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