Pizza, Food of Royalty, Soon at Thornbury

Back in the day, pizza was a meal reserved for royalty.


It's becoming increasingly popular during the summer and fall months to visit local farms for fresh pizzas made with ingredients grown on location! Our hope is to invite our customers to join us to pick their own ingredients, make homemade pizzas, and enjoy them with their families picnic style, while gazing at the sky's changing sunset colors.


Here are some healthy and muy delicioso pizza recipes, including Pear, Walnut, & Gorgonzola Pizza, Smoky Corn & Blackbean Pizza, Thai Chicken Pizza, and more!
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_pizza_recipes


with an example at the bottom of this post.


Hopefully, we'll soon have "pick your own ingredients and fire them in our brick oven" afternoons/evenings on the farm.


Hungry? Interested?

• 
  

• Grilled Pizza with Pesto, Tomatoes & Feta

• 
  
• 1 pound prepared pizza dough, preferably whole-wheat
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto
• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn

PREPARATION

1. Heat grill to medium-high.
2. Meanwhile, place dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into an 8-inch round crust, about 1/4 inch thick. Place crusts on a floured baking sheet. Carry crusts and toppings out to the grill.
3. Lay crusts on grill (they won’t stay perfectly round). Cover grill and cook until crusts are lightly puffed and undersides are lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
4. Using tongs, flip crusts. Immediately spread pesto over crusts. Top with tomatoes. Sprinkle with feta and pepper. Cover grill and cook until the undersides are lightly browned, about 3 minutes more. Sprinkle with basil and serve immediately.

NUTRITION

Per serving: 430 calories; 18 g fat ( 7 g sat , 9 g mono ); 27 mg cholesterol; 49 g carbohydrates; 17 gprotein; 4 g fiber; 749 mg sodium; 262 mg potassium.

Carbohydrate Servings: 3 1/2

Exchanges: 3 starch, 1/2 vegetable, 1/2 fat

A Rural Future

“I am trying to build a little part of the world in which I would like to live. And even if my inspiration is romantic, I require material results, a re-colored reality and so my projects are practical, doable work. Creating these projects, implementing them and succeeding, witnessing one's dreams come true, is my version of happiness" ~ Social Entrepreneur, Fabio Rosa 

Making a small farm profitable can pose Sisyphusian challenges. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus). And for some reason, many of our companies equate environmentally friendliness with lost profits. 

Fabio Rosa, a social entrepreneur who has brought electricity to more than half a million Brazilions, defies gravity in this regard. Rosa’s electrical and agricultural cost-reduction innovations were driven by his leadership qualities: attention to detail, and charismatic and unwavering devotion to realizing his vision to reverse the trend of rural to urban migration.

Thornbury Farm's solar electric fencing system
 is similar to those saving the
 livelihoods of the poor in rural Brazil.

Fabio Rosa’s coupling of technological invention with agricultural problem-solving are innovations central to his success. Solar energy, which is clean, renewable, decentralized, easy to install, and ideal for rural electrification “has always had one major drawback: high cost” (Bornstein, 2007, p. 32). Conventional power systems are “three-phase,” meaning they depend on an arrangement of three wires to function. Channeling his entrepreneurial spirit, Rosa adopted the single-wire innovation of a professor at the Professional Technical School of Pelotas named Ennio Amaral and combined it with solar electricity generation. The single wire system, a “monophase” arrangement, made delivering electricity much less expensive. “Using inexpensive materials and simplified construction methods, Rosa’s ‘monophase’ system…reduced electrical distribution costs from $7,000 to $400 per household” (Bornstein, 2006). Rosa applied Amaral’s ideas for cheapening electricity but further innovated by means of solar energy, electric fencing and electricity-run irrigation pumps. In this way, low-cost electricity can increase farmers’ yields while decreasing their negative environmental impact. For instance, Brazilian farmers often struggle with the detrimental agricultural and environmental effects of overgrazing their animals. However, building multiple small paddocks for healthy managed grazing in which animals would be rotated from paddock to paddock reduces soil erosion, cuts dependence on inorganic fertilizers, and boosts meat and milk yields (Bornstein, 2007, p. 35). The only way a most Brazilian farms can afford to build paddocks is using cheap electric fencing. Rosa put an equation together. “Solar energy + polywire + fiber-glass posts = inexpensive electric fencing. And inexpensive electric fencing + managed grazing = higher yields, sustainable land use, a rural future” (p. 37).

