It's Easy Being Green

If you’re not an avid 60 Minutes watcher or missed Sunday night’s episode, you missed a great interview and profile of Alice Waters, the so-called mother of the slow food movement.  Shamefully, I have a couple of books with forwards by Alice Waters but didn’t know who she was until last night.

Alice is a staunch advocate of local farmer’s markets and stands strong in support of sustainable agriculture.  Her L.A. based restaurants, including the world reknowned Chez Panisse, utilize price fixed menus that change daily as farm fresh produce becomes available and goes out of season.  She’s also spearheaded the planting of a vegetable garden outside San Francisco’s city hall, a new classroom program that gets kids outside into a garden teaching them how to grow their own fresh and sustainable food and how to cook it and recently a call to plant a victory garden outside the White House.  You too can sign the petition to the Obamas by clicking that link.

If you didn’t get to see the story, I recommend you click this link and watch it now:

Alice Waters’ Crusade for Better Food

Popularity: 7% [?]

So one of my favorite bloggers, Hot Belly Mama, is hosting a great giveaway right now.  Since I’m getting ready to have a baby, my wife and I have been searching for an eco-friendly alternative to all the plastic diaper waste we could possibly contribute to the local landfill.  The Bumgenius diaper is one alternative we’ve looked at since we’re “eco-freaks” and have thought about giving them a try.  If you’re in the same boat, head over to her blog for a chance to win.  Here’s the details:

Good luck!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Frustration is beginning to set in over our ongoing home search.  As my regular readers may know, my wife is pregnant with our first child.  We’re expecting a bright, bouncing bundle of joy at the end of June and we just can’t wait.  In the meantime, we’re looking for a new place to live.

The home we rented when we moved here to Indiana six months ago is falling apart around us and the landlords just don’t seem to care.  The basement is leaky and moldy, the cast iron pipes have numerous issues and it’s just too small for us.  You should be amazed at the brevity of that explanation because the list does go on and on.

We tried to get conventional financing for a home and we need to clean a couple things up on the credit report before we can get the money.  It’s estimated it will be a couple of months before we can buy something on our own so in the meantime, we’re looking for another rental we can call home for awhile.  We thought we found the perfect place both for living and enjoying a homestead life just a few minutes away from our current house.

From the front, the Red Country House doesn't look like much but take a look at the back and it's a different story.

The Red Country House as my wife and I began calling it, is an early 1900’s home complete with unfinished basement and partially finished attic that would make a great sewing/craft room and children’s play area.  Despite the period looks, the owners of the home have done a really nice job fixing everything up and at least keeping it liveable.  But the house wasn’t what really caught my imagination.  It was the land surrounding it.

Big windows fill the back of the house with natural light and a closed in sun porch provides ample space for plants to overwinter.

Sitting on 5 acres, the Red Country house was surrounded by space and trees, lots of them.  You pulled down a gravel driveway about 50 yards and circled around the back of the country house.  A small two bay garage sat behind the house in addition to an old barn.  The barn was spruced up with a fresh coat of paint and a new roof, complete with a rooster weathervane on the peak.  Further back, a large prefab metal building sat in the middle of the property but the oasis behind it was amazing.

The green gambrel style barn has lots of possibilities and adds to the property's charm.

Plopped in the middle of 5 acres behind this prefab building was an amazing organic garden.  Now it’s winter, so nothing was growing but you could see the layout complete with a rotating composter and deer deterrent fencing.  In the middle of the garden, young fruit trees beginning to bud out for the spring.  Adjacent to that space was a large stand of trees complete with antique farming equipment scattered admidst their trunks.  There was an old cultivator that a farmer could ride on behind his horse and other devices that showcase a time gone by.

The organic garden space complete with fruit trees in the middle and a rotating composter awaiting fresh kitchen scraps.

At the back end  of the 5 acres was a large patch of open grass, awaiting the construction of a new home or whatever vision someone could come up with.  I stood back there thinking about a home orchard and berry patch, a gazebo and maybe even a duck pond.  But then I had to pinch myself.

The back end of the 5 acres looking toward the front and the Red Country House. The organic garden space is right in front of the large metal prefab building in the middle of the property.

The property is a rental afterall and the owners seem quite content with continuing to own it.  One of these days I’ll find our perfect homestead where we can truly begin to live the self-sufficient and quiet lifestyle we desperately desire.  It was the perfect blend of rural charm with city conveniences just a few blocks away.

So what’s your dream homestead like?  Have you found it yet?  If you have found your perfect dream homestead let me know.  I’d love to feature some of my readers places they call home sweet homestead.

Popularity: 1% [?]