Tuesday, May 17, 2011
My own little plot of earth looks like a miniature prairie. Only the fittest and the strongest survive! I forage for wild arugula, dandelion leaves, Chinese leeks, bamboo shoots, gobo, fuki and...where is that tasty green we had last year? My child once asked, “Mommy, is this really safe to eat?” “But of course, dear, we use no pesticide or fertilizer.” I suppose I could add rabbit meat and venison on our dinner table, too, for the nourishment they seem to get from my prairie, but that will be another topic for this column.
Most of us won’t or can’t be organic farmers. But thanks to the library, at least we can read, listen and watch about others who took the leap.
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Barbara Kingsolver described her own year-long experiment to grow what her family ate after moving from suburban Arizona to rural Appalachia. She wrote, "Our highest shopping goal was to get our food from so close to home, we'd know the person who grew it. Often that turned out to be ourselves as we learned to produce what we needed, starting with dirt, seeds, and enough knowledge to muddle through."
Before Kingsolver, there was The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and other books and documentary DVDs by Michael Pollan . If you are interested in reading more on the subject, Library Thing lists other titles under the subject locavore.
Or, we could just watch a documentary on a not-so-easy life of John Petersen on DVD, The Real Dirt on Farmer John. Here's a glimpse of the farmer on YouTube. Rotten Tomatoes gives 4 tomatoes (7.4 points out of 10)
EXTRA!! The University of Maryland Extension has information on local farms and their CSAs -- Community Supported Agriculture.
You might also want to check out organic gardening information for your own little plot (or pot?) of earth.
Megumi
& FAQ
