Food Economy is NOT the same as Money Economy

Two thoughts I've had, of late...

(1)

I have to say...locally grown food IS economically cheap where we live...as so much grows here so easily. It is, however, time costly...so long as we choose to mentally divide our lives into "work and play." The sustainable way of life is to LIVE YOUR WORK as an integral and natural part of everyday existence. It was the horrific institutions of wealth and poverty of Europe that we still turn to for advice on how to live...for perspective and expectation. Foolishness! Life IS action...whether you are harvesting apples or planting peas or hunting for mushrooms, cooking or eating or cleaning...this is life. Nothing is bad. Nothing is good.

But, because we have "work and play" categories, we are messing with our own heads...thinking to ourselves, "Oh, I have to forage for apples because I don't have money to buy apples from another country...so, I must be poor. I am suffering. I am unhappy. I am...

Another aspect of our messed up society is the whole "independent" thing which leaves many people lonely or overwhelmed. Clearing a bed with four people takes 1/4 the time as it takes alone...but on the emotional level, it is a BOOST rather than a drain. Hence...locally produced food is cheaper and happier.

When we reach critical mass of people leaving the money economy and returning to the "do it ourselves" economy...then we'll find ourselves working together, celebrating our successes, chatting while we weed or harvest, laughing while we clean and shell and eat together, and THEN that "work category" will begin to resemble the "play category" more closely. And so...we'll see that a "living wage" will fade into old-time conversations. An irrelevant concept.

Or, we will think inside the box, believe that a bigger paycheck controls our lives, and be very unhappy as those who worship ONLY money attempt to enslave every last one of us in the future to come...

(2)

In response to the idea that many millions of people 

live on the verge of starvation and may not have the option 

of "work and play" categories, I would like to say...

Yes and no. For example, in many African countries, where women spend countless hours lugging water home from rivers and working, working, working...their men literally sit around waiting to be served the BEER made by that water by their women. In these cultures, a "hard working woman" is a valuable woman, and a man who can "sit around" is proof that the wife is a good wife.

However, I wasn't talking about people who are literally on the edge of starvation. My comment was more in response to Nancy's comment that we can't eat locally until our wages go up. On Vashon, if we have a work/play mentality, then we may resent the time spent foraging after a long day of work as just more work...rather than saying, "Hey...let's go for a walk and bring home some yummy stuff!" My husband and I used to do most of our chatting and connecting in the garden, while growing food. Or we talk while washing dishes...etc.

The repeatedly repeated truth is that there is NEVER too little food on planet earth...there is ALWAYS inefficient or unfair distribution of food. One excellent example is when people in a land known for its crab has to import crab from the other side of the planet for their own consumption, because they've become so export-focused that they no longer eat their own, locally available resource. We live in Washington State...why do we eat apples from Australia? We live on Vashon Island...why eat strawberries from California?

By the way, patience matters, too. I NEVER buy strawberries from the store, because they grow like weeds in my garden. BUT, my berries come up about 5 weeks after CA berries show up...so, I say to my kids, "We can be patient and wait for our own to be ripe...we will NOT buy imported strawberries just because we don't want to wait a few weeks."

Etc. Tea grows on Vashon wildly and easily (Chamomile, mint, raspberry leaves, nettles, lemon balm, dozens of others)...so, I have been out of the "money economy" on tea for almost a decade...and my family is used to sitting around a table and pulling leaves off plants while chatting or listening to music or staring into the distance.

Here's to everyone developing increasing freedom 

and self-sufficiency through a shift in action AND thought!

Warmly,

March

Food Choices Lead Us to Prepare for the Great Change

(2 book suggestions at the bottom!)

People talk about many "great" things.  For example, there is The Great Depression, The Great War, and of course...Alexander the Great.  I think "great" is a strange adjective to use for things which are violent, terrifying and destructive.  And, I've often wondered why?  I think "great" should be used for things which are momentous, exciting, challenging, and important.

Well, when I was a teenager, I took a look at the historic patterns of empires, the average length from their creation to their inevitable demise, and I applied that template to the empires of my day...and I said, "I will likely see the collapse of my society halfway through my life."

As I matured, I began to realize that language and intention matter...and so, I came up with a new way of viewing our natural shift away from empire domination.  

Now I call it:  The Great Change.

Funny how powerful that word is!  And how laden with connotative meaning.

Change is the only constant.                  (acceptance and submission)

Everybody fears change.                       (anxiety and discomfort)

It's time to change for the better!           (hope and confidence)

So, I'm trying to focus on and develop the sense of "change" as being natural, normal, and positive.  Therefore...rather than call our current economic implosion a "Great Recession," I prefer to say that we are "experiencing the early stages of the Great Change."

