I've had the urge to adopt for awhile now. I know I love children, I know I'd love to raise a little girl and I know I don't have the time to play roulette with another pregnancy, hoping it's a girl. Thus the urge to adopt. So I follow a few adoption oriented blogs. One of which recently posted with some thoughts about the Marion IA gal with 15 kids, 8 of whom were adopted from Africa, who just died in a car accident. It shouldn't surprise me, the adoption community, especially the uber-Christian one, is kind of a small world.
After reading the post, about the shock the adoption community felt to have lost a mother, I wondered, are there any among the adoption community that sees this as the terrible situation it really is? That husband now has 15 children, a couple of which are special needs, and no one to stay home with them and raise them, as he has to work. Is there any talk in the adoption community about the morality of continually adopting, past the point of a dozen children? It's only possible from 3rd world nations where they don't care about things. And only possible with the encouragement and financial assistance of Christian organizations. No adoption agency in America would let another child go to a home that already had 14 youngsters. For just this reason, among others.
Sure she left a legacy of love, the service was standing room only. But that won't get that family very far, the husband literally can't even transport all the kids by himself, much less raise them on his own. They've all been homeschooled, so none of them have experience with even the simple routines of leaving the house for school, even if the dad could physically get them there. Every one of those children is now stuck in a terrible situation. The eldest are likely going to have to raise the younger kids themselves, probably foregoing the last of their homeschool education to do it, no matter what their transcripts say. What a great thing to do innocent children. Oh...wait.. not really.
The adoption community, and the Christian groups that funnel money into it, really need to see this tragedy as what it is. Christians playing the savior, and collecting children like they get more grace points for it, nevermind the consequences for the children in question when things like death or illness come along.
I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but the enablers of her children collecting are not dead, so I'm directing this at them. Did they think that with enough children and enough prayer, the family would be spared the normal realities of life, like sickness and death, that make 15 children problematic? Probably, it would match the other crazy things Christians like to believe. Is the community going to step in to raise those 15 children? Probably not. I'm sure they'll pray for them though.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of kids in a bad place, I'm going to boost the signal on this group, a little bit.
1000 kids. A foundation seeking to open Iowa homes and hearts to 1000 of the unaccompanied minors at the border. If every state would take in 1000, the humanitarian crisis would be well under control.
-Jennie
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
What Could Get Me Back in a Church?
Not all of my readers will be interested, but I think some of my readers might be curious.
What follows is based on a response I made to a post on the Patheos blog network, in regards to a book that tries to list the top 7 things that will get young people back into the churches they are leaving in droves.
I've not read the book. :-D Check out the link above if you want to see a summary of what the 7 things they listed were.
I am a Millennial, and I left the church when I left my parents' house, and I haven't been back since. If I was to make a list of the 7 things that would get me back into a church, it would look like this:
1) Quit preaching hate. I got so tired of hearing about all the sins and sinners I was supposed to not associate with or participate in. Half of them seemed arbitrary, none of them seemed logical or helpful to living in a pluralistic society.
2) Respect women. Some faiths are better than others with this one. But pretty much any religion that wants me to take back seat, second seat, or any seat other than an equal one, is never going to get a second of my time or a cent of my money. I'm also not interested in hearing how some random part of my body is sinful and should be covered up. Neck, shoulders, ankles, knees, face, elbows, breasts... bah. They are no more sinful than my ears or my knuckles or my forearms.
3) Can you revise the bible? I know, it's supposed to be the "word of god." But, let's be honest, it's not. It was written by men, translated by men, revised by men. Update it for the new millennium already! Drop the bronze age anachronisms, nobody cares about tattoos, seafood or mixed fiber clothing anymore. It would be nice if there were more women's voices in it, telling their stories, perhaps even stories where the women are something other than a whore or a virgin or the "wife of man #3." Some nice warrior women, leader types would more closely match what I strive for in my life.
4) Be more open to those of us who question. I don't believe in deities anymore. But, that in and of itself, is not a part of why I don't go to church. I would still go if it were a welcoming community that accepted me AND my disbelief. I like helping my neighbors, I like living a life of service and kindness and sharing. I like singing songs with my neighbors and celebrating life's milestones together. Can you divorce all of that from the Thou Must Believe bit? I certainly don't want to go to a church for the community aspects and lie about it, I'm not a liar.
5) Yes to the local point. I'm not going to drive a long distance to get to a church I like. There is a Unitarian church I feel like I might be happy at, but it's an hour drive away, so it's a no go. Every church within walking distance is .... well.. not meeting my criteria.
6) Work to build up the wall of separation between church and state. I'm not interested in living in a theocracy. Not of any stripe. Churches don't pay taxes to the state, so they should have no say in the governing of the state. Period. "Leave unto Caesar" and all that. Quit sending money to PACs that work to implementSharia law, whoops I mean Christian values into law. Quit
preaching from the pulpit on political candidates and their
level of acceptableness to the particular brand of faith you practice. Continue
that practice and you'll never see me step foot in your building.
7) This is an addendum to the "be local" point. Support locally. Keep service projects local. Mission trips to 3rd world countries look great in the church bulletins, but they aren't really great at helping people. Time and time again, the missionaries leave and the super great technology that they installed works for a while, then breaks and with no who knows how to service or fix it, the people of that village go back to whatever unsanitary, dangerous or inefficient thing they were doing before. There are plenty of people who need help in every community. Young families who could use help with child care, elders in need of food, vets in need of someone to talk to, new comers in need of a friend or a meal, kids in need of a big brother/sister or adopted grandparent. It's not as flashy and exciting, but it would be of more actual help if the church focused locally first.
Non-belief is growing rapidly in my generation. If the only young people you're interested in adding to your church are the ones that already agree 100% with your faith and your rules, you may find those numbers dwindling, no matter how many big fancy worship concerts you plan. You should maybe look at the actual beliefs of those who are leaving, and ask how you can better align your church with what they actually need and actually believe in.
Or not.
Just don't kid yourselves when the numbers of "Nones" keeps growing and the average age of your congregants continues to rise, while their numbers fall. The Nones are not confused, misguided or "lost souls." We're sick and tired and fed up with the churches.