The fence consists of electrified threads woven through a fabric

Another innovation springs from another problem: “the tyranny of water” (Bornstein, 2007, p. 23). Red rice was a weed-like enemy facing farmers in Palmares, where Rosa began his first electrification efforts. Because of the overbearing nature of red rice, which can take over fields rapidly, famers in Palmares would cultivate only one quarter of their land each year, allowing the rest to lie fallow. Rosa’s innovated solution involved first providing monophase electric irrigation pumps and then saturating the fields using these pumps to keep oxygen out of the soil, thus preventing red rice from germinating. Only desired rice would grow in prepared paddies, red rice would be absent, and yields and income could be free to increase rapidly for the farmers (Bornstein 2007).

Rosa’s most business-like innovation was developing a rental system for the solar energy. By renting, customers would be spared Brazil’s overpowering sale’s tax, which has been known to drive prices up by over 50 percent. He could easily package the photovoltaic solar energy with “productive tools such as irrigation systems, electric fences and high-yielding organic farming methods” (Bornstein, 2006). To further cut costs, Rosa employs local labor (Rice, 2005).

For the first time, hundreds of families had lights, electric powered pumps, and refrigerators. Studies buttress the importance and effectiveness of Rosa’s projects. “Not only did low-cost electrification stop the flow of residents to cities, it reversed the flow. A study two years after the projects implementation showed that one in every three beneficiaries was someone who returned from the city to resume living in his former rural area. This was in large part because of the newly affordable electric service” (Profile, n.d.). This study substantiates Fabio’s conviction “poor people are not lured to the city because it is better; they’re expelled from the countryside because it’s unlivable for them. Given the means to live better, people stay near their rural roots” (Profile, n.d.). Rosa believes in making marginalized citizens into “active participants and beneficiaries” amidst the economy. People who experience improvements in income become active market producers and consumers (Profile, n.d.)

That's lettuce! Unbelievably tall and beautiful lettuce.

At the beginning of the Palmares experiment, all of the participants lived on or below the minimum wage. Within two years, half of those participants were supplied with Rosa’s water pumps. Now the farmers, able to irrigate their crops, increased their incomes from their farms by 400 percent. 83 percent soon had refrigeration, 70 percent benefitted from electrically heated showers, and 80 percent had television (Profiles, n.d.). Farmers who had moved to the city have begun returning home to the country due to the electricity prices that enable them to refrigerate perishables and irrigate crops. Burdens on city services have been reduced and farmers have been empowered to contribute more to economic commerce (Profiles, n.d.). Otila Maria Rosa dos Santos offers a testimonial. “She says her house is brighter and cleaner than before. The house no longer smells of kerosene. Next summer, dos Santos is looking forward to cooler nights—not having to burn lamps inside the house. But the greatest benefit of electricity is the effect on her son. “My son had told me he didn’t want to continue living in the dark…now he will stay” (Bornstein, 2006). “In one of Rosa’s most unexpected victories, the Brazilian government announced it will use his single wire model to bring electricity to millions of Brazilians”. 

Fabio Rosa’s victories came only after devoting all of his energy and skill to navigating poverty’s barriers and bureaucracy’s red tape. He stands out as a leader, a businessman, and a humanitarian—the perfect combination for forging the just society we dream of living in.

Chris, 23, our farm manager and man of many talents backflipping from a rope swing on the Brandywine 

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: SEE BELOW.

