Grow a Sustainable Diet: Planning and Growing to Feed Ourselves and the Earth (27 page)

As I mentioned in the introduction, I felt a need to leave the college in order to address a larger community. I started a blog — which was an adventure — and I wrote this book, which has been an even bigger adventure. Meanwhile, our daughter Betsy took over teaching the classes. She has put her heart and soul into that dance and made it her own, just as it should be. Having the library so well stocked with the books she and her students needed wasn’t enough for her. She read an article in
Acres U.S.A.
magazine
²
about seed libraries and was so intrigued, she wanted to start one at JSRCC. It only took a year from “Wouldn’t this be
great?” to “The first orientation meeting for the JSRCC Seed Library is March 5, 2013.” The wheels of bureaucracy often might seem stuck, but once you loosen the glue that has held them in place for so long, they begin rolling at a much faster pace.

Seed libraries are places where you can “borrow” seeds to plant, grow them out, and save seeds to return at the end of the season. Just by participating, you can help to develop strains of things unique to your area, keep little known varieties from becoming extinct, increase your seed saving knowledge, and get free seeds! Getting the library stocked with books and seeds is great, but it is only a success if others participate. We need people to dance with us. You don’t have to start a seed library to make a difference. Giving a neighbor some of your garlic to plant, or taking some of your homegrown food to a potluck and engaging in conversation about how you grew it, can be enough to make a difference.

Eating a sustainable diet becomes a way of life. It is not just what comes from the garden, but every food choice. How was it grown? What resources were used to get it to your table? These are the questions you will be asking about everything you eat. Real living is when everything you do becomes your way of life. The boundaries begin to blur, or at least how you think of them begins to blur, as you go about your job, do laundry, maintain your home, cook dinner, and interact with your friends and family. Real living is when you begin to see everything as part of one joyful whole. Sometimes the change needs only to be made in how you think of things. One example of that kind of change is if you have thought of weeding as drudgery, something you have to endure. Begin to think of weeding as a harvest of materials for the compost pile. Harvesting is a positive thing. You will be cleaning up your garden and building compost at the same time. When you change your thoughts, everything around you changes. Learn to look at everything in a new way.

We are living in exciting times. People around the world are waking up to what has been happening environmentally. Our survival depends on the wise use of our resources. Sure, we are running out of petroleum, but a petroleum based society is not the only way to live. Much has been written about riding a bike or taking the bus, not using disposable products, and recycling containers. Even if you do all that, it is not enough.
You may still be looking at things from the outside. You need to know that you are an integral part of it all. Every bite you take determines how you want the world to be used, in order to grow your food. I’ve given you the tools you need to plan and grow a sustainable diet. When you put yourself into your plan, hopefully you come to realize that, as I mentioned in
Chapter 5
, you are not separate from the earth that grows your food. Think of becoming part of your garden and not just the steward. When you do that, your garden becomes a sacred place.

Your approach to things might be different than mine. You’ll come up with ideas that may or may not work, but you won’t know for sure until you try them and get it out of your system. You don’t need my approval for what you do in your garden. I do hope, however, that you consider the sustainability of all you do. When you take the time to consider that, it will direct your actions more than anything I could tell you. Pay attention to everything that comes your way. That is mindfulness. When you interact with people, take the time to look them in the eye and talk to them, rather than being distracted by your cell phone. When you are mindful of your actions and your surroundings, they have more meaning for you. Find a spot in your garden or in nature somewhere, quiet your mind, and sit for at least twenty minutes. Observe what is happening around you and become part of it. Feel the air and listen to the sounds. Going barefoot at least some of the time will “ground” you. You will be more aware of the soil temperature and the moisture in the ground. I like to be in my garden when the sun goes down and calmness settles in with the dew.

Recognize the interconnectedness of everything. Scientists used to think they had to take things apart to study them, and they imagined that if they knew
everything about each piece they would know what they had. Now they are finding that they need to study the relationship of all those parts. They need to study the whole. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Acting together in communities, we are much stronger than we can ever be going it alone. A sustainable diet recognizes the whole and is part of the dance of life where everything is connected. Come join the dance and grow a sustainable diet!

Endnotes

Chapter 1

1
.
patternliteracy.com/419-fear-and-the-three-day-food-supply-3
.

2
.Rosemary Morrow,
Earth Users Guide to Permaculture
, 2nd ed. (Australia: Simon & Schuster, 2006), p. 9.

Chapter 3

1
.John Jeavons,
How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine
. 8th ed. (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2012).

2
.Sandor Elix Katz,
The Art of Fermentation
(White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2012), p. 25.

3
.Weston A. Price,
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
(New York, London: Paul B. Hoeber Inc., 1939), Chapter 15,
journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price15.html
.

4
.Timothy Johns, “Detoxification Function of Geophagy and Domestication of the Potato,”
Journal of Chemical Ecology
, Vol.12 No.3 (1986): 635–636.

