VEGETABLE PLATE.
Hannah and I have a somewhat unspoken rule of only eating meat we either, 1) raised ourselves, or 2) trust/know the farmer who did. This does not bode well for us in 99% of the restaurants that exist in the middle of the country where the menu is three pages of meaty fare and one vegetable option: The vegetable plate––a convenient selection of the sides they already offer, most of which are cooked with meat, or come from a can. There are a lot of terrible things involved with a vast majority of the meat available––that's no secret––especially the type of meat that ends up in the restaurants we're talking about. And these restaurants make no bones about the glut of chicken, fish pork and beef offered, nor do the patrons really care, even if they are well-aware of the issues involved with conventional meat-operations. I haven't always been particularly discriminating about my own meat consumption, so naturally I never noticed the lack of vegetarian options. They didn't concern me. The farm changed all that. Having raised an animal, killed it and ate it, my relationship with food has changed dramatically. I simply don't much want to eat animals not treated like animals, not treated humanely. Even though the vegetables aren't great either, as the adage goes, we'd rather eat inhumanely treated vegetables than inhumanely treated animals. So often, when we have to eat out, the vegetable plate is our only alternative. I am not unaware that menus are a product of demand, either. In fact, that is what's most notable about the vegetable plate, that it exists so ubiquitously because vegetables are flat-out not as popular as meat. Or more precisely, they are not popular at all. This may seem obvious, but there are simply not not enough people concerned with meatless meals to necessitate an actual vegetarian dish in these restaurants, so the restaurants themselves chose not to bother spending time and money creating one. You either eat a salad ("hold the bacon please") ask them to leave the steak off your pasta, or you get a plate with four or five sides piled on with no real order or care. The vegetable plate is a microcosm of the apathy our "Where's the Beef" nation still holds towards the vegetarian: join us, or learn to survive in our world. And that's fine, I'm not complaining, I just wish that instead of "Vegetable Plate" the menu would be more honest and read, "The dietary concerns of vegetarians are not recognized by this establishment," and I could just guiltlessly order a plate of french fries like I want to do anyway.- Jesse.
BUGTUSSLE BOUND.
We are making our way down to Nashville tomorrow, visiting with some good friends and picking up the remainder of Jesse's things. On our way, we are making a much-needed detour to our dear Bugtussle! We cannot wait to get back to what still very much feels like our home. That being said, we will be absent from phones and internets and general electricity for a bit. But fear not! We will be back, probably with bellies full of wonderful food and lots of love from our favorite farmers.If you have no idea what I am talking about, here and here is a little bit of info on Bugtussle and why we love it so. And below are some pictures to make you wish you were coming with us!- Hannah.
PROGRESS.
Today was an unbelievably beautiful and warm January day. With plans of preparing our garden spot, we packed up early and headed to the farm, crew in tow, to make some actual progress. Although it is not a great time for planting seeds, it's a perfectly good time to get your land ready for those seeds. Inspired by people like Masanobu Fukuoka and Bill Mollison, we are trying to employ more "no-till" methods of farming. Most of these ideas involve laying down some sort of mulch and letting the soil till itself underneath. Today that meant basically laying down cardboard...then walking away. The cardboard, when it becomes wet, begins to rot. This decomposes all the debris and plant matter underneath it, while also attracting beneficial microorganisms and especially worms. Over time, it creates a layer of rich, loose topsoil. By letting it over-winter, you have a bed ready just in time for spring––no tractors, machines or tilling and thus no real "impact" on the soil. By helping preserve soil structure and moisture, this is an extremely kind and sustainable style of farming!The first step was fencing off the garden area. Although we don't yet have to worry about critters eating our little plants, we do have a couple of horses who might trot right through our hard work. So we (by we, I mean Jesse) put up some strategic barbed wire, making sure to add bright flags so the horses don't get caught by surprise.
Then, we got to work on the garden. My mom and dad were there to assist, and the help was much appreciated as we cut weeds, moved rocks, and tried to relocate loads of manure in a wheelbarrow with no wheel!
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| Clearing the weeds. |
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| Digging around, checking the soil. |
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| Taking a break to talk with AUNT ELIN! We love you! |
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| The fruits of our dumpster-diving labor. |
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| An unexpected, mystery guest joins the crew. He seems overly enthusiastic. |
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| Hard working mom, hauling cardboard. |
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| So helpful. |
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| We HAVE been looking for an antique tub.... |
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| Moving poo. |
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| Yay! Horse manure! |
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| Oh man, I want to keep this dog. |
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| After laying down the cardboard, we poured water on it, to speed up the decomposition. Then we placed rocks on it to secure it. Then we spread the manure, as an additional compost for the soil. |
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| The final product! We gathered all the weeds we had cleared and added them as a final mulch on top.................................................................................................................
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It feels truly amazing to have done some real work today. Although this was just a start (we need about five times this amount of cardboarded area), it is something! Some actual work to show for all of our stressing and planning! Our interim stay in the city has been a dramatic shift from last years daily physical labor and outdoor life. It was so good to be back on a farm. I am happy today, once again having some aches in my bones, some dirt under my nails, some progress made.
- Hannah.