Food Amazes Me

The miracle of food production impresses me with each new sprout, flower, fruit, & vegetable.  

Each piece of land I grow on and with impresses upon me how life happens within the wide range of ecosystems I've experienced.

Our first squash of the season.

Each time food appears where I live, planted or provided, the feeling is reminiscent of riding a bicycle for the very first time.   

It's like goosebumps, mixed with sunshine & freedom; the scents of dirt on the wind, and a sense of security while on an adventure--an experience often overlooked by "civilized" society.

These seeds were obtained through a gift of the Gladys Project -- a collaboration of like minds:
Eldorado Heirloom Seeds
Botanical Interests

Seeds of Change

The Farmer's Seed Cooperative

High Mowing Organic Seed

Johnny's Selected Seeds

Garden Update

We've been charting our property and documenting planting notes, modifying our mini-swale system and enjoying the rewards of our efforts.  A garden update on our first garden at this property.

Our green friends taking hold in zone 1.
Our swales take less than 5 minutes to fill and take about 30 minutes to drain.

Alfalfa and Crimson Clover.

Greens from our garden.

Our first apple of the season.

We planted this okra at the edge of the woods to see how it will integrate with no amendments.  It's doing well, even as the ground cracks around it.

This little guy self-sprouted and has been battling the wind.  I used a bit of pine bark mulch to fortify it.

Festival Beach Food Forest Community-Design Workshop

There was a wonderful turnout on Sunday at Festival Beach Community Garden in Austin for the Community Design Workshop hosted by East Feast 2022 and the East Side Garden Exchange. The gathering was to do additional planning and community outreach in preparation for Austin's first community food forest.

Click on any photo to enlarge.

Here's a quick clip from Fox News about the Food Forest Community Garden Plan:

Looking forward to the next one?

Click here to get informed and involved in Austin's first community food forest.

East Feast, Austin Food Forest, Fox News Interview

This is the first (of many to come) news report I know of for the City of Austin Food Forest Project at Festival Beach Park:

KTBC Fox Affiliate spoke with Elizabeth Walsh of the East Feast Coalition about the potentiality of the Food Forest who said, "Hopefully, we can get this one to work well and if it works well we can have this all throughout Austin parks...where it's normal to walk down the trail and you can pick a peach of the tree." (KTBC quote)

Hope to see you all at the next gathering!

Austin Permaculture Morning Meeting

14-Year-Old Wipes the Floor With Kevin O'Leary

This is an amazing video that should be watched all of the way through.  Although, you might have to pause it to yell at the screen.

Rachel Parent (14 years old) recently put forth a GMO debate challenge to Kevin O'Leary, host of the Lang and O'Leary Exchange  on CBC Business "News".  Surprisingly, he accepted. What you see below is the result:

She made cogent, researched, points and was able to bat his talking points down like a mom being lied to by a child.  She was also able to school them on the differences between GMOs and hybridized seeds.  Rather than address any of her points, he attempted to condescend, demean, and to change the argument.  She stood her ground and was the clear winner.

She did so in the face of vitriol and rhetoric that spewed from O'Leary's lips.  Lang, not to be left out, ganged up on this brave young lady.  Of course, she did help seal O'Leary's point that restated one of Rachel's points: We are the lab rats for Monsanto and other Big Ag GMO-producing companies.

Very well done, Rachel.  You give me hope for the future.

I've long believed truth-seeking teens to be smarter and wiser than many who claim to "speak for the masses".

Rachel's website:  http://www.gmo-news.com

This gets my vote as the Funniest Video of 2013!