Interested in Social Media Marketing?

By Jami Scholl | January 31, 2012 | 4:06 pm | Comments (0) | Share

Planting seeds...

Garden the City 2012 Now Has a Social Media Intern!

Thanks to everyone who contacted me with interest in the project. Please keep an eye on here on this blog and through twitter, and Facebook for other opportunities for involvement. Don’t see what you’d like to do? Send an email to gardenBtown@gmail.com with your suggestion!

NOTICE!

Garden the City 2012 is looking for a savvy person who is interested in learning and leading the way in social media marketing at the intersection of the new trend of for-profit/non-profits working together for large scale social change! If you are interested send an email to gardenBtown@gmail.com

Garden the City 2012 will promote sustainability by demonstrating the ease by which individuals can create beautiful gardens to grow their own food, flowers and herbs. GtC 2012 will provide classroom and hands-on education through the installation of ecological gardens and wildlife habitat. Examples to be installed in the Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District will include a Formal Garden, an Eastern Woodland Garden, and wildlife habitat in addition to other themed gardens.

Garden the City 2012: Painting with Edibles is a project of the Center for Sustainable Living.

Categories: Alert! News on the Move.,Business,Community Food Security,Food Traditions,Garden the City 2012,Gardens,Plants,Urban Agriculture

Alert! Contamination of Rice

By Jami Scholl | January 29, 2012 | 10:53 pm | Comments (0) | Share

Now here is a punch in the gut of the nation – nearly every baby in the United States has been, and continues to be, exposed to arsenic. And not just babies – you and I are exposed, too. During this past year of 2011 inorganic arsenic, a carcinogen (cancer causing substance) has been in the news. It has been found in rice, in chicken feed and chicken meat, in apple and other fruit juices. Unlike the classic movie “Arsenic and Old Lace,” this story is not a comedy.

This is what is so important for pregnant women and nursing mothers to know – ingested inorganic arsenic can cross the human placenta from mother to infant, and in very high doses can cause birth defects. Arsenic is also found in breast milk. According to researchers at Consumer Reports, exposure to the unborn child is a public health concern and has been linked to problems such as:

1)   low birth weight

2)   infant mortality

3)   hampered immune function

4)    increased death rates from lung cancer later in life

5)   birth defects

“Arsenic is rather unusual in that the evidence for it causing cancer is actually stronger in human studies than it is in studies done in the lab.”  - Environmental Protection Agency

Children exposed to arsenic may exhibit the same symptoms as adults:

1)   long-term exposure possibly lowers IQ scores

2)   an increased risk of these cancers: skin, lung, bladder, kidney, liver and prostate

3)   skin changes of small wart-like outbreaks on the palms, soles and torso

4)   it may also affect the peripheral nervous system and blood count

5)   some studies suggest that it MAY contribute to: poor circulation, high blood pressure, heart disease, liver toxicity, diabetes and reproductive affects

6)   may cause damage to whole chromosomes

7)   higher risk for leukemia

Adults and children both process inorganic arsenic in the liver. This will then be passed out of the body in the urine. For children, they cannot convert the same amount of inorganic arsenic to the organic form like adults, leaving more cancer causing inorganic arsenic to do harm to their little bodies.  This is especially important when you think about the first food we usually feed our baby is rice cereal. I have attempted to contact Gerber, a large manufacturer of baby food. I asked them two questions: where is the rice for their baby food grown, and if the rice tested for levels of arsenic. I received an email reply that stated I should contact a person in PR and gave me a phone number. I called the number. Wrong number. “Did I dial the wrong number?” I redialed a few more times. The name on the other end of the call was not Gerber’s PR. I sent an email days ago asking for another contact. I’ve had no response.  Avoidance is a good technique to not answer difficult questions. But this also begs the question:

How is Arsenic getting into the food supply?!?

Inorganic arsenic is used in all types of agricultural production. For fruits and veggies arsenic is added in the pesticides, herbicides and non-organic fertilizers. The production of rice is a bit different than other foods since it is grown in flooded ground.  Being a natural element, arsenic does not go away, it only changes form. Rice grown in some locations have a higher amount of arsenic, because varieties have been developed to tolerate the excessive amounts of found in the soil from the previous crop: cotton. Add to this the fact that of all foods grown, rice more readily uptakes arsenic than any other.