Fabio’s innovative work is carried by his projects and organizations, involving the labor of many technicians. Sistemas de Tecnologia Agroelectro (STA), the Institute for the Development of Natural Energy and Sustainability (IDEAAS), The Sun Shines for All (TSSA), and The Quiron and Encruzilhada Projects take varied approaches to making electricity affordable, practical, and useable for the poorest inhabitants of Brazil. They are all models for upcoming electrification and agricultural plans in other states and countries.

Rosa’s business savvy has led him to build hybrid ventures: a for-profit corporation, STA, and a not-for-profit organization, IDEAAS. Both have proven to be sustainable through their business models. STA utilizes cost-recovery through its rental system’s products and services, while IDEAAS mobilizes funding from other sources, like philanthropists and the public (Schwab, n.d.). The entrepreneur admits financing is the main difficulty in project expansion. “Brazil’s new government cut lines of credit used by the national development bank to assist small farms. Although [Rosa’s] projects have repaid all loans and become self-sustaining after the initial phase, financing is assured now only for 4,000 out of 200,000 families” (Profile, n.d.). Not to be deterred, Fabio contacted the ministers of social action and agriculture to reestablish credit lines, and The National Development Bank supported his requests. STA was designed to circumvent governmental bureaucratic obstacles, and IDEAAS was designed to overcome corporate, privatized barriers to social and environmental value creation. Rosa also “began “hammering out a business model,” naming it “The Sun Shines for All.” He spent two years making income projections, analyzing the competition, risks, and market, formulating pro forma cash flow, and building a business plan overall (Bornstein, 2006).

At least half of the efforts made to keep the projects sustainable must come from the communities themselves. STA and IDEAAS hold preliminary meetings to establish whether a community finds it prudent to pursue one of Rosa’s projects. After a community commits, local governments administer a survey of electrification needs. Then, organizers plug away to “instill a positive collective sense among participants. Leaders eventually emerge within the groups. The community executes the project and, finally, a community association is formed” (Profile n.d.). Rosa identifies leaders in each community to help him convince their neighbors renting soclar energy will benefit them, and will cost no more than they are already paying for candles, batteries, and lamp oil” (Profile n.d.). In this way communities keep the projects alive. They sustain Rosa’s work. The direct social impact of the projects has been remarkable.

Now, if we could only find an effective alternative to using plastic mulch...

Bornstein, David (2007). How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New

Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press

Bornstein, David (February 7, 2006). Fabio Rosa: Making the Sun Shine for All. Retrieved from

http://www.globalenvision.org/library/10/954

Profile: Fábio Luiz de Oliveira Rosa. Retrieved from http://www.ashoka.org/node/3291

Rice, Marion (June 2005). Meet the New Heroes: Fabio Rosa. Retrieved from

http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/rosa.html

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship: Fabio Rosa. Retrieved from

http://www.schwabfound.org/sf/SocialEntrepreneurs/Profiles/index.htm?sname=118230&sorganization=0&sarea=0&ssector=0&stype=0

Your intentions are your only limitation

"When I'm forced to sit there in a desk, my mind wanders. But what happens the moment I stand up and I can do something creative with my hands. Am I still disabled?" 

~Jonathan Mooney, from What the Silenced Say.

I arrived on the farm to find a student from Kimberton Waldorf school seeding lettuce. I introduced myself and began working alongside him. Before long I became curious as to who he was and where he was from.

“Are you hired help? Or volunteering?”

“My school requires us to work on a farm for a week.”

Wait. What? Cool. 

His school, the Kimberton Waldorf school near Phoenixville, unburdened by most bureaucracy, treats students like human beings, like young people who need nurturing, and people who have value to contribute. Waldorf takes to heart the idea that we learn most of what we experience. In Waldorf education, all subjects are integrated. Students may learn about physics using measurements in iambic pentameter and thus, learn about poetry. They design, craft, and create their own textbooks, utilizing their art, imagination, and writing. Rather than being talked at by impersonal textbook, weighed with imposing girth, the students grow attached to their books and their learning. It's not something they will throw in the recycling bin at the end of year. It's a learning journal. Teachers stay with students from their earliest years until their graduation, personalizing education.

