“It is important for people to realize that we can make progress against world hunger, that world hunger is not hopeless. The worst enemy is apathy.”
– Reverend David Beckmann
And sealed within apathy is the feeling of helplessness with a smattering of “it will always be this way” thrown at us on a daily basis.
Sunflowers shouldn’t grow in a sidewalk grate but they can and do. If I believed it would always be this way, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do which is teach people to garden, collect simple, sustainable methods for gardening, or plant even one seed. Gardening teaches me that nothing is impossible or unchangeable.
Life in general IS change. Without change we could not grow, heal from illness, bake bread, fall in love, have children. All those and more demand that something changes. And true to the life energy itself, my personal career path has meandered onto a completely different territory since August, one that is allowing me more time to write on the book that set this blog in motion.
The purpose for this blog and the book remain–seeking ways to end hunger and poverty at the most basic and empowering level by growing our own food. (more…)
This Lammas I had much to celebrate. My personal “harvest” included a transition to new type of position living alongside a house full of women on the University of New Mexico campus. This allows me to use many of the skills I’ve acquired over this lifetime (including patience which I know will be tested many times) and provides time to continue to write and support all the new gardens cropping up (no pun intended) all over the city.
While re-reading the most recent edition of Cosmic Time ezine from astrologer, Allison Rae, I couldn’t help but see myself and this new position reflected in her column. Her Star Priestess website and blog are pure poetry and her insights are uplifting and positive while keeping us well-grounded: in the movements of the planets and the constellations, and in this amazing Universe where our exquisite blue planet is suspended. Here are her thoughts on the power of the ancient celebration of Lammas (traditionally August 1-2) and its late summer dance in the wheel of the year: (more…)
It’s been a wild and crazy year in the garden–cool early summer in Albuquerque and now blistering hot. I’ve traveled to the midwest and back and while some of my plants withered while I was gone, I have the fall garden to look forward to. Three season gardening should become the norm rather than remain an exception and one of easiest systems for creating a fall garden while preparing for the spring is with the “lasagna gardening” system made popular by Patricia Lanza. (You can buy her book–Lasagna Gardening– from the Amazon link on the right side of this blog.) Everyone seems to be doing it. And why not? You can create a flourishing garden right over the weeds or compacted soil or even the driveway. And while I prepare a raised bed system for many reasons–more drainage in wetter areas, easier access, easier to protect from frost damage–there is no faster, cheaper way to get started growing food than with a lasagna bed. And here’s a cute little youtube video from Peaceful Meadow Farm to prove it:
Just a note to let folks know, problems with uploading on my website prevented me from adding the information on “The ‘ Secret’ of Outrageous Gardens,” which is now a downloadable handout. I also cannot put up information on a book giveaway for this month so maybe we’ll do two next time!
Since I can’t upload photos or videos at this moment, help me out by envisioning these glitches floating away so you can see the color and vibrancy of all the gardens we’ve worked with this year. They are a testimony to the effectiveness of this type of garden as well as how small gardens, created where we live, keep us connected, interested, loving tenders of our food source. Hope to be able to provide photos and more info very soon! Until then, check out the website of my friend, Steve McFadden and learn more about his new book, The Call of The Land, which will be available later this summer and, hopefully, on this website as well. (more…)
…Judy S. of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who won the drawing for Margaret Trost’s book On That Day Everybody Ate. Thank you, Margaret, for donating this signed copy and shipping it pronto despite the fact that you just returned from a trip to Haiti. And if anyone reading this blog still hasn’t connected with her amazing work through the What If? Foundation, don’t waste another minute.
At the end of each month, I intend to offer a drawing for a book I believe can change our view of the world we live on or support our efforts to become more connected to it. To be certain you know when the drawing will be, sign up for email updates to this site in the box on the right column.
Next up? What so many have asked for: the “secret” of these outrageous gardens! (more…)
In honor of my birthday this week (and NO I’m not saying how many birthdays I’ve had!) I’m following the ancient practice of celebrating by giving away an autographed copy of Margaret Trost’s amazing book, On That Day Everybody Ate: One Woman’s Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti. This book chronicles Trost’s transformation through the waters of grief to her meeting with Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste in Haiti and the creation of their non-profit collaboration, the What If? Foundation which now feeds thousands of meals each week to the hungry children in Port-au-Prince.
This very personal and candid story is rich and vibrant in spite of the desperate situation Trost encounters. And for those not familiar with the politics of the region, you will come away with a much clearer understanding of how history has brutalized this tiny island almost since the first days it was settled by Europeans.
It’s a fascinating read and and you can support the Foundation’s work by purchasing more copies right on this website to share with your family, schools and book clubs.
To enter the drawing, simply send an email to outrageousgardener [at] yahoo.com with “Haiti” in the subject line.
Happy gardeners at 4th Street in Albuquerque, NM!
All emails must be received before midnight June 12th and the winner will be announced on Monday, 6/15.
So Happy Birthday to all my fellow Geminis, Metal Tigers and Cancer risings. It’s been an amazing run, so far at least.
Ah, so many gardens still left to grow, and so many gardeners yet to know!
On Wednesday, we lost one of those rare beings we too seldom hear about. And the poor and the politically disenfranchised lost one of their most loving and fearless champions while the Heavens surely gained much more light and love.
On May 28, Father Gerard Jean-Juste allowed himself the privilege of resting after unceasingly working for more than three decades, shoulder to shoulder with the poorest of the poor in Haiti, seeking justice and basic human rights for his fellow Haitians. He was a most remarkable human being and one of the primary influences for initiating this website.
