At ASPI we dream about big things from small-ish movements. While it is no little thing to grow food for your family, it is not feeding the world. It contributes to feeding the world, and, if you think about it, if everyone could grow more of their own food, it would feed the world. And so the big dreams form. . . Our mission is focussed on sustainability at ASPI. My family dreams of producing most of our own food.

That is a big dream. When we surveyed our tomatoes after rationing the water in the rain barrels for weeks and then standing on the porch watch a deluge for another few weeks, we were quiet. My eight-year old looked at her Romas (which may be the saving grace of the tomato patch), my five-year old surveyed his yellow tomatoes (he prefers less acid, thank-you-very-much) with a serious eye, the baby sniffed a Cherokee Purple, then sunk his teeth in without even picking it. We sighed. It was the most unblemished, ripest tomato we had going. Then the five-year old laughed at his little brother, “It’s good, isn’t it? That’s the best. Right from the garden.” His sister chimed in, “At least someone ate it. Went right to the belly. Just like our peas.”

I grinned. Our tomatoes are alright. We’ve clipped some diseased leaves – oh, o.k. more like branches, and they are not going to bear the glorious harvest of our dreams. But did we have peas! This year we ate peas until, well, we could always eat more peas. We froze peas. That was my goal, even the smallest amount . We never, ever have enough peas. The few that grew were gobbled by children well before they could make it to the house. We also have onions! Never grew them before. They are drying in bunches on the side porch, next to the garlic – enough for all year and cloves to plant this fall. (Side note: I love garlic – my husband likes garlic when it is hidden in and not part of the title of the dish. If you have this conflict in your house, do not cure your garlic on the porch next to your bedroom window. Waking up and trying to identify the smell at 2 a.m. is not good public relations for garlic.)

So in a better mood, the kids and I went on to survey the rest of the garden. We pulled some spent beans and raked to get ready for some beet planting tomorrow. With that to look forward to, we turned to the grim realty of our potatoes. We are also new to potatoes. Something had not gone right. The five-year old was in charge of pulling diseased parts and putting them in a burn pile. By the beginning of July he had his work cut out for him. I figured they were done for, but he liked it. I hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed if there was nothing to harvest – or worse, mush. While the kiddos chased a toad, I dug with the tater fork. Nothing. Little left. Potatoes! Smooth-skinned, round, good-sized potatoes. I dug a little row then called the kids. This was not a brag-worthy harvest amount, but the excitement of digging food out of the ground cannot be overstated. This was real joy.  Up from the Earth – food!

Children will gladly run out to the garden for dill for their potato salad.

We ate our first kholrabi last night.  It got great reviews from the parents and tolerable reviews from kids.  We added beans and cukes to our salad of kale (which keeps throughout the summer for some reason in our garden.)  Meat has taken a side dish place on our plates this summer.  So, as I sigh about our ho-hum tomatoes, my children and my plate remind me that a garden is more than tomatoes and even, more than food.

P.S.  I haven’t harvested many peppers, either.   The toddler and 5-year old hunt for them and eat them right there in the garden.  I will put my dreams of stuffed peppers on hold, then, until the children are eight and can wait until supper.  The toad is doing well.  We gave him a couple of upturned pots, and he is a regular among the winter squash.

Living sustainably does not mean living independently.  Even self-sustainable homesteads rely on neighbors.  We are at an interesting time in the human history of housing.  We have many and varied requirements when choosing our homes:  finances, amount of land, access to resources (could be water source, could be library), access to a job, schools in the area . . . and you can think of more, I'm sure.

Very few folks put neighbors very high on the list.  There are some intentional communities, and some folks do choose to live next to family, but can you imagine?  "Hi, I'm thinking of moving in two houses down, could we chat?  I'd like to know who my neighbors will be the rest of my life?"

Then, you go ahead and make some good neighbor friends - and they move away.  You'll still be friends - "Read my blog.  I'll look for your pictures on Facebook."  But they are not physically there.  We've been a highly mobile society for a long time now.

Do you know your neighbors?  If they may be in need?  Traditionally, February is the lean month.  Winter supplies are low.  O.K. - my immediate neighbors do not need food or heat.  But, the lights have been flickering, school has been cancelled more than convened, roads are slick, and the sparse winter sunlight is filtered by a low blanket of clouds.