Music, dance and theater, writing, literature, legends and myths are not simply subjects to be read about and tested. They are experienced. Through these experiences, our students cultivate their intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual capacities to be individuals certain of their paths and to be of service to the world.

http://kimberton.org/


Waldorf education seeks to answer the question: What is true learning? How can all of us learn to pursue what is fascinating to us? How can school inspire, through an educational partnership, a fresh sense of wonder that hearkens back to the way we perceived the world as small children. Education should encourage students to pursue genuine learning like a child might chase flying insects--with wide-eyed wonder--to achieve their own empowerment. 


Students nationwide suffer from miscommunication with their school systems, unclear expectations, misleading instructions, and overemphasis on grades. We become disillusioned and disheartened, emotions that can harm the relationship between a person and their learning. "Education" for many people means playing the game of school, and beating the system, but if we do not allow ourselves to follow our butterflies, our interests, our spirits, our empowerment, how can we lead fulfilling, meaningful lives?


The most suspicious bit of evidence is how ADD and ADHD symptoms melt away in the sunlight. When children are outside, their penchant for so-called "misbehaving" dissipates (see the link below). The "logical conclusion" for children who cannot stop shaking their leg, or drumming with their fingers, or speaking out of turn is to diagnose them with "a problem". So we pump them with medication. 


Kids who have "ADD" or "ADHD" don't have a voice like industry pharmaceuticals and Ph.D. dissertations. We believe in the right of an intellectual elite who go to Ivy League institutions. As our society becomes more accepting of "diversity," we need to consider especially cognitive diversity. Embrace what is awesome about your mind. 
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/8274.html

The student, 15, asks Coyote and I if we have advice for him regarding high school and college, and maybe even life beyond college.

Coyote says something typically mind-blowing, which I don’t remember now. I share with the student that he should not to underestimate himself, that he should not compare himself to others with harsh judgment, that just because people may be older than him, they don’t know better simply by virtue of their age “advantage”.  I also advised him to try a lot. Anything he thinks he’s interested in.

He has so much life ahead of him.

I'm ecstatic that students are learning to reconnect with their food sources, their health, and the lovely peace of working the land in the service of forging their worldviews.

Swiss Chard

Coyote Howl

Coyote, 28, is the kind of man who inspires authors.

Coyote’s worked on farms. I figured he had. How many lawyers are found in tents on the side of the road, thirsty, content, and caught in the rain?

Like a literary creation, he talks of where he’s been and his vision for healthful, wholesome communities heartened and sustained by people who celebrate together their lives, who all contribute to the raising of children, who build a library and share books, conversation, food, music, observations, and wisdom, who identify with nature and embrace a strong community identity.

He set out in Maine, on foot, a tent on his back. He spent some time working the land in Minnesota, and is now walking South. Thornbury Farm was blessed to have him join us for two days before he moved on to continue his traveling romance with our country.

“Coyote,” I confided, “my doubts and fears hold me back from walking across the country,” and he said, his trepidation about going on a long, wandering journey began to dissipate when he left and had confidence that he could keep putting one foot ahead of the other.

“Great minds discuss ideas” Eleanor Roosevelt is purported to have said.

“As well as you can manage to describe, why did you leave in the first place?” I posed.

Coyote closed his eyes to think in the sanctuary of his mind, which offered me little choice but to listen to the sounds of birds and insects surrounding me—and that lack of speech was nearly his explanation in itself.

“I used to feel overwhelmed. I used to read books in my room and feel overwhelmed by the failing of Earth’s life support systems. But rather than be afraid, I want to be present. Present for the unraveling of life on Earth.” He answered.

Howling

This resonated in me like a stone thrown down a deep well. Every day in Conservation Biology I had been scared. Conservation Biology is a crisis science, and the philosophy cries out that ecosystems are so degraded, and biodiversity so threatened, that we must act to save life on Earth before we know how.

