This is a little late getting started (the blog I mean), but I am glad that we finally got around to it. If you really want to know what a group is all about, what better way to tell than a blog kept by its board? We are a group of students and community members, fairly small right now, with a grand vision, one in which we hope the communities in which we are trying to work will join in on. We are located in northern Seattle, WA right now, and hoping to expand further into the city in the future. We started with the vision of a local community garden in the neighborhood in which most of us live (Lake City, Seattle) and found that our vision expanded far beyond this, into the realms of locally produced goods and community sustainability and self sufficiency.
We are still starting by trying to find either a distressed property or abandoned lot (or any donated piece of land we can get our hands on) and growing open pollinated plants on it for the purpose of giving the fresh produce away to the community. This would differ from a food bank system in that anybody in the community, regardless of income, can come and get a basket of free produce. We are mostly going to be located in impoverished areas, such as Lake City, Ranier Valley, SODO, White Center, and Burien, meaning that by default we will be helping those in need, which is part of our goal, but the vision is broader than that.
We want to teach people how to become more self sufficient and sustainable, both on an individual and community wide basis. As soon as the garden is set up we plan on hosting lectures and classes on such diverse topics as sewing, urban homesteading, food container gardening, basket weaving, home canning, livestock rearing in the city, etc. We hope to begin to revive these basic skills that have fallen by the wayside in the post modern generation, as we feel they are essential to a sustainable community. We are greatly saddened by the extinction of the "Victory Garden" mentality and are greatly hoping that the current economic troubles will fuel a renewed interest in basic skills. Our philosophy is that a person should not have to bankrupt themselves to learn and practice said necessary skills, and we hope to offer our lectures for free and our workshops for very low cost to learn them. There may come a time where these skills can mean the difference between having food, clothing, and shelter for your family and going hungry, and this is among the first generations in which the people born into it have lost the skills that generations past took for granted. A culture of consumption has given way to a society that is nearly completely reliant on outside sources for it's basic.
Even as recently as the 60's families were known to derive a great deal of their own food from a large garden just outside the home. Clothing was just as often handmade as purchased, and all clothing was often repaired and re purposed rather than thrown away. More often than not, families owned some form of livestock, be it chickens for eggs or dairy cows/goats for milk. Butter and mayonnaise were made by hand, and excess produce was canned or frozen. These skills were seen as part of daily life, not an extra hassle or simply a hobby.
We are excited to be involved with our communities, and look forward to working with individuals and families interested in re-cultivating the self-reliant attitudes that are essential to a sustainable community. If you want to know more, or better yet get involved, head on over to emeraldspirit.org and check us out. Currently we are incorporating and investigating possible land locations, but anything you can do, be it donating time or money, supplies or expertise, will be greatly welcome no matter where you are located. We look forward to working with you and in your communities!
Acting president,
~Ali S. Hartwell~
