Fat Guy on a Little Bike

A chicken got loose again yesterday evening.  I don’t know what happened, except I came back there to get my potato fork and one of the chickens was on the other side of the fence.  It wasn’t happy to be there as it was scrambling around trying to get back, and it’s friend was frantic on the coop side of the fence.  I chased it for a while and then got Rachael to help me chase it down.  Eventually we had 2 adults and 3 kids chasing it and we cornered it against a fence and snagged it.  We trimmed their wings so they shouldn’t be popping over the fence anymore.  Chicken wrangling is an adventure!  Those things are darn fast, and quick.  Now I know why Mick told Rocky to chase the chicken around when he was training for Creed.

A lot of commenters were talking about cabbage and how to prepare it.  My big concern with cabbage is that I went to my go to method of preparation that makes about every type of vegetable go down (stir fry) and it was rejected. In fact, he rejected the fresh peas that were in there as well. (I think they needed to cook longer and be a little more soft)  So if that failed I’m concerned.  I’m going to give this recipe a try and we’ll see how it turns out.

The Veggie Man:  In the post yesterday I mentioned that I was working with some local CSAs to distribute excess vegetables to some food kitchens.  I did my first run tonight.  The farm is fairly close to town, maybe 10 miles or so.  I drove out there and she gave me 46 lbs of broccoli, 20 lbs of lettuce, a bag of beets, 21 lbs of shell peas, 13 lbs of snap peas and 32 lbs of snow peas.  I’m pretty excited about this endeavor.  Before she would compost this excess, not it’s going to people.  Once I get a schedule down and find another driver or two we’ll be able to get some serious local, organic food to the food banks.  She thought she would have enough for me to pick up twice a week until early October.  Rock!  And that is just this one CSA, I have one other to work with (who has expressed interest) and also one on the north side of town that I haven’t contacted yet.

I’m adding a tab to the storing/harvesting tab above to track this.

I posted an article today over at GG about a group in Oakland that grows local, organic produce and distributes it to lower income people.

When I get done with my corporate gig I am so going to do this. I know some local CSAs are already trying to distribute some of their extra produce and having difficulty getting it done. I could start a non profit to take it all in and redistribute it. Not to mention that I could rent 3 or 4 of the city plots and grow a nice batch of the produce myself.

Talk about a great non profit initiative. I get to grow food, be involved with food and distribute it to needy people all at the same time! And I can even show people how to cook it too. Sweet!

I’m not one for resolutions really, but I am goal oriented so usually as the year begins I try to set up some goals for my year.

This year I want to read more of the “classic” books of literature.  I was talking to someone at work recently and I realized that I haven’t read many, if any, of the classic works of literature.  For example, I was reading this list of top 100 novels of all time and while I have read a few of the works, I haven’t read enough for my liking.  I think I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird and the Lord of the Flies when I was a kid.  I’ve read Memoirs of a Geisha (much better than the movie) and possibly Huck Finn, and I’m reading The Hobbit and Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street right now,  but that’s it from this list of 100 top novels.  I think that’s a little sad.  I’ve got Robinson Crusoe in the queue.  Then I think I’ll pick up Atlus Shrugged, which has been on my to read list for years.  Then I’ll just start picking and choosing from that list and we’ll see where I end up at the end of this year.

I’m going to expand my garden space by another 200 sq ft.  Yesterday I ran out of onions, and soon potatoes will be gone.  So I need to both grow more and buy more to store.   I’m also going to focus on some certain items to grow enough to store just from my garden.  With more careful planting and care I could have canned just tomatoes from my garden this year.  Same with green beans.   So if I can plant a little more of those and focus on keeping them picked I think I can exclusively store these items from what I grow.  I’m hoping to do the same thing with potatoes, onions and garlic as well.

If I’m able to acquire a plot in the city garden area all bets are off on what I’ll end up being able to grow and store.  There is usually a waiting list for these spots but 2K sq ft area for $30 is a very nice price.

Become even more proficient at storing more food through the winter.  I think this is prett self explanatory.  I’m doing very well this winter, but as you could tell above I still need to acquire more items to make it through the winter.  I’ll continue learning on this one.

