Rebel Farmer

Interesting interview with farmer and political contrarian Joel Salatin, from Mother Earth News.

Some of what he says makes sense, though I think he takes a rather unfair swipe at vegetarians. In my 35 years, I  have only met one vegetarian who was sickly because of their vegetarian diet. The person had shifted to being vegan without really taking into account what was needed to make that a healthy lifestyle.

Gardening as an Act of Subversion

In my last post, I admitted I had never grown anything in my life. So why this sudden urge to start planting vegetables? Part of it is linked to the rise in food costs at a time when the quality of food seems to be diminishing. Rising food costs have led to riots worldwide. In April, riots broke out in multiple locations as staple items such as rice and corn increased by as much as 75%. When a person is already living at the poverty level, such an increase can be devastating.

I am not an alarmist. I realize that the riots that have have taken place have occurred in third world countries, where extreme poverty is a reality and people constantly teeter on the edge of starvation. It would be foolish to suggest that it couldn’t happen here, however. Even in the metro Atlanta area, warehouse stores like Sam’s Club and Costco restricted the amount of bulk rice a person could purchase. While this mainly affected businesses and not individual consumers, it should serve as a wake up call to those of us who thought that the world’s supply of food would always be cheap and readily accessible.

Another factor was the desire to move toward more healthy and sustainable living. While factory farming has given high yields of some foods, it has also brought with it many issues, not the least of which is concern about the long lasting impact of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Some foods absorb more of these potentially hazardous compounds than others. If you are thinking about going organic, you might want to try starting off by avoiding the so-called Dirty Dozen. I know I feel much better seeing my kids eat grapes that weren’t sprayed with any of the more than 35 chemical pesticides found in imported grapes.

The other part of the equation was our desire to keep more of our income for ourselves. We have paid up to $3.99 for a pound of tomatoes. For the same amount of money, you can grow your own, with an exponentially higher yield. There is a cool article here from the UGA Agriculture extension on this topic. (Note: check out the ag extensions for local state universities. Most of them have good websites with relevant info on growing vegetables in your locale).

We have started a very humble garden this season. Because we started so late, we did not have time to properly prepare the soil for planting, so we planted a container garden. There was a great article from Mother Earth News on how to do this, as well as countless places online that gave tips for growing vegetables in containers. We tried to select items that we eat regularly that would give us a chance to have a small yield while catching up on the learning curve. This first time around we have planted tomatoes, green bells, red bells, habaneros, cucumbers, jalapenos and cayennes. We have used store-bought organic fertilizer so far, but we are hoping that by the next time we plant we will have a decent supply of compost to cut down on our need for anything purchased. Pests have not yet been an issue, so there have been no insecticides (organic or otherwise) used on any of the vegetables.

There has been something amazing about watching our small garden go from seedlings into vegetables. Our first round of tomatoes are getting close to coming off the vine. The red bells are still green but growing. The hot peppers are starting to bud and form fruit. The cucumbers and green bells aren’t doing so hot (another post about this later, I made a few early mistakes here). The cool thing is that we grew these. Even if just for a few bites here and there I know where my food came from and how it was grown. And the things we have learned will be things that go into planting for the Fall.

The Path to Freedom

If you have not yet seen the Path to Freedom website, you should stop what you are doing and start reading their materials. What the Dervaes family is attempting to do is cultivate true revolution but reducing their dependence on consumer culture. They have transformed a 1/5 acre urban plot into a sustainable homestead. Of course, it didn’t happen overnight; the family has been at it on this same plot of land for more than 20 years. Check it out!