Calling Freedom Gardeners

If you've been reading this blog for long you've probably heard me talk about the Freedom Gardeners web site. It is, to me, the best social network out there for the urban farming, food producing, organic homesteading type of people. Generally, that's all of us!

I found the Dervaes family web site Path to Freedom a couple of years ago, followed them until they launched Freedom Gardens and was the first person in Utah to join that I know of. I had an opportunity to spend an evening at their home not long ago and can honestly say that they are the warmest and most genuine people! If you don't have a profile up there yet, what are you waiting for. I can answer a lot of questions, but I may not be in your zone or your soil type. Chances are though, that of the over 3800 people currently a part of Freedom Gardens, someone does know the answer.

If you are a member already, well heck... drop in and say hi and we'll be "freinds". You can find me on there as CornerGardener.

I also have a special shoutout to any UT Freedom Gardeners. I started a group on the FG site today called "Utah Freedom Gardeners". I really want more than anything to start building a community here in the state. A network of Gardeners and growers to share our experiences and learn. Maybe even get together and have a good time!

If you are already a Freedom Gardener, regardless of state or city, drop us a line in the comments box so I or any of the other readers can check out what you're up to. We're really in a time of change I think. The more we can band together and share information, that more knowledge we will have to help other with.
Check out the site and....GROW ON!
P~

Democracy Works!!! (or does it?)

Well, to a point I think it does, but you know that old saying "All politics is local"? It held true tonight as I witnessed first hand the inequities of the political process.

First off, let me start on a positive note. THE GIRLS ARE LEGAL!!! That's right, the outlaw birds in my back yard are LEGAL. I started working toward getting the restrictive ordinance pertaining to chickens, and in particular egg laying hens, changed back in February. Can you believe it's been that long? I should of course for the record point out that I personally did not initiate the ordinance change. Our city planning commission was actually in the middle of revising the ordinance when I showed up on the scene, but I made it just in time to have input into the revision, and was able to get to know the commission chair Robert Whiteley that actually sponsored the change that dealt with the chickens. A very good guy! The process was very time consuming, and took a lot of emails and some public speaking, but we've gotten it finished and tonight it passed the city council by unanimous consent. So you see, don't just let your fear of the process keep you from your goals. In fact this turned out even better than hoped for. Tonight before the vote, the council proposed to up the number of legal birds to 6 rather than the proposed 5. I think this was a great move for the city, and now I'm thinking, hmmm...how about a class in (sub)urban hennery? (sorry Laura, had to steal your term.)


So now you're wondering about the (or does it?) aren't you. I you remember yesterday, I asked for you to wish me luck. That wasn't for the chicken law to pass, it was for me. I went before the city council and a nearly packed auditorium tonight, to enter my name as a candidate for a seat on the Syracuse (UT) City Council that had been prematurely vacated by one of our elected members. The laws of our city show that when a vacancy becomes available mid term, that the existing city council will hold public hearings to review potential replacement and then vote on the candidates to get a replacement. I put my hat in the ring, and didn't get it, and you know what, it's really not a big deal to me. I hoped for it, buy didn't expect it. What I didn't expect however, was that the process was rigged.


Seriously, this is not a sour grapes issue. The gentleman that got the position, I felt, was far more qualified than me or many of the other candidates so not a big deal there. The problem arose when the council was making their vote and councilman Doug Peterson, after making his vote, Made a declaration that rocked the room. He stated that when he originally ran for council he lost. Then, the same type of thing happened and he applied to the council for the position. He didn't get it, and felt that since he had been the first runner up in the election that the position should have been his. Tonight he went clearly in the face of the established process and declared that that was the reason he voted for the winner; because he was in fact the first runner up in the last election. Another councilman, Doug Hammond, agreed and went on to state that the voters had spoken and had voted for the winner in the last election. (But not in enough number for him to win.)


On the face of it, it sounds logical right? But myself and the other 20 candidates walked into a council meeting tonight, expecting to be heard and to have a fair chance at being considered for the position. That was, in point of fact, no the case. If two of the remaining 4 chairman came to the meeting already having in mind who they were going to vote for and why, (and yes, I do know that that is the case in at least one person, but cannot get into how for a couple of reasons.)
then what was the purpose of me spending my first night alone with my boys, cooped up in a stuffy city hall for no reason. Oh, I was mad!