If you want to find me on Sunday morning, I'll be in my vegetable garden, happy and content, free of divisiveness, free of arbitrary rules, wearing what I like, and making my own decisions, although maybe a little lonely. All you have to do is match that experience, minus the lonely and you could get me back into a church. Will you?
My bet is no.
-Jennie
What follows is based on a response I made to a post on the Patheos blog network, in regards to a book that tries to list the top 7 things that will get young people back into the churches they are leaving in droves.
I've not read the book. :-D Check out the link above if you want to see a summary of what the 7 things they listed were.
I am a Millennial, and I left the church when I left my parents' house, and I haven't been back since. If I was to make a list of the 7 things that would get me back into a church, it would look like this:
1) Quit preaching hate. I got so tired of hearing about all the sins and sinners I was supposed to not associate with or participate in. Half of them seemed arbitrary, none of them seemed logical or helpful to living in a pluralistic society.
2) Respect women. Some faiths are better than others with this one. But pretty much any religion that wants me to take back seat, second seat, or any seat other than an equal one, is never going to get a second of my time or a cent of my money. I'm also not interested in hearing how some random part of my body is sinful and should be covered up. Neck, shoulders, ankles, knees, face, elbows, breasts... bah. They are no more sinful than my ears or my knuckles or my forearms.
3) Can you revise the bible? I know, it's supposed to be the "word of god." But, let's be honest, it's not. It was written by men, translated by men, revised by men. Update it for the new millennium already! Drop the bronze age anachronisms, nobody cares about tattoos, seafood or mixed fiber clothing anymore. It would be nice if there were more women's voices in it, telling their stories, perhaps even stories where the women are something other than a whore or a virgin or the "wife of man #3." Some nice warrior women, leader types would more closely match what I strive for in my life.
4) Be more open to those of us who question. I don't believe in deities anymore. But, that in and of itself, is not a part of why I don't go to church. I would still go if it were a welcoming community that accepted me AND my disbelief. I like helping my neighbors, I like living a life of service and kindness and sharing. I like singing songs with my neighbors and celebrating life's milestones together. Can you divorce all of that from the Thou Must Believe bit? I certainly don't want to go to a church for the community aspects and lie about it, I'm not a liar.
5) Yes to the local point. I'm not going to drive a long distance to get to a church I like. There is a Unitarian church I feel like I might be happy at, but it's an hour drive away, so it's a no go. Every church within walking distance is .... well.. not meeting my criteria.
6) Work to build up the wall of separation between church and state. I'm not interested in living in a theocracy. Not of any stripe. Churches don't pay taxes to the state, so they should have no say in the governing of the state. Period. "Leave unto Caesar" and all that. Quit sending money to PACs that work to implement
7) This is an addendum to the "be local" point. Support locally. Keep service projects local. Mission trips to 3rd world countries look great in the church bulletins, but they aren't really great at helping people. Time and time again, the missionaries leave and the super great technology that they installed works for a while, then breaks and with no who knows how to service or fix it, the people of that village go back to whatever unsanitary, dangerous or inefficient thing they were doing before. There are plenty of people who need help in every community. Young families who could use help with child care, elders in need of food, vets in need of someone to talk to, new comers in need of a friend or a meal, kids in need of a big brother/sister or adopted grandparent. It's not as flashy and exciting, but it would be of more actual help if the church focused locally first.
Non-belief is growing rapidly in my generation. If the only young people you're interested in adding to your church are the ones that already agree 100% with your faith and your rules, you may find those numbers dwindling, no matter how many big fancy worship concerts you plan. You should maybe look at the actual beliefs of those who are leaving, and ask how you can better align your church with what they actually need and actually believe in.
Or not.
Just don't kid yourselves when the numbers of "Nones" keeps growing and the average age of your congregants continues to rise, while their numbers fall. The Nones are not confused, misguided or "lost souls." We're sick and tired and fed up with the churches.
If you want to find me on Sunday morning, I'll be in my vegetable garden, happy and content, free of divisiveness, free of arbitrary rules, wearing what I like, and making my own decisions, although maybe a little lonely. All you have to do is match that experience, minus the lonely and you could get me back into a church. Will you?
My bet is no.
-Jennie
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Spring Doings and Plannings
Some of y'all might be wondering what I'm up to.
Some of y'all know what my plans are in general, and some are still in the dark because plans are still close to the vest.
So here are some general things that are going on. Some of you will know how these fit into my larger plan, and some of you will just have to be patient until I can reveal all.
I've got my spring garlic count! 90 made it through our harsh winter. I lost some, in places where I didn't get enough mulch on top of them. But 90 is still respectable. If I get 3 big cloves from all 90, planted this fall, that will be around 270 garlic plants up in 2015. My crazy old lady co-gardener was surprised to see garlic in the plot this year. Most people around here are when I tell them what the plants are. :-) It just means I'll have a monopoly on the market when the scapes are ready in June. The scapes may be about all we eat or sell of this crop. Well, those and the smaller cloves I don't want to plant. This crop is meant to be the seed garlic for a larger cash crop next year.
My daddy asked me if there is a large market for Iowa garlic. I believe there is. My farmer friends at Coyote Run Farm, south of Des Moines plant something like a half acre of hardneck garlic every year. They have a picture of baby Rowen and I out for one of their garlic planting parties in 2009, so I know how much they plant. I know I will not be anywhere near that level. I also know they sell out every year. The trick is nice big bulbs, and tasty varieties. Those two things are impossible to find in grocery store garlic. Get people hooked on the deliciousness that is locally grown hardneck garlic, and they'll never go back to the sad little grocery store garlic.
My cold frame performed well again this year, in all of its DIY glory. The last frost date is this week, (and true to form for this spring, we have a frost chance for Friday) and my spinach has been producing like crazy since the beginning of May. Another week and we'll be buried in lettuce, some of which was also in the cold frame and is beginning to crowd out the last of the spinach.
My farmers market in town continues it's downward spiral. This year the Chamber of "Commerce" has decided that it won't start until JULY 2nd!! For fucks sake! The other local markets are already starting, we went down to the opening weekend for Sioux City's market this past Saturday. And sure, it's no July market, but people were THERE! Vendors had greens, onions, eggs, meat, transplants and crafted goods. Customers were THERE! Why our Chamber thinks May and June don't deserve market times in our town, I don't know. I strongly suspect it's because they are fucking morons.