And I honestly believe this.  In a finite world, there is no reason to believe that unfettered growth is possible.  The question of course becomes, WHAT will fetter us?  Our self-control and wisdom?  Our wars and human-caused famines?  Our destruction of the natural order?  Or...what?

Well, we can't know.  And we can't control this, as an individual.  BUT, we CAN begin to model for others a new way of living...a way which reflects purposeful changes based upon what we see happening around us...a way that is actually healthier and happier than the rat race we've become accustomed to and believe is good.

Here are two books which help a person do exactly this!  One is a unique gardening book.  The other is more of a memoir.  Both are fascinating reads, contain applicable information for every person, and deserve space on any person's "how can I improve my life and leave the world a better place" book shelf.  

The Resilient Gardener:  Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times

Including the Five Crops You Need To Survive and Thrive - Potatoes, Corn, Beans, Squash, and Eggs

By Carol Deppe

Radical Homemakers

Reclaiming Domesticity From A Consumer Culture

By Shannon Hayes

Check them out at your local library, recommend them to your gardening club or book club, and begin to consider...how can you make "self-reliance" a normal part of your lifestyle?

Happy reading!

~March

The Ease of Saving Seed

Every Spring, most of us (including me) head to the store to buy nicely grown, harvested, dried, and packaged seeds in little paper packets.  This is SO NORMAL in our society.  So, is it any surprise that most Americans barely blink when they're told that Monsanto has eliminated most farmers' ability to save seed?  To us, the seed buyers of American, we don't really get it just how HUGE this is.

Well, it is huge and here's an example from my own kitchen.  

(1)  Two years ago, I bought a packet of Speckled Cranberry beans.  I grew them, I fell in love with them, and I dried them (because that's what they are...drying beans, not fresh eating beans).  Before this, I had NEVER saved a seed in my life.  

(2)  Last Spring, I had some beans left over and I decided to try planting them along with another store bought variety.  The night before, I soaked them all in water.  The next morning, my saved beans had already put out a sprout tip, while the other beans had done nothing.  In fact, my beans felt alive!  I planted them all in the same soil and the same area of my garden.  Three days later, my SAVED beans were pushing up through the soil.  The other beans took 9 days.

(3)  Each bean plant produces about 30 pods of 7 beans = 210 seeds per plant.  I had 3 tripods of 3 plants each.  That's 9 x 210 = 1,890 seeds OF WHICH I SAVED 9 SEEDS FOR NEXT YEAR.

OMG!!!!  Instead of spending $3.75 to buy a packet of 30 seeds, when I only need 9...I saved .005% of my harvest and was ready to go...or, if I'd wanted, I could have planted 3 times as many plants (tripling my harvest) for the cost of three mouthfuls of cooked beans.

In other words...SAVING SEED IS SUPER CHEAP & EFFICIENT!  

So, converting America's soy, corn, potato, canola, and sugar beet farmers to BUYING SEEDS was an economic coup by the world's International Chemical Companies.  One which was supported by our government officials who were, first, supported by the Chemical Companies in running their campaigns to get elected.

Who wins?  Politicians and Corporations.

Who loses?  Consumers and Farmers.

Anyway...saving seed is easy, casual, fun, effective and something we all can do!

Warmly,

March Twisdale

YES on I-522 - Food Labeling Matters - Here's WHY!

About two weeks ago,

I decided to share how food labeling

matters to a Mother, an American Citizen,

a Shopper, and me.

I wrote several small articles about actual

experiences and did some independent research.

Even got in some arguments which actually

helped me clarify my views.

THEN, I wrote a letter to Jay Inslee, to 

encourage him to go public in support of I-522.

At the time, I decided to pull together a blog

and put all of my personal experiences/articles

into the blog!

The name is easy to remember:  

www.522matters.blogspot.com

Please take a look, and consider sharing with 

your friends, your family, and our fellow citizens.

Sincerely,

March Twisdale

Moving onward...

Greetings my dear Esperanza Farm Community viewers!

As you can see, I have not posted recently.  This does not mean my garden is not still growing, though. Indeed, we expand every year!

In 2011, we plowed a new section of land, about 100 x 40 feet, and then covered it under a HUGE tarp for the winter.  End result?  Easy to sift soil, mostly dried out, with a light dusting of easily uprooted weeds...

The following Spring of 2012, we invited new friends from the Occupy Movement of Seattle to come out for a day on the farm...and in two such days, the land was tilled, shaped, and planted!  A huge harvest came of that season, with over a dozen families sharing in the many months of harvest.

This Spring, we are down to three families...and my efforts to finish my first novel leave me with only a single day's worth of gardening time per week.  We meet on Wednesdays for six hours of communal gardening, and the first harvest of the season has already begun!  