After the election, you could here the vocal murmurings of the audience, and then the utterly ridiculous. The city council completed the city managers report and called for a motion to adjourn, with was seconded and agreed on. Only one problem, the first order of business for the night was to approve the agenda, an agenda that allowed for a period of public comment before the adjournment. Two councilman had already gotten up and started to leave and I just popped up. Not a lot of thinking, just popped up and yelled over the room "Mr. Mayor!" (ask my kids, I'm loud when I need to be.) When I got his attention, myself and the other gentleman pointed out that they cannot adjourn legally, they are breaking the agreed upon agenda. We got them back in there seats and they spent the next 20 minutes hearing from me and the other guy about how they had just committed a farce of a political proceeding and should be ashamed. It was pointed out that at the last election half the previous city council was removed for similar actions. Both myself and the other man received many handshakes and thank you's afterward for calling them on this. I guess it may be time for the other half to go too.


Let me finish this off on a positive note just so I don't come off too PO'd. I think that the process does work by in large. Look at my chooks after all, their free to roam now. The key however, as in national politics, is to be involved. Make your voice heard. We are a democratic republic and inasmuch we are required by duty to be a part of our governments process. I encourage you to participate, to debate and to be activist in the things you believe in. I ask though that we keep a level of civility, look for commonalities and work for the type of change that will benefit us all.
Be well...
P~

I had a great time

Really, I did, what a blast! And guess what? I think I came out sounding pretty good for a first time out. I would definitely be open to doing it again. The host Doug Fabrizio and producer Elaine were really a pleasure to talk with and made me feel really comfortable. You can find a link to the audio of the interview here, and the show will be broadcast again tonight at 7:00 PM MST.
I also had the opportunity to be on the show with Sharon Astyk, author and blogger (you can read her blog HERE.) whose writing I've enjoyed for some time and Steven, (I'm sorry I can't remember the last name) owner of a local specialty foods market. I think the discussion went very well, and there really seemed to be an interest in the topic. My biggest hope with suggesting this program was to get a little more dialogue going, particularly in Davis county where I live, and to bring attention to the movement of people that are doing this stuff.

If your just visiting this site for the first time, or are very new, I hope you'll take a minute to read a post I put up just a little while back that gives a pretty good idea what I'm all about. I hope you'll stop by more often and join me in this discussion and even share your triumphs or failures.
Welcome and "Grow On!"
P~

This is a first

Well I've really gone and done it now.
There's a radio show by the name of Radiowest that's on our local NPR affiliate that I listen to fairly regularly. A few weeks ago I sent them a suggestion for a program to talk about the movement that I see going on nationally around food and in particular people like myself that are trying to move towards producing more of there own foods. You know, oddballs like us that actually want to spend our evenings in our yards growing food, or feeding chickens. We, who spend hot summer afternoons in even hotter yet kitchens preserving our harvests for enjoyment later. Well guess what, they liked the idea and the show will air tomorrow afternoon.

I know, you're thinking "What? What did you do?". Well, actually nothing bad, quite the opposite. I've gone and gotten myself invited to be a part of the program! Yep, I'm gonna be on the radio tomorrow afternoon at 11:00 MST to share my experiences about homesteading and the new Victory Garden movement. This will be my first experience with being on the radio so, with any luck, I won't end up sounding like a buffoon.
If your interested, and your in the Salt Lake area, you can tune in for the program at 11:00 on 90.1 FM. Otherwise, the station does stream online HERE.
Wish me luck!
P~

Independence Day Garden Love

It's Independence day here in the U.S. and we have, by in large, evolved to a point where we call it the 4th of July, but it is much more. The 4th of July is a date, a marker, not an event. Today is Independence day. On this day in 1776 the Second continental congress of the colonies of America adopted the document that is known as our Declaration of Independence. It was a revolutionary action. It declared to the world that the people of the colonies were prepared to "dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another". They also declared that "when a long train of abuses and usurpation's, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism" "...it is their right, it is their duty..." to throw it off.