Moving on. I've decided I will still register as a vendor and go in July-Oct. I've also decided I'll start when I have the produce to start, and damn their official start date. I'm making my own sandwich boards to offset the lack of city support for earlier selling dates. (Their limited support of the market includes signage along the main highway through town pointing motorists one block North to the market location.) A big shout out to my dad, who brainstormed a bit with me on the sandwich boards. I got a start on them this past weekend, and my rusty woodworking skills came back to me. I even remembered to buy sandpaper and sand the boards before applying the primer. *high five* I'm making them really solid so they should last quite awhile. I'll be adding other things to my market stall this year. A scale is top of the list. I scored a big food-grade tray last year in a trade with a fellow market vendor, so that will find uses this summer. If I have enough of the chalkboard paint left when I'm done with my sandwich boards, I might make up some small boards for labeling prices/varieties of veggies.
In the fun news category, I'm signed up to run in another 5k this summer. The Color Run in Omaha in mid July. I've been out jogging a few times this spring, in between the rains and storms. So far I'm running better than I did at the beginning of last year, much better. So, I didn't lose it all over the winter. Looks like this week might actually let me start the 3 times a week training that I did last year. If things go to plan I'll get to run with my younger brother, the ex-Marine. It sure would be nice to have a good time with him, it's been too long. And knowing that I'll be running with him will certainly keep the pressure on during my training. Us two, competitive? ....yea. :-D
So there's what's going on right now. We're keeping busy and holding on. How are things with all y'all?
-Jennie
Some of y'all know what my plans are in general, and some are still in the dark because plans are still close to the vest.
So here are some general things that are going on. Some of you will know how these fit into my larger plan, and some of you will just have to be patient until I can reveal all.
I've got my spring garlic count! 90 made it through our harsh winter. I lost some, in places where I didn't get enough mulch on top of them. But 90 is still respectable. If I get 3 big cloves from all 90, planted this fall, that will be around 270 garlic plants up in 2015. My crazy old lady co-gardener was surprised to see garlic in the plot this year. Most people around here are when I tell them what the plants are. :-) It just means I'll have a monopoly on the market when the scapes are ready in June. The scapes may be about all we eat or sell of this crop. Well, those and the smaller cloves I don't want to plant. This crop is meant to be the seed garlic for a larger cash crop next year.
My daddy asked me if there is a large market for Iowa garlic. I believe there is. My farmer friends at Coyote Run Farm, south of Des Moines plant something like a half acre of hardneck garlic every year. They have a picture of baby Rowen and I out for one of their garlic planting parties in 2009, so I know how much they plant. I know I will not be anywhere near that level. I also know they sell out every year. The trick is nice big bulbs, and tasty varieties. Those two things are impossible to find in grocery store garlic. Get people hooked on the deliciousness that is locally grown hardneck garlic, and they'll never go back to the sad little grocery store garlic.
My cold frame performed well again this year, in all of its DIY glory. The last frost date is this week, (and true to form for this spring, we have a frost chance for Friday) and my spinach has been producing like crazy since the beginning of May. Another week and we'll be buried in lettuce, some of which was also in the cold frame and is beginning to crowd out the last of the spinach.
My farmers market in town continues it's downward spiral. This year the Chamber of "Commerce" has decided that it won't start until JULY 2nd!! For fucks sake! The other local markets are already starting, we went down to the opening weekend for Sioux City's market this past Saturday. And sure, it's no July market, but people were THERE! Vendors had greens, onions, eggs, meat, transplants and crafted goods. Customers were THERE! Why our Chamber thinks May and June don't deserve market times in our town, I don't know. I strongly suspect it's because they are fucking morons.
Moving on. I've decided I will still register as a vendor and go in July-Oct. I've also decided I'll start when I have the produce to start, and damn their official start date. I'm making my own sandwich boards to offset the lack of city support for earlier selling dates. (Their limited support of the market includes signage along the main highway through town pointing motorists one block North to the market location.) A big shout out to my dad, who brainstormed a bit with me on the sandwich boards. I got a start on them this past weekend, and my rusty woodworking skills came back to me. I even remembered to buy sandpaper and sand the boards before applying the primer. *high five* I'm making them really solid so they should last quite awhile. I'll be adding other things to my market stall this year. A scale is top of the list. I scored a big food-grade tray last year in a trade with a fellow market vendor, so that will find uses this summer. If I have enough of the chalkboard paint left when I'm done with my sandwich boards, I might make up some small boards for labeling prices/varieties of veggies.
In the fun news category, I'm signed up to run in another 5k this summer. The Color Run in Omaha in mid July. I've been out jogging a few times this spring, in between the rains and storms. So far I'm running better than I did at the beginning of last year, much better. So, I didn't lose it all over the winter. Looks like this week might actually let me start the 3 times a week training that I did last year. If things go to plan I'll get to run with my younger brother, the ex-Marine. It sure would be nice to have a good time with him, it's been too long. And knowing that I'll be running with him will certainly keep the pressure on during my training. Us two, competitive? ....yea. :-D
So there's what's going on right now. We're keeping busy and holding on. How are things with all y'all?
-Jennie
Monday, April 14, 2014
Losing Ground
One of the main drawbacks to my current style of Urban Farming is that space can disappear. Not like it vanishes, the dirt is still there, but suddenly I find out that my share of it is only 10% of what I expected because now the old gal wants to let a girl scout troupe plant it to earn badges. Or the church decides they are much more comfortable about spraying Round Up around the food plots than they are about letting me hoe and mulch the weeds into submission.
Oh and the other drawback is having to deal with the crazy. I got a call from the old gal this weekend about the whole scouts-taking-over news, and she was chewing me out because I was planting peas too early. Didn't I know they are supposed to go in on Good Friday? O_o
No, lady, I did not know that I had to plant my seed based on the schedule you expect to see from your lifetime of living in this small isolated Christian town. I thought I would just plant my peas as soon as the soil was workable.
I'll be happy when I have plots of land that I have contractual and agreed upon rights to plant on. Enough space that my succession plantings can be done logically and not squeezed in to any random available space. Peace of mind as I plant my garlic in the fall that I'll still be growing there in the spring.
So I'll be in new ground again this spring. :-) It's good practice for me. Got some feelers out already. And of course that better solution is waiting in the wings for next year. As long as my courage and savings don't give out.