There are two types of testing for arsenic, one is best for a longer term exposure, the other for exposure within a few days. Neither of these tests are routine. There are options to test for arsenic, and likely the most reliable one sends samples of your blood, urine, hair and fingernails to a lab for analysis. This test will not detect lower amounts of exposure, and will only measure for the previous 6-12 months. Other options include a urine sample, but this will only be valid if the exposure was within a few days. Since fish and shellfish contain organic arsenic (non-cancer causing), a more complex test may be needed to differentiate these different forms of arsenic from the blood, urine, hair and fingernails mentioned earlier.

Rice and rice products derived from the grain grown in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas are usually grown in fields that had once been heavily sprayed and fertilized cotton fields. Rice grown in Asia may also have high levels of arsenic. As I research this information, I become more and more convinced that gardens and edible landscaping have the potential to save the world.

Here is your Call to Action!

Let your representatives know you want to ban all use of inorganic arsenic in the production of agricultural products.  (Or label with skull and crossbones!) Until these production practices have changed, it is safest to eat local and organic.

We can change the world! As individuals acting collectively we have a force for good – come join in the effort to take cancer-causing arsenic out of our lives and the lives of our children! If you are interested in growing your own, My Edible Eden can show you the way to grow healthful safe food close to home.

References include: Consumer Reports, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Maryland Department of the Environment, and the American Cancer Society.

Other information can be found: International Agency for Research on Cancer, and The National Toxicology Program.

Categories: Alert! News on the Move.,Community Food Security,Food Traditions,Gardens,Plants

Climate Zones & A Gardeners Planting Calendar

By Jami Scholl | November 29, 2011 | 6:48 pm | Comments (0) | Share

Arbor Day Foundation map of climate zones.

Greetings! As you begin to think about planting, a topic that will eventually arise regards climate zones. Unbeknownst to much of the population, the climate zone maps have been a political hot topic. A new one had been released by the USDA but then retracted almost immediately by the Bush administration. The Arbor Day Foundation put out their own in 2006, which is the one that I reference here. Thank you goes to the Arbor Foundation for allowing me the use of this map in the production of the Gardeners Planting Calendar!

The USDA map has been updated, but not before many avid gardeners caught on to the fact that something was amiss with growing conditions changing and the USDA map remaining the same. My short brush with fame, meeting Michael Pollan in Indianapolis included him asking me if I was on the committee which was addressing this issue. I had to graciously say that I was not, but was very aware through my own experiences  how important is the recognition of climate change for our food supply. During World War II home gardens produced approximately 40% of all food grown for our nation. Home gardens and the blooming of the urban agriculture movement can accomplish this, and more, again.

I hope that this calendar provides you with the beginning steps into the world of beautiful and healthful food!

Categories: Alert! News on the Move.,Community Food Security,Food Traditions,Garden the City 2012,Gardens,Permaculture,Planting List,Plants,Urban Agriculture

Preparation & Play

By Jami Scholl | September 7, 2011 | 3:44 pm | Comments (0) | Share

Hermes. (Photo by Walden.)

I could type onto the screen the negatives about the Golden Triangle, but I will not. (The Golden Triangle: Peak Oil, Climate Instability, Faltering Economy.) Other people are doing a pretty good job of it and I don’t want to add to the depressive state which all of the bad news can lead. And it is not just in the headlines, it is the life we are experiencing right now. What I have decided to do is look for solutions, and this is what I have realized… the news is the outcome, not the problem.

The problem is that we have given our power away.

Think not? Think again. I’ll give you a bit of time, because it may take a little while since we are living IN our life rather than looking AT our life.

Go ahead, think about it. How have you given your power to survive hardship to others?

A little frightening to think how precarious is our existence. Humbling in fact. And scary. So now we know what our demons are – self-inflicted though they may be, it is time to take our power back. By knowing what we have given away, we can now prepare to take it back. It is time to learn the skills of our ancestors of just a few generations ago, and to deal with the emotions which come along with such a HUGE realization.

First let’s get down to business to know what is most important: Food, Water, Shelter, Love. As you all know, food is a dear topic to my heart. Water is close behind as food cannot grow without water, and I am partial to being clean and without thirst!

Water collection. Look to the side of my website… there on the right hand column is a formula in order to calculate how much water you can collect. You will need to find out how much rain falls in your geographic area, which can be found through an online search or from your local county extension agent.

When thinking water collection, think that you need a large tank and a roof that is NOT asphalt shingles. You will not stay healthy drinking petroleum remnants. Metal works well, wood can grow mold (a no-no) and rubber looks promising. Now available is a pourable rubber mix. I am currently researching this product, yesterday finding out that it is not available at box stores.