Aren't we slowly being reduced to reliance on the "despotic" (read: single authority of either an individual or tightly knit group,) system of industrial food? Where is our declaration of Independence? Is it in the books we read? Perhaps to a degree. Is it in the things we talk about, discuss or espouse? Again, to a certain degree, but not completely. I think the greatest declaration of our Independence is one that can only come from out labors and our actions. Let us be judged by our fruits so to speak.

Beets, Kohlrabi, Carrots, Collard Greens and Potatoes from the garden.

Here is my declaration of Independence. It may not be as loud as others cry, but it grows every year. I declare that I will challenge the norm, take back my freedom and learn from my ancestors. Farmer ~D of the "Path to Freedom" has said many times to the effect that the greatest revolution we can conduct is to grow our own food. I agree.

It's work, sure, but a labor of love I would say. Every year it grows, and every year my declaration is louder. My wife is my partner, and more and more she begins to get into the dirt more with me. I think this year the garden had a little of our love rub off on it. Don't believe? check this out. If this isn't a sure sign of a little garden love, I don't know what is.

For those of you in the U.S. I encourage you to read the Declaration of Independence's if you haven't recently. For that matter, I guess I would encourage any lover of Freedom to take a minute to read it. Happy Independence day folks, I hope it was a great one for you. If your not from the U.S., well, happy Independence day to you anyway.
Till tomorrow.
P~

I've finally done it.

Some of you may be aware that I recently began talking with the city leadership of my community to work toward a goal that I had of offering a free organic gardening class. I've talked about it for a while, and it's something that has been on my mind, but I've finally done it.

Last Saturday, our cities newsletter went out with an ad for my free organic gardening class to teach people the basics of growing food in their yard. I had estimated that it may get sent to 3-5,000 homes, I underestimated a bit. I was told that the actual mail list is somewhere around 6300 homes. As far as the number of people that I think will actually show up... I figure that if 10-20 people show I'll call it a success. Less is fine, as is more; I guess I don't really have to many expectations. If your interested in what I'll be talking about I started another blog for the purpose of outlining my goals and, hopefully in the future, communicating with attendees; you can visit it HERE. If you have any suggestions let me know, any stories about your efforts to spread the word and "Grow the Future".

Welcome and Action

Hey all, just wanted to take a second to say welcome to all the visitors that seem to be dropping in from Farm Mom's Blog, and to thank her for her support with my "Walk the Walk" campaign. I've been really starting to feel more and more that I need to get involved with the things that I want to see around me. I'm sure most of us have heard the famous quote from Gandhi that goes:

"Be the change that you want to see in the world."

If not, well you heard it here first. When you really think about it though, it is no less than a call to action, of some sort anyway. It don't think it necessarily means to go out and protest, or to be an activist. In fact to some degree that would almost be the antithesis of what he was saying. "Be the change..." not "affect the change..." was the call wasn't it? Yet then again, if we don't begin to take the actions that we believe should be taken, they may never be taken at all. (The "Someone else will do it" syndrome.) One of the reasons that I decided to try to get others involved in the issue that I have with Walmart is because it is a change that I would like to see happen. That and the fact that I know no matter how many letters I write to them, without many other voices, I will not be loud enough to be heard. I guess I am, to some degree, trying to "Be the catalyst of the change that I want to see..."

I have also begun another project this week that I really can't give to many details on. Not so much because it is confidential as it is not set in stone yet and I really don't know what the finished project will end up looking like. What am I talking about? Teaching. Or more to the point, sharing what I have experienced and learned with others in an effort to educate and hopefully inspire them. As I have grown in my experience with my garden and food production and urban chicken raising, I have hoped to get others in my neighborhood inspired to do the same and have actually made some strides on that front as a matter of fact. I've had a couple of neighbors that have decided to expand or modify their garden or gardening techniques to match the ones that I am doing, I am regularly asked about what I'm planting right now, or when they can start their tomatoes. I've kind of started to become that "garden guy" on the corner. So I decided, since it's something I LOVE to talk about anyway, that I would work with the local city to offer some basic FREE classes about growing small scale food plots or "Freedom Gardens" in our suburban lots.