Speaking of practice, so far I'm really liking the looks of my tomato and pepper transplants. Still a few more weeks where things could go horribly wrong with them, but I feel like my years practice is finally paying off. I actually have pepper seedlings. Literally a first for me. I'm trying onion transplants again too. Been a couple of years since I tried, and I've learned a lot since my last attempt.
I've got big goals for this year. I can't let something like losing half my grow space deter me. Onwards!
-Jennie
Oh and the other drawback is having to deal with the crazy. I got a call from the old gal this weekend about the whole scouts-taking-over news, and she was chewing me out because I was planting peas too early. Didn't I know they are supposed to go in on Good Friday? O_o
No, lady, I did not know that I had to plant my seed based on the schedule you expect to see from your lifetime of living in this small isolated Christian town. I thought I would just plant my peas as soon as the soil was workable.
I'll be happy when I have plots of land that I have contractual and agreed upon rights to plant on. Enough space that my succession plantings can be done logically and not squeezed in to any random available space. Peace of mind as I plant my garlic in the fall that I'll still be growing there in the spring.
So I'll be in new ground again this spring. :-) It's good practice for me. Got some feelers out already. And of course that better solution is waiting in the wings for next year. As long as my courage and savings don't give out.
Speaking of practice, so far I'm really liking the looks of my tomato and pepper transplants. Still a few more weeks where things could go horribly wrong with them, but I feel like my years practice is finally paying off. I actually have pepper seedlings. Literally a first for me. I'm trying onion transplants again too. Been a couple of years since I tried, and I've learned a lot since my last attempt.
I've got big goals for this year. I can't let something like losing half my grow space deter me. Onwards!
-Jennie
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Charity Quilting
There's been plenty on this blog lately about me and my struggles.
Let's spend some time talking about others.
Better yet, join me in spending some sewing time dedicated to others.
100 quilts for kids
http://swimbikequilt.com/2013/07/100-quilts-for-kids-charity-quilt-drive-starts-today.html
July1- Sept 30th 2013
Ready to get started?
1. Make a quilt. Great time to use bee blocks, try a new pattern, or experiment with a design of your own.
2. Donate it to a child in need, locally if you can. Consider donating your quilt(s) to a local foster care program, domestic violence center, homeless shelter, children’s hospital, or to a local military family support organization.
Slabs for Southern Alberta
http://naptimequilter.blogspot.ca/2013/06/slabs-for.html
Just make a 15.5x15.5 slab and snail mail it to her, and she'll combine them into quilts, and send the quilts to long-armers who are volunteering their time. The quilts are headed to Calgary and Southern Alberta to help in recovery from the flood there.
I know I can get a slab done this month. A whole quilt for charity, by Sept 30 may be more challenging. Anyone want to team up with me? Mom?
- Jennie
Let's spend some time talking about others.
Better yet, join me in spending some sewing time dedicated to others.
100 quilts for kids
http://swimbikequilt.com/2013/07/100-quilts-for-kids-charity-quilt-drive-starts-today.html
July1- Sept 30th 2013
Ready to get started?
1. Make a quilt. Great time to use bee blocks, try a new pattern, or experiment with a design of your own.
2. Donate it to a child in need, locally if you can. Consider donating your quilt(s) to a local foster care program, domestic violence center, homeless shelter, children’s hospital, or to a local military family support organization.
http://naptimequilter.blogspot.ca/2013/06/slabs-for.html
Just make a 15.5x15.5 slab and snail mail it to her, and she'll combine them into quilts, and send the quilts to long-armers who are volunteering their time. The quilts are headed to Calgary and Southern Alberta to help in recovery from the flood there.
"How do you make a slab? If you have the book, [Saturday Morning Quilts] refer to the directions on pages 48-49. If you don't have the book let me summarize how to make a slab:
Take two pieces (scraps) of fabric and sew them together. Do that a few more times. Then start sewing more pieces to those first pairs. Sew groups together. Add additional pieces of fabric as necessary to get up to your finished size. Start with small bits or big ones, it doesn't matter. Raid your scrap bins and go with what you've got.
Feel free to grab that top image and share it on your blogs/web-sites. Tell the world about how you made your slab. Link back to this post if you do.
DEADLINE - July 30, 2013.
I plan on assembling the blocks, with the help of some local friends, in early August. "
I know I can get a slab done this month. A whole quilt for charity, by Sept 30 may be more challenging. Anyone want to team up with me? Mom?
- Jennie
Friday, July 5, 2013
Leaving a Garden Space
Some of you may know I've been gardening with a local church for the past couple of years.
I was looking to start a community garden in my town, and the local Ag Extension gal heard from the church group that they were trying to start a community garden. So she connected us, and I got on board, thinking I could help them with their project, and save myself the trouble of finding a bit of city park or corporation land.
I've had internal misgivings from the beginning. I thought, "I'm supporting a church, even if it is indirectly. Am I really comfortable with that?"
And at first I was comfortable with it. They had me and another gardener that weren't church members, and the level of proselytizing was low, and based mostly in one-on-one conversations, and I know, meant as kindly outreach. They were serving community members, and there was talk of sending the excess veggies through the local food pantry.
The food pantry never saw anything. Instead, time after time, the excess was distributed among gardeners and church members. This bothered me a little, but I knew at least some of those gardeners and church members were on fixed income, or raising families, and I thought, at least it's getting to someone.
Then I hear this year, they turned away a local family that was looking for gardening space. Because it "would take too much organizing," and I'm not sure why that is, except that they didn't belong to this church. But I don't either, so why they got turned away... I don't know. And that bothers me a lot!
And they've been spraying chemicals. Roundup for what I considered a small weed problem. Some other herbicide (unnamed, see communication note below) on the patch of sweet corn, that's right next to one of my plots.
Communication has been lacking. They make plans to till something or spray something, but then if those plans don't pan out, they just do whatever they want when the whim takes them. I lost my hill of watermelon this year because someone decided that June was a great time to till, so they just did it one day, and they disregarded my plot markers and just tilled right through the middle of it.That bothered me a lot, and led to a angry email exchange.
I didn't feel like I was part of a community garden, I felt that I was part of a church garden, for church friends to garden in. I talked with the lead about my concerns, and she admits that the Community she was wanting to serve with this "Community Garden" was the church community, and not the neighborhood/town.
