It's Easy Being Green

Termination seems like such a dirty word.  The societal stigma attached to it is enough to make you feel vile; rolled in the dregs of society and tossed out into the street for all to see and smell.  You, left to feel like nothing more than an offense to the olfactory and beyond.  Why is it I feel like I should embody that feeling, sulking further into my own self wallow?

There is this great aversion to getting fired.  Nobody wants to hear it and most don’t want anybody to know it ever happened to them.  That’s why our corporate forefathers came up with terms like “let go”, RIF (reduction in force), laid off, “opting out” and canceled contract.  Like wrapping a blanket around a Billy club, is it merely to ease the blow to one’s ego?  Or is it like a golden ray shining down from above, making employers feel at ease, almost angelic in letting you down softly and tiptoeing around the word fire or terminate.

This week, I’m learning to embrace being fired.  I was ambushed.  Walking back to my desk at the end of my shift late Friday night, there sat my boss.  He magically reappeared, wearing the same damn clothes he left the office in four hours before.  It wouldn’t have won him any awards for his performance but he tried to act sorrowful.  He wasn’t soft about it at all.  He didn’t even try to let me down easily.  It’s the only time he’s ever really truly had the balls to act like a real manager and he managed me right out the front door.

The kick in the ass brought an end to two years of this Midwestern misery.  They moved me 1800 miles away from home promising a long-term commitment.  From day one though, it’s been anything but.  I was sold a bill of goods and unfortunately drank the Kool-Aid.  Each quaff left a taste in my mouth that grew more and more wretched.  Luckily I choked and regurgitated the rotgut and am now cleaning house.  One chapter is ending.  Another one is beginning.

It’s ironic this has hall happened because just about two weeks ago T and sat down and made lists.  Not for grocery shopping or things to do around this half-acre homestead.  These lists were our priorities in life; a test to see where we each stood at this very portion of our lives.  Little did we know that these lists would come into play just a few days later.  Here is how my priorities panned out:

1)                  Make sure my T, my wife, and my darling daughter are taking care of emotionally, physically and financially

2)                  Find a job that makes me happy

3)                  Live life as sustainable as possible

4)                  Buy a farm, ranch or other plot of land to build a life on

5)                  Financial freedom: ditch the debt, save more

T’s priorities were surprisingly similar.  Our thoughts and notions on what we wanted to achieve together weren’t as far off as we might have expected them to be.  We never expected to be in the position of changing career paths this quickly.  I had a contract that would leave us a year to think about our next moves but now that has shriveled and died right on the vine.

So another chapter begins.  We have two months, possibly three, of funds to get us through until the next opportunity beckons.  We’re looking at ways to stretch every possible dollar and every possible resource we use on a daily basis.  It can only help us make it through and last even longer than some would anticipate.  It will be the true test of our skills and desires to live life in a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and happiness inducing way.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Do you have a ton of extra veggies in your garden right now?  Why not trade them?  We stumbled across a great  website the other idea called Veggie Trader.  You can sign up, post what you have a lot of and what you’d like to trade for and then wait for the matchmaking to happen.

Unfortunately there isn’t anybody currently signed up for our area so if you do live in the Tri-State, join now so we can start swapping our extra produce for other things we might be able to use.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The whole reason you have a farmers market is to support local agriculture. Apparently the City of Evansville and GAGE have a different idea.

I think the title of this post says it all.  It was another attack on a family farm.  Within the past 24 hours here in Evansville I’ve seen a local farmer and his products accepted, shunned and then welcomed once again at the downtown farmer’s market.  The weekly farmers market is put on by an organization called GAGE or the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville.

There have always been problems with GAGE’s attempt at trying to create a farmers market for the city.  When the market was first created it was the city’s creative reuse of an old brick warehouse type building that had sat empty.  Before we moved to the area I’m told the inside portion contained a deli and other fun food merchants like that along with the weekly spread of produce and other goods.  The City of Evansville and GAGE have always run the market for only three months out of the year.  It’s an idea which makes little to no sense, especially in our area that sports a growing season at least 6 months long.  The indoor market essentially failed.  The city couldn’t keep up with the cost of keeping the building empty for most of the year.

Now the market has been brought back around again, this time as a way to attract people to the downtown area.  The market is held in an open field in the center of a city block every Friday morning and every other Saturday.  To most of us who go, that schedule has never really made sense either.  Most are working on Friday mornings and to only have it every other Saturday just gives more time for people to forget the opportunity to shop at the farmers market even exists.

On Friday, the farmer we buy our locally grown, grass-fed organic meats from as part of a CSA, was banned from selling his frozen meats.  Keith Canon who owns Stonewall Farm was inspected by the Vanderburgh County Health Department at opening day of the farmers market and passed inspection.  He was told he was following all code.   But GAGE, in talks with the Vanderburgh County Health Department, decided that it wasn’t a good idea to allow the sale of frozen meat at the farmers market for fear of mishandling.

