With spring well underway and summer quick on it's heels, it's an exciting time around the farm. We recently planted our vegetable garden with the seedlings I started in egg cartons. I've mixed more herbs and vegetables into my traditional landscaping, and I'm really looking forward to freezing back a lot of homegrown food for the winter. In fact, I've already frozen back some delicious, local strawberries from Washington Farms in Watkinsville, Georgia (http://www.washingtonfarms.net/). Picking strawberries there was a really fun experience, but there are a lot of local farmers with similar setups. A quick internet search in your area might reveal some great surprises!
As I've mentioned before, I'm a really big fan of the local food movement. My interest started when I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver et al. I was prompted by an NPR interview with the author, but I would recommend it to anyone who eats food in the US. This book gave me an entirely different perspective on the environmental (and political) impacts of trucking food all over the country. It reads something halfway between a documentary and The Old Farmer's Almanac. As a result, it gives a lot of practical advise about farming, shares some great recipes, AND inspires the reader to scrutinize what they eat and at what cost. The book discusses the rampant loss of food diversity and asserts the idea that our country's dependence on foreign oil would be greatly reduced if we didn't feel the overwhelming right to consume fresh strawberries in January (among other frivolousness food selections - my paraphrasing not their's). I don't know how true this is exactly, but it certainly makes you wonder at how unsustainable our food selections and lifestyles have become. Moving to Georgia has given me the chance to work on this in my own life, one fresh strawberry at a time! To read more about this book and the ideas of the sustainable food movement, check out: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/ and http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php.
My new location has given me the chance to do something else that reduces my carbon footprint. "The farm," as I like to call our little spot in Georgia, came equipped with three clothesline posts. A little spray paint and some new rope later, I can skip using my drier on the weekends. Driers, in general, are very inefficient appliances, but a lot of people worry that the sun will bleach their clothes. I've learned that this isn't an issue if you hang them wrong-side-out.
My new location has given me the chance to do something else that reduces my carbon footprint. "The farm," as I like to call our little spot in Georgia, came equipped with three clothesline posts. A little spray paint and some new rope later, I can skip using my drier on the weekends. Driers, in general, are very inefficient appliances, but a lot of people worry that the sun will bleach their clothes. I've learned that this isn't an issue if you hang them wrong-side-out.
There are lots of other things I would like to do to continue reducing my carbon foot print, but I would love more ideas. Please share your ideas for sustainable living on this blog. Happy Spring!
Photos by Jenn Ballard (Excluding book cover)
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