Thank you Huckleberry!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Huckleberry Porkchop
This chicken is not a rooster
Okay?
She's just a little bossy
and really aggressive
and she pecked me in the eye
and she runs across the yard to peck our toes
and when all the chickens escaped
she's the one who crossed the road
and was found
surrounded by 3 cats
clucking up a storm
But she hasn't made any sort of noise
that sounds like
cock-a-doodle-doo
I will continue to refer to her as she
until she proves herself to really be a he
Oh, Huckleberry!
Won't you please please please
lay me some green eggs?
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Well, it's been 2 months of spring since i last wrote about our backyard, and that is way too long because so much happens in april and may. It's so different now!
I started....
and finally finished...
building the chicken coop!
and now the chickens live there, not in a box in my room anymore.
They hang out mostly in the bottom section when they're awake, and sometimes we let them out to roam, supervised. Then, at night, they climb up their little ladder to go upstairs where they have a perch for roosting on. That's how chickens like to sleep. I put that turtle curtain over the window, so the streetlight doesn't disturb them while they're sleeping. I don't know if the light actually bothers them, but they're my babies.
So it's amazing how big chicks get in two months. They keep getting bigger...
and bigger...
and bigger....
and they aren't done growing yet. They are 3 months old now. In a month or two, hopefully they'll start laying eggs. Then we'll have 4 eggs/day every day!
So not only did i build a chicken coop in the past two months, with the help of some very good friends and power tools, but i built an herb spiral. Herb spirals are a common technique for maximizing space and creating multiple mini-climates in a small area. As it spirals in, the elevation goes up, so on the outside, it is lower, and therefore wetter, while on the inside, it is high and dry. Also, the plants on the south side can get plenty of sun, while the plants on the top provide shade for the plants on the north side.
We have a surplus of these gray stones that made up the driveway, which we reclaimed, so i built the wall with those. This took me quite a while. But here, you can see how it ended up:
And of course, we've been doing tons of gardening: starting, transplanting, and now actually harvesting tons of veggies and fruits and herbs and flowers.
Now, there are strawberries, peas, and lots of kale and arugula. We are also eating tat soi and turnip greens from the garden. The spinach is going slow, but i've eaten a little, and i got some lettuce today too. There are also nasturtiums everywhere, and some borage flowers, both of which i like to put in salads, yes eat the flowers!
The fava plants are starting to form little pods, and the broccoli plants are starting to form little heads, if only the cabbage worms and the ants don't kill them first. We're also growing carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, leeks, garlic, onions, chard, kohlrabi, collard greens, chicory, lentils, runner beans, mung beans, mustard greens, sunflowers, jerusalem artichokes, artichokes, so much i can't even remember them all!! There are also a ton of herbs in the herb spiral. Oh, and soon we'll be transplanting tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, squash, melons, and green beans. And we're trying out growing quinoa!
So, between our garden, me working at the farmer's markets and bringing home free and cheap veggies from there, and other friend's gardens, and our chickens, i can't see how we'll ever have to go grocery shopping again. Okay, i guess we'll have to get our grains and beans, and condiments, and milk. For milk, I just found some people who have goats, only 10 blocks away from where i work, and they sell the milk, so we can get local, fresh, raw goat milk! It's amazing!
Oh, and i did finally get that bush out
I started....
and finally finished...
building the chicken coop!
and now the chickens live there, not in a box in my room anymore.
They hang out mostly in the bottom section when they're awake, and sometimes we let them out to roam, supervised. Then, at night, they climb up their little ladder to go upstairs where they have a perch for roosting on. That's how chickens like to sleep. I put that turtle curtain over the window, so the streetlight doesn't disturb them while they're sleeping. I don't know if the light actually bothers them, but they're my babies.
So it's amazing how big chicks get in two months. They keep getting bigger...
and bigger...
and bigger....
and they aren't done growing yet. They are 3 months old now. In a month or two, hopefully they'll start laying eggs. Then we'll have 4 eggs/day every day!
So not only did i build a chicken coop in the past two months, with the help of some very good friends and power tools, but i built an herb spiral. Herb spirals are a common technique for maximizing space and creating multiple mini-climates in a small area. As it spirals in, the elevation goes up, so on the outside, it is lower, and therefore wetter, while on the inside, it is high and dry. Also, the plants on the south side can get plenty of sun, while the plants on the top provide shade for the plants on the north side.
We have a surplus of these gray stones that made up the driveway, which we reclaimed, so i built the wall with those. This took me quite a while. But here, you can see how it ended up:
And of course, we've been doing tons of gardening: starting, transplanting, and now actually harvesting tons of veggies and fruits and herbs and flowers.
Now, there are strawberries, peas, and lots of kale and arugula. We are also eating tat soi and turnip greens from the garden. The spinach is going slow, but i've eaten a little, and i got some lettuce today too. There are also nasturtiums everywhere, and some borage flowers, both of which i like to put in salads, yes eat the flowers!
The fava plants are starting to form little pods, and the broccoli plants are starting to form little heads, if only the cabbage worms and the ants don't kill them first. We're also growing carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, leeks, garlic, onions, chard, kohlrabi, collard greens, chicory, lentils, runner beans, mung beans, mustard greens, sunflowers, jerusalem artichokes, artichokes, so much i can't even remember them all!! There are also a ton of herbs in the herb spiral. Oh, and soon we'll be transplanting tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, squash, melons, and green beans. And we're trying out growing quinoa!
So, between our garden, me working at the farmer's markets and bringing home free and cheap veggies from there, and other friend's gardens, and our chickens, i can't see how we'll ever have to go grocery shopping again. Okay, i guess we'll have to get our grains and beans, and condiments, and milk. For milk, I just found some people who have goats, only 10 blocks away from where i work, and they sell the milk, so we can get local, fresh, raw goat milk! It's amazing!
Oh, and i did finally get that bush out
I love growing food!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might know about my dream to have some land in the country, some forest, a stream, hand-built shelters, lots of food growing, and animals, and a community of groovy people. i've been meeting a lot of people who have this dream, and i'm not giving up on it. but in the meantime, i'm trying to make as much of it a reality as i can now, living in the city. It is possible, but renting a house is hard when you're trying to homestead, when you're trying to live self-sufficiently. So here's our house. But not really. We're lucky to have a pretty nice landlord. It's not that he particularly cares about what we're doing, or that he's excited about what we're doing...but that he doesn't really care what we do, as long as he doesn't have to do any work, or pay for anything, and that it looks "good" in the end.
So the major thing we've done is take down the fence and are in the process of putting it up in a different place, so we can have a way bigger yard. There was a driveway on the other side of the fence that the landlord doesn't need anymore. So now we have more room for bigger garden beds, a chicken coop, and a little pond. The pond is not for ducks even though i wish it were.
Most people are used to letting other people grow all their food, and going to the grocery store and buying it. That's just what we do. But these days, it's hard to ignore the inefficiency of this system. Such a waste of energy. I've worked on farms and seen how much work it is to grow just enough food to go to farmers markets. In order to supply food to the whole world in this way, it takes turning farms into factories, even organic agriculture gets turned into this giant, mechanized monoculture.
I won't philosophize too much more. It just doesn't make sense that we should use so much energy in the form of fossil fuels to grow and transport and process the food that everyone needs everyday. I ride my bike or the bus around town, and i see so many big empty lots just sitting there. And i hear about all the people who are unemployed, and see hungry, homeless people looking for work. I wonder why other people aren't making this connection. Not to mention so many lawns that could be turned into gardens and food forests. Let's start growing food a little closer to home. It would create work for people to do, and local food for people to eat. Ultimately, more sustainable.
Here in Portland, there are tons of community gardens. But they are expensive and there are at least year-long waiting lists to get a plot. So in the meantime, while i'm trying to figure out how to get everybody else to realize these things, that we have plenty of space to grow our food locally, i'm doing my best to grow as much food on the land that i have access to, and documenting it so that people can be inspired and get ideas for things they might be able to do.
Moving the fence: what it takes: a hammer to take down the fence boards... a shovel to dig out the fence posts and the new holes for where you'll move the fence posts... a couple good friends to help out... concrete from the store, water to mix it, and a wheelbarrow to mix it in. (the wheelbarrow you see in the picture, bought for $10 from a nice man i found on craigslist).... and just a little know-how (Ian's got some construction experience -- that's him kneeling)
Gardening can seem hard just because there's so many different philosophies about gardening, and people make it seem like there is a best way, a right way and lots of wrong ways. But the truth is, plants want to grow. They just need the right amount of water, light, and nutrients. If you've never done any gardening, even if you have done some gardening, it just takes a little reading, talking to other gardeners in your neighborhood, and willingness to experiment. And it's not like your garden is your livelihood (yet), so if some of your plants don't make it, you can still go to the grocery store and buy some food. And if you are not too easily defeated, you can learn a lot from your mistakes/failures.
I made those cold frames you see in the picture, with some old windows and wood from the Rebuilding Center, a great place close to my house that sells used lumber, windows, doors, cabinets, bathtubs, lamps, hinges, tiles, everything really cheap. Cold frames are a way to start seeds early that can take it a little cold, but can't be outside with no protection. I learned how to use an electric saw to make these.
There are some things that just take a lot of hard labor. Like when you want to put a path leading to your new gate where there are some big nasty bushes. So you just gotta go out there with your shovel and start digging, and keep digging and digging and digging. We'll get those bushes out, even if we have to take a chainsaw to them, or burn them out. We'll get 'em!
