The Story
A while back I mentioned something I'd heard about how land developers are now wanting to save old barns that would then be included as part of their new communities.
Turns out, that's what people want, and the developers are listening. It affects their bottom line so it definitely has their attention.
In some cases the old structures are being saved and in others new communities are being created from scratch that revolve around the community's desire to produce their own foods on their local level.
Here's a pic showing one such place in Gilbert, Arizona, not far from Phoenix. It's from an article on the subject of Agrihoods in the New York Times, the link follows below.
Wow, how cool is that?
Click here for the story => New York Times article
This is an amazing thing to have happen and I really believe it will sweep across our country as more people say enough already with industrialized agriculture and work to reestablish more modest systems that will work on a local scale.
Of course we have to have industrialized ag, I realize that, but for those who have the option, bringing it all back 'in-house' is a very attractive idea and it will be a lot of fun to watch it all develop.
We, not unlike a Bachian fugue, are returning to where we began. We are going back to our roots of tending to our own food sources.
Oh, it won't be pretty as the industrial giants fight us every step of the way, but the wave of people reclaiming their food rights is here and now and growing exponentially.
Related
Check out the link below to author David Gumpert's website where he focuses on the efforts of organized government and industry to rob us of our food sovereignty. What's happening around the country is dastardly and absolutely amazing and he is paying close attention to it all. You can find that here => We are born with food rights
His website provides tons of information on things happening around the country, with the farmers and people usually winning in court and yes, the court battles are many and pretty amazing when you pry back the veneer of it all and take a look behind the scenes.
It seems bizarre that we can't buy a gallon of milk straight from the farm without fear of government reprisals. Some of the stories are shocking, so please do check out David's site.
Art the Farmer
Arthur has made it through this brutal Wisconsin Winter but the struggle for him ran deep. He has already planned around the potential of frozen pipes next Winter by replacing the pipes damaged this year with a product called PEX piping. It's polyethylene and can evidently freeze but not break -- it just expands until it thaws. And to help further avoid freezing, he's going to run the new PEX lines inside a PVC pipe with access at one end so as to be able to use a blow dryer etc. to thaw the pipes when necessary.
He's planning for the coming year so that's a good thing to hear. I told him I want to go back to the Heart Prairie Church with him for Christmas services again this year and he said that was a good idea, so that's a good sign.
And there's still plenty of hay up in the mow to keep everyone in the barn happy until turnout. The target date for that is always around Mother's Day, which is Sunday, May 11 this year.
His website provides tons of information on things happening around the country, with the farmers and people usually winning in court and yes, the court battles are many and pretty amazing when you pry back the veneer of it all and take a look behind the scenes.
It seems bizarre that we can't buy a gallon of milk straight from the farm without fear of government reprisals. Some of the stories are shocking, so please do check out David's site.
Art the Farmer
Arthur has made it through this brutal Wisconsin Winter but the struggle for him ran deep. He has already planned around the potential of frozen pipes next Winter by replacing the pipes damaged this year with a product called PEX piping. It's polyethylene and can evidently freeze but not break -- it just expands until it thaws. And to help further avoid freezing, he's going to run the new PEX lines inside a PVC pipe with access at one end so as to be able to use a blow dryer etc. to thaw the pipes when necessary.
He's planning for the coming year so that's a good thing to hear. I told him I want to go back to the Heart Prairie Church with him for Christmas services again this year and he said that was a good idea, so that's a good sign.
And there's still plenty of hay up in the mow to keep everyone in the barn happy until turnout. The target date for that is always around Mother's Day, which is Sunday, May 11 this year.
Some free press
Everyone likes a little free press now and then and I managed to work some out with the quarterly magazine from my alma mater, University of Dayton. I sent a note about the old barns shows etc. to the Alumni Section and then we talked, and they responded with a 400 word story on it all. It was a really nice experience working with their Managing Editor, Audrey Starr, and their layout and overall piece looks great, here's a scan of the actual page. The layout through the link below is necessarily different. 
Checkout the article here => Dayton article Close
That pretty much gets everyone caught up on things. More later as we move into the new season. Stay tuned and thanks for clicking in!
Tom
PS -- And I'm just glad there will be more haying with Art the Farmer this year. I'm not ready for that to stop quite yet.
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