The Royal Oak – Huntington Woods TimeBank is moving from planning to action! Join just for an open house on Saturday April 6th from 2-4 p.m. at Wendy’s house (contact me for details). Frantz will be showing everyone how to collect a soil sample and you can grab information on how to get involved and reap the benefits of home-grown food and canning classes! Workdays will be held on site every Saturday in April (13th, 20th, 27th) with times to be announced.
Click the picture for more information
On Sunday I had my first community garden meeting for the Royal Oak Huntington Wood TimeBank. It was very exciting! 17 of us met on the planned site, which is an additional side lot owned by a TimeBank member. We discussed the short term and long term goals of the endeavor.
It looks like we’re heading in the direction of a large communal plot (rather than individual plots that are leased out to members) with several raised beds used for both food production for members and education. The garden will have a sustainable and organic (with a little o) foundation and will act as a visual and physical place in the community to show what the TimeBank can do.
We’re still looking at zoning ordinances, though we have general approval from the city, and liability issues – but it’s moving forward. If you’re in the Royal Oak or Huntington Woods areas and are interested in participating we are holding our second meeting this coming Sunday at 2PM. Message me for details.
Wow! This wonderful conference sold out in 36 hours! When I sat down for breakfast on the first day I felt a little out of place, not very confident, and guilty about taking up space that could have gone to someone on the wait list. By the end of the second and final day I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
The conference was hosted by the Stone Barns Center in Pocantico Hills, New York. This place is amazing and très agrarian chic. I told Sammit that I want my ashes spread there when I die. I encourage you to explore their website, but be warned that it simply does not do it justice. Here is their mission:
The mission of Stone Barns Center is to create a healthy and sustainable food system that benefits us all. Located 25 miles north of Manhattan, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit institution. We operate an 80-acre farm and work to:
Increase public awareness of healthy, seasonal and sustainable food.
Train farmers in resilient, restorative farming techniques.
Educate children about the sources of their food, and prepare them to steward the land that provides it.
I may be biased, but I think that Farming conferences have a) the best food (which I will get to later) and b) the best people of all conferences. I only met a handful the 150+ people present but each any every one of them was charming and wandering down a particular path toward sustainable agricultural community. We were all incredibly different and yet I had never been in a room where I had so much in common with everyone. I met several people from Michigan: A couple that just started farming in Midland, a campus farm manager from Andrews University, the agricultural manager of the Grand Rapids’ YMCA, and a few U of M grads who’ve worked on farms. I met farmer’s from Long Island and California. I met veg farmers, ranchers, land owners, CSA managers, homesteaders, and cheese makers. I met young farmers and old farmers and couple farmers and platonic partner farmers, radical farmers, traditional farmers, and so on and so forth. Here are some highlights of my favorites:
In addition to the great folks that traveled near and far to be at the conference, there were the wonderful people who work at Stone Barns – all the apprentice farmers, the restaurant staff, the conference organizers, and the board president, Fred Kirschenmann, co-author of “Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher.
I wanted to attend every workshop offered. Alas, I cannot yet be in two places at once; I will have to wait to level up before I have that skill. Instead I went to the workshops I could and picked the brains of those who attended other workshops.
Day One:
Day Two:
Oh my god. The food. For breakfast I ate ripe pears, hard-boiled eggs with orange yolks, and chocolate laced croissants that were so delicious and french I could actually feel my teeth bite through each of the hundreds of flaky pastry layers. I paired breakfast with the most delicious coffee I’ve ever had. For lunch they served quiche with a baby potato crust, incredible soup (a cauliflower one day and squash the next), and fresh baguettes. The one night they served dinner I had fresh greens tossed in a light dressing, moist meatloaf, literally to most amazing mashed sweet potatoes I’ve ever eaten, and a great pear tartlet for dessert. I wanted to eat at Blue Hill, the restaurant at Stone Barns, but it was far beyond our budget. To give you a slight idea, we’ll be putting away $20/month with the hopes of eating there next year.
After the conference, our time in NYC!
I’ve updated the Resources section to include a page on Social Justice. There are two fantastic resources there on anti-racism and privilege. I really encourage you to check them out; they are accessible and informative. You’ll find something there whether you are an expert in social justice or have never heard that combination of words before.