So now you have a calculation of how much water you can collect from your roof. Next is thinking about when this water will be released from the sky. During one or two seasons or evenly amongst four seasons? Considering that climate change is really an instability, perhaps we do not really know when we will be blessed with this resource in the future, which translates into you need one heck of a big tank for your main water source. The minimum we need will be a gallon per day person for drinking and cleaning. Have pets? You’ll need more. Want to water your garden? You’ll need still more. I think the best food storage plan will be one that can carry your household for 1 year + seeds to grow fresh food. The minimum I would suggest is 3 months, which will not completely get you through a winter – think how in the Little House books spring was called “the starving time.”

Food. Is imperative. Yep. This is why I have and continue to create products. The newest one I am working on is a weekly eMail subscription service to let you know what needs to be done that week, whether it is planting, harvesting, preserving or another related topic. As I compile information into an excel spreadsheet, I have realized that there will likely be 2 options, one for just gardeners or vegetables and another for Homesteaders which will include an expansion into topics such as fruit trees, wild edibles, grains, etc. The articles that will accompany this version will assume a certain level of expertise, as newbies may get overwhelmed with all of the information.

Shelter. I have a little non-energy efficient house build in 1899. No kidding. In January I purchased an acre outside of town that where I was going to build a little modern efficient home, but that is put on hold, although I continue to develop the property. In the spring I planted fruit and nut trees, shrubs and brambles. Currently there is a load of lumber, unloaded at 8pm last night, awaiting the weekend to begin building a pole construction chicken coop with two paddocks to be located just  to the east (and on the downhill slope) of one of the orchards.

Another difficult decision in regard to shelter and the massive amounts of restrictions in my county has to do with building a studio for my work. One of the topics of discussion at Lift Off! with Charlie Gilkey and Pam  Slim is that of a proper work space. I will quote Charlie here… “Every woman needs a room of her own.” I LOVE that! And it would be beneficial to move my office out of the living room. The best solution? Building a studio which is capable of being moved and added onto with a small lean-to greenhouse and a side shed to house bikes or wood storage. Now that my oldest son is home schooling again, he and I will tackle building as an educational project. (I still find it amazing that my 7^th grader has never fully memorized multiplication tables.)

And this leads to the warm and fuzzy component – LOVE. Yes, it is a need as we are social creatures, some of us moreso than others, falling into either the extrovert or introvert category. I am more an introvert, as is my oldest son. We gain our peace and strength from time alone. Introverts derive their well-being from interactions with others. I love being with my friends and family, but have learned that if I am in an office all day my interactions need to have meaning and not be constant, otherwise I become exhausted and prone to illness and overwhelm. Most of the population are extroverts, so this sometimes can be a difference where judgements are made. By the way, doing so is not a good way to culminate LOVE. <smile>

And Failure that is inevitable. After saving myself from the feeling of near complete failure to produce food this year (thanks to the deer eating every tomato, green beans and nearly anything else) as well as a skunk’s murderous tendencies manifest in the consumption of 27 meat birds (cornish rock cross to be exact.) I became angry with that damn skunk when I found him in the portable chicken coop a second night. He was eating the meat source for my children and the birds I planned on selling to my friends, besides causing pain. The second night I caught the critter in the act I took apart the chick feeders and waterer’s, throwing them piece. by. piece. at the skunk. HARD.

Soon I returned to my senses and stepped back with the doors of the portable chicken coop open, allowing the skunk to depart. How did it get in? It dug a space in the soil to crawl beneath the thick heavy wood of the coop. The moments following this incident I decided it was time to get a dog again. A farm cannot run well without a dog, and what is better than a farm dog? Therefore last weekend the kids and I adopted a border collie/Australian shepherd puppy from the local shelter. We named him Hermes after the Greek messenger god.

In recognition that we all have other things in our lives to attend to, I will address how to deal with emotional adjustment in a future blog post. But I promise it will be fun. Really. And to be honest, one of the best ways to learn is through PLAY. Through this serious research what I learned is that I need to let go of the planning and to be, to play, to live in the moment. The brain is plastic, which is good to know since many of us have forgotten how to play. My kids will be quick to answer that it is true, I need to play more. Adopting a puppy has definitely reinforced a few skills, the need for structure and boundaries and the need to play!