Here's a garden bed that's actually already been planted, mostly fava beans, a couple arugula plants, that actually survived the winter, and some tatsoi starts that we got at the farmers market.
And of course, the chicks are still cute. Their feathers are coming in, so i can see what they're going to look like when they grow up. Here's a funny picture of Huckleberry (her new name, the only one who really has a name that's gonna stick), checking out Babar doing yoga. They really want to jump up to higher spots, reminding me that they are birds, and birds fly and like to be high. Still hoping none of them are roosters. I guess i won't really know for a couple months.
Tomorrow i'll be going to ChickenFest at a nursery nearby, where i'll learn more about taking care of chickens and building a coop. Then next week, i'm gonna start building the coop.
So the major thing we've done is take down the fence and are in the process of putting it up in a different place, so we can have a way bigger yard. There was a driveway on the other side of the fence that the landlord doesn't need anymore. So now we have more room for bigger garden beds, a chicken coop, and a little pond. The pond is not for ducks even though i wish it were.
Most people are used to letting other people grow all their food, and going to the grocery store and buying it. That's just what we do. But these days, it's hard to ignore the inefficiency of this system. Such a waste of energy. I've worked on farms and seen how much work it is to grow just enough food to go to farmers markets. In order to supply food to the whole world in this way, it takes turning farms into factories, even organic agriculture gets turned into this giant, mechanized monoculture.
I won't philosophize too much more. It just doesn't make sense that we should use so much energy in the form of fossil fuels to grow and transport and process the food that everyone needs everyday. I ride my bike or the bus around town, and i see so many big empty lots just sitting there. And i hear about all the people who are unemployed, and see hungry, homeless people looking for work. I wonder why other people aren't making this connection. Not to mention so many lawns that could be turned into gardens and food forests. Let's start growing food a little closer to home. It would create work for people to do, and local food for people to eat. Ultimately, more sustainable.
Here in Portland, there are tons of community gardens. But they are expensive and there are at least year-long waiting lists to get a plot. So in the meantime, while i'm trying to figure out how to get everybody else to realize these things, that we have plenty of space to grow our food locally, i'm doing my best to grow as much food on the land that i have access to, and documenting it so that people can be inspired and get ideas for things they might be able to do.
Moving the fence: what it takes: a hammer to take down the fence boards... a shovel to dig out the fence posts and the new holes for where you'll move the fence posts... a couple good friends to help out... concrete from the store, water to mix it, and a wheelbarrow to mix it in. (the wheelbarrow you see in the picture, bought for $10 from a nice man i found on craigslist).... and just a little know-how (Ian's got some construction experience -- that's him kneeling)
Gardening can seem hard just because there's so many different philosophies about gardening, and people make it seem like there is a best way, a right way and lots of wrong ways. But the truth is, plants want to grow. They just need the right amount of water, light, and nutrients. If you've never done any gardening, even if you have done some gardening, it just takes a little reading, talking to other gardeners in your neighborhood, and willingness to experiment. And it's not like your garden is your livelihood (yet), so if some of your plants don't make it, you can still go to the grocery store and buy some food. And if you are not too easily defeated, you can learn a lot from your mistakes/failures.I made those cold frames you see in the picture, with some old windows and wood from the Rebuilding Center, a great place close to my house that sells used lumber, windows, doors, cabinets, bathtubs, lamps, hinges, tiles, everything really cheap. Cold frames are a way to start seeds early that can take it a little cold, but can't be outside with no protection. I learned how to use an electric saw to make these.
There are some things that just take a lot of hard labor. Like when you want to put a path leading to your new gate where there are some big nasty bushes. So you just gotta go out there with your shovel and start digging, and keep digging and digging and digging. We'll get those bushes out, even if we have to take a chainsaw to them, or burn them out. We'll get 'em!
Here's a garden bed that's actually already been planted, mostly fava beans, a couple arugula plants, that actually survived the winter, and some tatsoi starts that we got at the farmers market.
And of course, the chicks are still cute. Their feathers are coming in, so i can see what they're going to look like when they grow up. Here's a funny picture of Huckleberry (her new name, the only one who really has a name that's gonna stick), checking out Babar doing yoga. They really want to jump up to higher spots, reminding me that they are birds, and birds fly and like to be high. Still hoping none of them are roosters. I guess i won't really know for a couple months.
Tomorrow i'll be going to ChickenFest at a nursery nearby, where i'll learn more about taking care of chickens and building a coop. Then next week, i'm gonna start building the coop.
Monday, March 09, 2009
I'm a mommy now! I got on my bike, rode to the nursery, and picked out 4 cute little chicks to take home:
This black one is a Plymouth Barred Rock. She is the leader of the rebel army (lora). she was the first to start jumping up to the edge of the brooder... trying to escape. She a good little chickie though.
This yellow chick with the puffy cheeks is an Auracauna. I'm calling her Tuk-Tuk for now becuase she looks like a chipmunk (it makes perfect sense to me)
Here's the Buff Orpington. When you think of chicks, this is what you probably imagine, little yellow ball of fuzz. I've been calling her Roobie, because she is as loud as a rooster. Well, not quite, but she chirps the most and the loudest.
This brown stripey one is a Speckled Sussex. You can see she's got a lot more feathers than the rest of the chicks because she's a few days older than the rest of them. She's definitely the bossiest of them all, maybe because she is the oldest. I'm not sure what her name will be. Maybe Sparrow.... but all of their names might change when they get a little older, and i get to know them a little better.
So the woman working at the nursery, gave me a little box to put them in, which i wrapped in a towel, and put on my bike. Then i rode home as fast as i could (about 5 minutes at the most), so i could get them in their brooder, under their heat lamp, which i already had on. When they're first born, they need it at least 90 degrees.
They've got food and fresh water, and sawdust to walk around on. They're pretty easy to take care of. I talk to them, and pick them up so they get used to being human friends.
The only thing i have to be careful of is Sebastian...
... my kitty... i am keeping the chicks in my room so i can keep the door closed, all kitties out! But I bring Sebastian in every once in a while, vigilantly supervised, just so he can learn that they are friends, not food or toys. Not that he will really learn, but it's fun to watch him watch them.
The funniest thing about the chicks is how they are just walking around doing their thing, and then all of a sudden, they just all fall asleep, sometimes standing up.
SO CUTE!
My next job is to build a chicken coop. I've got about 7 weeks to get it finished, i mean, started, and then finished.
This black one is a Plymouth Barred Rock. She is the leader of the rebel army (lora). she was the first to start jumping up to the edge of the brooder... trying to escape. She a good little chickie though.This yellow chick with the puffy cheeks is an Auracauna. I'm calling her Tuk-Tuk for now becuase she looks like a chipmunk (it makes perfect sense to me)
Here's the Buff Orpington. When you think of chicks, this is what you probably imagine, little yellow ball of fuzz. I've been calling her Roobie, because she is as loud as a rooster. Well, not quite, but she chirps the most and the loudest.This brown stripey one is a Speckled Sussex. You can see she's got a lot more feathers than the rest of the chicks because she's a few days older than the rest of them. She's definitely the bossiest of them all, maybe because she is the oldest. I'm not sure what her name will be. Maybe Sparrow.... but all of their names might change when they get a little older, and i get to know them a little better.
So the woman working at the nursery, gave me a little box to put them in, which i wrapped in a towel, and put on my bike. Then i rode home as fast as i could (about 5 minutes at the most), so i could get them in their brooder, under their heat lamp, which i already had on. When they're first born, they need it at least 90 degrees.
They've got food and fresh water, and sawdust to walk around on. They're pretty easy to take care of. I talk to them, and pick them up so they get used to being human friends.
The only thing i have to be careful of is Sebastian...
... my kitty... i am keeping the chicks in my room so i can keep the door closed, all kitties out! But I bring Sebastian in every once in a while, vigilantly supervised, just so he can learn that they are friends, not food or toys. Not that he will really learn, but it's fun to watch him watch them.The funniest thing about the chicks is how they are just walking around doing their thing, and then all of a sudden, they just all fall asleep, sometimes standing up.
SO CUTE!
My next job is to build a chicken coop. I've got about 7 weeks to get it finished, i mean, started, and then finished.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
i know it has been a while since i last blogged. but it's hard to feel inspired to write when i'm not travelling. that's what this blog was originally for. i went off galavanting, gardening, and hitchhiking in europe. i was in a new city, sometimes country, every few weeks. I was meeting new people constantly, and not knowing where i would be next month. This gave me a lot to write about.
Now, I've been settling into one room in one house in one city with the same 5 people for the past 8 months. I am still meeting new people and learning new things, but I just can't bring myself to write about being a nanny 2 days a week. I could, but I can't write a whole blog entry about the new words Soren is saying everyday, and that he can ride on the see-saw now, which he couldn't really do a couple months ago.
I could write about volunteering at In Other Words, the non-profit, volunteer-run, feminist bookstore a few blocks from my house, and I guess i could write about how it almost had to close, and is still struggling to stay open, but we're doing a pretty good job raising money...but not a whole blog entry.
I could write more about the baby in my house, but really all i could say is how cute he is, and that he's getting bigger all the time. Really all he does is eat, sleep, poop, and cry. But he's so cute when he does all those things. He's 12 weeks old now.
There are a lot of things I could say, but I just haven't felt like this is the right place to say them.
