I can’t believe I haven’t updated all week! I guess my excuse is that Charlie has been sick all this time and I’ve been trying to keep up with schoolwork, cleaning, and feeding and bathing him. Okay, he can bathe himself. And I haven’t been doing all that hot in my classes. My abnormal psychology tests thus far have both been kind of pathetic and I’ve been working on this paper about sustainable living that I forgot I have to write a shorter piece on something else, first.
After our trip to the organic farm last weekend and meeting Kelly, I signed up for her Seldom Seen Farm’s mailing list. I got an email a few days ago notifying me about the Sustainable Earth gathering at the fairgrounds today. I had to open the store this morning, so when I got home I put my feet up for a minute, let the dogs out, and we headed towards 38th Street.
Neither of us really knew what to expect. I knew Kelly and John would be there, since they’re the ones who told me about it. A girl who works at our other store also works for a mushroom farm and said she would be there, as well. There were a lot of people there, which really surprised me. When we attended the presentation of An Inconvenient Truth at The Vogue a few months ago, it was a sad crowd. We were in the “Our Land Pavillion” and there were several areas set up with stages and microphones where people were speaking about everything from sustainable living to buying locally to organizing your own homestead.
I finally ran in to Kelly and John and managed to grill them for a bit about where they lived. I’m really interested in the shift from suburban or urban life to one of diesel trucks converted to run on used vegetable oil and installing solar panels and windmills in your back yard. I don’t know that this is something I’m quite ready for, considering I neither own land nor do I know how to grow an herb without killing it, but I’m definitely up for working in that direction.
Charlie and I share a mutual dilemma: both of us want to avoid getting stuck in the ‘burbs when gas reaches five or eight or ten dollars a gallon and only rich people live in the city. So, do we stay where we are – or move even closer to the city where jobs and transportation are more readily available — or do we chuck it all and invest in a few acres, start growing our own food, and stock up on shotguns?
Indiana has a relatively small sustainable community, and it is a diverse one. You might go to a city like Seattle or Portland and meet – for the most part – a bunch of old-school hippies and earth-hugging chicks who crochet their own clothes. Here, though, I noticed that the crowd was everything from hippies and John Deere trucker cap-wearing old men, to 40-something granola lesbians and Mennonites, and a few other fun stereotypes thrown in. There were young people, elderly people, disabled people, people who hate the government, people who love the earth, and people who are scared shitless (that might be about where Charlie and I stand on the spectrum).
I discovered some interesting things about growing your own food (raised beds do very well in the city) and even how to raise chickens when you live in an urban area. It’s all good stuff for my article, but what it really does is make me ask myself how far I’m willing to go to decrease my ecological footprint. I’d say I’m willing to go pretty far. As long as those wind and solar panels can power my Mac, that is.
We have kind of a running joke in our neighborhood that when the grid falls apart, everybody has a job. Whoever we pull into our circle of neighbor friends has to be ready to contribute in some way. Katie Feltman and I will both garden. Her dogs will provide “wool,” and I will spin it into yarn for knitting (HA! We’d all end up going naked.) Her ex was supposed to be in charge of ale production, but he farked up, and now, well, let’s just say he’s not getting any tomatoes from this block. Vanessa’s probably in charge of renewable energy–she’s interested in things like solar-powered generators. She can also handle composting. Another neighbor is a fabulous carpenter.
Wish I’d known that was going on this weekend– I would have liked to join in. I fall into the scared shitless camp too. I’ve fantasized about keeping sheep, rabbits, and chickens on our tiny city lot. I take comfort from the fact that Garfield Park is less than two blocks away and, if need be, we could put together community gardens there.
This is really cool! I wish I had known, as well. Mel is right about how we plan as a block to go off the grid – and while I think we are 95% joking, there is some truth there via the scared shitless route. I’m already plotting (hee hee, a pun) my new garden, I can bake and yeah the ex farked up but after years of watching my dad and the ex, I think in a pinch I could brew some ale up. That is of course if someone grows the hops
I researched growing them and they are large and the drying piece seems complicated. I do have an author that often has to live off the grid because he is so far north in Wisconsin on a few acres in a more secluded area – the icy winters there will often knock the power out for days and prevent them from leaving their house. It’s fascinating actually. They grow and can spring through fall and eat their bounty all winter. They raise their own chickens – some for meat and some for eggs. They have cows for milk. They make their own soap and candles. And I’m pretty sure they get some power from a windmill but also have a generator – the author makes his money writing so needs to be able to email those chapters in!