“I like how I feel when I am outside and walking”, and Coyote, if I am misquoting you or misunderstanding you, I beg your forgiveness.

And this subtle, simplified thought brings me back to awareness.

I was weeding our young rows of corn in the presence of a great mind and greater heart. Someone who yearns to engage his community and love his community, and also “be there for the unraveling of the Earth’s life support systems.” In the plants, we talked about our upbringings, about religion, politics, and “horizontal hostilities,” the ways we oppress each other within each tier of our culture of socio-economic stratification. When you have people supposedly "above" you telling you what to do, you don't need those who are "on your level" making life difficult, and yet this has been a historical trend. We oppress each other as much as we the victims of oppression from "the top, down". 

I shared with him my frustration about working as a canvasser on an environmental political campaign. The ignorance of those whose doors I knocked on, the fact that I was at their mercy in order to reach my nightly quota of memberships. All to save the stream in their backyard from their runoff so they could keep their lawn "beautiful" and artificial. All the while, Coyote listened, empathized, and offered his insights.

You meet people on a farm. Characters. You meet certain people in a shopping mall and you meet certain people on the road. Who of these people are written into books?

Coyote’s the kind of man who inspires authors. May he bring his depth and lightness to every community he brushes. Sometimes you just need to go.

Coyote and his trademark wool hat.

Except, instead of a red pill, you can just eat some fresh sugar peas.

“Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.”  ― Wendell Berry


Growing your own food is one of the most liberating actions each of us can take. Daniel Quinn puts it this way: We submit to a culture that locks up the food, and in so doing, our lives our delineated. The trappings of culture  become nearly inescapable: an omnipresent societal hierarchy, working for wages, even the emergence of religion. I must ponder these powerful ideas further, especially the question Quinn poses: If the food wasn't locked up, who would work? and why? what for?


What does locking up the food mean exactly? Is it the fact that civilization with economies in demand of burgeoning "efficiency" allow for rampant specialization and punishes people who do not take their place in the metaphorical assembly line? Each of us performing our one ordained action in order to receive a monthly allowance of food from the supermarket? Each of us waiting in the bread line to get our share of whatever the monocroppers produce for us? All the while under the impression of  believing that we are practicing choice? It's a lot to think about and question duly.


Wow. Maybe it's time to take the red pill and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes. (Matrix clip follows)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ1_IbFFbzA


It may take a little expertise (because many of us have become so separated from our food) to grow successfully a garden of multitudinous foods, but it will set you free in a way working for money never will. This, I can believe. Choosing to work on a small farm is, for many, inherently philosophical, even political, inseparable from worldview.


Becoming a member of your local CSA is a step in the right direction.


Sometimes, such a philosophy can set free an entire city. Havana in Cuba, is one such remarkable city, that, due to the pressures of the US embargo and the lack of aid from the Soviet Bloc, was nearly forced into growing food in every available space, and in so doing, has become one of the most food secure, self-sufficient, large human communities on Earth.

When the Soviet Bloc collapsed in 1989, Cuba lost its food imports and agricultural inputs from which it depended for an adequate supply of food. The US Embargo also created a shortage of petrol necessary to transport the food from the rural agriculture sector to the city. This marked the beginning of serious food shortages that shook the entire country, but most of all Havana.

When these sources where cut off and food shortages began, Havana residents responded en masse, planting food crops on porches, balconies, backyards and empty city lots...

continued here: http://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/havana-feeding-the-city-on-urban-agriculture

Honey, I shrunk my wound.

I know it's not the same as being there and being present among quizzical chickens and Oskar the peacock, but here is a batch of photos that hint at the splendor of working on a small farm, without the sweat and dirt, though I much prefer my experience swelling with both of those enlivening reminders of life. 

Honey is an antibacterial you can eat! Besides it's exquisite taste, it can also be used to treat infections. And it never goes bad. Honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs is still edible. See the link below all of the pics.

Really now, do you really want tomatoes that have been picked before they're ripe and then sprayed with ethylene to artificially ripen them? All in the name of transporting them 1000s of miles so you can pay for their cross-country trip...