But:
There is a happy ending to this story.
I have found inspiration. A reason to blog.
Spring is on its way. This means my housemates and I can start gardening. We've actually already started some leeks and onions! Luckily, we have pretty mild weather here in portland, oregon.
So, we may be only renting our house, but we're putting a lot of energy into our backyard. It all started when we asked our landlord if we could increase the size of our yard by using the driveway behind our fence. It is his property, but he doesn't need it anymore since he was using it to build some townhomes next to our house, so he said we could take down the fence if we wanted to. So Ian and Thimble have been working hard moving the fence around to give us a yard that feels twice as big. This gives us room for much bigger garden beds, so we can grow a lot of vegetables and herbs and flowers. It also gives us room for a firepit, maybe a little pond, and my favorite part: a chicken coop for a few chickens!
So this is what my blog is becoming now: documentation of our backyard homestead. You will begin to see before and after pictures of our yard, pictures of baby chicks and grown up chickens, the things we build, and other general gardening pictures. I'll be writing more often now, I promise!
Hope you enjoy!
Now, I've been settling into one room in one house in one city with the same 5 people for the past 8 months. I am still meeting new people and learning new things, but I just can't bring myself to write about being a nanny 2 days a week. I could, but I can't write a whole blog entry about the new words Soren is saying everyday, and that he can ride on the see-saw now, which he couldn't really do a couple months ago.
I could write about volunteering at In Other Words, the non-profit, volunteer-run, feminist bookstore a few blocks from my house, and I guess i could write about how it almost had to close, and is still struggling to stay open, but we're doing a pretty good job raising money...but not a whole blog entry.
I could write more about the baby in my house, but really all i could say is how cute he is, and that he's getting bigger all the time. Really all he does is eat, sleep, poop, and cry. But he's so cute when he does all those things. He's 12 weeks old now.
There are a lot of things I could say, but I just haven't felt like this is the right place to say them.
But:
There is a happy ending to this story.
I have found inspiration. A reason to blog.
Spring is on its way. This means my housemates and I can start gardening. We've actually already started some leeks and onions! Luckily, we have pretty mild weather here in portland, oregon.
So, we may be only renting our house, but we're putting a lot of energy into our backyard. It all started when we asked our landlord if we could increase the size of our yard by using the driveway behind our fence. It is his property, but he doesn't need it anymore since he was using it to build some townhomes next to our house, so he said we could take down the fence if we wanted to. So Ian and Thimble have been working hard moving the fence around to give us a yard that feels twice as big. This gives us room for much bigger garden beds, so we can grow a lot of vegetables and herbs and flowers. It also gives us room for a firepit, maybe a little pond, and my favorite part: a chicken coop for a few chickens!
So this is what my blog is becoming now: documentation of our backyard homestead. You will begin to see before and after pictures of our yard, pictures of baby chicks and grown up chickens, the things we build, and other general gardening pictures. I'll be writing more often now, I promise!
Hope you enjoy!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Waiting for a baby to come...
when i moved to portland, i got lucky.
i found a house with amazing people living in it. i didn't know them before i came here. i didn't know anyone who knew them. but they welcomed me with pancakes and maple syrup.
I don't think i realized that Marissa was 5 months pregnant until she told me a few days after i arrived. Since then, her belly's gotten bigger and bigger, and riding a bike around town, with her 4 1/2 year old daughter, Innana, hasn't been an option for a couple months.
3 days ago, I went to my friends' house to spend the night...she could feel the baby was on its way. She is having a home birth, so she wanted some privacy, just Ian (the papa), the midwives, and one or two other close friends. The next morning, I got a call from Ian: "no baby yet, you can come home if you want". So i came home to delicious breakfast tacos. After I devoured those tacos, Marissa said her water broke. Okay, now the baby's really coming. So I went back to my friends' house to spend the night, knowing tonight was the night. I went to work the next day, anticipating a call any minute saying the baby had arrived. After work, I rode by the house, just to see if anyone was outside. Ian was on the roof, sitting in the sun. "Ian?" I asked, expectantly. "Still no baby yet".
But Marissa went to get acupuncture that morning, which is a known effective method of inducing labor. So a few hours later, the contractions were getting closer together, so I got out of the house, to spend the night at a different friend's house. Again, I knew, this would be the night. She had a dream about a month ago that the baby was going to come on the 24th in the nighttime, and it was going to be a boy. So last night was the 24th. And I'm still waiting for a phone call, wondering,
did the baby come?
is it a boy?
how tiny is he really?
what is his name?
what does his voice sound like?
and for the first time, really understanding what a blessing it is going to be to be so close to one so new, and watch him grow.
so i wait and wait and wait for a phone call.
so i can go meet my new roommate.
when i moved to portland, i got lucky.
i found a house with amazing people living in it. i didn't know them before i came here. i didn't know anyone who knew them. but they welcomed me with pancakes and maple syrup.
I don't think i realized that Marissa was 5 months pregnant until she told me a few days after i arrived. Since then, her belly's gotten bigger and bigger, and riding a bike around town, with her 4 1/2 year old daughter, Innana, hasn't been an option for a couple months.
3 days ago, I went to my friends' house to spend the night...she could feel the baby was on its way. She is having a home birth, so she wanted some privacy, just Ian (the papa), the midwives, and one or two other close friends. The next morning, I got a call from Ian: "no baby yet, you can come home if you want". So i came home to delicious breakfast tacos. After I devoured those tacos, Marissa said her water broke. Okay, now the baby's really coming. So I went back to my friends' house to spend the night, knowing tonight was the night. I went to work the next day, anticipating a call any minute saying the baby had arrived. After work, I rode by the house, just to see if anyone was outside. Ian was on the roof, sitting in the sun. "Ian?" I asked, expectantly. "Still no baby yet".
But Marissa went to get acupuncture that morning, which is a known effective method of inducing labor. So a few hours later, the contractions were getting closer together, so I got out of the house, to spend the night at a different friend's house. Again, I knew, this would be the night. She had a dream about a month ago that the baby was going to come on the 24th in the nighttime, and it was going to be a boy. So last night was the 24th. And I'm still waiting for a phone call, wondering,
did the baby come?
is it a boy?
how tiny is he really?
what is his name?
what does his voice sound like?
and for the first time, really understanding what a blessing it is going to be to be so close to one so new, and watch him grow.
so i wait and wait and wait for a phone call.
so i can go meet my new roommate.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Proud to be white???
What would you do if your boss sent you an e-mail with the subject "Proud To Be White".
When you first see this subject, you just hope it's not what you think it is. But you open the e-mail, and right away it starts:
I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
There are many more examples... And the point is that if you are white, you have to be intentional in noticing these things. They are not always in your face. But people who are not white cannot ignore these things.
It's hard for me to believe that the author of this white pride e-mail did not notice that when you turn on the television, most of the people on the screen are white, unless you're watching one of the few sitcoms about african-americans...are there even any shows with predominantly asian-americans or latinos? I don't know because I rarely watch tv.
And none of this even takes into account the institutional racism that exists in this country. I did some research.
In 1964, 2/3 of the people in prison were white.
In 1994, 2/3 of the people in prison were african american and latino
what happened?
The rate of African American crime has not changed significantly in the past 25 years.
60% of violent crime is commited by white people
only 23% of the people in prison for committing violent crime are white
74% of illegal narcotics users are white
only 10% of the people in prison for using illegal narcotics are white
So the numbers speak for themselves. I am about to e-mail this information to my boss, but i fear that he will have some way of brushing it off. Because our justice system is based on fairness and justice. These numbers must be wrong.
I just found a great article by Tim Wise, "Explaining White Privilege to the Deniers and the Haters" http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/explaining-white-privilege-deniers-and-haters
I know i cannot expect to change anyone's mind, but the least of my responsibilities is to speak my disagreement and disapproval, and do my best to provide information that may in some way educate and enlighten others. I appreciate the people who have dedicated a lot of their time and energy to articulating these issues.
What would you do if your boss sent you an e-mail with the subject "Proud To Be White".
When you first see this subject, you just hope it's not what you think it is. But you open the e-mail, and right away it starts:
This e-mail is very true...It shows how far our laws have come in making us feel ashamed for being of european culture...It certainly is not what the declaration of independence stood for or the U. S. constitution...
Sad, but very true...
Then there is a picture of a cowboy.
What follows is a disgustingly ignorant tirade complaining about the unfairness that exists in our country...and the author is not talking about institutional racism or white privilege, but that white people are the brunt of a number of racist slurs including "cracker" and "honky", that black people are allowed to march for their race and rights, proclaiming their pride, but if "we" (i.e. white people) wanted to do that, we'd be called racist; that there are so many college scholarships specifically for only people of color, but if there were certain college scholarships for only white people, that would be racist....
The author asks, why can't we have a white history month?
why can't we have a white entertainment television channel?
and there is more, but i will spare you.
It ends by saying, "there is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on"
I am trying to find a way to communicate to my boss all the fallacies running rampant throughout this e-mail. Luckily, after talking to him about it, I can see that although he believes the ideas, he is not coming from a place of anger or hatred. Unfortunately, he is coming from a place of extremely stubborn ignorance. So when i speak of white privilege, he tells me how his father, a white man, worked so hard through the great depression, for almost no money, to bring himself and his family up out of poverty... it was not privilege that got him through this, but his own hard work. but what he doesn't think of is that what if his father was black? would he have even been able to get that low-paying job? probably not.
