.

The property also has a big barn and a schoolhouse. The barn was a big highlight for my kids with chickens, turkeys, rabbits, puppies, kittens, piglets, cows, sheep, and of course HUGE draft horses. One of the young Amish boys was only too happy to go in the piglet’s pen and try to catch one for our amusement as they scurried and squealed. I think my kids loved the adorable pink pigets the best. I am also pretty sure that the boy who was trying to catch the piglets is the same boy in the picture above, (brown hat) just a few years older.

This reminds of something curious we learned about the Amish that day. The tour guide asked us not to take pictures of any of the Amish that were mulling around the farm. They believe that having their picture taken is like having a graven image made, which is forbidden in the Bible, so they do not allow pictures of their faces. Obviously the picture above shows a face so perhaps this does not apply to children…who are not baptized into the Amish faith until they are teens.

After the barn tour we all took a buggy ride which was my oldest son’s favorite part of the whole day. In typical mom fashion I thought the buggy went far to fast. :) We also went into an Amish schoolhouse where we met an Amish teacher and found out how the Amish parochial school system is run. I was fascinated by all the windows in the school, which are there no doubt to provide natural light in the absence of electric lighting. It was a quaint little school.

The last stop on the tour was the gift shop which had tons of handmade Amish gifts such as quilts, toys, and dolls. I couldn’t resist buying an authentic Amish doll which has no face…due to the graven images belief again. It is wearing the appropriate attire for a young Amish girl, who are permitted to where color only when they are young and not yet baptized. The doll is sitting on my book shelf in my bedroom now and she is a reminder of a very fun day.

On our way out of town we saw many Amish markets and did not have time to stop but I have plans to return soon to get homemade Amish cheese and wine. We can’t wait to go back!

A few days ago I was reading about a North Carolina man who drives a diesel car powered by 100% vegetable oil. His veggie oil bumper sticker caught the attention of local law enforcement and he was fined $1000 for not paying motor fuel taxes. You see about 30 cents of your gasoline dollars go toward fuel taxes and when you get a little creative by switching to an alternative fuel and don’t need to buy gas anymore…well you can get into a whole mess of trouble. Never mind the fact that this North Carolina man was buying the veggie oil and paying taxes on it. It looks like he will get hit with another fine from the feds in the same amount and he has to pay a $2500 bond in order to keep using vegetable oil to power his car.

Then today I was reading about Michael Mercutio, a man that cut his $340 dollar a month electric and gas bill down to an incredible $114 a year! This miraculous feat was accomplished by installing a 35 foot wind turbine in his backyard….a project that he did get a permit for. Well, his neighbors are now suing him because they think the turbine is big and unsightly and also makes noise. They claim they are all for wind power…just not anywhere near their homes. WTH?

I can honestly say I would be thrilled if one or more of my neighbors decided to get a wind turbine. I would love to have one myself. What is wrong with these people?!

It reminded me that just the other day as I was driving through Champaign county Ohio I kept seeing bright yellow signs that said “No Wind Turbines”. I was confused about why they were there so I came home and did a bit of research and found that Champaign and Logan counties in Ohio are proposed sites for wind farms. I think that is an awesome development but I guess residents think wind turbines are ugly and are sure to devalue their properties.

I really can’t understand it. I have driven a hundred times past the wind farms in California and I think they are beautiful. I was always mesmerized by them and of course I love what they represent…clean energy.

And I am sorry but if Mr. Mercutio’s neighbors want to sue him for using clean energy and living frugally with a wind turbine then they should have to pay his energy bills from now on.

A word of caution for anyone progressive and environmentally responsible…you might find yourself in court!

[tags]green power, wind pwoer, wind turbine, environment, fuel[/tags]

And shortly after my trip to the market I stopped by the community garden and picked several bags worth of sugar snap peas, snow peas, yellow wax beans, turnips, hot peppers, green bell peppers, and zucchini. My mom, who is a BIG snow peas fan, cooked up a delicious beef and snow peas meal. All but the rice was local.

In the next few days I will be heading back to the community garden to pick the first of summer’s sweet tomatoes in many varieties. My son is especially looking forward to harvesting the yellow tomatoes we planted called Lemon Boys. I will let you know how they taste smothered with balsamic vinegar and mozzarella cheese. Oh I can hardly wait!

[tags]community garden, eat local, farmer’s market[/tags]

I knew I would like the book right after reading the introduction in which we meet the author and learn about her motives for writing the book and gain some insight into her life. She is a woman after my own heart….a cancer survivor like myself, a supporter of homeopathic medicine and alternative health, and the director of an organic foods buying co-op.