"Out of season, the tomato is usually picked before it's ripe for transportation across the country. It is then sprayed with ethylene, a chemical that forces the fruit to ripen - with mediocre results." http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/05/tomato_genome_map.html

Thornbury's CSA store where our savvy neighbors can purchase local honey, natural, aromatic soaps, and freshly picked and washed arugula.

 Oh. Hi!

 Oskar the peacock

3 reasons Honey is an antibacterial. 

1. Honey is a saturated or supersaturated solution of sugars that has strong interaction with water molecules. The lack of ‘free’ water inhibits the growth of microorganisms.
2. When honey is diluted by wound exudates, hydrogen peroxide is produced via a glucose oxidase enzyme reaction. This is released slowly to provide antibacterial activity but does not damage tissue.
3. In addition to its antimicrobial properties, honey also appears to stimulate lymphocytic and phagocytic activity. These are key body immune responses in the battle against infection.

In most cases, honey is used when conventional antibacterial treatment with antibiotics and antiseptics are ineffective. Numerous studies have shown that these difficult-to-heal wounds respond well to honey dressings. Inflammation, swelling and pain rapidly subside, unpleasant odours stop, debridement is enhanced as the honey dressings remove dead tissue painlessly and without causing damage to the regrowing cells. Honey promotes rapid healing with minimal scarring.

Honey can also be used as first aid treatment for burns as it has potent anti-inflammatory activity.

http://dermnetnz.org/treatments/honey.html

Need a focus.

Leave negativity behind. Come to the garden. No really, visit us!

Staking and winding tomato trellises, laying new mulch and preparing new beds, roto tilling, weeding, and ho-ing have brought me to this point. I’ve helped to make food spring forth by the sweat of my brow, eyed Zach’s delightfully arresting dog Jinxie sprawl happily on the farm like it’s his savannah, and taken in the feeling of, for once, doing something as a college student that doesn’t involve sitting in front of a computer screen and/or thinking mostly about myself.

Now it’s time to buckle down and focus on summer project. I have been brainstorming ideas for expanding the role of the farm in the community, for beefing up PR, and for maybe solving some “problems”, etc. But I am new here and many of you have probably been living in the West Chester area for a long time.

I would love to hear from you! What should be a priority over the next few months? What seems to be an especially good endeavor? This is a good chance to have a role in shaping the operations of your local farm.

Below appear some options:

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

-       Forge a relationship with the West Chester Food Cupboard, a nonprofit that provides monthly groceries to people who are suffering from poverty and need aid in acquiring food for their families. (http://westchesterfoodcupboard.blogspot.com/). If we have produce that is no longer usable for sale, we can either bring a basket of produce to the nearby food cupboard, or have them pick it up from us.

-     

  Initiating a farm-to-school program, and selling some produce etc. for use in school lunches, perhaps with a small school, a private school like St. Agnes. I’m already friendly and familiar with St. Agnes School and with its principal Sister Joan because I helped to write a grant proposal for art room renovations as part of my class last year (http://saintagnesschoolwc.org/)

      I can look into this, make some phone calls, and see if this is feasible.

HISPANIC OUTREACH / ETHNIC APPEAL

-       The Hispanic population is sizable and growing! Businesses are trying to tap into this new market, but to be successful, they have to connect with Hispanic cultures and communicate effectively, which I have some experience with. There are several Hispanic groceries really close by.

-       Certain ethnic groups value farm products that the mainstream community has no interest in.

o   Here are some nearby options:

§  Maria De Jesus Mexican Grocery

·      127 E Market St.

·      610-436-7456

§  La Rancherita

·      323 E Gay St.

·      610-918-6200

§  Senora’s Authentic Mexican

·      505 E Gay St.

·      610-344-4950

PR & MARKETING

-        Besides writing a blog (and linking it to the Thornbury website) about my experiences working in the soil and learning how to grow food sustainably and sell locally (Pictures and smoothly edited videos would flesh out the blog and provide a window into the daily experiences of working on a CSA farm. Hopefully, there will emerge a group of online blog subscribers. 

