by Megan M. on November 1, 2008 · Comments(Blog) |
You may have noticed that the post I made earlier has been irrevocably altered by entertaining zombie drawings. That’s because Marty is gloriously funny (and twisted), and he illustrated my story about joining a CSA. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should take a look.
by Megan M. on November 1, 2008 · Comments(Blog) |
“CSA” stands for community-supported agriculture. It means that you pay the farmer, and the farmer feeds you. No stores. No markets. No middle men.
I looked for CSA programs around Austin when I moved here, but I didn’t find any; I had the CSA “blues”. But I signed up with Greenling, discovered Wheatsville Co-op, and was quite content. Wheatsville is as close as I’ve gotten to a perfect grocery—they really care, and they’re exactly the right place for me to get almost everything I need. But I still wanted a CSA.
Johnson’s Backyard Garden, a little family farm not too far from me. To my utter astonishment, I found that they had a CSA program with great reviews. I leapt enthusiastically onto their waiting list! I didn’t know when (or if!) I would get in, and I didn’t care. Mad visions of vegetable prep parties danced in my head.
This week, I got into the program. I have been doing crazed jigs of glee. I had no idea it would happen so quickly. Oh, the vegetables I shall reap! If I’m not going to garden myself, I want to put my money in the hands of the people who grow my food. I want to know who they are. I want to interact with them, value them, trust them. And this is the first step that I can take towards that goal.
I don’t know how it will go yet. I haven’t even gotten my first share! But I know that this path resonates with me and I’m going to give it the fair chance it deserves. I’m tired of encountering this weird un-food mentality where we disconnect from the things we eat and have no concept of where it came from, or how it got to us. We’re told stories about food that have nothing to do with what the food really is, and I’m tired of participating—I’m choosing something else. Something a little (a lot) more real.
These vegetables will be harvested the same day I pick them up. That’s pretty damn real.
I get my first share on Wednesday. I’m insanely excited. About vegetables. I’m still going to shop at Wheatsville, because I adore them and want to support them (and the CSA will only provide part of our grocery needs). If you need organic produce delivered straight to your door, I’d go with Greenling. But if you can… support the farmer.
That’s what I’m trying next.
Absurdly entertaining zombie concept drawings courtesy of the great Martin Whitmore.
by Megan M. on October 31, 2008 · Comments(Blog) |
Bolofeesh makes me super happy, and Paul is an awesome dude. (He’s also a fellow Triiibesman!)
Also? I can’t help but link to his Halloween comic(s), it being Halloween and all. ;}
[Edit: Nope, you’re not crazy—this did post yesterday. I had some weird impulse that there were thirty days in October… Ha! So, sorry about that folks! Here are your feesh. USE THEM WISELY!)
by Megan M. on October 30, 2008 · Comments(Blog) |
Your mission, gentle readers, should you choose to accept it…
Over the weekend, Marty and I watched Seth Godin’s Tribes presentation, given this month in New York. An enthusiastic pack of Triiibes members traveled to attend, and many of them took audio and video of the event. It was no surprise that after the fact I had my hands on Seth’s slides and the audio of his talk, and so you, in turn, should not be surprised that I am about to foist it on you.
It is going to blow your mind. As surely as you are staring at this screen, you need to see this thing.
I ran the slides and audio for Pace and Kyeli Monday evening. It blew their minds. I sent links to Rudi, and had her watch and report back. It blew her mind, too. Cricket and Nathan are next; they cannot escape my clutches. (Neither, my pretties, can you.)
I’d say I had a good three trillion separate revelations while parsing this perfect, perfect presentation, and it’s immensely important to me that you have the same opportunity.
So here’s what you need to do.
Go download the audio. You can get it from John Wall’s Marketing Over Coffee blog, right here.
Now—you can do this—set the audio playing. And click through these slides while you listen. Even better, you can download the Powerpoint presentation to your computer and go through them that way. (It’s a 75mb file, but there are notes to help keep you on track!) You can even watch the gorgeous full video with Q&A that Anne McCrossan at Visceral Business uploaded to blip.tv (it’s fantastic).
See? Just like being in New York!
This presentation is a lot like Seth’s book, but it’s also a whole different animal. You have to experience it to believe it. It runs about an hour, and I promise you on my life it’s worth the time.
You’d better just go watch it now. You know I’ll only kidnap you and make you watch it here if you don’t. And then there’s the cost of rope and transportation, and I’ll probably make you eat raw produce, and you’re a grown up. You can make your own decisions.
Johnson’s Backyard Garden, a little family farm not too far from me. To my utter astonishment, I found that they had a CSA program with great reviews. I leapt enthusiastically onto their waiting list! I didn’t know when (or if!) I would get in, and I didn’t care. Mad visions of vegetable prep parties danced in my head.
I don’t know how it will go yet. I haven’t even gotten my first share! But I know that this path resonates with me and I’m going to give it the fair chance it deserves. I’m tired of encountering this weird un-food mentality where we disconnect from the things we eat and have no concept of where it came from, or how it got to us. We’re told stories about food that have nothing to do with what the food really is, and I’m tired of participating—I’m choosing something else. Something a little (a lot) more real.
Your mission, gentle readers, should you choose to accept it…
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