No, we never met. We never even spoke. I’ve only seen him in photos. I learned so much of him and his love for his people and his commitment to ending all this unnecessary hunger and poverty in Haiti through someone else I have never met yet, Margaret Trost. In emails with Margaret, I felt more and more the urgency to do something to counteract the unrelenting and unnecessary scourge of hunger visited on those who already had nothing to eat. And I began writing this blog, promoting simple ways to grow food, educating myself primarily to learn how to teach this information for that ‘some day’ when I hoped I would have the privilege of traveling to Haiti and working with her and Fr. Gerry, as he was known.
I have long agitated whenever given the chance, against any type of factory farming–animal or grain or vegetable or fruit. WHY? Because of the statistical probability of failure and disease. Why are so many of us gravitating toward locally produced, organic food? We know that on so many levels it’s better for us. By the same token, if you believe you need to eat meat to be complete, you might want to reconsider where that meat comes from and at what price–not just on the sticker, but for the environment and for the future health of the land and water and our bodies and our children’s bodies. (more…)
We’ve had a couple of very successful new gardens set up in Albuquerque in the past month. I’m busy balancing the writing of my book, consultations and workshops. Somehow spring seems to be bypassing us again in Albuquerque, pushing winter later into the year and now with near 80 degrees coming toward us by the end of this week, we may just fly over that season all together.
Here are some photos from our workshops on 3/21 at the North 4th Sustainability Center and on 4/18 at The Source on South Carlisle both in Albuquerque. Above-ground gardens are so much easier to start and maintain in our changeable and quixotic landscape. Straw bale gardens maintain a more even soil temperature and moisture so plants are less stressed. Tire gardens can be set up nearly anywhere–on a roof or under an eave or tree. Try it! You can see how happy they make folks….
The mighty sheet mulchers on North 4th Street from New Mexico Youth Organized
These words from the Haggadah, the traditional re-telling of the story of Exodus, are spoken during the annual Passover Seder. Many Jewish families still follow the instructions and invite total strangers to their table to partake of the story, the food, the ritual that dates back thousands of years.
I know myself that the sweetest moments in my life have come when I lifted something from the soil–a new carrot, a beet or radish, the first tomato off the vine, new potatoes attempting to hide inside damp earth from my probing fingers–and offered these to the first person I met never thinking for a moment that I should have the first nibble from my labors.
It is an act of grace to be able to offer sustenance to someone, especially a stranger. Within this act of offering food–particularly to someone we may not know or meet again–is the essence of nourishment, not just for the body but the soul and heart as well.
So who are the hungry in America?
This year in Albuquerque I’m hoping to revive the concept of growing extra food and offering it to food banks in our area. The program is called “Plant A Row for The Hungry” and it began in 1995 by the Garden Writers of America. It’s success continues to grow (no pun intended) and to date more than 14 million pounds of food have been contributed to foodbanks and pantries in the US and Canada.
The concept is quite simple:
Plant or glean vegetables, fruits, herbs or flowers.
Deliver the harvest to a food agency near you.
Give a PlantARow brochure to anyone who could help.
The need is great and increasing as the economy remains precarious. According to America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest charitable hunger relief organization, 24-27 million Americans rely on emergency food services annually and I’m confident that number will be larger this year.
Roadrunner Food Bank (RFB) of New Mexico is the state’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger in New Mexico. In 2006, Roadrunner distributed nearly 14 million pounds of food through a statewide network of over 700 partner agencies and six regional food banks. RFB converts every $1 donated into $9 of fresh produce, bread, meat and non-perishables for hungry New Mexicans and since 1980, has distributed more than 150 million pounds of food.
Here are the statistics for New Mexico:
New Mexico is first in the nation in the percentage of people who must sometimes wonder where their next meal will come from (16.7%). Each month in New Mexico, 89,000 people visit pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens in search of emergency food for their families. Some are turned away because there is not enough food for them, but, thanks to the state’s food banks, most receive help.
New Mexico is fourth in the nation in childhood poverty (27.5%).
Last year, Roadrunner Food Bank, through its statewide network served 238,000 children and adults in need of emergency food assistance.
Hungry people lead a fragile existence and make difficult choices among life’s necessities–rent and utilities over food, medicines over food, even clothing over food. And of course nothing left over for music lessons, movies, or tutoring their children.
In lean times everyone can do something to help alleviate hunger and one thing garden-minded folks can do is PLANT SOMETHING! (And if you still aren’t convinced you can garden anywhere, please spend more time on this site.)
If you already have a garden space or participate in a community garden, insist that some area be reserved for this program. And remember: NO contribution is too small.
For a list of agencies providing food in New Mexico, visit New Mexico Association of Food Banks
Hunger IS simply unacceptable and if each one of the 88 million gardeners in the country would simply plant a little more to give away, we could easily supply fresh produce to every one of those in need. I’m encouraging all new gardeners at my workshops to participate.
For more information on the PAR program, contact Garden Writers Association PAR office at 1/877-492-2727.
To learn more about the PAR project here in New Mexico or to consult on ways you or your organization can begin to grow food for this program, please contact Yvonne Scott through my email address outrageousgardener [at] yahoo dot com with “PAR” in the subject line.
“It is important for people to realize that we can make progress against world hunger, that world hunger is not hopeless. The worst enemy is apathy.”
This Lammas I had much to celebrate. My personal “harvest” included a transition to new type of position living alongside a house full of women on the University of New Mexico campus. This allows me to use many of the skills I’ve acquired over this lifetime (including patience which I know will be tested many times) and provides time to continue to write and support all the new gardens cropping up (no pun intended) all over the city.
t here in New Mexico or to consult on ways you or your organization can begin to grow food for this program, please contact Yvonne Scott through my email address outrageousgardener [at] yahoo dot com with “PAR” in the subject line.
