Comments on: Angry

By: mjd

mjd — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:29:35 +0000

It looks like a great book. I do really wish I had more wise old agriculturalists to learn from. Most of my gardening efforts and attempts to prolong the resulting bounty through winter yield variable results at best. But I get better slowly.

This summer I’m doing better as a forager than a gardener.

How can SF not have a good farmer’s market. That is saddening.

Hey–it’s illegal not to compost there now, right? Do you compost? I know it’s like not recycling being illegal in Boston–the law doesn’t work on everybody because it’s not enforced. But in Boston it seems like, over time at least, the law has gotten more people to recycle. Which I hope happens in SF with composting.

The benefits of composting are so readily noticeable and satisfying (not just reduce trash volume, but make your trash smell less bad thus allowing you to wait longer to take it out–to say nothing of the resultant nice jet black dirt) that I can’t believe I haven’t been doing it longer, and I actually talk excitedly about it at the drop of a hat.

I haven’t tried vermiculture, by my sister lives on Comm Ave in boston and has composted successfully in her tiny apartment. She grew some nice jalapenos in her window too. Cities are good for warm-weather plants because they increase average temperatures year round.

But I’m rambling now. I will look for this Kingsolver book.

By: Erin

Erin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:30:29 +0000

Thanks for the reminder, Mike. I wax and wane with this stuff. It’s especially difficult when traveling. I’ve all but eliminated disposable cups from my regular use — my coworkers look at me like I’m crazy when I run for the kitchen to get a travel mug when they talk about going for coffee — but the growing food stuff I still need a better handle on, and I’ve gotten lax about buying local since we moved to SF. And all of this very stupidly falls out of my head for some reason when I’m not at home. Biking into Berkeley I have done twice, and once it didn’t even nearly kill me — I hear they have a much better farmer’s market. Our quite strange most local one seems to sell only carrots, tzaziki sauce, and bread.

I think the way to get people to change is to support those who are trying, which means giving each other a kick in the head periodically. Your example always goads me into better behavior.

Have you seen this book? I have it but am not very far into it yet.

http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Vegetable-Miracle-Year-Food/dp/0060852569/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249086466&sr=8-1

By: mjd

mjd — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:23:54 +0000

Yankee ingenuity! I totally agree. It’s not like we’re being asked to do anything radically new. Just getting back to our roots.

That is a great old joke.

Yes, please send a link—I think I still have my email in the contact page?

By: Liz Smith

Liz Smith — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:12:38 +0000

None of these things are even that hard to do. New Englanders used to be arbiters of thrift and economy, which included things like reusing stuff until it was completely worn out (the old joke about how you know if you’re a true New Englander: You have a box in the attic labeled, “String too short to use”), then fixing it and using it more; and gardening and bartering in order to not have to supplement groceries. It’s sensible generally, and now it’s even more sensible and has even more beneficial consequences (which it always did, we just know what they are now).

Also, do you mind if I send you a link to something I think you might enjoy? I think I still have your email in my address book.

By: mjd

mjd — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:41:48 +0000

Thanks, Jeff. You have made me feel a little better.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:20:53 +0000

Good advice, thanks for posting this.