I went on to read the first chapter with tears in my eyes as I became engrossed in the story of a family that comes into contact with the bird flu after one family member is exposed while traveling. I cry for the mother who loses her husband within days after exposure to the bird flu and must watch her children slip away, all the while becoming increasingly sick herself. I cry for what “could” be.

This is where we learn that we must be prepared for something like this. We cannot be so arrogant as to think that global disasters cannot touch us. We are threatened by many disasters in this day and age: global warming, terrorist attacks, hurricanes, and yes pandemic illness. The question is: If one of these disasters were to find its’ way to our doorstep would we be prepared? And of course that leads to another question…why not prepare yourself, even if you believe you will not ever be affected? “Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” That is what it comes down too and that is why this book is so important.

I did not know much about the bird flu pandemic of 1918 so it was nice to learn a bit about his chapter in human history. The Chapter “What Did We Learn from the 1918 Bird Flu?” was a big eye-opener and it outlined some of the reasons why that pandemic hit so hard and a BIG factor in that situation according to the author and other sources was stress. The stresses we put on our body…chemical, physical, emotional, and sleep related contribute to our overall health and can make us susceptible to illness. These factors are detailed in the book…and it may shock you to discover what age group was hardest hit by the 1918 flu. It surprised me at first but the logic was overwhelming.

Some other great topics discussed where: the people who will be hit the hardest by Bird Flu, 10 simple things you can do, how to survive if the Bird Flu hits, medical care and home remedies if conventional medicine is not available, and food storage and cooking tips. I was delighted to see that many of the survival skills recommended for us to learn were ones that I already have courtesy of my natural family living lifestyle.

Not only does this book outline the ways in which you can protect yourself in the event of pandemic illness it gives us good information about staying healthy and avoiding illness in general. The information about vitamins, health supplements, and healthy lifestyle practices is great to have. Who doesn’t need that information right? The correlation between an alkaline pH and a body that is a ripe host for viruses and cancers was information that I really needed, having just went through a battle with cancer.

I really enjoyed this book. It is now totally dog eared where I have marked pages with important information or sources that I want to explore further. I have also spent a little too much at Amazon buying books and other products that were referenced by the author. So be warned! But this is one book that a health conscience person should not be without…especially if you are concerned with pandemic illness like the Bird Flu!

And don’t forget to stop by the author’s web site: www.escapethebirdflu.com

[tags]Bird Flu, Health, Illness, Pandemic, Sickness, Book Review[/tags]

Tiffany: What exactly is a CSA?

Kelly: CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm’s yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season’s harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

Tiffany: What motivated you to start such a program?

Kelly: Ever since I was little and helping my grandpa in his vegetable garden, I’ve had an interest in agricluture. As a child, I remember being in awe of the fact that you could put a seed in the ground, add a little water and sun and that would grow into something you could eat – crazy! While I have always been interested in farming and agriculture, I didn’t think I could make a career out of it. So, I went to college and got a degree in Accounting and went to work doing corporate taxes. After about 4 years of that, I knew that I wanted to do something different with my life. So, I decided to go back to school and get a Masters degree in Agribusiness.

While I was doing the master’s program, I met a few local farmers who participated in valley farmers markets, got to know them, learned how they got their start, etc. and I was hooked. I was so excited to learn that it was actaully possible to make living with small-scale farming…especially with the CSA model. So, I searched for some land to get started and I was off.

Tiffany: Has running a CSA been difficult?

Kelly: Farming is definitely not an easy way to make a living. There are much easier, less time-consuming ways to make an equivalent amount of money. But, there are certainly benefits that I wouldn’t trade for anything….no cubicle to be stuck working in, I get to work outside, and control of my own work schedule, to mention a few. The biggest challenge of running a CSA is ensuring that I have a decent selection and variety of vegetables to offer my members every single week for at least 42 weeks a year. This takes quite a bit of planning and a good understanding of the climate, environment and seasons in your area. Also, I am constantly planting year-round so that I have a continuous sequence of generations of veggies – some ready to harvest, some that are a litle younger and ready to go in a few weeks and some just planted, etc.. If anything messes with my schedule (like weather…), I’ll might find myself short on vegetables a few months later. And of course, things rarely go as planned with organic farming…even if I schedule everything just right, I’ve got bugs, birds and animals just waiting for the opportunity to dine on my veggies before I get a chance to harvest them. So, the biggest challenge of CSA is, by far, the pressure of having veggies every single week.