Wildly growing greens, a final burst of Spring Broccoli, radishes and last year's carrots, beets and their leaves, kale and chard, leeks and onion greens...fresh, new cilantro and parsley...yum!  Of course, hundreds of pounds of strawberries are on their way, the plums are small, green, and hard on the trees...our cherries and apples are covered in blossoms, and the berry bushes...oh my!  The Goumi berry crop will be huge this year...as well with currants and gooseberries and blueberries, raspberries, and thornless blackberries!

Of course, we still have many lovely chickens...including our "house chicken," who spent five weeks coming into our home every morning to lay her eggs, then three weeks sitting on them (and going out on her own each day to poop!), and over the past night and day...she has successfully hatched eight chicks!

BUT...why am I not posting photos and making regular posts?  The simple answer is that I have two new projects on my plate, and I think you may find them interesting.

In fact, I have two new blogs:

vaccinesandbeyond.blogspot.com

marchtwisdale.blogspot.com

(1)  After several years of polarizing debates about improving our community health through "increased vaccinations alone," a close friend of mine and I decided to tackle this complex issue head on.  We now have a 12-month newspaper series that is being published in The Loop, on Vashon Island.  If you'd like to hear a balanced, respectful, curious and questioning viewpoint on the issues of "community health," you'll enjoy our blog.  We post our monthly series and other "support material" for people around the world to learn from and all are invited to the discussion @ Vaccines & Beyond

(2)  My second blog is designed to highlight and support my basic life-platform:  inspiring social change, one day at a time, one person at a time.  To achieve this goal, I do many things.  My farm is one way in which I have positively impacted people from teaching them to feeding them.  My lifestyle, as we homeschool our children and hope to raise aware and enlightened individuals is another.  Then, you have my new RADIO SHOW, which is scheduled to come out in August.  And, of course...there is my novel, The Ghost Lords.  It is through this work that I discovered the "power of fiction" to change people where it matters most.  In their hearts.  And so, you are invited to join me in this journey at my second blog, Inspiring Social Change Through Fiction.

I hope that every day of your life,

you hold onto your faith in the goodness 

present in every man, woman, and child.

A hidden gem is not lost...it simply needs to 

be regained...found again.  And, only by 

seeking, do we have a chance to do so.

Sincerely,

March Twisdale

Esperanza Farm Community Meeting #1

Esperanza Farm Community began Spring 2012 and is continuing to grow...photos will come later.  Here are notes from our first meeting on Sunday, August 26th...

Sunday Work Done:

Chicken Village Thoroughly Cleaned 

Plums Picked

Blackberries Picked

Green Beans Picked

----------------START MEETING #1 NOTES----------------

Attendees:

Kyrick, Keanu, Kyle, Mexico, Dakota, Claudia, Roman, Jordi, March, Lulu, Shannon, Grace, Karen, Sam, and Tera!!!

There were various conversations during the meeting.  We had a timer, facilitator, caller, and note-taker.  These notes are in the new Esperanza Farm Community Binder.  Read them in detail if you wish.  Below is a list of Meeting Decisions & Jobs Accepted:

(1)  Farm Open Days

Sunday, Wednesday, Friday

6am-7pm

(2)  Umbrella Woman and Farm Binder!

March is the "go to" person when you have questions on everything.

In the Garage, near the "soon to arrive" refrigerator, will be the Farm Binder!  Still to be organized,it will include a location to leave notes, a map of the farm, a list of things needing to be done, and an area to track hours put in and pounds of food taken home.

(3)  Reality Check!

We acknowledge that feelings will get hurt and there will be confusion or miscommunication at times.  We acknowledge this is normal.  All who spoke expressed a willingness to be approached if there is a problem involving themselves or their children.

(4)  Watering is a problem...so we need a solution in place by April, 2013.

New Water System Guru:  Claudia

Water Guru Support Team:  Shannon (co-guru), Keanu (muscle-man), Grace & Karen (interested in rain barrels and supporting the effort, in general)

(5)  Food Preservation Fun & Sharing are NOT part of Esperanza Farm Community

We expect to do so organically and spontaneously, but it will not fall under the purview of EFC directly.

(6)  MEALS & Cooking Supplies/not using too much of March's Family's food stores

In order to avoid over-use of March's Family's food stores (such as salt, tortillas, olive oil, etc), we expect people to bring their own snacks (or eat before they come) on all days EXCEPT the monthly work party/meeting.  On THAT day, we will all POTLUCK the meal, with ONE dish being created with the currently harvested yummies from the farm.

(7)  Monthly Meetings were deemed necessary (instead of 4 a year).  They will fall, generally, on the first Sunday of each month - with a goal of avoiding holiday conflicts & ensuring that March's family can be present to host.  

