tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7903933960967895028.post6063254276633871476..comments2023-12-18T03:55:38.740-08:00Comments on Design Banter: Your local farmer could be YOU!A.Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174962059680450858noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7903933960967895028.post-34297720821165090902010-06-15T09:22:04.107-07:002010-06-15T09:22:04.107-07:00Thanks for writing about the community garden Anne...Thanks for writing about the community garden Anne! This will be an exciting project indeed: from my first community organizing to first rototiller experience.<br /><br />While on the topic, another benefit to having some gardening space, especially one that is shared with a group of others, is being able to experiment with raising plants, reteaching ourselves (humans, that is) how to work with the land and nature, and learning things from your neighboring gardener. I'm reading <a href="http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=growing+veggies+west+of+the+cascades&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=9787044244356242091&ei=EaQXTJ28Boy2NqqG0YML&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCoQ8wIwAg#" rel="nofollow">Growing veggies west of the Cascades</a>, and he makes an excellent point that kind of conflicts with the urban nerd in me: not too long ago, kids grew up with a hoe in their hand, knowing everything about living off the land; then came the generation that grew up with a TV remote in their hand, knowing all the TV schedules; then the computer mouse and knowing the computer. I don't know about you but I feel like my mysterious brown thumb comes from it being too busy changing channels and pressing the punch-kick buttons. So this project is exciting for me because it gives me chance to make up for that, maybe take a break from playing video games for awhile, pick up some tricks from other gardeners, and I don't have to leave my urban village.<br /><br />Finally, since you are discussing the facets of urban ag, here is a striking (to me at least) observation from last weekend: everyone that helped out were all late-20- / early-30-somethings. I was curious who would show up to the work party, all the while picturing an older crowd. The volunteers said the same thing, that they pictured me to be a 40- or 50-something. I'm not sure if that means anything, other than it bodes well for the longevity of the urban ag concept; as long as us 20- and 30-somethings can keep our enthusiasm and not get distracted by the video games.Wesley Kirkmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01053742157403971816noreply@blogger.com