A small garden - and there's room in our yard - into which I can sink my hands, deep into rich dirt, soil, into something that shouldn't have a negative connotation ("dirty", "soiled") and grow food that Adam and I can eat.
I was just trying to describe this to my mom, but Barbara Kingsolver (in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) says it best: "I enjoy denial as much as the next person, but this isn't rocket science: our kids will eventually have to make food differently. They could be assisted by some familiarity with how vegetables grow from seeds, how animals grow on pasture, and how whole ingredients can be made into meals, gee whiz, right in the kitchen. My husband and I decided our children would not grow up without knowing a potato has a plant part. We would take a food sabbatical, getting our hands dirty in some of the actual dying arts of food production. We hoped to prove - at least to ourselves - that a family living on or near green land need not depend for its life on industrial food. We were writing our Dear John letter to a roomie that smelled like exhaust fumes and the feedlot."
Of course I have many other reasons to be apprehensive about having children, but this is one of them. So here is my first goal: to create a garden and grow at least something that I can eat. I will go from there. The next step - and Adam and I are already discussing this - will be further down the road (hopefully it's soon enough) when we rely on solar panels for our electricity. With global warming and an ensuing shortage of oil - and who knows what the timelines are here - what else can we do? I cannot, in good conscience, bring a child into the world as it is now without being prepared myself, without having some skills to teach my children. When they are my age, surely the world will be different. Exactly how, I do not know for certain. But it will be different, and we are being supplied with clues.
And so I am thankful for this book I am reading today, the first day I have really tasted summer. Tomorrow, when I have to pack up every single thing in my classroom and make a "throw away" pile---? (I really need to remember to bring my camera so you can see...) I am not thinking of tomorrow for any longer than it takes to write the sentence. The morning will come soon enough.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Laura -
I love what you wrote about growing a garden. We have our first garden this year, and the joy and pride in watching it grow and produce is wonderful. I also feel that we need to pass information on to our children, and provide them with both knowledge and the ability to make, grow and do differnt things. That world will be much different in 25 yrs. What we give our children is more than ourselves - it's a concept of their role in the world, how they can make change for the better, a spiritual centerpoint and a sense of self. Thanks for your post tonight.
I love, love, love the Kingsolver quote about the importance of gardening. Since he's a certified city boy, David doesn't understand my desire to have a garden (which we can't really do in this darn city full of concrete and the occasional weed). For me, knowing how to grow plants is about taking pride in creating something as well as keeping on that farming tradition that I grew up with. Keep gardening -- not enough of us young people do it!
I love that quote ~ we have our first garden this year and yesterday, I jumped up and down in my backyard after seeing the first sprouts emerge up in their neat little rows. I remember my grandparents always had a garden, the cooked and canned and lived much in the way we find ourselves drawn to now. There is something very satisfying about the discovery that my little piece of land mixed with our sweat can produce yummy (i hope, lol) tasty food. Also, its interesting in that I thought it would be much more difficult than it is and also there is something calming and meditative about working the garden, I can't explain it but its very grounding and relaxes me ~ kind of like biking and walking to work versus driving.
and my son ~ he loves working with us in the yard, i do feel like we are learning together and perhaps that is just as good a lesson, the lesson that even as we age and grow, we don't have all the answers and as the world changes, we can all adapt and grow and change and learn, no matter the age ... as we make smarter green choices, he learns and helps in that process ... its all good :)
maybe the state will help out with your solar power plan:
http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?id=-536881350&subchannel=-536881511&sc2=null&sc3=null&contentid=536885915&contenttype=EDITORIAL&programid=536885394&agency=Commerce#Solar
DSIRE link
It is truly wonderful to see someone who takes having a child that seriously, who contemplates the meaning of doing so and the ramifications and asks herself a lot of big questions. I love that. I also love the self-sustaining issue and how you are approaching it. Looks like I'm not the only one who wants a fruit and veggies garden!
Post a Comment