Is there someone who 
cannot get out - and could use some canned goods or toilet paper?
needs some snow removed?
needs help with child care when school is out, but work is required?
needs to get to a doctor's appointment or needs a medicine refill?
could use some help caring for outdoor animals?
needs fuel (wood, coal, kerosene)?
would appreciate a hot shower if electricity has been out?
hasn't been able to get out, and could chat for an hour?
has been at home for weeks with kiddos and could use an hour of alone time?
has been at home for weeks with kiddos and could use a cup of coffee and a chat with another adult?
is sick and could use a pot of soup and some bread?
is experiencing the first winter for someone without their partner?

Gasoline for two moderately-distant trips to grandparents - check!  Still groggy from family buffets with ingredients from all over the globe - and some crazy-out-of-season fruits and veggies - check!  Very snug on a blistery day courtesy of electric heat produced by coal (probably from another country because Kentucky coal is mostly sold to other nations) - check!

Obviously the holidays - and winter itself - are times when it is a lot more difficult to maintain or intervene on behalf of sustainability.  We travel, need to stay warm, and whatever our traditions, usually add to our food availability! Most of our celebrations throughout the year are like this.  But I don't intend to preach - the first paragraph was specifically about me and my family - I propose that whether we are conscious of sustainability issues or not, a trend is starting for different reasons in different populations - but, it is a trend toward sustainability.  Our very typical, American family is no exception:

First, gifts: We have three young children - and so attend birthday parties.  Including ours, we are seeing a trend toward the "no gifts" requests.  Children do love to give gifts, as well, so we've seen variations - "she would love homemade cards," or "feel free to make something" - a parent actually called before my daughter's party and asked if they could make something.  The little beaded chain is a favorite clipped to her backpack - and she knows her friend made it especially for her.  It's not that folks don't want children to have the joy of receiving gifts, but a party is pretty big joy, and we are acknowledging that we have enough stuff.  Also, there are always the grandparents - and I know of no ways to enforce no gifts from them.

But - the grandparents - well, they are doing some really sustainable things - and not for sustainability reasons.  One set is getting the kids "experiences" for their birthdays.  The other has decided on one activity-based bigger gift for each family (and a stocking) for Christmas, instead of a gluttony of smaller items.  We are got our own zip-line this year and are ready to fly!

Speaking of Christmas, well, Santa brought a puppet theater that suspends from tension rods in a doorway, some locally-made wood baby toys, a pair of handmade stilts, handmade hats and scarves (not by me!), a new-to-us toy for each child, a new toy for each child, and books, toothbrush, and socks.  (One set with dinosaurs, people, - these cause much toe wiggling and random kicking of the feet.)

And what did we give?  We got caught up with the chalkboard theme - and had leftover paint and wood.  So we cut the outlines of states folks live in from wood, painted the states (the older kids love maps right now), and attached a means to hang them.  Only, Uncle Eric has lived in a lot of states, so he got a cat silhouette.  Even the teacher gift was a chalkboard - a baseball field with his favorite team.

And we are planning for this upcoming year.  After making the chalkboards, the kids are as excited to plan gifts as they are to plan next year's Halloween costumes - that is ridiculously excited.  (In case you are wondering, we will be mythical creatures in October, 2014 which was decided in November, 2013.)  Today we will finish our garden plans, taking inventory of our seeds, and place a seed order - not just to grow plants for our gardens, but for Mothers' Day gifts, end-of-the-year school gifts, and neighborly friendliness.  (Last year, the men who delivered our new refrigerator took home some heirloom tomato starts and a large bag of mint runners  (I warned them!)

We could live without gifts, but not food - and the same trend is holding:   At Thanksgiving someone (not us) brought a kale salad.  My cousins and I did not know what kale was when were children.  Someone else brought a spinach-egg paleolithic diet dish.  Both were locally-sourced.  We brought homemade bread with local flour, eggs, and herbs.  Another cousin brought farm-stand pumpkin butter.  We had most of our traditional foods, too, but all at once, there was a local flavor not felt for a long time at our Thanksgiving pot-luck.

City friends visited last year, and we were having such a good time they stayed for supper - which we had not planned.  It was spring, so we made what we always make if we haven't planned - a greens and peas frittata and a quick brown bread.  They were reminded of the benefits of having veggies on hand that they went back to town and found a spot in a community garden.

They may be small things - but the motivation for living sustainably is creeping into our culture - and that is no little thing.  It is not legislated or brought about by much hardship.  Once it has a little more foothold in the culture, legislature will follow (or be pulled howling and screaming).  ASPI is here with ideas and assistance and researching new possibilities for sustainability all the while.