One thing that has been helpful in learning how to communicate about white privelege is this white privelege checklist: unpacking the invisible knapsack.... here are a few from the list: if you find these statements to be true, you have white privelege:
Then there is a picture of a cowboy.
What follows is a disgustingly ignorant tirade complaining about the unfairness that exists in our country...and the author is not talking about institutional racism or white privilege, but that white people are the brunt of a number of racist slurs including "cracker" and "honky", that black people are allowed to march for their race and rights, proclaiming their pride, but if "we" (i.e. white people) wanted to do that, we'd be called racist; that there are so many college scholarships specifically for only people of color, but if there were certain college scholarships for only white people, that would be racist....
The author asks, why can't we have a white history month?
why can't we have a white entertainment television channel?
and there is more, but i will spare you.
It ends by saying, "there is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on"
I am trying to find a way to communicate to my boss all the fallacies running rampant throughout this e-mail. Luckily, after talking to him about it, I can see that although he believes the ideas, he is not coming from a place of anger or hatred. Unfortunately, he is coming from a place of extremely stubborn ignorance. So when i speak of white privilege, he tells me how his father, a white man, worked so hard through the great depression, for almost no money, to bring himself and his family up out of poverty... it was not privilege that got him through this, but his own hard work. but what he doesn't think of is that what if his father was black? would he have even been able to get that low-paying job? probably not.
One thing that has been helpful in learning how to communicate about white privelege is this white privelege checklist: unpacking the invisible knapsack.... here are a few from the list: if you find these statements to be true, you have white privelege:
I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
There are many more examples... And the point is that if you are white, you have to be intentional in noticing these things. They are not always in your face. But people who are not white cannot ignore these things.
It's hard for me to believe that the author of this white pride e-mail did not notice that when you turn on the television, most of the people on the screen are white, unless you're watching one of the few sitcoms about african-americans...are there even any shows with predominantly asian-americans or latinos? I don't know because I rarely watch tv.
And none of this even takes into account the institutional racism that exists in this country. I did some research.
In 1964, 2/3 of the people in prison were white.
In 1994, 2/3 of the people in prison were african american and latino
what happened?
The rate of African American crime has not changed significantly in the past 25 years.
60% of violent crime is commited by white people
only 23% of the people in prison for committing violent crime are white
74% of illegal narcotics users are white
only 10% of the people in prison for using illegal narcotics are white
So the numbers speak for themselves. I am about to e-mail this information to my boss, but i fear that he will have some way of brushing it off. Because our justice system is based on fairness and justice. These numbers must be wrong.
I just found a great article by Tim Wise, "Explaining White Privilege to the Deniers and the Haters" http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/explaining-white-privilege-deniers-and-haters
I know i cannot expect to change anyone's mind, but the least of my responsibilities is to speak my disagreement and disapproval, and do my best to provide information that may in some way educate and enlighten others. I appreciate the people who have dedicated a lot of their time and energy to articulating these issues.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
a poor little mousie has lost her ear
but never fear
she's made of wool
sebastian's no fool
he wants to find
what's hidden inside
this little boy is one of my new friends heretwo days a week, we go to parks and playgroups,
he's about 17 months old now
and as you can see, he's as happy as can be
before the end of this month, there will be a new roommate living in my house:
an itty bitty baby!
so altogether, we're gonna be a mama, a papa, a big sister, a baby, a thimble, and me -- oh!
and of course! a kitty
one big happy family
so other than that,
i got the garlic planted before halloween...
i voted for obama...
and the season has begun when i wear more layers than i can count
and i've got fenders on my bike
Monday, July 21, 2008
"WHY PORTLAND??"
everybody and their mother seems to be asking me...
well, why the heck not?
how does anyone pick a city to live in?
near their family....i have spent too many years in northern virginia, with its traffic and conservative culture, sorry mom, but you should move to the west coast...
and arkansas is just not where i need to be, sorry dad
um...where they can get a good job....well, i love to work with children, and there are children everywhere, so that doesn't really help me pick.
i know i want to grow my own food, and portland has a really long growing season, almost all year.
i know i want to be really close to big trees and beautiful forests and rivers. it's true there are many places like this in our country, but the northwest is one of the most lush places that i know of.
what else? what is so great about portland?
there is a large alternative community
there are a lot of people on bikes, and not too many big hills
the rent is fairly cheap
most of the houses to live in here have some kind of yard (and you can have chickens and goats!!)
there are a lot of great musicians
a lot of young people
a lot of parks, one of which is full of roses, and it smells so good!
there are free boxes everywhere! (boxes with free things in them)
no sales tax
great farmers markets
vegan restaurants (not that i'm vegan)
unlike boulder(the yuppie town), there is a lot of diversity
a lot of people into different kinds of building, like cob and strawbale, which i want to learn
permaculture and urban farming
doesn't ever get too hot or too cold, although it is gray and rainy a lot
great beer and breweries
i will continue to tell you all the great things about portland as i learn about them.
and you are all welcome to come and visit and find out for yourself
i think i will be here for a long time
everybody and their mother seems to be asking me...
well, why the heck not?
how does anyone pick a city to live in?
near their family....i have spent too many years in northern virginia, with its traffic and conservative culture, sorry mom, but you should move to the west coast...
and arkansas is just not where i need to be, sorry dad
um...where they can get a good job....well, i love to work with children, and there are children everywhere, so that doesn't really help me pick.
i know i want to grow my own food, and portland has a really long growing season, almost all year.
i know i want to be really close to big trees and beautiful forests and rivers. it's true there are many places like this in our country, but the northwest is one of the most lush places that i know of.
what else? what is so great about portland?
there is a large alternative community
there are a lot of people on bikes, and not too many big hills
the rent is fairly cheap
most of the houses to live in here have some kind of yard (and you can have chickens and goats!!)
there are a lot of great musicians
a lot of young people
a lot of parks, one of which is full of roses, and it smells so good!
there are free boxes everywhere! (boxes with free things in them)
no sales tax
great farmers markets
vegan restaurants (not that i'm vegan)
unlike boulder(the yuppie town), there is a lot of diversity
a lot of people into different kinds of building, like cob and strawbale, which i want to learn
permaculture and urban farming
doesn't ever get too hot or too cold, although it is gray and rainy a lot
great beer and breweries
i will continue to tell you all the great things about portland as i learn about them.
and you are all welcome to come and visit and find out for yourself
i think i will be here for a long time
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Small Town Kitty and the City Cat
Would it be strange to switch my blog from christy's adventures to Sebastian's adventures? Sebastian's the kitty of course. He's relaxing now on my friend Molly's nice red couch. It's been a long couple days. After maybe 4 years of easy, peaceful living on Pine Street...napping on the couch on the porch, napping on the other couch on the porch, hunting birds, roaming the block. 4 years, the same house. housemates would move out and move in, but someone always stayed the same. all of a sudden, july 8, 2008, girl puts cat in van and takes him 18 hours west to a big city. 75 miles per hour through day and night, in a loud diesel van, 2 nice strangers with their backpacks and instruments along for the ride. about halfway through, sebastian tries out a leash. how undignified, being treated like a dog... picked up and put down in the middle of nowhere, a rest area in the nevada desert, bleak, brown, no life but weary travelers and truckers, loud trucks drive down below on the highway, the only hiding place, some scrubby bushes next to the bathrooms. unfortunately, nothing private enough for a cat to relieve himself. you can put a leash on a cat, but you can't make him shit in front of everyone.
so the litter box in the van has to do.
sometimes the van stops, but the people don't get out. the first time, two nice kids get in with their big backpacks. they just want a ride down the highway to the next town, where they can hop on a train to get where we're going. one of the guys has a little white rat with him. sebastian's a little too upset to notice. the second time, another rainbow needs a ride as far down 80 as we can give him, so we take him all the way to san francisco. he loves the cat and washes the windshield.
nighttime on the highway is very stressful for a cat, looking out the window at all the lights, trucks passing by. finally a few hours to take a nap, the van silent and still, until the sun comes up, and then the last leg of the trip, reno to san francisco. where have we come? to this city with six lanes of cars and buses and motorcycles, no yards, not a place for a small town outdoor cat. into an apartment building, again this leash. first time in an elevator. up to the 6th floor, no jumping in and out of these windows. this indoor city cat is here. maggie's a nice kitty who likes to play. sebastian's a freaked out kitty who has no idea where the heck he is. slowly, sebastian relaxes and rests, and finds a way to coexist with this new kitty friend, if only by trying to ignore her. oh, and little does he know he will be leaving here in a few days for another new place, hopefully a quieter street in a smaller city, and luckily a little shorter ride in the van.
oh, to be a travelling cat!