How insular. How disappointing. I guess I should have known better... should have listened to my conscience.
So I told her I'm not returning next year. I don't want to use my precious time and energy to promote and assist a garden that's only going to serve a small church group. Nope. I'll finish out this year and harvest what I have planted, but no way am I putting more of my time or energy into this project.
What does this mean for my gardening? The community garden space is about half of my gardening space right now.
The short answer is, I'll find land elsewhere. I found more this year through friends. If the farmers market EVER OPENS I'll have a card at my table explaining my need for more land, and I can distribute those amongst my customers. Hopefully I can find more growing space that way. If I have to put out an all-call to my friends this winter, I can try that too. If I have to scale back my operations, I can do that. I might, maybe, if I can find the time to take off work to do it, talk to the city council about a city sponsored community garden. (The city council meets at the oh-so-convenient time of 10am on Thursdays or something like that.) I may need some time off from community gardens though, even secular ones. So no promises on that one.
- Jennie
I was looking to start a community garden in my town, and the local Ag Extension gal heard from the church group that they were trying to start a community garden. So she connected us, and I got on board, thinking I could help them with their project, and save myself the trouble of finding a bit of city park or corporation land.
I've had internal misgivings from the beginning. I thought, "I'm supporting a church, even if it is indirectly. Am I really comfortable with that?"
And at first I was comfortable with it. They had me and another gardener that weren't church members, and the level of proselytizing was low, and based mostly in one-on-one conversations, and I know, meant as kindly outreach. They were serving community members, and there was talk of sending the excess veggies through the local food pantry.
The food pantry never saw anything. Instead, time after time, the excess was distributed among gardeners and church members. This bothered me a little, but I knew at least some of those gardeners and church members were on fixed income, or raising families, and I thought, at least it's getting to someone.
Then I hear this year, they turned away a local family that was looking for gardening space. Because it "would take too much organizing," and I'm not sure why that is, except that they didn't belong to this church. But I don't either, so why they got turned away... I don't know. And that bothers me a lot!
And they've been spraying chemicals. Roundup for what I considered a small weed problem. Some other herbicide (unnamed, see communication note below) on the patch of sweet corn, that's right next to one of my plots.
Communication has been lacking. They make plans to till something or spray something, but then if those plans don't pan out, they just do whatever they want when the whim takes them. I lost my hill of watermelon this year because someone decided that June was a great time to till, so they just did it one day, and they disregarded my plot markers and just tilled right through the middle of it.That bothered me a lot, and led to a angry email exchange.
I didn't feel like I was part of a community garden, I felt that I was part of a church garden, for church friends to garden in. I talked with the lead about my concerns, and she admits that the Community she was wanting to serve with this "Community Garden" was the church community, and not the neighborhood/town.
How insular. How disappointing. I guess I should have known better... should have listened to my conscience.
So I told her I'm not returning next year. I don't want to use my precious time and energy to promote and assist a garden that's only going to serve a small church group. Nope. I'll finish out this year and harvest what I have planted, but no way am I putting more of my time or energy into this project.
What does this mean for my gardening? The community garden space is about half of my gardening space right now.
The short answer is, I'll find land elsewhere. I found more this year through friends. If the farmers market EVER OPENS I'll have a card at my table explaining my need for more land, and I can distribute those amongst my customers. Hopefully I can find more growing space that way. If I have to put out an all-call to my friends this winter, I can try that too. If I have to scale back my operations, I can do that. I might, maybe, if I can find the time to take off work to do it, talk to the city council about a city sponsored community garden. (The city council meets at the oh-so-convenient time of 10am on Thursdays or something like that.) I may need some time off from community gardens though, even secular ones. So no promises on that one.
- Jennie
Friday, March 29, 2013
Urban Farmer
Well, it's starting to look like I will be an urban farmer. I am still ironing out details, but I think I may have found more growing space. It's closer than the community garden plot, which is nice. It's even on the way to the community garden plot, (we'll have to see if that's a good thing or not.)
I was relieved not to have to resort to flyers, or begging random strangers with sunny lawns. All I did was ask various friends that I knew had spots they were tired of mowing. I just explained that I was looking for more gardening space for organic veggies and waited to see if anyone would bite. One did! I will have to share the space with said friend's Mother-in-Law, who apparently was also interested in his sunny patch of lawn. She was going to make him help her put it into garden, so I think he was relieved to be able to pass the project to me. :-D Hopefully she has realistic expectations about what we can grow. And hopefully our gardening styles mesh well. It almost sounds like she's a very inexperienced gardener, she sounded relieved that I would help site the garden and get it tilled. We'll see how things look next week when we go out to pound stakes and measure. But I'm thinking I'll get 200-300 feet squared of new growing space. For reference, I have roughly 300 ft^2 in my front yard I plant, plus various perennials and herbs grown in flower beds around the house. And I usually have ~300 ft^2 in the community garden I can plant.
We had our first board meeting last week for the community garden. I re-read the rules, and was surprised to find that the ban on selling produce that I thought I remembered, was NOT there. I guess we just talked about it, but decided against it. So, that means I can use my community garden space for this endeavor. This will hopefully use that space a little better. I have been using it to put extras from my main plantings in the front yard. (The last half of the seed packet in many cases, planted a week or so after the main planting.) That works sometimes, but often the community garden spot is a bit too shady to grow the same types of things that I'm growing in the front lawn. So, if I treat it as space for the market growing, I can focus on growing just the few crops that will really do well in that slightly shady space, and do staggered plantings of those crops and hopefully get some good results.
All added together I'm going to be farming less than 1/16th an acre. :-D But, it's a start.
I went and visited with one of the LeMars Market sellers yesterday evening. Sue is originally from Korea and married an American guy from LeMars. She's been growing veggies in her backyard for the past 15 years and selling at the market. I think she probably grows on less than a 1/16th an acre, I've seen her backyard. I know she focuses on fewer veggies than I do, she really likes her cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers. I have noticed though that the past year or two she hasn't sold out of those items any week. She just has so much of those 3 things, that there's sadly not enough demand for. We were talking about who she thinks will be at the Market this year, and her thoughts mirrored my own, she thought it quite likely that she and one other gal would be the only ones there. She was excited to hear I was going to try to sell. *whew* Part of me was a little worried that I would be seen as an interloper, stealing customers with my hobby farming. It was a relief that she was excited to have another potential seller.