I think that the time is ripe for people want to learn more about how they can begin to become more self sufficient on their own land. The higher food prices are not going to go down drastically, and more and more people are beginning to be more aware of the things that they feed their families. This is the type of change I hope to see in the world. People being responsible for their own sustenance to the degree that they can. Neighborhoods growing food and friendships and becoming more sustainable and prepared for future changes. If you have stories about the things you've started to do, I want to hear about them. Have suggestions for me? Fire away.

Hope you all have a great Weekend. I'll just be sitting around getting older, but more on that later.

P~

Wal-Mart...walk the walk!

Some of you may remember last fall when I posted a letter that I had sent to Wal-Marts corporate office regarding the use of the reusable bags that they are selling and some commentary on why I sent it. The jist of it was basically that while I am happy to see Wal-Mart making efforts to reduce their impact and to encourage greener living practices. I am concerned about it becoming little more that window dressing and would like to see them actually support the people who make those decisions. The previous post on this explains it best so I won't re-write it here. Well it's been over four months, and I have seen, not surprisingly, no change. As I said before I know many of you would sooner cut off your arms before shopping at the "Evil Empire" but we have to accept and admit that Wal-Mart wields more power in shaping consumer shopping habits than probably any other entity out their and as they go, so goes the retail nation.
Last week, I found Green Beans post about the super heroes in our midst. I've been reading about BurbanMoms personal action in her child's school, and about Ms. Terry's crusade to get Clorox to take back their used filters and of course everyone knows there's the omnipresent and over-achieving activism of Crunchy Chicken and her, too many to name, challenges getting people, myself included (No Impact week '07), to get up and actually try something new. It's with this in mind that I've decided to try and get in touch with my inner activist as well.
As I said in the previous post, I like the fact that Wal-Mart is making the reusable bags available, and for a very reasonable price ($1.00 apiece). They also seem to be making a concerted effort toward making some more sustainable choices. However like so many things in the area of lifestyle change, and don't be mistaken it is a lifestyle change to get people to use reusable bags, unless it is relatively easy many people won't do it, more often than not myself included.
I've written a letter to Wal-Mart to try to draw attention to the fact that although they are providing the reusable bags, they are not actually facilitating the use of them. Unfortunately, I'm just one person, and no matter how much noise I make, I'm not going to be able to turn this ship alone. But I would like to be the trim tab, and see if I can start the rudder to moving.

Here is the letter that I've written:

To whom it concerns;
Recently, the Wal-Mart Corporation has begun to take steps toward becoming a more sustainable member of the global retail community. As a conscientious consumer, I have noticed and appreciate this. One of the things that I have noticed along these lines is the availability of re-usable bags at Wal-Mart stores. The reason for this letter is to draw your attention to a problem with the use of these bags at many of your locations.
Because of the layout of the cashier’s island at many Wal-Mart stores, it is very impractical to use these bags with any convenience, let alone ease. The carousel style plastic bag dispenser that is in many of your stores does not allow for the cashier to fill the bag, and as customers there is no surface for us to place the items on while we bag them ourselves. Many of Wal-Mart’s competitors still have these options available, and some even offer a small discount to their customers that choose to use this option.
I hope that Wal-Mart Corporation is not being caught up in the green-washing movement sweeping the country or merely offering these items as another opportunity for a small impulse sale. I would like to see Wal-Mart continue to try to reduce their environmental impact, but would also like to see support for the things that they offer as solutions.
Some things that Wal-Mart could do to further facilitate the use of reusable bags would be to provide a table style checkout area similar to traditional style grocery stores where baggers are present, perhaps limit a couple of lanes to reusable bags at least during peak shopping periods and offer a small discount for recyclable bag users.
Wal-Mart is talking the talk. What I would like to see is for them to walk the walk by taking these suggestions under advisement and looking for ways to improve their shoppers experience while also improving their over all sustainability and reducing their environmental footprint.

What I'd like to do is to encourage you to also send an email or written letter to Wal-Mart if you agree with what I've said, whether your a Wal-Mart patron or not. You can even copy and paste the above letter too if you like, or put it in your own words. If we can get together enough people to really make someone at Wal-Mart take notice and take action on this, I think that we could have a huge impact on the number of people that decide to at least try using re-usables. Remember what I said, As Wal-Mart goes so goes the retail nation.