Would it be strange to switch my blog from christy's adventures to Sebastian's adventures? Sebastian's the kitty of course. He's relaxing now on my friend Molly's nice red couch. It's been a long couple days. After maybe 4 years of easy, peaceful living on Pine Street...napping on the couch on the porch, napping on the other couch on the porch, hunting birds, roaming the block. 4 years, the same house. housemates would move out and move in, but someone always stayed the same. all of a sudden, july 8, 2008, girl puts cat in van and takes him 18 hours west to a big city. 75 miles per hour through day and night, in a loud diesel van, 2 nice strangers with their backpacks and instruments along for the ride. about halfway through, sebastian tries out a leash. how undignified, being treated like a dog... picked up and put down in the middle of nowhere, a rest area in the nevada desert, bleak, brown, no life but weary travelers and truckers, loud trucks drive down below on the highway, the only hiding place, some scrubby bushes next to the bathrooms. unfortunately, nothing private enough for a cat to relieve himself. you can put a leash on a cat, but you can't make him shit in front of everyone.
so the litter box in the van has to do.
sometimes the van stops, but the people don't get out. the first time, two nice kids get in with their big backpacks. they just want a ride down the highway to the next town, where they can hop on a train to get where we're going. one of the guys has a little white rat with him. sebastian's a little too upset to notice. the second time, another rainbow needs a ride as far down 80 as we can give him, so we take him all the way to san francisco. he loves the cat and washes the windshield.
nighttime on the highway is very stressful for a cat, looking out the window at all the lights, trucks passing by. finally a few hours to take a nap, the van silent and still, until the sun comes up, and then the last leg of the trip, reno to san francisco. where have we come? to this city with six lanes of cars and buses and motorcycles, no yards, not a place for a small town outdoor cat. into an apartment building, again this leash. first time in an elevator. up to the 6th floor, no jumping in and out of these windows. this indoor city cat is here. maggie's a nice kitty who likes to play. sebastian's a freaked out kitty who has no idea where the heck he is. slowly, sebastian relaxes and rests, and finds a way to coexist with this new kitty friend, if only by trying to ignore her. oh, and little does he know he will be leaving here in a few days for another new place, hopefully a quieter street in a smaller city, and luckily a little shorter ride in the van.
oh, to be a travelling cat!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
CHRISTY'S AMAZING DISHWASHING TOUR OF AMERICA!!!
hey all, sorry i've been such a slacker with this blog thing, but i am finally inspired to write you a little update on my adventures. (well, maybe it's not so little!)
So last time i wrote to you from Austin, Texas about my enlightening experience in New Orleans.
Oh, that seems so long ago. It's been a long 2 months, long in a great way!
Austin was hot and sweaty, but altogether a wonderful city. If I were going to live in Texas, I'd live there. There's a huge spring-fed pool right in the city, and it was refreshingly freezing cold on the hottest day of the year (so far). It was really easy to ride a bike around the town; there were lots of parks; and there is a lot of great music there. I stayed with my friend Julia (who i knew in Boulder) and ate a lot of breakfast tacos from the taco stand.
I made a stop for a few days in San Antonio where my grandparents, cousins, and aunt and uncle live. My cousin Steve was a great host, and even though i have to admit that San Antonio is one of the last places i could live (mostly because of all the driving and the sprawl), i had a great time with my family.
Then i made my way to Arkansas to see my dad and other grandmother and aunt and uncle. It was very relaxing and good to see that my family there are all doing really well.
After a few days in Arkansas, I made a beeline for northern Virginia. There is nothing like coming home (to my mom's house) after traveling, whether it's been one month or 8 months. I wouldn't want to travel any other way, but it would be a lie to say that it is not a little challenging and tiring to do what i do, constantly changing my surroundings, always a guest in somebody's home. Although i do believe i have become an expert in this field, i still love me some quiet, alone time to cook whatever food i want in my own (or my mom's own) kitchen, sleeping in as long as i want, not needing to coordinate my schedule with anyone else's.
So a few days at my mom's house recharged me. Then the true reason for coming back to Virginia was to go to my friends' wedding on the farm that i had worked on. It was a beautiful wedding under a tree in the cool spring evening, and then a great night of drinking and dancing with good friends, followed by a laid-back day of pond-swimming, pig roasting, and catching up with people. I also got to spend a couple days with my little friend Eoin, who is saying at least 5 times as many words as when i left him 2 months ago.
He and his mom, Georgia, and I drove up to New York City. I stayed with them in Georgia's parents' apartment on the Upper West Side, and then i drove up to Vermont to see a friend i had met in New Orleans. It was nice to need a sweater during the day in the lush Vermont mountains, and remember when i lived there almost ten years ago.
I then drove down to Rochester, New York to see my good friend Brit, who i also knew in Boulder. I spent a week there with her and her boyfriend, JP. We went hiking and swimming, watched movies, played Bananagrams (a speed scrabble game), ate yummy food, and saw some live music. I also took a short trip to Ithaca to see this place i had heard so much about. I did some camping and hiking there too.
Off to Chicago, to stay with my good old friend, Devin!, and his girlfriend Abby! for about a week. We did all kinds of fun things like going to the farmer's market, making a chair, watching "That Darn Cat!" (the original version, which i really recommend), going to the Contemporary Art museum, and eating a lot of rice and rice products :) I also took a little day trip up to Milwaukee to see my friend Mark, who i knew on the farm.
This brings me up to here and now, in Boulder, Colorado sitting on a couch in my old house, with Sebastian, the best kitty in the world. I've been here for a few days now, and it is so nice to be here! Sitting on my porch, riding my bike wherever i need to go, seeing old friends (although there aren't a lot left)... My old roommate, Amelia, is still here in this house, but not for long, as she is going to Africa in a week and a half. Then there will be nobody left in this house that i know.
In five days, my mom and i will be going to Hawaii, for a good friend's wedding. Then i will be driving to San Francisco to see some people, and then up to Portland, Oregon to find a job and a place to live. And it looks as though i'll be having a road buddy who will also be moving to Portland with me. I'll give you some hints: he's got thumbs, he takes a lot of naps, he's black, and white...need more? he's got whiskers and a big fluffy tail. Sebastian! the kitty! I know it's a little crazy, but since when have you known me to do things the normal way.
I'll try to write more often.
Also, thank you to everyone who's hosted me in the past few months and making me feel at home, and everyone who supports me in my adventuresome lifestyle.
Oh, and Go Obama!! You know one of the reasons I love Obama: he reminds me that a good president is one who inspires and motivates and gives the power to the people to make their country how they want it to be. And let me tell you, it is time for some change around here.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Culture Shock?
from new orleans, louisiana to austin, texas?
3 weeks in New Orleans.
The tourism industry wants you to think everything's just the way it's always been, back to normal, right? because then i can go to mardi gras and jazzfest and walk down bourbon street and have a great time. because no one wants to spend their vacation being depressed or thinking about things like death, destroyed homes, homelessness, children with post-traumatic stress disorder, etc...
But some people in the tourist industry have decided they are going to make a profit off of this disaster. They are driving tourists around in air conditioned buses, through the neighborhoods which were affected the worst by the flooding, where entire streets of houses are gone, nothing left but overgrown grass and the concrete slab that was the porch. People take pictures through the tinted windows, but do any of them get out and talk to the people who are still there, who either rebuilt their house, or were lucky to not have their house destroyed, or who are living in toxic trailers, or who are volunteers? no.
perhaps some of these people on these buses are affected enough by what they see to come down on their own and walk around and maybe talk to somebody (although I doubt it), or maybe they go online when they get home and look for how they can donate to an organization that is helping to rebuild. Hopefully most people at least tell people about what they saw. The biggest problem with this is not necessarily the people on the tourbus, but the bus drivers, or the people who run these companies. They are profiting off of people's misfortune. People should not support these companies. They should rent a car, or take a bus, and take a look for themselves. Get information from the residents or volunteers themselves, not the tour guides. And the money they would have given for the tourbus, they can give to common ground or habitat for humanity or one of the other organizations working down there.
On the brighter side, Common Ground Relief, the organization i was volunteering with, is only one of many groups doing everything they can to help the people trying to restore the lives they had. The residents are grateful to have so many people caring and helping them get back on their feet, even if it is just someone to come and cut their lawn (so they don't get fined by the city), or to plant flowers in their yard.
It is hard, though, when the city is doing almost nothing to help. And even once you move back, it's not the same. Because the lots on either side are not necessarily rebuilt.
All your neighbors that you've had your whole life are probably not there anymore. Drainage on your street is so bad that there are giant puddles for days after it rains, breeding mosquitoes.
Electrical wires are still fallen down.
There are no schools for your children. In the 9th Ward, there were 9 schools before Katrina. Now there is only 1.
Then there is always the thought in the back of your mind, did they rebuild those levees well?
Or are they gonna break again at the next storm?
How many times can i go through this?
This is truly a grassroots movement to rebuild New Orleans. Whatever gets done is by people who care. The government does not fail to provide reasons for people to need more help. For example, by the end of this summer, everyone is to be out of their trailers. It is nothing more than a deadline. No one is making sure that they have somewhere to move into once they move out of their trailers. It is all about image.
If you want to learn more about New Orleans post-katrina, you can look on the internet at all of the volunteer organizations. www.commongroundrelief.org
If you haven't seen the Spike Lee documentary, When The Levees Broke, you should see it. It is a good introduction. There are also other documentaries as well.
You can volunteer your time, donate items, or money.
The least you can do is to remember that there are many people still struggling, dealing with their lives being ripped apart, family and friends scattered all over the country and some of them dead, all of their possessions gone.
And if you ever go to New Orleans, at least talk to people. Listen to people's stories. Put yourself in their shoes.
Next time you vote for president, governor, mayor, anyone, think about what happened in New Orleans. What would this candidate do? Would they go on vacation while people die, show up 5 days later? Would they continue to spend all the money on a stupid war halfway across the world, instead of dealing with a tragedy happening to their own people in their own country?
