OK, I don't read a lot of books for grownups. I read a lot of children's books for personal and professional reasons. I guess I also read parenting books like candy, and also enjoy a fair number of other nonfiction titles. But I generally do not sit down with adult titles. Once I went to part-time-on-call status, I joined a book group specifically to broaden my horizons a bit.So, when it was my turn to select a book, what did I suggest? A nonfiction/memoir, of course. Our group just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I think I am a changed person. I look at my cupboards, my cookbooks, and even my lawn in an entirely different light. Ian fears for his Poptarts (though he needn't worry too much about that. Really! Ian, are you reading this?)
This book moved me, a nongardener, enough to consider digging up my backyard to see what would happen if I planted a garden with and for my family. An unschooler's paradise! Even while the snow drifts outside, the girls and I are looking at heaps of library books comparing Islamic gardens, English formal and cottage gardens, Japanese gardens, American gardens, rock gardens, and children's gardens. When the snow abates we'll measure and graph a bit.
We're ready to see our food through from seed in the basement to steamed veggie on the plate-- or at least withered plants ruined by weather, animal, or insect pests. We'll learn what nature has to teach us. The art, math, science, reading, and sequencing that's inherently connected will see us through.
I'm interested in seeing more local food options for our community. I'd like to see a wider local food variety at our farmer's markets and at our co-op and grocery stores. It's good for our merchants as well as our community's bellies! One way I can help achieve this is by starting a new locavore/green blog that's open to the public, so I have. (Want to be a contributor? Leave a comment here or there!) But I'd like to see the library put on a program this Spring to help patrons live more locally. Options are limitless, but panel discussions or workshops including some of these would be fun:
- Purdue extension for Master Gardener/Junior Master Gardener info
- Botanical Conservatory
- 4H/Cloverbuds/Minis
- Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) information
- urban composting
- urban gardening
- container gardening
- Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana (put on Barr Street Farmer's Market)
- beekeeper
- recycling information
- local heirloom seed savers
- local heirloom animal breeders
- local slow food convivium
5 comments:
Right on Jen! My wife finished the book and was reccommending it to everyone. Just don't get too ambitious in digging up your yard, or you will end up with more weeds than you can handle. Not using herbicides is great, but a lot of hard hours weeding your ground. On the bright side you will probably end up with a lot of purslaine, which is high in omega 3's and great in salads.
I spent last year volunteering at Salomon Farm so I could learn something about organic gardening, and after weekly volunteering from March to November, the biggest thing I probably learned was how little I knew. That and how little weeds need to be able to thrive!
We have a garden every summer and we really enjoy it. We get full sun in our yard and we've had good luck with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and onions. We also grow a bunch of herbs and they are EASY to grow (oregano, chives, sage, parsley, rosemary, thyme, & tarragon). We augment our clay soil with topsoil, peat, and manure and we mulch heavily with straw. Those organic bug sprays work well too.
We also grow big basil plants but we've had problems with those annoying Japanese beetles. And our neighbor has one of those bug bags that actually attracts them (sigh). My husband uses that Garden Safe bug spray (after sunset to avoid harming bees) and that helps.
I have a bunch of equipment for seed starting that you can borrow. I used to have an elaborate vegetable garden, but then I got a dog who views freshly turned earth as an invitation to dig to China, so I gave it up.
Besides, this will be a good excuse to get together for tea or something!
Post a Comment