The Plan

The basic motivation for starting a blog in a world seemingly full of them, is propelled simply by the desire to share information, I guess. Information about oneself, and unique experiences we can convey commonly to the curious. Since I am a student again, after about a six year hiatus from that scene, many uncommon adventures and discoveries will no doubt take place here, and already have. Not simply because I am a student again, but because I am enrolled in a college program and live within a community both very unique and fascinating in and of themselves.


The college is located in small town, rural North Carolina. I would not hesitate to describe this place as sustainably focused. A vibrant community-centered place, that is home to artists, supporters of dreams, writers, fixers of problems, food preparers, sustainable energy enthusiusts, musicians, farmers, and real good, everyday folk. Everybody comes together to make this an amazing and supportive community, whatever the endeavor. I am in the Sustainable Agriculture program here. We have a Land Lab on campus which is approximately 1 and 1/2 acres in size (photos will eventually be posted). This is home to a very diverse menu of delicious, organically grown vegetables, fruits and herbs, bee hives, a Community Supported Agriculture program, and 14 friendl egg-laying hens. The chickens are incorporated into the crop rotation scheme, offering up their manure for fertilizer, as well as their weed/pest management skills. Much more on them later...


The college itself is also home to a Biofuels program, and very soon will house a Green buildings program and a Local foods based Culinary curriculum! I would really like to participate in all of them, and maybe one day I will. But, for now I am farm focused. The students in the Sus. Ag. program get to take a variety of classes, like Sustainable Livestock Management, Sring and Fall Crop Production, Plant and Soil Sciences, Agricultuaral Marketing (which of course, shows us newbie farmers how to help feed a community, while actually make money doing what we love), and Intro to Sustainable Agriculture, which among many other things, teaches us that there are other responsibilities we should accept, those of the social, political, and environmental kind. You will definately hear more on this later...


Now that we have a few facts out of the way. I would like to relay one of my distinct purposes for this blog. I remember thinking last semester (which was my first), "Wow, there is sooo much info here and it really needs to be out there for everyone to know and to share." And already, in the first two weeks of 2009, I have had many questions, from at least a dozen friends and family. All about this "mysterious" life I am living, which I have quickly grown to love. And of course, many more about simple, organic gardening/farming practices, and all aspects of life surrounding. Things like why conventional agriculture so bad and Organic so good, garden design, plant groupings, seasonality of produce, composting, soil building, preserving foods, and possibly my most favorite topic: Cooking! Recipes and how to prepare certain foods, and how these things affect and build community. Things I love to discuss and learn about, even though I am still kinda green myself. And I can tell that these concerns are more than just wanting to grown our own food. I think we are really starting to see, and react to, the disconnect with our food that agribusiness and the global food system have left us with. And how unhealthy our relationship to food has become. I would really like to share, and learn, as much as I can about all things related, in this forum. So, at the swinging gate of a fresh semester, filled with all the hope and anticipation the prospect of a new season can bring...I am looking forward...




Books read and/or frequently referred to last semester:

The Fateful Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture
The New Organic Grower. by Elliot Coleman
Building Soils for Better Crops
Barnyard In Your Backyard
The Self-Sufficiency Handbook. by Alan and Gill Bridgewater
The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved. by Sandor Ellix Katz
The Art of The Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry



Much more to come...