This is part one of the new video over at Path to Freedom Urban Homesteaders. It gives a QUICK look at garden before an interview with Farmer D.
I have more to say, but we are running out the door to catch a movie with DD as a belated birthday celebration. Oh, and I want to say that My Hero came home with a small cake to celebrate last night.

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After reading HausFrau’s The Fruit Tree Commitment at Peak Oil Hausfrau, I became….um….wellllll….envious of her lovely peach tree and harvest. Being envious when visiting HausFrau is nothing new though, it is a common occurence with her solar cooking successes and victorious efforts toward sustainability.

I have a confession to make.

I have a love for pear trees, which is weird because I rarely even purchase pears in the store. Store pears always seem hard and difficult to eat. I love everything about a pear tree..its shape….its produce (no matter the variety)….its juicy, coarse texture….the jewel tones of its flesh…. and the clean, crisp aroma of a fresh pear which emanates from that very first bite. In my mind nothing beats ice cold pears with a side helping of cottage cheese.  Pear butter or pear preserves smeared over hot biscuits or pear relish served with a yummy pork roast warm my heart and tummy in the winter months.

I have planted three pear trees in my life. I very lovingly planted two pear trees in my Texas backyard so that they could be trimmed to form an archway into my vegetable garden. Many hours were spent on their care and dreaming about a future bounty. Unfortunately, the ex and his new wife gained custody of the pear trees and organic vegetable garden before I ever saw one bit of fruit.

After DH and I were engaged, he received a promotion and a transfer to a new location. One of the things I first wanted to plant was a pear tree, so we purchased an 8 foot Bartlett and continued to search for another variety to compliment. DH  had to move immediately and I had to stay behind, until after we married, so he was left in care of the new “baby”.Another unfortunate demise of my pear tree dreams came when we realized that there was a severe problem with water where we had to live. Pear dreams quickly turned into pear disaster.

Now, twelve years later from the second debacle, I am going to attempt another hope for having my very own pear tree. Maybe I will even have three…Bartlett, Orient, and Keiffer.  Locally, there are no fruit trees to be found, so I will be purchasing online. I realize that by purchasing online I will be settling for smaller trees, but it appears that an online purchase is the only way I will get one (or three) planted this fall. The Arbor Foundation has a great selection of trees of all varieties and has free gifts with your purchase or if you become a member, you can get 10 more free trees. The other exciting find at The Arbor Foundation is that shipping is only $4.95 for any amount of trees that you purchase.

This morning, I drew a rough schematic of our front and side yards so that DH could help me determine how many trees I could plant. If you are going to dig….say, three holes…why not go ahead and dig 7 or 8 more. If I purchase some of the dwarf varieties I can get more diversity in our fruit diet. My neighbor planted (what she thought) was an ornamental dwarf plum in her parkway and it presents her with the most beautiful dark, sweet bountiful harvest you could ever imagine every year. I hope that my eyes are not bigger than my husband’s digging prowess, but I plan to order:

• Keiffer, Orient, and Bartlett Pears
• Burbank, Damson, and Methley Plums
• Bing and Black Tartarian Cherries
• Early Golden and Moorpark Apricot (My second fav fruit)
• Golden Jubilee Peach (cold hardiness..might add another later)

So that is 11, did I count correctly? Yep, 11 trees! I am probably being considerably too ambitious here. DH jokingly says we can start digging holes now (which may secretly mean…YEAH! less to mow…lol).

Anyone have any suggestions, critiques or similiar wish lists?

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I was just reading my friend Anita’s great post, Off Grid, Part-Time at Prairie Dreams  about a family who is going off the grid and eating locally  for a one month trial.

 When I began thinking about eating locally or growing my own food, I found inspiration at Path to Freedom with their 100 Foot Diet Challenge. My garden is small and actually looking like it may never produce ANYTHING, so I feel a bit defeated at the moment.

Here are the specs for the Urban Homesteader/Path to Freedom 100 Foot Diet Challenge….

If not from BACKYARD, then Locally produced (PTF’s addition)
If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.

In the past, Anita and I have shared our concerns over not being able to find much locally grown produce available for purchase.  We hope that soon the Farmer’s Market will be able to assist with this dilemma, but I began thinking about an alternative for future seasons after I left a comment on her post. What if Anita and I cooperated with each other…with a backyard C.S.A.? We live within 20 miles of each other, so that would certainly meet the 100 Mile Diet requirements. What if we found just two more backyard farmers who were interested in the same?

I don’t quite have the logistics of how this might work, but it is definitely something to think about for when Anita is moved into her house and has her garden growing. Do you think I should have asked Anita first, before putting her garden up for barter?  

This past week, I have had several different blog topics rolling around in my head. Most of those thoughts have been about food…either the growing of, the shortage of, the cooking of, the harvesting of, the preserving of, or, yes, the genetic engineering of…..OUR FOOD!

These thoughts have prompted a couple of movements for me.  I requested Michael Pollan’s books, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, , In Defense of Food, and A Place of My Own, from our local library. As I have begun to read, I have been wishing I belonged to a book club with members with whom I could discuss my readings and thoughts. DH has been kind enough to oglige, but it would be nice to hear what others have to say.

On another path, I attempted some solar cooking last weekend and hope to share my failures with you soon. Because of those failures with a home-fashioned solar cooker, I purchased a new one from The Peddlar’s Wagon at Path to Freedom/Urban Homesteaders. I am excited about the possibilities of not heating up the kitchen and still being able to prepare a meal.

What brought me to all of these thoughts about food and has me attempting action on those thoughts? First was the Path to Freedom Sustainable Food UCLA Lectures hosted on YouTube. Part four was just recently uploaded and now we are waiting for the Q & A video to be released. In Jules Dervaes’ lecture he mentioned Deborah Koons Garcia, the wife of Jerry Garcia, who is the producer of The Future of Food Documentary about, well, the future of food.  Immediately searching YouTube for Garcia and the future of food, I found several videos from which to choose. DH and I listened to Mrs. Garcia on a radio show broadcast, as she talked about the history of the documentary and her journey with food.

This radio broadcast is a bit longer than most YouTube clips…but you will gain so much info for a small investment of your time.

Introduction to The Future of Food…

The Path to Freedom Sustainable Foods UCLA Lectures began with Part One……

I had not written a post, because I was not certain what I, as an individual, could say about the mess that we appear to be heading toward. My head is reeling from everything that I am learning. Today, at Prairie Dreams, Anita posted an entry about farmers being thrown out of the Food Shortage Summit in Rome and though Rome is on the other side of the earth, I know that we are all in this together…farmers, consumers, and unfortunately, large agribusiness corporations. As Jules Dervaes often speaks…it is time for a HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION. While our backyard and patio “farms” will not head off world hunger, it might just make a difference in our own household.

I encourage all to “do your own research” and take some baby steps toward sustainability. That is all that we can all do….each take baby steps toward a success.

Our city, like many in our area, does not allow livestock within the city limits. (I know Anita is going to like this one.)