Just think about it. That is what I am trying to do now. And that is where the culture shock comes in because I just spent 3 weeks constantly thinking about it, immersing myself in it, and now i find myself in a place where everything is business as usual. I am not saying it shouldn't be. But it is like coming back from a country where people are dying for lack of clean water or simple antibiotics. It's hard to figure out how to deal with the fact that some people have enough and some people don't. That is my goal to figure it out.
Solidarity Not Charity
from new orleans, louisiana to austin, texas?
3 weeks in New Orleans.
The tourism industry wants you to think everything's just the way it's always been, back to normal, right? because then i can go to mardi gras and jazzfest and walk down bourbon street and have a great time. because no one wants to spend their vacation being depressed or thinking about things like death, destroyed homes, homelessness, children with post-traumatic stress disorder, etc...
But some people in the tourist industry have decided they are going to make a profit off of this disaster. They are driving tourists around in air conditioned buses, through the neighborhoods which were affected the worst by the flooding, where entire streets of houses are gone, nothing left but overgrown grass and the concrete slab that was the porch. People take pictures through the tinted windows, but do any of them get out and talk to the people who are still there, who either rebuilt their house, or were lucky to not have their house destroyed, or who are living in toxic trailers, or who are volunteers? no.
perhaps some of these people on these buses are affected enough by what they see to come down on their own and walk around and maybe talk to somebody (although I doubt it), or maybe they go online when they get home and look for how they can donate to an organization that is helping to rebuild. Hopefully most people at least tell people about what they saw. The biggest problem with this is not necessarily the people on the tourbus, but the bus drivers, or the people who run these companies. They are profiting off of people's misfortune. People should not support these companies. They should rent a car, or take a bus, and take a look for themselves. Get information from the residents or volunteers themselves, not the tour guides. And the money they would have given for the tourbus, they can give to common ground or habitat for humanity or one of the other organizations working down there.
On the brighter side, Common Ground Relief, the organization i was volunteering with, is only one of many groups doing everything they can to help the people trying to restore the lives they had. The residents are grateful to have so many people caring and helping them get back on their feet, even if it is just someone to come and cut their lawn (so they don't get fined by the city), or to plant flowers in their yard.
It is hard, though, when the city is doing almost nothing to help. And even once you move back, it's not the same. Because the lots on either side are not necessarily rebuilt.
All your neighbors that you've had your whole life are probably not there anymore. Drainage on your street is so bad that there are giant puddles for days after it rains, breeding mosquitoes.
Electrical wires are still fallen down.
There are no schools for your children. In the 9th Ward, there were 9 schools before Katrina. Now there is only 1.
Then there is always the thought in the back of your mind, did they rebuild those levees well?
Or are they gonna break again at the next storm?
How many times can i go through this?
This is truly a grassroots movement to rebuild New Orleans. Whatever gets done is by people who care. The government does not fail to provide reasons for people to need more help. For example, by the end of this summer, everyone is to be out of their trailers. It is nothing more than a deadline. No one is making sure that they have somewhere to move into once they move out of their trailers. It is all about image.
If you want to learn more about New Orleans post-katrina, you can look on the internet at all of the volunteer organizations. www.commongroundrelief.org
If you haven't seen the Spike Lee documentary, When The Levees Broke, you should see it. It is a good introduction. There are also other documentaries as well.
You can volunteer your time, donate items, or money.
The least you can do is to remember that there are many people still struggling, dealing with their lives being ripped apart, family and friends scattered all over the country and some of them dead, all of their possessions gone.
And if you ever go to New Orleans, at least talk to people. Listen to people's stories. Put yourself in their shoes.
Next time you vote for president, governor, mayor, anyone, think about what happened in New Orleans. What would this candidate do? Would they go on vacation while people die, show up 5 days later? Would they continue to spend all the money on a stupid war halfway across the world, instead of dealing with a tragedy happening to their own people in their own country?
Just think about it. That is what I am trying to do now. And that is where the culture shock comes in because I just spent 3 weeks constantly thinking about it, immersing myself in it, and now i find myself in a place where everything is business as usual. I am not saying it shouldn't be. But it is like coming back from a country where people are dying for lack of clean water or simple antibiotics. It's hard to figure out how to deal with the fact that some people have enough and some people don't. That is my goal to figure it out.
Solidarity Not Charity
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Date: April 7th, 2008
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Route taken so far:
**Left Mom's house in Arlington, VA for Takoma Park (MD) Co-op
**1st stop: Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville, VA
stayed with farm friend Lea that night, up on a mountain in a little cabin
**next morning: took Skyline Drive to Harrisonburg, VA
stayed with more farm friends, Teal and Peter
saw Accordion Death Squad that night, a fun band from Charlottesville
**Day 3: checked out Charlottesville, just for the heck of it, reminded me of Boulder a little with it's downtown pedestrian mall where hippies play music and there are plenty of used bookstores and coffeeshops
**Then off to Staunton since Katie at waterpenny had told me about the shakespeare company there. Macbeth was sold out, so i saw a good local bluegrass band at a pizza place instead: The Hounddog Hill Boys. Definitely dancable.
tested out my bed and curtains, slept in my van parked on the street. totally cozy.
**Day 4: rain starts. i head down south to Floyd, Virginia, a small town where hippies and oldtimers live in peace together. They have a small natural food store called Green's Garage, where people buy groceries and leave their payment in an envelope. There is no cashier; everyone is on the honor system. And it works! It is such a small town. And I had my first true couchsurfing experience. I stayed with a couple, Liz and Sam, for a night. We played scrabble and watched The Hoax, a good movie.
**Day 5: still raining. The original plan was to go camping, but not in this weather, so i went straight to Asheville, North Carolina, where my good friend, Sarah, lives and offered to let me stay with her for the week until after her birthday party.
**Re-explored Asheville, ("re-" because I have lived there briefly before)... what a beautiful town with mountains and hippies and good beer. I had a great time, but I don't think i will live there. It was on my list of possible places to live.
**Yesterday, lazed around, recovering from sarah's birthday party, helped sarah lose and find her dog, and then drove the 4 hours to atlanta to my friend bianca's house.
And let me just do a little ranting now.
Before I even left northern virginia, i had a strange experience involving my van.
I sat in my van parked in my mom's neighborhood(formerly my neighborhood), sewing little velcro squares onto the curtains my mother helped me make. She even ironed them for me. Thanks Mom! So I look up from sewing, and I see 3 police officers, knocking on my back door. Oh, visitors, but the place is such a mess. I open up the door, show them my id, and tell them of my plans to drive across the country. They are really friendly, saying they just had a call about a suspicious van parked in the neighborhood. Thanks cops for realizing that a girl sitting in her van, sewing, in the middle of the day, in her own neighborhood, is not against the law or anything to worry about.
A couple hours later, I am finished with my curtains. This van is really starting to look like something I can live out of for the next few months. "Excuse me, miss" I turn around and see a woman arriving home from her day at the office. She wants to know if I live here. I tell her yes, and she tells me very politely that she and whoever else she means by "we" just start wondering a little when they see a vehicle they've never seen before in their neighborhood, and that she's seen a gentleman going in and out of it at night (i hope not!! ...well, unless he was cute, was he cute?). Anyway, i tell her people get new cars all the time and i've already talked to the police, and she says "okay, it's just a little weird, you know?" I was as polite as I could be although I was thinking all kinds of things, like what would she think if the tables were turned, and i were asking her if she lived here.
Well, at least i got that over with...oh. but no. what's this? on my windshield the next morning? not a ticket, i hope. a ticket for what? nope. not a ticket. it's an anonymous note. my first visitors, and my first mail, all in the same 24-hour period. lucky me! The note read: You should probably move your van to another neighborhood. oooohhh! i was so mad! And there was no one to respond to. All of a sudden, i had visions of putting up security cameras on my van. I wanted to scream. Instead, I went into my mom's house, pacing, furious, and decided to write a note to put up in the window of my van, saying how i have lived in this neighborhood since i was 8 years old, and i will not be moving my van, please just let me be. Then I left a couple days later. No resolution. Just have to let it go.
When I tell some people this story, they remind me of the sniper in DC, and didn't he have a white van? But wasn't that years ago? I think people are letting their fear take over their brains. Either fear or intolerance and closed-mindedness. I watched how their fear bred more fear into me. I started looking at people as they walked their dog or with their children, wondering, are these the jerks trying to scare me away from their "safe" neighborhood? and what would i say to them if it was? but i'm usually the kind of person who smiles at strangers and says hello. so now i will continue to smile and say hello to people when i pass them on the sidewalk. I refuse to be part of the culture of fear.
Pictures will come later.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Route taken so far:
**Left Mom's house in Arlington, VA for Takoma Park (MD) Co-op
**1st stop: Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville, VA
stayed with farm friend Lea that night, up on a mountain in a little cabin
**next morning: took Skyline Drive to Harrisonburg, VA
stayed with more farm friends, Teal and Peter
saw Accordion Death Squad that night, a fun band from Charlottesville
**Day 3: checked out Charlottesville, just for the heck of it, reminded me of Boulder a little with it's downtown pedestrian mall where hippies play music and there are plenty of used bookstores and coffeeshops
**Then off to Staunton since Katie at waterpenny had told me about the shakespeare company there. Macbeth was sold out, so i saw a good local bluegrass band at a pizza place instead: The Hounddog Hill Boys. Definitely dancable.
tested out my bed and curtains, slept in my van parked on the street. totally cozy.