The snow is finally melting. Rowen and I were outside Weds night planting spinach and lettuce in the larger cold frame. I'm not 100% satisfied with the new rebuilt spot for that frame, so I'm watching it closely this spring. I may have to rebuild it. I'm glad those seeds are out there, we're supposed to hit upper 50's today.
I have tomato and pepper seeds planted in cells on a heat mat inside. And the rest of my seeds on the kitchen table, eagerly awaiting their time in the garden.
I can't wait!
-Jennie
I was relieved not to have to resort to flyers, or begging random strangers with sunny lawns. All I did was ask various friends that I knew had spots they were tired of mowing. I just explained that I was looking for more gardening space for organic veggies and waited to see if anyone would bite. One did! I will have to share the space with said friend's Mother-in-Law, who apparently was also interested in his sunny patch of lawn. She was going to make him help her put it into garden, so I think he was relieved to be able to pass the project to me. :-D Hopefully she has realistic expectations about what we can grow. And hopefully our gardening styles mesh well. It almost sounds like she's a very inexperienced gardener, she sounded relieved that I would help site the garden and get it tilled. We'll see how things look next week when we go out to pound stakes and measure. But I'm thinking I'll get 200-300 feet squared of new growing space. For reference, I have roughly 300 ft^2 in my front yard I plant, plus various perennials and herbs grown in flower beds around the house. And I usually have ~300 ft^2 in the community garden I can plant.
We had our first board meeting last week for the community garden. I re-read the rules, and was surprised to find that the ban on selling produce that I thought I remembered, was NOT there. I guess we just talked about it, but decided against it. So, that means I can use my community garden space for this endeavor. This will hopefully use that space a little better. I have been using it to put extras from my main plantings in the front yard. (The last half of the seed packet in many cases, planted a week or so after the main planting.) That works sometimes, but often the community garden spot is a bit too shady to grow the same types of things that I'm growing in the front lawn. So, if I treat it as space for the market growing, I can focus on growing just the few crops that will really do well in that slightly shady space, and do staggered plantings of those crops and hopefully get some good results.
All added together I'm going to be farming less than 1/16th an acre. :-D But, it's a start.
I went and visited with one of the LeMars Market sellers yesterday evening. Sue is originally from Korea and married an American guy from LeMars. She's been growing veggies in her backyard for the past 15 years and selling at the market. I think she probably grows on less than a 1/16th an acre, I've seen her backyard. I know she focuses on fewer veggies than I do, she really likes her cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers. I have noticed though that the past year or two she hasn't sold out of those items any week. She just has so much of those 3 things, that there's sadly not enough demand for. We were talking about who she thinks will be at the Market this year, and her thoughts mirrored my own, she thought it quite likely that she and one other gal would be the only ones there. She was excited to hear I was going to try to sell. *whew* Part of me was a little worried that I would be seen as an interloper, stealing customers with my hobby farming. It was a relief that she was excited to have another potential seller.
The snow is finally melting. Rowen and I were outside Weds night planting spinach and lettuce in the larger cold frame. I'm not 100% satisfied with the new rebuilt spot for that frame, so I'm watching it closely this spring. I may have to rebuild it. I'm glad those seeds are out there, we're supposed to hit upper 50's today.
I have tomato and pepper seeds planted in cells on a heat mat inside. And the rest of my seeds on the kitchen table, eagerly awaiting their time in the garden.
I can't wait!
-Jennie
Friday, February 8, 2013
Growing Veggies for Market (A Love Note to My Husband)
I love my husband.
He didn't marry a farmer.
He made the perfectly rational decision to marry his stripper/engineer girlfriend, expecting to have to tolerate fresh veggies out of a kitchen garden. And occasionally stiff towels from the clothes line.
So when I asked him what he thought about me wanting to grow veggies for this year's market there were a lot of responses I was prepared for.
No F-ing way.
You don't have time for what would amount to job #3.
Think of the children.
I was ready with a whole host of arguments for those. I was sure I could talk him into it.
He said, "Ok." He said, let's figure out how we can avoid sinking too much money into it this first year. And that he had noticed how inspired I was after the NW Iowa Food Summit last week. Proving once again that my husband continues to know me better than I know him. He did mention that HE was NOT interested in waking up early on Saturdays to go to the market. :-D Which was a reasonable thing to point out.
This being near Valentines allow me to embed our song here for your listening pleasure.
I can promise you That by the time that we get through The world will never ever be the same And you're to blame....
So, mushy stuff about my husband aside, there are a lot of things I still need to decide and get busy on if this is actually going to happen. I probably need to find land outside of the community garden plots I've been gardening in. Those plots have restrictions about selling the produce grown in them. I have some ideas for where to find land, and I'll be pursuing those as quickly as I can.
I want to start small. That's practically a guarantee considering the size of the market, the size of the customer base and the money I have to work with. A few crops to offer each week would be ideal, but even 1 or 2 would be fine.
I want to use some of my cloth goods to supplement the (hopefully) veggie sales. Diapers and cloth wipes and cloth napkins and wetbags, there's no place to buy any of that locally, and I think that could be a niche I can fill. Those things don't rot or go bad, so I'm hoping they can help ensure a table full of goods each week. Dave says I could probably sell some of his excess paracord bracelets too.
Some of my readers may be wondering, WHY? Sounds like a heck of a way to waste a bunch of Saturday mornings. It may turn out to be just that. But, it might not. The answer to why is a little complicated. My local farmers market is dieing. The number of vendors has dwindled noticeably in the 3 years we've been here. Partly due to the success of a bigger market south of us in Sioux City. Partly due to the aging market producers, a couple of them have moved off of their land or just generally retired. That's hard for me to watch happen. I am passionate about local food. I dislike having to get food from faceless national corporations, usually all that's on offer is various flavors of oil soaked corn and soybeans. Or bland generic veggies from California, (or Mexico.) I want there to be a thriving counter to that bland facelessness. I want to be one of those faces providing fresh tasty local food.
I don't know why, or where the urge comes from. It has grown gradually over the years, from that first rabbit-devoured attempt in Ames, through my many garden plots since. Every carrot I've pulled out of the ground. Every little seed planted. Every session with the hoe. The feeling has grown. There are some days I want to leave my engineering cube and never come back. Just wander home, find some ground, and spend the rest of my days happily grubbing in the dirt.