Tiffany: What feedback have you gotten from members?

Kelly: I’ve been getting great feedback from my members. Of course, CSA is not for everyone. My happiest customers are those that are committed to eating local and in-season vegetables. Unlike what you find in the grocery store, not all veggies are in season all the time. So, CSA works best for people who can take what’s in season and design their menu around the foods that are available. If you’re a picky eater, you won’t be happy with CSA.

Tiffany: What rewards do you experience?

Kelly: I love harvest days…it’s pretty rewarding to see all the vegetables that I’ve worked so hard to grow. Also, I love to hear from my members that they’re enjoying the veggies….I get e-mails from folks sharing great recipes they’ve discovered or stories about how their child wouldn’t eat broccoli from the store, but loves our broccoli, etc.. It’s a great feeling to know you’re producing and delivering high quality, healthy vegetables to your customers.

Tiffany: Do you have any advice for others who want to grow sustainable food for themselves or perhaps start a CSA in their own area?

Kelly: I would certainly encourage anyone to grow their own food or even start their own CSA. My biggest bit of advice would be to really get to know and understand the seasons in your area. It’s not enough to know that summers are hot and winters are cold. You need to be sensitive to your environment and learn what grows best in your area….by motto is “don’t fight mother nature….it’s a lot easier to work with her”. You’ll be more successful if you adapt to your environment, rather than try to manipulate your environment to suit your needs.

Tiffany: Has your CSA activity motivated other life changes in either you or your members in regards to sustainable living.

Kelly: .Many people start farming or gardening because they want to enjoy the vegetables….my interest originated from the growing/farming process, rather than the end product – the vegetables. I’m not much of a cook, but over the years of growing all these great vegetables my husband and I have drastically changed our eating habits to include more vegetables and are much healthier, as a result. So, that has been a big and positive change in my life. Also, I don’t look at food the same anymore…it’s not just a commodity in my eyes…I know the hard work and heart that goes into producing good, quality food. I think that many of my CSA members have come to that same realization. When you know your farmer, listen to their stories of success and hardship throughout the growing season, it’s hard to ignore the connection. That’s the great thing about CSA – it brings you back to reality (food doesn’t come from grocery stores, it comes from farmers and ranchers and many other hard-working people in this world).

While growing your own vegetables may seem like a lot of work, there’s nothing like biting into a nice ripe tomato or a juicy carrot and thinking “I grew this myself”. I just love making entire salads with nothing but the bounty from my garden.

The first thing you need to do when starting a vegetable garden is to find a spot and prepare it. Most veggies need lots of sun to grow; so pick a spot that gets sun most of the day. You should then work up the soil to make it loose. This way you will be able to plant your vegetables and their roots will be able to grow. It’s almost impossible for little plants to break through compact soil. You can then put organic material in your soil by adding compost or manure. If you don’t have this on hand, you can go pick something up at your local gardening store. There are lots of folk with horses near me so I have no trouble getting fresh manure.

The next thing you need to do is to pick out what plants you want to grow. And if you grew any veggies last year make sure you rotate crops. Growing tomatoes in the same place for instance can encourage disease…so rotate planting areas every year. Pick your family’s favorite vegetables first. I know it is tempting to grow eggplant because they are so beautiful and purple but if no one in your family really cares for them…skip them. You don’t want a bunch of food sitting around that no one wants. Just make sure that the vegetables you want will grow properly where you live. Take your zone into consideration.

Once you have your garden prepared and you know what you want to grow, plan the actual layout of your garden. The best way to do this is to get out a sheet of paper and draw your garden. Some plants can grow pretty close together, while others need to be spread out so they won’t have competition. Read the seed packets if you grew from seed for general height and spacing information. Draw where you want to put each crop so you know you have enough room for everything.

Now that you have your spot picked out and you know exactly what to get, it’s time to go to the store and buy your plants or seeds. Good luck and happy planting! And be sure to send some pictures to me at diapermama@gmail.com. I would love to see your garden grow!

I just finished reading a wonderful book today titled EcoVillage at Ithaca. The Ecovillage is a real place in Ithaca, New York…an intentional community with a focus on sustainable living.

This engrossing book draws the reader into the midst of a village that includes cohousing neighborhoods, small-scale organic farming, land preservation, green building, alternative energy projects and hands-on education.