5
.“Sweet Potatoes Rank #1 in Nutrition by CSPI”,
sweetpotatoblessings.com/number1.htm
.

6
.International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (ITTA),
iita.org/cassava
.

7
.Jeavons,
How to Grow More Vegetables
, pp.129–179.

8
.At
plantmaps.com
you will find interactive USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Maps for the US, Canada, and the UK that will help you determine which climate zone you are in.

9
.Sally Fallon,
Nourishing Traditions
, rev.2nd ed. (Washington, DC: New Trends Publishing, Inc. 2001), p. 62.

Chapter 4

1
.GrainMaker Mill. Bitterroot Tool & Machine, P.O. Box 130, Stevensville, MT 59870. Toll free (855) 777-7096.
grainmaker.com
.

2
.
Booklet #30: GROW BIOINTENSIVE
^SM
Sustainable Mini-Farming Certification Program for Teachers and Soil Test Stations
is available as a free download at
growbiointensive.org/publications_main.html
.

Chapter 5

1
.Mark Schonbeck, “Cover Cropping: On-farm, Solar-powered Soil Building,” Virginia Association for Biological Farming Information Sheet, Number 1-06, 5/16/06. p.2.

Chapter 8

1
.John Seymour,
The New Self-Sufficient Gardener
(New York: DK Publishing, 2008), pp. 215–216.

Chapter 9

1
.
savingourseeds.org
. Saving Our Seeds is a venue for raising awareness of our threatened genetic resources, and a resource for providing information and knowledge tools for seed saving and seed conservation.

Chapter 10

1
.
National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25
,
ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list
. Find information on all the nutrition resources mentioned in the Resources section of this book.

2
.Cheryl Long and Tabitha Alterman, “Meet Real Free-Range Eggs.”
Mother Earth News
, October/November 2007.
motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx#axzz2PR1jMRh7
.

3
.
eatwild.com/nutritionnews/nutritionnews5.htm
.

4
.Louis M. Hurd,
Modern Poultry Farming
, 4th ed. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1956), p. 143.

5
.Joel Salatin,
Pastured Poultry Profits
, Polyface Inc., 1996. p. 256.

6
.David B. Weems,
Raising Goats: The Backyard Dairy Alternative
(Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books Inc., 1983), p. 184.

7
.Livestock panels are 16′ long rigid fence panels with spaces about 6″ × 8″. They can be secured by three metal T-posts or tied to trees.

8
.Fernando Funes, Luis García, Marin Bourque, Nilda Pérez, and Peter Rosset,
Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance
(Oakland, CA: Food First Books, 2002), pp. 6–7, 158–159.

9
.
polyfacefarms.com/2011/07/25/forage-based-rabbits/
.

10
.Helga Olkowski, Bill Olkowski, Tom Javits, and Farallones staff,
The Integral Urban House
(Canada: New Catalyst Books, 2008), p. 268.

11
.Jeavons,
How to Grow More Vegetables
, p. 155.

Chapter 11

1
.Roger B. Yepsen, Jr., ed.,
Home Food Systems
(Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1981), p. 242–243.

2
.Klaus Kaufmann and Annelies Schöneck,
Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home
(Vancouver, Canada: Alive Books, 2002), pp. 33–41.

3
.
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning
download link
nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html

4
.
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning
, 196 pages. Order through
https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?item_number=AIG-539
or call toll free (888)-398-4636.

5
.Website link for fact sheets and for ordering
So Easy to Preserve
, 5th ed.
nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_uga.html
.

6
.You will find the recipe for tomato soup to can on the recipe page of my blog at
homeplaceearth.wordpress.com/recipes/
.

7
.
homeplaceearth.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/grain-mill-comparison-country-living-vs-grainmaker
.

Chapter 12

1
.Premier One Supplies. Portable fencing, solar chargers, and more.
premier1supplies.com
.

2
.Kencove Farm Fence Supplies. All types of fencing.
kencove.com
.

Chapter 13

1
.Honey Bee Facts from the American Beekeeping Federation.
abfnet.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=71
.

Resources

Homeplace Earth

HomeplaceEarth.wordpress.com
is Cindy’s blog. Consider it free continuing education for growing a sustainable diet. Cindy’s website is
HomeplaceEarth.com
.

Chapter 1. Sustainable Diet

Some organizations that help the world’s struggling people lead more sustainable lives:

Ecology Action teaches people worldwide to better feed themselves while building and preserving the soil and conserving resources.
growbiointensive.org
.

Heifer International works with communities to end hunger and care for the earth.
heifer.org
.

Lambi Fund of Haiti works toward economic justice, democracy, and alternative sustainable development in Haiti.
lambifund.org
.

Trees, Water, & People develops and manages continuing reforestation, watershed protection, renewable energy, appropriate technology, and environmental education programs in Latin America and the American West.
treeswaterpeople.org
.