Until next time!

jami

Categories: Community Food Security,Food Traditions,Gardens,Homesteading,the golden triangle,water,Wild Edibles | Tags: Charlie Gilkey, Climate Change, Empowerment, Food Preservation, Food Security, Gardens, Golden Triangle, homeschooling, Lift Off!, Pam Slim, power, water, water collection, Wild Edibles

Failure: Un-dressed, Ad-dressed

By Jami Scholl | August 9, 2011 | 4:13 pm | Comments (3) | Share

In my last blog post I listed a number of quotes from Thomas Edison addressing failure.  I want to delve into this topic a bit further by undressing each quotation, giving you my interpretation.

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

This speaks to attempts – perfectionism, perhaps. If we assess Thomas Edison as if he was in a typical American classroom (note: school funding is dependent upon his immediate success/No Child Left Behind funding) he would have flunked many times over. Our society conditions kids to believe that to fail is bad. To get a wrong answer is bad, and that often it is indicative of self-worth. In a kids mind it would work something like this:

bad grade = bad me = I cannot do anything right = I am worthless.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

This quotation certainly is in line with the earlier quote, but shows point of view defines what failure is and is not. Each attempt was not a failure. Each attempt gave a solution that eliminated possibilities, and which therefore made clearer what a solution would be. This is also an example that there is no predetermined outcome where the teacher has the one right answer. Edison defined his goal and worked methodically to achieve it. He persevered and believed in his dream. He believed in himself and his abilities, learning at each step of the process. Here is a link to a TED talk by Tim Harford which explains when trial and error is the only way to find a solution: http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_harford.html

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

What is the difference between work and play? It is those who pursue their passions then work in their areas of strength in an attitude of  play who are most likely to be successful. I believe work is only unpleasant when we do not believe in what we are doing. Does your job align with your personal moral code or ethics? Is your goal monetary wealth or to have fun making the world a better place in some way? For those folks who can earn a livelihood and “work” or play in a field of interest are likely the most successful and happy people to meet for they have a dream that extends beyond the self.

“Many of life’s failures are men (individuals) who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

In this quotation I broaden it with the term “individuals” in order to include all of our population. In this quotation Edison is stating that a failure is not an attempt for a specified outcome, but people. He states that a Failure is a person who does not recognize how close they were to succeeding in their particular passion and then gave up their dream – they failed. This relates directly to self-worth. This is how most of our children are taught – if something does not work the first time, or perhaps a second time, then they fail. It also teaches that there is someone else defining the “problem” to be solved (aka defining a Goal) and that one person has THE answer, thus giving power of solution to another, abdicating personal responsibility.

I believe we should be defining our goals (not problems) in terms of the greater good, utilizing our unique strengths as gifts, and seeing each attempt as a solution to reaching a self-defined goal. There are many ways to experiment outside of a classroom. Gardening or farming are two ways of many solutions which require innovative thinking.

I once read that a child raised on a farm is one of the most creative individuals there is. Why? They encounter real life situations with natural parameters almost daily. A problem presents itself, a goal is defined. Solution after solution is attempted until one actually works. Motivation? Food, water, shelter – basic needs. If a raccoon gets into the henhouse, then a solution needs to be found that fits the budget as well as supplies which are on hand… or else no eggs, no meats, and no flock for the following year. With no flock there will be a need for more financial and time investment (chicks need to grow to a certain age before laying begins). Whether the flock is for a family’s sustenance, for sale or are pets (and many times it was all three), there is a real loss. A lingering loss.

There are many reasons I’ve a passion for gardens and farms, one of them is that I want my children to learn how to fail, which is really learning how to learn and succeed. They will learn how to define an objective, work toward a goal within real life constraints, learn to make decisions, be able to understand how ecosystems work, know something about self-reliance and the joys of giving. Learning happens all the time.

The photo above illustrates one of my recent life lessons through failure; what have been your best failures?

Categories: Food Traditions,Gardens,Homesteading,Permaculture,Uncategorized,Urban Agriculture | Tags: Education, Empowerment, Gardens, Permaculture, Urban Agriculture

Food Storage: Green Beans from Soil to Table

By Jami Scholl | July 15, 2011 | 3:28 am | Comments (2) | Share

Mountain o' Green Beans to preserve.