The story is told by Liz Walker, who has been involved with Ecovillage at Ithaca since its conception. Not only does she share the joys and benfits of creating their own community or villiage, she talks about the sruggles and conflicts inherent in any community endeavor.

Basically Liz and another founder decided to build an intentional community that would bring people together under the common cause of helping the environemnt and building a community of loving, caring individuals to enrich the lives of all. Through a series of complicated events the founding community members band together and buy 175 acres of land just outside of Ithaca. They build the first community of 30 houses (nicknamed FROG), a common house, an organic garden and CSA program, farm structures, and eventually a second community of houses and an educational center.

The community grows, eating several meals a week together in the common house, meeting weekly and monthly to ensure the community needs are met, and working shifts in a variety of volunteer community positions. Carpools and car-sharing programs are formed, businesses are started, educational opportunites are arranged with local colleges, and government grants allow for projects such as habitat restoration.

I was amazed by this book. The enthusiasm of the writer, Liz Walker is infectious and I walked away planning a trip to Ithaca to visit this community and dream of a day when circumstances might permit me to join such a community.

This book is also a shining example of community taking charge of important environmental issues by adopting a lifestyle that put issues like organic and local foods, sustainable living, permaculture, water conservation, habitat resotoration, and living in harmony with the land at the forefront of their lives. This book is a must read!

I hope that it made you think a little bit about what you can do to be a part of the solution. I know it made think about this deeply. There are many ways we can decrease our carbon dioxide emissions and here are just a few of them:

1. Drive a fuel efficient, hybrid, or electric car. Or reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible.
2. Consume less – Stop junk mail, buy recycled products, use reusable products.
3. Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs, unpug appliances when not in use.
4. Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
5. Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
6. Use energy efficient appliances.
7. Plant a tree to help absorb carbon dioxide.
8. Switch to green power.

This last item “switch to green power” may seem a bit daunting. Not many average folk have the resources to install a 20,000-40,000 solar energy system on their home. But what if you could afford it…wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity? Well, I have recently discovered something amazing. You can now afford solar energy in your home.

Yes, you can have an engineer come to your home and design a solar system for you that will provide enough energy to run your entire home in most circumstances. It will be installed for you and you do not need to worry about maintenance or upkeep. All of this can be had in exchange for a $500.00 secuirty deposit.

Okay I may have lost you there. I am sure you are thinking that this is not possible but I am happy to say that it is. I discovered this program to get solar energy for your home and it is really amazing.

This program packages solar power for you in a simple and smart way. Plainly put, the program pays for, installs, owns and operates the solar installation. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the equipment or any of the other concerns that come with making an investment into solar power. All you are required to do is pay for the electricity generated from these panels, at a fixed rate that is at or below your current electricity price, for as little as one year or as many as twenty-five years. Just take a look at some of the benefits that you would receive:

1. No upfront investment, no need to become a financial expert to justify your investment.
2. No waiting for rebates.
3. No headaches with the city and the utility; let them handle the engineering, procurement, and construction.
4. Performance-based contract means you only pay for what is delivered. And since the solar power you generate will reduce the need for electricity from your power company, your net payment should always be equal to, or less than, what you’re paying now.
5. Hassle-free operating and maintenance; it’s handled by the experts.
6. Actual hedge against future utility price increases: you can “lock in” your rates for the electricity generated from the solar system at your home for a period of up to twenty-five years, far longer than the guaranteed rates offered by other electricity providers.

But there is plenty more. Take the time to visit the site and learn more about clean solar power, how this program will benefit you, and how you can get started. Go ahead and take that step towards helping us provide a safer, cleaner more reliable electricity service for our world. I know I will be taking that step along with you. If you have ANY questions just drop me an email at admin@naturemoms.com.

AND if you want to do even more and perhaps help spread the word about this awesome opportunity you can find out more here. Be a part of the solution!

This inspirational guide with DIY attitude has everything you need to know about the world’s great T-shirt: how to cut it, sew it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, and best of all, transform it. It Features more than 100 projects (plus 200 variations) for customized tees, tank tops, tube tops, T-skirts—even handbags, a patchwork blanket, iPod cozies, leg warmers, and more. More than one third of the projects are no sew, meaning anyone who can wield a pair of scissors can put a personal stamp on her wardrobe. But the sewing basics are here too: backstitch and whipstitch, gather and ruche, appliqué and drawstrings. And the mission statement for Generation T: Ask not what your T-shirt can do for you; ask what you can do for your T-shirt. And then Do-It-Yourself!