**Day 4: rain starts. i head down south to Floyd, Virginia, a small town where hippies and oldtimers live in peace together. They have a small natural food store called Green's Garage, where people buy groceries and leave their payment in an envelope. There is no cashier; everyone is on the honor system. And it works! It is such a small town. And I had my first true couchsurfing experience. I stayed with a couple, Liz and Sam, for a night. We played scrabble and watched The Hoax, a good movie.
**Day 5: still raining. The original plan was to go camping, but not in this weather, so i went straight to Asheville, North Carolina, where my good friend, Sarah, lives and offered to let me stay with her for the week until after her birthday party.
**Re-explored Asheville, ("re-" because I have lived there briefly before)... what a beautiful town with mountains and hippies and good beer. I had a great time, but I don't think i will live there. It was on my list of possible places to live.
**Yesterday, lazed around, recovering from sarah's birthday party, helped sarah lose and find her dog, and then drove the 4 hours to atlanta to my friend bianca's house.
And let me just do a little ranting now.
Before I even left northern virginia, i had a strange experience involving my van.
I sat in my van parked in my mom's neighborhood(formerly my neighborhood), sewing little velcro squares onto the curtains my mother helped me make. She even ironed them for me. Thanks Mom! So I look up from sewing, and I see 3 police officers, knocking on my back door. Oh, visitors, but the place is such a mess. I open up the door, show them my id, and tell them of my plans to drive across the country. They are really friendly, saying they just had a call about a suspicious van parked in the neighborhood. Thanks cops for realizing that a girl sitting in her van, sewing, in the middle of the day, in her own neighborhood, is not against the law or anything to worry about.
A couple hours later, I am finished with my curtains. This van is really starting to look like something I can live out of for the next few months. "Excuse me, miss" I turn around and see a woman arriving home from her day at the office. She wants to know if I live here. I tell her yes, and she tells me very politely that she and whoever else she means by "we" just start wondering a little when they see a vehicle they've never seen before in their neighborhood, and that she's seen a gentleman going in and out of it at night (i hope not!! ...well, unless he was cute, was he cute?). Anyway, i tell her people get new cars all the time and i've already talked to the police, and she says "okay, it's just a little weird, you know?" I was as polite as I could be although I was thinking all kinds of things, like what would she think if the tables were turned, and i were asking her if she lived here.
Well, at least i got that over with...oh. but no. what's this? on my windshield the next morning? not a ticket, i hope. a ticket for what? nope. not a ticket. it's an anonymous note. my first visitors, and my first mail, all in the same 24-hour period. lucky me! The note read: You should probably move your van to another neighborhood. oooohhh! i was so mad! And there was no one to respond to. All of a sudden, i had visions of putting up security cameras on my van. I wanted to scream. Instead, I went into my mom's house, pacing, furious, and decided to write a note to put up in the window of my van, saying how i have lived in this neighborhood since i was 8 years old, and i will not be moving my van, please just let me be. Then I left a couple days later. No resolution. Just have to let it go.
When I tell some people this story, they remind me of the sniper in DC, and didn't he have a white van? But wasn't that years ago? I think people are letting their fear take over their brains. Either fear or intolerance and closed-mindedness. I watched how their fear bred more fear into me. I started looking at people as they walked their dog or with their children, wondering, are these the jerks trying to scare me away from their "safe" neighborhood? and what would i say to them if it was? but i'm usually the kind of person who smiles at strangers and says hello. so now i will continue to smile and say hello to people when i pass them on the sidewalk. I refuse to be part of the culture of fear.
Pictures will come later.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
okay, everyone!
get ready
i'm getting ready
for another adventure
i got a new van, a new haircut, and a new bike, tent, camping stove, etc...
i'm movin into my new house.
on wheels
a rolling turtle.
coming to your town
unless i don't know where you live,
in which case you should let me know,
and i'll add you to the itinerary.
start checking in here every week because i'm gonna be doing my best to document this voyage
this is what i would have done right when i got back from europe almost a year ago, if i had not had very large credit card bills, and instead had a van.
well, now i have positive account balance, and my very own iron monstrosity (a term of endearment that comes from the good ole days)
for the purpose of this trip is to see all of my loved ones as well as lovable unknown ones, and find a place to live.
a good friend once told me (when i was on my way to europe) that most people don't move out of their house when they go on vacation.
well, i suppose anyone who's known me for at least an hour, knows that i do not fit into the category of "most people"
most people's first vehicle is not a 15 passenger van that they convert into their home
most people don't move without knowing where they're moving to
most people....
i could probably write 50 of these but i might alienate myself.
so we'll just conclude that i love unconventional travel. and after travelling, i miss people, and i want to see them...
see them all...
see them all now...
so here i go
i also look forward to finding a home, which will surely be an unconventional home, you probably could have guessed.
by the end of this coming fall, i will have found that home, and some kind of unconventional job, and begin to dream of the garden i will plant in the spring, and start to do all the things you can do when you stay somewhere, and that will be another adventure all in itself, until then
the open road!
see you soon!
get ready
i'm getting ready
for another adventure
i got a new van, a new haircut, and a new bike, tent, camping stove, etc...
i'm movin into my new house.
on wheels
a rolling turtle.
coming to your town
unless i don't know where you live,
in which case you should let me know,
and i'll add you to the itinerary.
start checking in here every week because i'm gonna be doing my best to document this voyage
this is what i would have done right when i got back from europe almost a year ago, if i had not had very large credit card bills, and instead had a van.
well, now i have positive account balance, and my very own iron monstrosity (a term of endearment that comes from the good ole days)
for the purpose of this trip is to see all of my loved ones as well as lovable unknown ones, and find a place to live.
a good friend once told me (when i was on my way to europe) that most people don't move out of their house when they go on vacation.
well, i suppose anyone who's known me for at least an hour, knows that i do not fit into the category of "most people"
most people's first vehicle is not a 15 passenger van that they convert into their home
most people don't move without knowing where they're moving to
most people....
i could probably write 50 of these but i might alienate myself.
so we'll just conclude that i love unconventional travel. and after travelling, i miss people, and i want to see them...
see them all...
see them all now...
so here i go
i also look forward to finding a home, which will surely be an unconventional home, you probably could have guessed.
by the end of this coming fall, i will have found that home, and some kind of unconventional job, and begin to dream of the garden i will plant in the spring, and start to do all the things you can do when you stay somewhere, and that will be another adventure all in itself, until then
the open road!
see you soon!
Friday, December 28, 2007
my brain hurts a little bit from so much happening.
family meals...
presents presents presents....
old friends i haven't seen in over a year...
spending hours in bookstores, so many ideas crammed in one building, which ones do i want?...
so many cars, so many restaurants, so many people... not to mention all the alcohol and sugar...
but then i'm walking outside all the stores, and there's music playing on the loudspeakers...
it's journey!
and i remember amelia singing and dancing to this song, holding a spatula for a microphone. or was it a wooden spoon? and the guy walking by me sings along, and i laugh.
joy is not in things, it is in us.
i realize how much i love the quiet life on the farm, cooking my own meals,
walking around with Eoin: discovering the ice breaking on frozen puddles, sitting on an old tractor pretending to drive it, playing in the bed of a pickup truck, peekaboo, watching big diggers dig huge holes in the earth (where the farmers are having a cohousing community built), watching geese fly overhead.
i was still doing some farmwork until a couple weeks ago... picking kale in the snow, planting lettuce inside hoophouses, covering radishes in crazy wind. the farmers are still farming, but not me anymore.
and they have asked me to stay a while longer, so i won't be leaving on my cross-country trip until sometime in march, which makes more sense anyway, because the weather will be a little better.
family meals...
presents presents presents....
old friends i haven't seen in over a year...
spending hours in bookstores, so many ideas crammed in one building, which ones do i want?...
so many cars, so many restaurants, so many people... not to mention all the alcohol and sugar...
but then i'm walking outside all the stores, and there's music playing on the loudspeakers...
it's journey!
and i remember amelia singing and dancing to this song, holding a spatula for a microphone. or was it a wooden spoon? and the guy walking by me sings along, and i laugh.
joy is not in things, it is in us.
i realize how much i love the quiet life on the farm, cooking my own meals,
walking around with Eoin: discovering the ice breaking on frozen puddles, sitting on an old tractor pretending to drive it, playing in the bed of a pickup truck, peekaboo, watching big diggers dig huge holes in the earth (where the farmers are having a cohousing community built), watching geese fly overhead.
i was still doing some farmwork until a couple weeks ago... picking kale in the snow, planting lettuce inside hoophouses, covering radishes in crazy wind. the farmers are still farming, but not me anymore.
and they have asked me to stay a while longer, so i won't be leaving on my cross-country trip until sometime in march, which makes more sense anyway, because the weather will be a little better.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
november
girls speaking german here in the purcellville coffee shop. i live right off the Berlin Turnpike.
today, on a walk with my favorite 15-month-old, Eoin, I met a guy from the czech republic dropping off old pumpkins for the pigs. people speaking spanish at the restaurant tonight. all of it reminds me of my travels and friends in europe. a year ago, i had just made it to spain, or at least i was in france. now, the farm is my home, loudoun county, virginia, and it feels like i have been here forever.
although, many of my friends are disappearing every day, leaving only the true farmers who live here all year, and a few of us stragglers. i happily leave my rubber boots in my room when i go off to work these days. it's gotten cold, and now i am doing the babysitting thing, pushing a stroller, trying to interpret toddler babble, watching Eoin master this whole walking thing. a couple days a week, i go out and harvest kale and mustard greens, collards and broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and carrots.