My debts have me trudging back to the engineering job every Monday morning though. Bidding farewell to my mud stained jeans and bare feet for another 5 days. I'm hoping that by doing at least a little bit of retail agriculture, I can claim a small part of the dream. I'm hoping that part-time market grower is enough to keep my passion for it alive, and my skills growing until I can arrange the rest of my life to fit better with the whole veggie-growing thing.
There were founding fathers who were farmers-and. Farmer-and-inventor. Farmer-and-legislator. Surely it must be possible to be an Engineer-and-farmer.
Even if I have no land. Even if I have no tractor or truck. Even if I'm 29 with two babies. The world needs more farmers. This country desperately needs more farmers. I want to be a farmer. Surely this shouldn't be an impossible match. I know that it will be an uphill fight though. Land is expensive. Selling a product that is inherently high value and inconvenient will offer up significant challenges.
I'm tired of waiting for the perfect time though. Now is the time. It's imperfect and uncertain, but NOW is the time. Step 1. After that I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and let things fall as they will. I'll leave you with the full Paul Harvey quote made temporarily famous during the Super Bowl this year.
And Mom, if you're reading this. I do have fond memories of Paul Harvey. I'm sure adult Jennie would argue with him more often than child-Jennie did, but the fond memories of car trips listening to "The Rest of The Story," are there.
Wish me luck y'all!
-Jennie
He didn't marry a farmer.
He made the perfectly rational decision to marry his stripper/engineer girlfriend, expecting to have to tolerate fresh veggies out of a kitchen garden. And occasionally stiff towels from the clothes line.
So when I asked him what he thought about me wanting to grow veggies for this year's market there were a lot of responses I was prepared for.
No F-ing way.
You don't have time for what would amount to job #3.
Think of the children.
I was ready with a whole host of arguments for those. I was sure I could talk him into it.
He said, "Ok." He said, let's figure out how we can avoid sinking too much money into it this first year. And that he had noticed how inspired I was after the NW Iowa Food Summit last week. Proving once again that my husband continues to know me better than I know him. He did mention that HE was NOT interested in waking up early on Saturdays to go to the market. :-D Which was a reasonable thing to point out.
This being near Valentines allow me to embed our song here for your listening pleasure.
I can promise you That by the time that we get through The world will never ever be the same And you're to blame....
So, mushy stuff about my husband aside, there are a lot of things I still need to decide and get busy on if this is actually going to happen. I probably need to find land outside of the community garden plots I've been gardening in. Those plots have restrictions about selling the produce grown in them. I have some ideas for where to find land, and I'll be pursuing those as quickly as I can.
I want to start small. That's practically a guarantee considering the size of the market, the size of the customer base and the money I have to work with. A few crops to offer each week would be ideal, but even 1 or 2 would be fine.
I want to use some of my cloth goods to supplement the (hopefully) veggie sales. Diapers and cloth wipes and cloth napkins and wetbags, there's no place to buy any of that locally, and I think that could be a niche I can fill. Those things don't rot or go bad, so I'm hoping they can help ensure a table full of goods each week. Dave says I could probably sell some of his excess paracord bracelets too.
Some of my readers may be wondering, WHY? Sounds like a heck of a way to waste a bunch of Saturday mornings. It may turn out to be just that. But, it might not. The answer to why is a little complicated. My local farmers market is dieing. The number of vendors has dwindled noticeably in the 3 years we've been here. Partly due to the success of a bigger market south of us in Sioux City. Partly due to the aging market producers, a couple of them have moved off of their land or just generally retired. That's hard for me to watch happen. I am passionate about local food. I dislike having to get food from faceless national corporations, usually all that's on offer is various flavors of oil soaked corn and soybeans. Or bland generic veggies from California, (or Mexico.) I want there to be a thriving counter to that bland facelessness. I want to be one of those faces providing fresh tasty local food.
I don't know why, or where the urge comes from. It has grown gradually over the years, from that first rabbit-devoured attempt in Ames, through my many garden plots since. Every carrot I've pulled out of the ground. Every little seed planted. Every session with the hoe. The feeling has grown. There are some days I want to leave my engineering cube and never come back. Just wander home, find some ground, and spend the rest of my days happily grubbing in the dirt.
My debts have me trudging back to the engineering job every Monday morning though. Bidding farewell to my mud stained jeans and bare feet for another 5 days. I'm hoping that by doing at least a little bit of retail agriculture, I can claim a small part of the dream. I'm hoping that part-time market grower is enough to keep my passion for it alive, and my skills growing until I can arrange the rest of my life to fit better with the whole veggie-growing thing.
There were founding fathers who were farmers-and. Farmer-and-inventor. Farmer-and-legislator. Surely it must be possible to be an Engineer-and-farmer.
Even if I have no land. Even if I have no tractor or truck. Even if I'm 29 with two babies. The world needs more farmers. This country desperately needs more farmers. I want to be a farmer. Surely this shouldn't be an impossible match. I know that it will be an uphill fight though. Land is expensive. Selling a product that is inherently high value and inconvenient will offer up significant challenges.
I'm tired of waiting for the perfect time though. Now is the time. It's imperfect and uncertain, but NOW is the time. Step 1. After that I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and let things fall as they will. I'll leave you with the full Paul Harvey quote made temporarily famous during the Super Bowl this year.
And Mom, if you're reading this. I do have fond memories of Paul Harvey. I'm sure adult Jennie would argue with him more often than child-Jennie did, but the fond memories of car trips listening to "The Rest of The Story," are there.
Wish me luck y'all!
-Jennie
Monday, August 15, 2011
It's my birthday!
Yup, August has always been my favorite month. Enough sunshine that I'm finally warm. Tan lines, and tomatoes. Parties for my favorite people. (August babies are the best, and not just because I'm an August baby.) The days are still long, the nights are clear, and everything is growing. This post is a bit of an amalgamation, as things are busy, and I have stuff to share, but not enough time to flesh them all out into their own posts.