Feel free to link to this post if you like and use the banner at the top. In fact I will follow this post with the code needed to link to it, should anyone want it.

link files.

Do I know if anyone will want these? No, am I making them available? Yes.






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Link Tag:
http://apaetoday.blogspot.com/2008/04/wal-martwalk-walk.html

Call me "David"

No, I'm not changing my name, but I am challenging Goliath in a sense.
The other afternoon A~ picked up a couple of reusable bags at our local Wal-Mart store. She got them for me to use. I generally reuse one of the plastic bags that we get from shopping to carry my lunch and what not to work each day. She, being ever the considerate wife thought I could use these bags instead, which I am by the way. They, the bags that is, got me to thinking though. I think that it's great the a huge retail outlet like Wal-Mart is trying to make an effort to encourage their shoppers to re-use, and are providing us the ability to purchase the tools to do it with. But if you've ever taken your own bags into a Wal-Mart and tried to fill them without both backing the whole system up, and perplexing the poor girl behind the counter then you're better than us. The problem as I've found it, it that all the Wal-Marts use the carousel style bagging islands that allow them to expeditiously fill as many plastic bags as they can as fast as they can, while you load your cart. Basically, the system is not made to encourage the use of the reusables.
So what about this challenge?
I emailed Wal-Marts corporate headquarters the other day with my issue and explained what I thought would be a potential solution, after all you shouldn't complain without coming to the table with possible solutions right?

Here is the text of my mail:
I have noticed WalMart's efforts lately to reduce their environmental impact and appreciate it. I recently purchased a couple of their reusable bags for use in my local shopping. My problem with them is that there is nowhere I can load them at my local walmart store because of the carousel style plastic bag dispensers that all the stores have. I thought a unique way of encouraging people to use these low impact bags would be to one, provide a table style checkout area similar to older grocery stores that used to have a bagger. Two, would be to perhaps limit these lanes, during the peak hours at least, to people using the reusable bags or that have brought their own. I want to use these bags at walmart, but have really had a hard time because of this. Also, at stores like Smiths and Albertsons, I get a .05 cent discount per bag used. It really doesn't amount to much but again, it encourages the use of reusables. I am glad to see Walmart making some effort on this front, I'd just like to see the effort be complete, rather than just veneer.Thank you, I hope to hear something on this from you.

Today I received this response:
Dear P~, Sam Walton built Wal-Mart on a very simple belief--the customer is the boss. That means we are always looking for better ways to serve the people who shop at Wal-Mart. Each comment, concern and suggestion is very important because it gives us the opportunity to improve our overall service. Rest assured that your message has been forwarded to the proper division where it will be reviewed and carefully considered. Thank you for your observations. It is customers like you who help us continue to offer everyday low prices and friendly service. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Now I have no delusions that this was not a canned response; I'm sure it was. But I hold hope that maybe I will see a change. That maybe my challenge will not go unanswered. OK, so maybe the challenge isn't a huge one, but I'd like to see if there's a way to be the trim tab on this. And I'd like to encourage you too as well. I know there are a lot of you that view Wal-Mart as the evil empire and refuse to shop there yourselves. I can appreciate that, and it's your decision, but if a company with the kind of wide spread consumer base that they have can be steered into even a moderately sustainable direction, it could have a trickle down effect of huge proportions. I invite you to join me in this.; send them a letter. I thought about including a scripted letter in this post, but you know, honestly, I think they probably react the same to scripted spamming by action groups about the same way we respond to canned auto-responses, not at all. Use your own words. If you agree with me that it would be nice to see actions by them that would encourage consumers to use reusables tell them. If you have a better suggestion than mine, by all means tell them that. I think the most important thing is to let them know it is on our radar, and we are paying attention.

If you decide to take me up on this challenge, let me know about it, and by all means pass the word along. Link here, re-write it on your own blog, or email it if you like. I'm not trying to get people to read me by this, I just want to make a change.

I'll be sure to let you know if I hear more.

P~

link to Wal-Mart corporate contact us page.