Get more involved locally in action to make change and educate.  I’m already involved with a local eating group, and I’m getting involved with another group focused on education of environmental issues.  I believe I’ll be getting more involved at church with education of environmental issues, and, time allowing I’m going to try to talk to the PTA at school about a school garden plot that we can set up and perhaps teach children about growing food.   This is a big goal but it won’t require my total involvement all the time.  I’d like to teach people about all the different techniques I’ve read about, how I’ve implemented them on my small plot, and how they could too.  I’ve been working on a pamphlet about this, but I’m not such a good writer at re-writing things that are already somewhere else.  Maybe this year it will get done.

There you have it.  Those are my four main goals for this coming year.  If you are interested in prognostications for what this year might hold you could read Sharon or Kunstler.  Bart says he’ll have one soon also.

We need to fight back against Big Meat.

I’ve recently learned (thanks to a little birdie from Capitol Hill) that Tyson, Smithfield, and pals are on the rampage this morning, circulating memos and e-mails against two important livestock amendments to be offered today on the Farm Bill. These amendments — the Grassley competition amendment and the Tester amendment — would help make it easier for independent livestock producers to get their animals to market and would prohibit some of the discriminatory practices that the big meat packers have used to shut independent producers out. Big Meat is, unsurprisingly, very unexcited about the prospect. Tyson and Co. are rooting instead for an amendment to be offered by Senator Lincoln that would significantly weaken the good language on livestock that was added by Senator Harkin when the agriculture committee debated the bill this summer.

We can’t let Big Meat win the day. These amendments will be offered today, so calls are needed immediately. Please call your Senators — (202) 224-3121 and ask for them, or look their numbers up here — and ask them to vote FOR the Grassley competition amendment, FOR the Tester amendment, and AGAINST the Lincoln substitute amendment. 5 minutes, right now. Let’s do it.

More information is available from the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition here (.doc).

From the Ethicurian.  It sounds like big Ag already won one battle with the subsidy caps not passing, don’t let them win again.

I’ve noticed a change in my normal group of contacts over the past few months. As I keep having small discussions with people and make small changes to my life moving it towards living sustainably they have, more or less, been dragged along with me and are also making these changes without thinking about it. And they are all helping me meet my needs to move towards that type of lifestyle.

My kids like to help in the garden (I don’t know any boys who don’t like to get dirty) and also to help “process” the food once it is procured. I think a lot of this has to do with them still being young, but I also hope it is something that they find somewhat enjoyable too. I know I do as it’s fun to sit with them and shell peas and snap beans and talk with them about what they are thinking.

My wife has also started to help more. She is watching the boys a lot (she’s always watched them more than I have), which is a tremendous help to allow me to do all these different things, but she is also helping me prepare the food more, and helping pick some things (I think the tomatoes being ready helped here) and she is taking an interest in eating more local and organic foods, without even realizing it, I think. She’s also taking a bigger role in backing up my thoughts on what we should do as a family to move towards these future goals. It’s great having a united front on this subject, and such a great partner for our future.

My friends have started to get in on it too. I have one friend who has been sharing with me the bounty from her father’s garden. (I’m not sure how he feels about this but I appreciate it) I appreciate the potatoes and squash she has shared and also the great discussion with her about cooking different foods from what grows in a garden. I have another friend who has been great help setting up my compost pile.

My in-laws have been great sharing their truck with me so I can transport a lot of compost, and just this weekend they shared peaches fresh off their peach tree with us. (I’ve decided that canned peaches suck. Fresh peaches rule.) They are always ready with a bag of veggie scraps and such for my compost (they need to start their own though. Stop paying for it).

My parents have been a big help too. Answering questions about growing your own food, how to cook things we’ve grown, providing books and most importantly this weekend, how to locate the wheat moths we were invaded by (they were in the leftover corn we burn in our corn stove) have been a tremendous help.