Rowen and I invited a co-worker and his daughter over for the potato harvest. We all dug in the dirt and came up with a big pot full of potatoes and a wide array of bugs, spiders, rocks and weeds. I swear the kids were just as excited over the bugs. :-D The potatoes yielded a good amount of well formed tubers. They didn't have the scab problem that I noticed last year. I was hoping for that, because I had read that a first-year-from-sod garden would grow out of that problem the second year. I know others nearby that don't seem to have my success with potatoes. I would swear I'm not doing anything special. But, I'll write down some of my practices, in the chance that something will work for those attempting to grow potatoes.
First, I put them in the ground early. Here in zone 4, that means a week or two before the last frost date. I'll protect them with a quilt or something if there's going to be a hard freeze, but they are otherwise able to handle the cold temps and frosty mornings. I dig a trench, and put the potatoes in there, mounding up the dirt to one side. I cover with part of the dirt, and a small layer of straw. As the vines grow, every 6 or 8 inches, I put more of the dirt on top, and more straw. New potatoes will be formed above the seed potato that you planted, so you have to give them room to do that. Loose soil, with the straw to keep things airy, but at the same time, light is no good, and will turn them poisonous, so the layers have to be as sunlight blocking as possible.
I don't do anything to the seed potatoes. I'll let them get some good budding on the eyes, and then I just plant them. I don't cut them, I don't dust them with anything... I'm very laissez-faire about it. I have had good luck buying seed potatoes from an Iowa source, Seed Savers, and I've had good luck buying seed potatoes from the bins at the farm store in town.
That all I do. :-D I watered them a couple of times, during really dry weeks, but not very much. For those struggling with golf ball sized potatoes, maybe some of this could help. You could try asking your local ag people too. Here in Iowa the people to ask are the ISU extension offices, they have all sorts of good info on local growing environments and what grows well and how to do that.
My coworker's daughter had a great time, and hopefully enjoyed the potatoes I gave them. Rowen loved having a little friend to play with. Total win-win.
In other news, the plum tree and the apple tree that I gleaned from last year, are both a bust this year. The plum tree has no fruit set, and my neighbors report that the apple tree is sparse and wormy. I'll do my own recon of the apple tree, perhaps some higher branches have something worth picking. This compounds the problem of the raspberry canes not producing much this spring. So, it's looking like this weekend I'll have to do a serious search for some local fruit and spend some money to get my fruit preserving done. I hear there's an apple orchard on the south side of town. This is ok. We're much better off financially than we were last year at this time, and if I have to spend money on something, at least it can be local fruit. It's too bad about the plums though, those spiced plums were freaking delicious.
I'm doing some canning outreach. As a twenty-something I'm well aware of the skills my generation is missing. One of these is How To Can. So, when a local gal mentioned she'd love to learn, I took note. I have 20 pounds of tomatoes to process this week and I've invited her over to help and learn the basics. She's a great bow hunter, so I'm hoping she'll return the favor and teach me a bit about turkey and deer hunting, since all I have experience with is birds.
So, summer wanes, the toddler grows, and I'm trying to get my community more prepared for the unraveling. I love it, but there's always work to do. :-) That's about as profound as I can be today. As always, I love hearing from y'all, so chime in if there's something you're dying to talk about.
Rowen and I invited a co-worker and his daughter over for the potato harvest. We all dug in the dirt and came up with a big pot full of potatoes and a wide array of bugs, spiders, rocks and weeds. I swear the kids were just as excited over the bugs. :-D The potatoes yielded a good amount of well formed tubers. They didn't have the scab problem that I noticed last year. I was hoping for that, because I had read that a first-year-from-sod garden would grow out of that problem the second year. I know others nearby that don't seem to have my success with potatoes. I would swear I'm not doing anything special. But, I'll write down some of my practices, in the chance that something will work for those attempting to grow potatoes.
First, I put them in the ground early. Here in zone 4, that means a week or two before the last frost date. I'll protect them with a quilt or something if there's going to be a hard freeze, but they are otherwise able to handle the cold temps and frosty mornings. I dig a trench, and put the potatoes in there, mounding up the dirt to one side. I cover with part of the dirt, and a small layer of straw. As the vines grow, every 6 or 8 inches, I put more of the dirt on top, and more straw. New potatoes will be formed above the seed potato that you planted, so you have to give them room to do that. Loose soil, with the straw to keep things airy, but at the same time, light is no good, and will turn them poisonous, so the layers have to be as sunlight blocking as possible.
I don't do anything to the seed potatoes. I'll let them get some good budding on the eyes, and then I just plant them. I don't cut them, I don't dust them with anything... I'm very laissez-faire about it. I have had good luck buying seed potatoes from an Iowa source, Seed Savers, and I've had good luck buying seed potatoes from the bins at the farm store in town.
That all I do. :-D I watered them a couple of times, during really dry weeks, but not very much. For those struggling with golf ball sized potatoes, maybe some of this could help. You could try asking your local ag people too. Here in Iowa the people to ask are the ISU extension offices, they have all sorts of good info on local growing environments and what grows well and how to do that.
My coworker's daughter had a great time, and hopefully enjoyed the potatoes I gave them. Rowen loved having a little friend to play with. Total win-win.
In other news, the plum tree and the apple tree that I gleaned from last year, are both a bust this year. The plum tree has no fruit set, and my neighbors report that the apple tree is sparse and wormy. I'll do my own recon of the apple tree, perhaps some higher branches have something worth picking. This compounds the problem of the raspberry canes not producing much this spring. So, it's looking like this weekend I'll have to do a serious search for some local fruit and spend some money to get my fruit preserving done. I hear there's an apple orchard on the south side of town. This is ok. We're much better off financially than we were last year at this time, and if I have to spend money on something, at least it can be local fruit. It's too bad about the plums though, those spiced plums were freaking delicious.
I'm doing some canning outreach. As a twenty-something I'm well aware of the skills my generation is missing. One of these is How To Can. So, when a local gal mentioned she'd love to learn, I took note. I have 20 pounds of tomatoes to process this week and I've invited her over to help and learn the basics. She's a great bow hunter, so I'm hoping she'll return the favor and teach me a bit about turkey and deer hunting, since all I have experience with is birds.
So, summer wanes, the toddler grows, and I'm trying to get my community more prepared for the unraveling. I love it, but there's always work to do. :-) That's about as profound as I can be today. As always, I love hearing from y'all, so chime in if there's something you're dying to talk about.
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