Sub-urbia

So, its obvious from my blog title that I can live comfortably in the country or in the city.  But there is this middle ground that I have never really felt like I could exist in.

The suburbs freak me out.  My experience growing up in Michigan was that suburban living required standards of materialism that I could never keep up with.  I mean, the lack of cable access where I lived alone made me irrelevant.  The seeming obsession with comfort and ease makes me want to dig holes and fill them back up again.   

Well, this Thanksgiving - we packed up the turkey my husband raised, slaughtered, butchered, brined, and marinated into a box and checked it in on Alaska Airlines for a one way trip to Long Beach - the suburbs of Los Angeles.   While the general demographic is significantly more Latino than the suburbs of Detroit, the rest is the same as Anytown, USA.  There is presumably a beach there, however I never saw it.   Instead, I buckled down for three days of culture shock: "Black Friday" sales, fast food, and excessive television.   Locked in miles-upon-miles of strip malls, 1960's ranch homes and palm trees.
 

We have returned all that more appreciative of the beautiful state of Oregon and grateful, that the space we straddle between farm and city living is not so vast here.

Yet, I have to say - the fruit they can grow there is enviable.  Walking the neighborhoods I saw pomegranates, guava, citrus and avocados.   I wanted to fill that turkey box and bring it all back with us - but I didn't think the neighbors would appreciate me hopping their fences to harvest the sun.

Why I love Selma.

So, if I could sing from the mountain tops about this group of farming do-gooders... I would!  I mean, not only is their URL longer than mine... they are making Ann Arbor an undeniably cool place to engage in local food.

The leverage point for change is the "hoop house."  Clearly, in a climate where the ground is frozen 5 months of the year, eating locally can be pretty challenging.  But by building high quality hoop houses, Repasts is enabling farmers to do more.  But not only that, they are stimulating demand by feeding goodies from these hoops to their ever growing collective of supporters at the home of Jeff McCabe and Lisa Gottlieb every Friday Morning.  This is the amazing Selma Cafe, with new volunteer guest chefs every week.  Delicious, community-centric and so much fun!  Just so that it all goes full cycle, the money raised at these weekly celebrations is used to build more hoops.  Full cycle, just like any good organic farming project should be.  Infused with volunteer energy every step of the way.

So, if you find yourself in Ann Arbor on a Friday morning, don't miss your chance to get engaged.  You too can fall in love with Selma.

Four Door Farm

So, I have made a few mentions in previous posts about this collective farming group that I am involved in.  Time to get more specific.   In February of 2009, my husband Guillermo came up with an idea.  Why are we all just waiting around for the right opportunity to grow a significant amount of our own food?   As he likes to say, it was time to "get off the fence."  So the meetings began.  Anyone and everyone was invited to discuss a vision of growing 100% of our annual produce needs.  At one point, we had over 40 people in the conversation.  The result, was the Small Scale Farming Project or SSFP.  The basic concept was to share in the cost, the labor, the knowledge and skill without any one person coordinating or managing.  This wasn't a service, but an opportunity.

The first year was challenging to say the least, we were developing the model while existing in it.  We veered towards an abundance of rules and group agreements.  We took on two acres with no real equipment or experience.  By the middle of summer we were engulfed in weeds.  But somehow, 9 of us made it through to the end.  We learned amazing amounts and packed away drying beans, carrots and potatoes for the winter.

For our second go around, we made great improvements.  We went away from rules and more towards community building. We planted only one acre. We started our seeds on time for bushels of tomatoes in the summer.  And, we named ourselves - Four Door Farm.  The name is because of our iconic shed.... well, watch the video and you will see.  It hasn't been all perfect, but I for one am proud of us.  We faced a challenging growing season due to terrible weather... but I will save that for my next blog post.  For now, envision the possibilities when 21 people come together and commit to co-learning.  This is an experience where agriculture isn't just supported by the community, it is enabled by it.