-       Create a “product” that is uniquely Thornbury (a food perhaps? A unique pie?) Something that can be the Thornbury “signature,” and make it known!

-       Discuss Thornbury, the community, etc. on my radio show Sunday nights on WCUR 91.7 in the fall. We could even record a Public Service Announcement about organic/local/sustainable farming  to play on the air every day.

-       CRITICAL QUESTION: Is there anything that is being brought into the area because of high demand that we could produce?

-       A delivery program (I could do the driving), with which people can call in orders of certain foods/gifts and we can drop off at any address –THIS WOULD BE IDEAL for GIFT-GIVING. Say it’s someone’s mother’s birthday and they want to send her some local honey and other ingredients with a recipe for baking a delicious pastry…wouldn’t that be cool!

EDUCATION

-       Invite school groups and church/synagogue groups to visit the farm and have activities planned for them (like releasing beneficial insects), or cooking, or doing a little planting/picking.

-       A “camp,” maybe 2 – 4 days long. I could design a “curriculum/program” and itinerary of activities that would be fun for kids and educational. I bet some of our CSA members would love sending their kids to learn in a wholesome environment. It’s another way to take advantage of the farm for all it’s worth.

“PROBLEMS”

-       Figure out a method for recycling/reusing the plastic black mulch, or simply purchase a biodegradable variety (cutting down on labor costs), and easing the operations of the farm.

-       Here’s an example of biodegradable Eco-One mulch: http://www.eco-light.net/eco-one.aspx

-       Let’s make Thornbury even MORE sustainable/environmentally friendly.

THERE ARE SO MANY BARS IN WEST CHESTER

-       What about making beer? People go nuts for locally brewed beer.

o   (I can look into the process)

What's your itch? What keeps you awake at night?


For this resolute intern at Thornbury Farm CSA, the itch is having Earth's sixth mass extinction on our hands. Collapsing ecosystems threaten our planet's biodiversity, politics act fickly and feebly to preserve habitat, and new "super-pests" wreak havoc on crops due to pesticide overuse. A freight train of seemingly insurmountable problems daunts us, taunts us, and makes hoping seem silly. 


Our current food production scheme has proven to exacerbate more environmental degradation worldwide in more ways than make sense to list here. The production and transportation of food, involves deforestation, loss of biodiversity, pesticides, runoff, erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, and inhumane treatment of animals, is a burden to all life on the planet. 


But there is reason to hope. Very delicious and nutritious reason to hope.


The solution to both the moral decline of food-production, and to our feelings of indignance and frustration, is fulfilling and delicious, achievable, and worth working in the soil for. We can possibly do the lion’s share required of us to save the world simply by eating, not only good food, but the right food. Isn't that simple!? Talk about giving people a more positive vision to work toward rather than scaring them to death… instead of our terrifying image of homeland security forever being attached to violent images, let us send out our “exploratory sprouts” and realize that “homeland security [also] derives from having enough potatoes” (Kingsolver 80).

That's not to say we don't face some mighty opponents.

“Thomas Jefferson…presumed on the basis of colonial experience that farming and democracy are intimately connected. Cultivation of land meets the needs of the farmer, the neighbors, and the community, and keeps people independent from domineering central powers. In Jefferson’s time, that was the king. In ours, it’s multinational corporations” (Barbara Kingsolver from page 150 of her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle)

I began interning at Thornbury to learn the ways of trellising, tilling, seeding, and fixing because if the zombie apocalypse happened today, I would have little practical skill in my survival toolkit, and one most likely cannot live on Ramen alone, despite what my roommate says.

As I craft this blog, I am exploring what it means to live and eat sustainably. I invite you to join me on my journey, read about my experience on the farm day-to-day, and learn, through my eyes and writing wits, about Truth in farming, environmental stewardship, and community engagement. 

Love,

Ben