Growing, Food Preservation and Family Heritage

When I talked to my grandmother this past year about how much food she would put up for the family every year, she said: “as much as possible”. This now being midsummer I am beginning to process food for storage, thinking about how much I should preserve, dry, pickle… and how much to grow for fresh eating. Mary, the Amish lady we have a long-standing relationship with took our pre-order giving us a window of time for which to pick-up the beans and prepare for the task of canning the 2 bushels we ordered, one for mom and one for my family. My family eats fewer green beans and so I settled for one bushel. Mary informed Mom that one bushel should make about 20 quarts which is what I found to be the same as online estimates.
Continue reading »

Categories: Community Food Security,food preservation,Food Traditions,Gardens,Homesteading,Urban Agriculture | Tags: Food Preservation, Food Security, Urban Agriculture

Garden the City 2012: Painting with Edibles

By Jami Scholl | July 7, 2011 | 7:23 pm | Comments (4) | Share

Art or Garden?

I am a bit nervous posting this out into the world on my birthday. But I am excited to share with you a project, a dream, that I have taken the beginning steps into creating. Perhaps you will share this dream, or perhaps not. But none-the-less, when sharing a dream it opens up a person (in this case, me!) to the harsh reality of nay-sayers, and worse. But here it is, unveiled. Be kind. Be generous. Be supportive.

What follows is the organization necessary for taking a dream and making it reality,  portion of the Proposal (I didn’t want to bore you with the entire document!):
Continue reading »

Categories: Community Food Security,Food Traditions,Gardens,Plants,Urban Agriculture,Wild Edibles

Food Desert Vacation: A Lesson of Empowerment

By Jami Scholl | June 24, 2011 | 2:39 am | Comments (7) | Share

The Wabash River

In this story is a little town, population includes 900 individuals, located about 5 miles from an interstate highway next to a brown overflowing river named the Wabash. The state song On the Banks of the Wabash has never been forgotten by its students because most have never heard it named or sung. Two utopian societies lived and died here replacing the original Native Americans, and leaving in their wake a modern styled bright white Visitors Centre, a cemetery without marked graves behind a low brick fence where members of these societies were buried, intertwined in death with American Indian burial mounds, a historic village, and lots of gardens.

At the single flashing red four-way stop light the highway cuts through Main Street. There is a wonderful little coffee shop fitted for an urban crowd, a few art galleries, antique stores, a breakfast restaurant, and a host of empty buildings. Down Church Street is the post office, across from the bar. There is one expensive restaurant in town, and if I recall correctly, it is named after a flower.

Visitors Centre

There are many beautiful gardens, although I was told there were more 10 years ago. There was a man who inspired and kept all of these gardens going until he left to teach at St. Mary of the Woods College. Pear trees are found here and there around town, occasionally an apple tree, too. They sometimes appear in unexpected places, such as between the sidewalk and street across from a guest house. At this time of year the fruits are small, hard and very green. But what you will not find, especially on a Monday night, is a reasonably priced family friendly restaurant. And if you think you will make do with whatever can been found on the shelves of a little grocery store somewhere in town, well, that won’t happen either, because it closed just about a year ago.

Cafe on the corner of Main and Church streets serve a wonderful frozen lemonade, perfect for a hot day!

The drive, I was told, was not too far. Distance is relative. Driving for nearly an hour weaving in and out of traffic speeding at an average of 70 miles per hour is not my idea of fun. Neither is shopping.  The drive had to be done if we were to eat more than vlasic pickles and hot dogs on buns cooked via microwave purchased at the gas station at the far end of town. (Town being possibly a mile in length end-to-end.) What a curiosity it was to be in a town that was once known for its gardens to not have food readily available… not even a farm stand. One gentleman, I was told, did make a real go of it with a large farm stand for many years in a neighbouring town, but he got tired as his main job was as a school teacher. That town was likely about 10 miles away, but I could not get a good read on the exact distance as I was again told “it’s not far away.”

The gas station on the right hand side of the road as you first drive into New Harmony was becoming a little grocery mart that had a “deli” with a few choices of lunch meats, processed cheeses and frozen pizza, 4 or 5 tables and a section of a wall lined with videos covered in cellophane. The kind lady at the Visitors Centre told me the person who had last tried to keep the grocery going brought in fresh produce, but it would go bad and had to be thrown out as people would buy groceries when they went into Evansville to shop for other things. And, she added, he was a very experienced business person who knew what he was doing. The residents, I was told, were also very supportive, but you know, the town only has 900 people.

Bike with wicker handlebar basket beneath trellised garden.

Here I was in a town of lovely friendly people riding bikes and driving electric golf carts, whom appreciated art, beauty, travel, and were surrounded by beautiful gardens nearly everywhere and yet had not much of anything readily available to eat except those few expensive and highly processed items to be purchased from a gas station.