Stonewall Farm already has a decent customer base and uses the downtown farmers market as a stop for customers to pick up their monthly take of meat, eggs and other goods bought as part of their CSA.  By shutting out Stonewall Farm, GAGE was essentially turning away a huge base of potential customers for the other vendors.  Stonewall Farm is also offering a locally grown product.  Many of the fruits and vegetables currently sold at the market aren’t even grown nearby and the people selling them aren’t even farmers, they’re distributors.

Many of us who support eating locally and organically were outraged by GAGE’s decision and let them know it by inundating their telephones and emailing.  An impressive social networking campaign also kicked up just a couple hours after the initial decision to ban the meat sales.  People who were angry contacted them via Facebook and Twitter and let them know it.  My favorite local coffee shop, Penny Lane, also reacted.  They’ve announced they want to start a farmers market with all locally grown products.

Today we drove out to Stonewall Farm to pickup our monthly take of meat and eggs.  Keith told us the good news that the upswell of support for Stonewall apparently made GAGE reconsider their decision.  They will once again allow Stonewall Farm to sell their frozen meats!  This just goes to show how bureaucratic decision making can sometimes be changed by simply speaking our minds.  I think that’s great.

I hope the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville has learned an important lesson.  They have a golden opportunity to create a worthwhile farmers market.  A farmers market that actually supports and cultivates the idea that local farmers do actually have a place they can sell their goods and that people looking for local produce can find it.

Other suggestions for GAGE’s Evansville Farmers Market:

1)  Make it every Saturday instead of every other

2)  Consider extending the season beyond just 3 months of Summer.  I know several farmers in the Evansville area with greenhouses that would be willing to heat them and grow if they had a place to sell.

3)  Find a permanent and covered location for the market so it can go on even if there is inclement weather.  There are awnings along the back of the old Greyhound Station, what about using that space?

4)  Force vendors to label where produce is coming from and if it’s organic or not.  I think too many people believe they’re buying food from a local farmer who may not use pesticides and other harsh chemicals when in fact they may not be.

5)  Grow the market.  Make it a true event with food and entertainment.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Welcome to our SFG

My square foot garden (I’m going to resort to calling it an SFG from here on out to save space) has reached an important milestone in it’s development this week. It’s 6 weeks old *tear, sniffle, sniffle* and my how it’s grown!

At this point every square is filled in with the exception of several dud strawberry plants that did not grow. I ended up purchasing these boxes of plant crowns grown by Van Zyverden at Sam’s Club this spring. I ended up with 80 strawberry crowns and not a one of them sprouted. While being disappointed, I’m not surprised. This green thumb hasn’t had a very good track record with Van Zyverden products and have had to write to them on several occasions to get replacement plants. A simple internet search shows the web awash with similar experiences. I have a letter off to them even as we speak and have resorted to giving up after 6 weeks of no life and have started planting over the top of the dud strawberries.

Peering over the gate at the SFG. Notice the rain water barrel against the house. It usually is full with only one storm.

Looking to the west in our SFG. The tepee in the center used for the snap peas and snow peas is made from the giant sunflower stalks I saved from last years garden. They're strong and light!

In the meantime, everything else is off to the races. We’ve been unseasonably cooler than normal around here in southwestern Indiana the past few weeks with a plethora of rain. Snow peas and snap peas are still doing wonderfully, climbing their sunflower stalk tepee and producing a handful of new pods every few days. It’s enough to whip together shrimp and snow pea stir-fry which is currently on the menu.

Snow peas and snap peas climb the sunflower stalk tepee, reaching toward the sky. The tepee would work great for any type of light, climbing plant like a flower, peas or beans. I saved and dried the stalks from my giant sunflowers last year and tied them together to form a tepee.

A half dozen mustard greens have produced non-stop this Spring and are still going as we race toward Memorial Day

Mustard greens will also find their way into this stir-fry having put on a new flush of growth every couple of days. It’s enough to fill up a colander and they’re delicious any way we’ve prepared them.

The broccoli plants are beginning to form their heads this week and the brussel sprouts look like they’re about ready to grow their hardy stalks too. Our summer veggies are beginning to take hold as our temps edged into the 80’s the past couple of days. The tomatoes are getting a good flush of first flowers while also putting on good top growth. The peppers, while still small, are flowering too. Sweet corn is about 3-4 inches already. Squash plants and melons are beginning to stretch out and ramble around. Potatoes look like bushes already. We got to pick our first two strawberries of the summer on our homegrown plants and they were delicious.

Little E and I picked up these great strawberry plants from the Southwest Indiana Master Gardeners plant sale. There are three different varieties growing. We're going to see who does the best!

Weeding the SFG is an amazing experience. The soil mix makes it so easy to pull out the weeds and grass. In fact, T and I can blitz the weeding chore every few days and it only takes about 15 minutes to get the whole garden done. I’ve never met an easier garden to weed other than the one that doesn’t exist! I can’t wait for the bounty to come and am so pleased with how well the SFG is growing. So how does your garden grow?