oh, and goodbye barn
with the beautiful vines growing over the window, chickens living below me, sleeping on crates and plywood, and the cold wind blowing through, almost as if there were no walls at all.
hello, real house (stone house) with kitchen and bathroom right outside the door to my room, but all in the same building.
farmer's markets are dwindling as the frost kills peppers and eggplant. but the greens love it, so we still go to at least one, and my new boss, the one with the baby i watch, is growing vegetables all year. i'm only staying until christmas time, when i plan on buying a van and driving across the country, going west to settle down for a while....unless i go to mexico...always a possibility.
anyway, here's a chicken searching my old room in the barn for bugs or other scrumptious delicacies....
i'll put up pictures of my cute friend Eoin soon.
oh, and i got a record player at the rummage sale!! i already found 4 cat stevens records, a herbie hancock, and some willie nelson albums! yes!
if you're anywhere between the atlantic ocean and the pacific ocean, well, if you live in the US, you should probably be expecting a visit from me in the first couple months of the year. once i get my van, i am going on a cross-country adventure. see you soon!!
girls speaking german here in the purcellville coffee shop. i live right off the Berlin Turnpike.
today, on a walk with my favorite 15-month-old, Eoin, I met a guy from the czech republic dropping off old pumpkins for the pigs. people speaking spanish at the restaurant tonight. all of it reminds me of my travels and friends in europe. a year ago, i had just made it to spain, or at least i was in france. now, the farm is my home, loudoun county, virginia, and it feels like i have been here forever.
although, many of my friends are disappearing every day, leaving only the true farmers who live here all year, and a few of us stragglers. i happily leave my rubber boots in my room when i go off to work these days. it's gotten cold, and now i am doing the babysitting thing, pushing a stroller, trying to interpret toddler babble, watching Eoin master this whole walking thing. a couple days a week, i go out and harvest kale and mustard greens, collards and broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and carrots.
oh, and goodbye barn
with the beautiful vines growing over the window, chickens living below me, sleeping on crates and plywood, and the cold wind blowing through, almost as if there were no walls at all.
hello, real house (stone house) with kitchen and bathroom right outside the door to my room, but all in the same building.
farmer's markets are dwindling as the frost kills peppers and eggplant. but the greens love it, so we still go to at least one, and my new boss, the one with the baby i watch, is growing vegetables all year. i'm only staying until christmas time, when i plan on buying a van and driving across the country, going west to settle down for a while....unless i go to mexico...always a possibility.
anyway, here's a chicken searching my old room in the barn for bugs or other scrumptious delicacies....
i'll put up pictures of my cute friend Eoin soon.
oh, and i got a record player at the rummage sale!! i already found 4 cat stevens records, a herbie hancock, and some willie nelson albums! yes!
if you're anywhere between the atlantic ocean and the pacific ocean, well, if you live in the US, you should probably be expecting a visit from me in the first couple months of the year. once i get my van, i am going on a cross-country adventure. see you soon!!
Friday, September 21, 2007
it's starting to get cold. fall is almost here. this means less tomatoes, less cucumbers and squash.
instead, we will be harvesting more greens...arugula, lettuce, kale, mustard greens,
cabbage, and broccoli. i am so immersed in the changing of the seasons,
spending almost no time indoors. it is so cool to be connected to the weather in more than
just the way i dress, but also the food i eat, and the work i do.
i play in the dirt, the mud, the plants all day.
i hear crickets chirping while i work, crows and hawks fighting above me.
grasshoppers land on my nose, gnats fly into my eyes.
i tickle a chicken under her chin, and she sticks out her tongue at me.
i can name at least 20 different varieties of tomato.
i ride in the back of pickup trucks and drive tractors
what i really love is that i get to sell the vegetables i pick all day to the city folk at the markets.
i look people in the eye, knowing that i am feeding them.
they realize how important it is to know where their food is coming from.
some people are not ready to pay 2.50 for one tomato, no matter how big and tasty it is.
me, i don't know how i am going to eat tomatoes from the grocery store. i don't think i can.
i will have to wait until they are in season again.
and now, my favorite vegetable is eggplant. it's so good!!!
peaches in the summertime, apples in the fall.
goodbye summer squash, hello winter squash!
life is good out on the farm, and everyone is welcome to come and visit me here.
peace
instead, we will be harvesting more greens...arugula, lettuce, kale, mustard greens,
cabbage, and broccoli. i am so immersed in the changing of the seasons,
spending almost no time indoors. it is so cool to be connected to the weather in more than
just the way i dress, but also the food i eat, and the work i do.
i play in the dirt, the mud, the plants all day.
i hear crickets chirping while i work, crows and hawks fighting above me.
grasshoppers land on my nose, gnats fly into my eyes.
i tickle a chicken under her chin, and she sticks out her tongue at me.
i can name at least 20 different varieties of tomato.
i ride in the back of pickup trucks and drive tractors
what i really love is that i get to sell the vegetables i pick all day to the city folk at the markets.
i look people in the eye, knowing that i am feeding them.
they realize how important it is to know where their food is coming from.
some people are not ready to pay 2.50 for one tomato, no matter how big and tasty it is.
me, i don't know how i am going to eat tomatoes from the grocery store. i don't think i can.i will have to wait until they are in season again.
and now, my favorite vegetable is eggplant. it's so good!!!
peaches in the summertime, apples in the fall.
goodbye summer squash, hello winter squash!
life is good out on the farm, and everyone is welcome to come and visit me here.
peace
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Why are you shopping at the grocery store??? Why would you buy fruits and vegetables in that strange florescent-lit, air-conditioned building, where all the tomatoes look the same, and you have no idea where they came from???
if it were winter, i could give you a break...
if you are poor, maybe i'll let it slide, but i'll tell you later an alternative.
if you don't know where else to shop,
have you ever heard of a farmer's market??
i can pretty much guarantee that wherever you live, you wouldn't have to go too far to find one. you can get local, organic (maybe not certified, but close enough), fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season, and didn't have to travel more than a couple hours. you can meet the people that picked your peaches, that picked your tomatoes and squash, and you can ask them questions about how to cook with vegetables you may not be as familiar with. (usually the answer is cut em up and fry them with oil and salt)..
not only can you get fruits and vegetables at a farmer's market, but homemade cheese, bread, sweet stuff, granola, herbs, eggs, free-range meat, flowers, and even soap. maybe even clothes. and when you eat your fresh, local food, you can feel good that you are supporting local farmers instead of big business factory farms.
so go to the farmer's market!! be healthy!! appreciate where food comes from!!!
appreciate the people who grow your food!! what would you do without them??? support farmers!!
okay, fine, so you want some mangoes, i love mangoes! fine so you want bananas. so you want beer, you want rice and oreo cookies and tofu and soy sauce. well, i'm not saying you shouldn't go buy those things, but go there on your way back from the farmer's market.
and here's a little secret.... if you can't afford to pay real prices for real food, you can still go to the farmer's market. they sell "seconds" of a lot of things for really cheap, and they're not bad, they just don't look perfect. or if you have a few free hours on the weekends, you can ask the farmer if they need help selling, and you can usually get paid in money and food. also, if you're poor and you have a lot of time, you should go to the farmer's market at the end, when there's all this food they couldn't sell, and offer to take it to people who need it, like a food bank, or food not bombs, or something, and then have some for yourself.
so,
find your local farmer's market.
and go!
every week!
twice a week!
tell your friends!
meet new friends there!
be healthy!
if it were winter, i could give you a break...
if you are poor, maybe i'll let it slide, but i'll tell you later an alternative.
if you don't know where else to shop,
have you ever heard of a farmer's market??
i can pretty much guarantee that wherever you live, you wouldn't have to go too far to find one. you can get local, organic (maybe not certified, but close enough), fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season, and didn't have to travel more than a couple hours. you can meet the people that picked your peaches, that picked your tomatoes and squash, and you can ask them questions about how to cook with vegetables you may not be as familiar with. (usually the answer is cut em up and fry them with oil and salt)..
not only can you get fruits and vegetables at a farmer's market, but homemade cheese, bread, sweet stuff, granola, herbs, eggs, free-range meat, flowers, and even soap. maybe even clothes. and when you eat your fresh, local food, you can feel good that you are supporting local farmers instead of big business factory farms.
so go to the farmer's market!! be healthy!! appreciate where food comes from!!!
appreciate the people who grow your food!! what would you do without them??? support farmers!!
okay, fine, so you want some mangoes, i love mangoes! fine so you want bananas. so you want beer, you want rice and oreo cookies and tofu and soy sauce. well, i'm not saying you shouldn't go buy those things, but go there on your way back from the farmer's market.
and here's a little secret.... if you can't afford to pay real prices for real food, you can still go to the farmer's market. they sell "seconds" of a lot of things for really cheap, and they're not bad, they just don't look perfect. or if you have a few free hours on the weekends, you can ask the farmer if they need help selling, and you can usually get paid in money and food. also, if you're poor and you have a lot of time, you should go to the farmer's market at the end, when there's all this food they couldn't sell, and offer to take it to people who need it, like a food bank, or food not bombs, or something, and then have some for yourself.
so,
find your local farmer's market.
and go!
every week!
twice a week!
tell your friends!
meet new friends there!
be healthy!
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