Sunday Work Party is 9am-11:30am, then Meeting from 12pm-2pm:

Sunday, September 23rd

Sunday, November 4th

Sunday, December 2nd

Sunday, January 6th

Sunday, February 3rd

Sunday, March 3rd

(8)  Karen Winter is our "Monthly Meeting Coordinator!"  She will....

• Remind everyone with an email
• Plan the "farm dish" & coordinate the potluck (minimally)

(9)  What resources can you offer?

All members will consider what they have lying around the house that might, at some point, be useful for the farm.  Buckets for cleaning and harvesting, sink for outdoor cleaning, hoses, tools, sun hats, sprinkler heads, seeds, etc.  

BRING LIST TO THE SEPTEMBER MEETING - OR EMAIL IF YOU CAN'T MAKE THE MEETING

(10)  Refrigerator Project

A fridge was donated, and the following have volunteered to help with moving it to the Farm:  March (truck), Keanu, Kyle, Jose, and maybe Wolfgang and Christian?  

Project Completion Goal:  Sept. 20th?

(11)  Wash Table Project

A large, stainless steel outdoor sink for washing veggies and capturing water used in a bucket for 2nd use irrigation is being donated by Shannon's Family.  

March & Shannon will organize the delivery of the table.  

Work Party on September 23rd will include a team to finish the set up; unless it is already done!

(12)  GARDEN MAP

March will create a map.  

Keanu and Shannon will create stakes for each "numbered area."

Project Completion Goal:  Oct. 15th?

 

(13)  Community Education Fundraisers 

Claudia suggested great learning opportunities for people around the island to come and participate in a project (for a fee) - so we get work done, learning spreads, and funds are raised.  

(14)  Commitment Level  (minimum level per MONTH that you are able to offer, barring emergencies)

Grace:   20 hours 

Shannon:   13 hours

Keanu: 20 hours

Kyle: 16 hours

March: 40 hours

Karen: 13 hours

Claudia: 20-25 hours

STILL NEED:

Swaneagle:

Sonya:

John:

(15)  Fall Planting Wish-List!  By preference (we did a dot method)...

Carrots, Kale, Broccoli & Cabbages, Spinach, Mixed Greens (including Arugula & Cilantro), Beets, Peas, Onions & Leeks, Garlic, Chard, Fennel, Radishes, Brussel Sprouts

(16)  POST-MEETING ADDED COMMENT BY MARCH (UMBRELLA-LADY)

It would be excellent to see conversation before work days...so people had a sense of who was coming and when.  What's the point of having 3 people at 3 different times, if they all could have come at the same time and gotten one project finished as a group?  HOW to do this?  You can hit "reply all" and email the group, of course.  I also think there are "conversation" opportunities on my blog.  OR, we could create a Yahoo-Group.

What do you all think???

----------------END OF MEETING #1 NOTES----------------

Starts vs Wintered Over!

The measuring stick is placed on the surface of the soil...so, these baby lettuce starts are only about 3 marks high.  Now...see what I just found in my little greenhouse outside...

These are about 6-7 marks high

and with no effort on my part at all!

These are my other favorite green - they grow outside without needing any protection at all!  And, as you can see...they are about 4 marks high.  Which is all they ever get anyway.  This is a very small, low to the ground, growing green.

My spinach (started indoors "against" the suggestions of the seed company) is about 3 marks high.  And, so far, they seem to be doing okay outside in the little greenhouse.

In the past, I rarely got spinach to grow at all!

Although, there is one variety that I grew successfully last Summer in the shade UNDER my tomatoes...I'll share those in May or June when I get them going.

These are sorrel - I have them growing wildly all over.  Only  had to put them out once as seedlings (and only one plant, too)...as it goes to seed and self-propagates wonderfully in our climate!

I highly recommend a large, clean tool shed.  By the way, the white pumping container typically used for spraying chemicals has NEVER been used as such on our property.  It was given to us and sits untouched, because - so far - we have never had the slightest trouble with anything except anthracnose on the apple trees.

As you can see...the slugs are happy to find Nature's bounty, as well.  This Kale plant is growing in the greenhouse and is about 2 feet in diameter!  What's nice is that the slugs we found have been eating IT instead of our more tender greens.  We'll begin the Slug-Boat in late April and early May.  Maybe 3 cruises through the garden and we'll be virtually slug-free for another year!

Here we have found BURIED TREASURE!  A very sweet and crunchy carrot from last year that went well with some peanut butter!  And, around it, our spinach starts have found a new home...we'll track their progress to see how this method works.

Bon Voyage Everyone!

We hope you enjoy many warm and sunny Spring days this April!

I'm thrilled to have this table on the porch this year so I can do more of my food prep outside and the starts and potting up projects will be so much easier, as well!