Bloggers have been a great source of information too. Reading about their trials and tribulations, their recipes, their interactions and their information about growing food has helped me to become more aware of what is happening and how to prepare for it, and how to make a bigger impact on my life by growing my own food. Reading about other people who ride their bicycles for their basic transportation needs makes it more reassuring to make that step. Reading about other bloggers making changes to their lives has made it a lot easier to feel less alone in this journey.

I guess what I’m trying to say is thanks to everyone. I guess a community of helpers still operates in America today, it just looks a little different than it did 150 years ago.

FGLB

With apologies to Michael Jackson…

CAUTION: Political rant/diatribe to follow. You have been warned. Read on at your own risk.

OK. Now I can get this off my chest.

Can someone explain to me what is going on with our world? What has happened to us as Americans that has completely warped our sense of right and wrong? Why do we think it is OK to deny “political prisoners” their human rights at Guantanamo Bay? Why do we think what we are doing there is any better than what Kim Jong Il is doing to his people? Or that Saddam did or that Hitler did back in the day? Why are we OK with one but not the others?

Remember what those brave soldiers fought for in WWII? Why are we now treating people the same way that Hitler did, only now it’s OK? Why is our government now treating it’s citizens like Hitler treated his? How is this different? Why are we trading all our freedoms away for protection from potential terrorist attacks that all stem from our horrible international policies in the first place? Wouldn’t it be easier to change the policies? Why aren’t any of our “leaders” willing to be leaders and make changes? Instead of focusing on important issues they bring up stupid little meaningless issues to try to steal the headlines for a few days and skew the world to their view. Why do we accept this? Is it because we don’t see any other way?
Why does our news coverage have so much information about celebrities? Are we nothing more than gossip rag reading mindless drones made to work in artificial work environments being spoon fed processed food and processed air? Are we supposed to like this? Why aren’t more people seeing what is happening? Is our world so unimportant that newscasters feel no greater need with their news broadcast than to maximize their Nielson ratings to make that extra $1 of profit?

Why is our world so generic? Everything looks the same. All the stores are the same. All the buildings are the same. Is this what we want? Why would we want to live in a world lacking uniqueness and beauty? How did we get this way?

Why does the most terrifying weapon of mass destruction in the world live freely in the White House? Why is our political system controlled by corporations with big pockets? The court system is skewed to protect the little guy, shouldn’t the political system be skewed as well? Why do I feel like all they want to do is get re-elected and could care less about any “issues”?

Why is it OK for our “leader” to hi-jack his religion to fit his political desires but we aren’t OK with Muslim groups doing the same thing for their beliefs? Because we agree with one but not the other? I don’t see the difference. And while we are on that topic, why does anyone think it is OK to deny someone a human right that they may want because of their particular religious belief? Why do people have such a hard time saying “You know, I wouldn’t ever want to do that myself (for whatever reason), but just because I wouldn’t want to doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be available to you if you should want to”? Why do we try to force people to think like us? Why can’t we embrace that which makes us different and celebrate it?

Why oh why can’t I be a mindless drone like so many people and just plod along through life accepting it for the way it is or enjoying the artificial world piped in on my cable box? Why do I have to challenge things and contemplate things? Why do I have to always have a thirst for knowledge and change? Was I designed to hold up this heavy burden about our world? Concerns about local food, peak oil, living sustainably, reducing TV, reading enough, raising kids, recycling, reusing, living efficiently, reducing my impact on the earth, reducing car use are all great, but it is such a drag when I think about how everyone else is living and why can’t I be like that? Why do I have to be the one to sacrifice? Why does one sacrifice matter? Why does your sacrifice matter?

Things like these are things I wonder about on a daily/weekly basis. Most I can’t do anything about, but some I can, and by banding together with others who are similarly sacrificing we can make a difference. God made me with sturdy legs and broad shoulders to do my part, and he created the internet so that people with similar beliefs can get together and feel the support from each other rather than feeling like an outcast in this big world we live in. If you ever feel down or despondent about the world or what you are doing in your part of it think about the individual sacrifices you are making (whether it is eating local food, driving less, removing the TV, etc) and think of the other people around the world who are making the EXACT SAME sacrifices you are and you all have the same focus in mind.

WE ARE ALL FOCUSED ON MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

FGLB