As with all the resource pages, I will update them when I find appropriate websites, videos, books, etc. If you have any resources that you love and want me to add them, I’d be happy to take a look!
This past summer I attended the University of Vermont’s Breakthrough Leaders Program for Sustainable Food Systems (a mouthful, figuratively and while there, literally). Their 2013 program has just opened up applications and you can check it out HERE. I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have about it (and you can check out a few testimonials by linking through their side bar).
I had an amazing time while I was there. In fact, this website is up and running right now because of the confidence and education that UVM’s program helped me develop. In addition to this site, I’ve focused the rest of my Master’s in Social Work program on studying community food systems, food and social justice, and food policy. I worked with some fantastic people from all across the US, Canada, and Mexico and learned about an amazing part of the country that is leading the way in changing our food system.
My old blog has detailed posts on my days at UVM and I won’t make you sit through all of that again, but below are some nostalgic pictures. I’ll be returning again this summer for their alumni event and to attend their Food [R]evolution conference. I hope to see some of you there!
“Are you building garden beds…or a house!?”
This Saturday I hosted the first ever Om-Nom Acres event. We had gorgeous November weather! Eight people turn out in total, including those who live in the house: Devin, Sammit, Katie, Hanuman, Lisa, Mike, Chantel, and yours truly. Devin and I started our work nearly a month in advance, planning materials, tasks, food, etc. I put her in charge of shopping and prepping food while I worked on getting all the materials to the house.
On Friday, Devin and I worked through all the daylight hours, moving cement blocks from the six pallets in the driveway to the back yard where we level the soil and lined them up according to a rough plan. We managed to build and fill the garlic bed with compost. We also built half of the garage parameter bed. When it was too dark to work outside we ran errands, picking up equipment from my in-laws (a wheel barrow and a 3 piece crock-pot set), and straw bales from the garden center. When the stores closed we cleaned the house and picked up a few of our hearty volunteers who don’t drive so they could spend the night with us. We all fell into bed around 2AM after stretching and soaking in epsom salts.
We started Friday with eggs and coffee. Devin, Hanuman, Katie, Lisa, and I worked in the chilly sun. We moved more concrete blocks and compost. We double-dug the ground, extracting and heaving chunks of brick and stone as we unearthed them. We spread leaves and straw, and replanted the perennial herbs. When the sneaking hunger could no longer be ignored we broke for lunch, a spread of salads, meats, and potato products, and warmed up on cider.
In the afternoon, Mike, Sammit, and Chantel joined us and our productivity increased exponentially! Mike helped me address some structural concerns (like how to prevent all of this work from heaving during the winter or washing away in the spring). As a result, Mike and Hanuman took turns war-hammering over 700 inches of reinforcing bar into the ground through the holes in the blocks, a task that left them bruised, swollen, and shaking. These people are tough.
We worked until the light gave out on us, just before 7PM, and came inside to a warm taco bar and chocolate pudding! We sat in the living room, talked, laughed, received updates on the football game (sorry MSU!), and ate delicious food. Several people went home, but a few stayed and we massaged each other’s aching feet, hands, and back while drinking beer and watching documentaries on Netflix.
It was the most fulfilling two days I have ever had. And the best sleep I have had in years. On Sunday we rested. Throughout this week we still have compost to move, but we’re taking it slow.
Materials:
Project Total: $1045.65 + $124.63 (food) = $1170.28
Work:
If it interests you, check out the Midwest Organizer Bootcamp – it’s in Ann Arbor this year! (November 10-11). I’ve already signed up and would love some familiar company. Straight from their website:
Last year, students from 64 universities and colleges came together to sharpen our organizing skills and build a movement strong enough to fight the attack on students, workers, immigrants, and our democracy. Right now workers across the country are taking back power, from Chicago teachers to California Walmart warehouse workers, and it’s time for students to step up our game. While we face huge tuition hikes and frozen wages, our university administrators enjoy huge raises and corporations make record profits.
Join us, and together we’ll develop the skills we need to mobilize larger numbers of students, train new young organizers, and win campaigns for immigration justice, labor rights, education affordability and access, international solidarity, and more. Across all three regions of the US, we’ll spend two full days practicing one-on-one conversations to move our peers to action, swapping campaign skills, and learning from the recent student victories over tuition hikes, worker exploitation and corporate greed from New Jersey to Wisconsin to California.
Om-Nom Acres 