A year ago, today, I took out my first head of cabbage in the garden I started in my back yard. Though I started the garden for several reasons, I decided to plant and grow food because I saw how disconnected we've become from our meals. My father (Joseph) was a botanist; he was born in 1917 and grew up in the Great Depression on a small farm twenty minutes outside of Tom's River, New Jersey. During the week, he'd work the fields with his grandfather (my great-grandfather Jim) and during the weekend, he'd work in the garage with his father (my grandfather Joe). And they got by in relative comfort through the 30s because they lived close to the land. Then, seeing the damage the Dust Bowl brought, he enrolled at Rutgers to study biology and try and give something back to his community by researching and teaching.
My father, his father, and his father before him (as cliché as it is) grew something as far back as we can trace the family's history through Germany, England, and Ireland. So I decided to grow something. The season before the cabbages, I tried to grow pumpkins, but I planted them too late and the frost killed them before the fruit grew big enough to be worth anything. Then, the cabbages, which turned out okay (see pictured).
Since those first heads of cabbage, I've learned a lot about what to do and what not to do when attempting "urban farming." And around the time I started digging the pitch in the yard (now about 2 years ago), someone I respect, Dr. Justin Hodgson (himself from a line of farmers) told me that to be a citizen in the 21st century, you need web-space. Which led me here. To a blog.
Why? Well, I decided that if I want to do something about the state of the world, sustainability and all that, it starts in conversation. So this blog, as well as the rest of this site, will be dedicated to what I've learned and ways that other people might find those lessons/challenges/opportunities useful. I'll pull together ways to live more sustainably, opportunities to get engaged with the community (working with non-profits, education groups, etc.), and a few recipes from the garden.
Since I'm new at all this, please feel free and welcome to give feedback on any aspect of the site, the visuals, the writing, the length of articles, etc. Also, if you're equally interested in living more sustainably and would like to contribute to this project in some way, let me know and I'll find a way to give you some space, as well.