When I think of a food desert, the image which comes to mind, and what is most often talked about, is of the inner city where grocery stores refuse to purchase land, at times reluctant to state that the neighbourhood is too unsafe. Yet here I was in this beautiful and extremely safe little retreat, perfect for a writer, an artist, a family wishing to escape to the safety of yesteryear offering little to no food choices. When walking up and down the few blocks on Main Street and then down Church Street, the choice became not what was most healthy but will there be anything to eat at all? Walking from shop to shop from Main Street many blocks down to the gas station was a good lesson for my kids that food is valuable and may not always be readily available.

What was the best thing about this quest for dinner? Fights over the iPod touch ceased. Complaints about the lack of internet connectivity faded away. We were a unit on a quest. We relished those hotdogs, pickles and ramen noodles in a cup with a few dried carrots and peas purchased from the gas station deli. After we ate, books were read and a game of Clue was played while lying on the bed around the game board. Something happened that night and the following day. Time slowed down. Experiences were shared. I even made up a non-scary mystery story for a spur of the moment request from my youngest child while lounging in a comfy chair next to the bed. He said it was a really good story. I think he was right.

Private formal garden.

While on these few days’ vacation I was finishing the last chapters in the fourth edition of Global Warming: The Complete Briefing by John Houghton for this blog post, but this issue of community and food security seems important to address.  Climate change and Peak Oil are inter-related issues which closely tie into food security, but this town’s being a food desert had to do more with culture. These cultural decisions leave the population at risk for not only dietary related health issues such as diabetes and heart disease, but also the loss of knowledge passed down from one generation to another about how to take care of oneself and ones community through food and the security of food traditions.

Pear Street Tree.

I am interested in preparing myself, my kids, and my community for survival in a rapidly changing world. But how is this to be done? How can we be prepared? And even if you do not believe that climate change is happening, or that oil is a limited resource without a equitable replacement, what about the culture we have allowed a corporate economy to create? My children and I just experienced a food desert in the middle of farming country where gardens were grown for decoration and food was considered something to be trucked in. Something seems terribly wrong with this picture.

When my kids and I did drive the requisite hour to the nearest restaurant which was not fast food, it turned out to be a steak house. There was the assumption that we would get a volume of healthy food. After being seated and having looked over the menu I asked our waitress “what are the vegetable choices?” I was told “we serve one vegetable: broccoli, steamed.”

Whether our food is grown by the person we see in the mirror or at a local farmers market, we will be safer, healthier. For me it is more comforting to place trust for my good health in properly grown food with a high nutritional content that is not contaminated and which is sold by someone you can look in the eye and shake his or her hand. What first began as a search for dinner on Monday night became a lesson in food security and family values in a little town of utopian dreams.

Historic vegetable garden at the David Lenz House.

What has happened with our country? Dependence upon corporations for something as necessary and basic as food appears to be precarious at best. These corporations are motivated by financial profit not your well being or mine, except, of course, in order to manage their public image. The vast majority of Americans have replaced growing food or supporting our farmer neighbour with support to those whose regulation is a government entity, not their conscience. By supporting these corporations with our dollars we not only empower them, we give away our own power.  Wendell Barry said “Eating is an agricultural act.” Michael Pollan said  “Eating is a political act.” I say gardening is an act of power. Take your power back – eat local!

Gardening = Power

Categories: Community Food Security,Food Traditions,Gardens,Homesteading,Urban Agriculture | Tags: Climate Change, Empowerment, Food Desert, Food Security, Gardens, Peak Oil, Permaculture

Lawn Replacement: Woodland Garden

By Jami Scholl | May 10, 2011 | 3:21 am | Comments (0) | Share

Wild Edible Woodland Garden.

Planting is now in full swing! I have been getting gardening questions about lawn replacement, and what this might be… one option to consider is a woodland garden. In my quest to learn more about edible wild plants, I am developing in one part of my little front yard a native edible forest garden.

A benefit of a garden of this sort can be immediate: no money and time spent on mowing. Other benefits include tolerance to shade, and VERY low care. The caveat is that this very low maintenance yard (or portion of a yard) cannot be had quickly. The key to making this type of garden work is the soil.
Continue reading »

Categories: Food Traditions,Medicinals,Permaculture,Plants,Urban Agriculture,Wild Edibles | Tags: Gardens, Lawn Replacement, Medicianl Plants, Medicinal Plants, Urban Agriculture, Wild Edibles, Woodland Garden