I adore Slowdown and Tara and keep my most treasured substacks in my inbox to read any updated comments. Thus far the marriage discussion and this one have been most wonderful. My families experience seems similar, yet far from most here. My mama has been a prepper my whole life - greenhouses, stocked basement, Amish midwife - the whoā¦
I adore Slowdown and Tara and keep my most treasured substacks in my inbox to read any updated comments. Thus far the marriage discussion and this one have been most wonderful. My families experience seems similar, yet far from most here. My mama has been a prepper my whole life - greenhouses, stocked basement, Amish midwife - the whole 9 yards. Of course, all I wanted to do was get to the big city when I was 16 and could. And I did. Fast forward 25 years and my husband and I are raising our three boys in the smallest city we have ever lived in (150k pop). Since having children a decade ago, we have prioritized real, local food. We spend more money making that happen than all other costs. We have truly failed (and I say that with good sport) at our sweet city garden and chickens. Three gals that give us one egg a day and a garden full of tomatoes ravaged by the rats that we have failed time and again to abolish. Our freezer kicked the bucket last year so we transfered the last of our grass fed 1/2 cow to the house freezer. We at the last meat a week ago. I told my husband how bare and vulnerable I feel having nothing in the freezer, or the garden (not nothing, but the garden couldn't feed us all.) We have a Tupperware bin full of rice and beans and have a twice a year csa. I find some security there. I buy the twice a week meat we eat at the whole foods and trader joes (and lord knows i should go to the farmers market and the expense IS worth it. But i dont). Truth be told, we don't want to be farmers (please don't be mad at me!) However, the last couple years, and a change in neighbors through gentrification, has us itching to get out of the city. This year my boys and I were picking blueberries from a bush planted in a Community garden a decade ago when the new owners asked us to only pick from the sidewalk. My 9 year old went back the next day to pick for his father's day breakfast and was told to leave. I am not on FB, but my husband caught wind and to keep peace asked me to abandon our tradition. Just last week a neighbor shared that we had been blasted for picking on social media and the entire neighborhood piled on to day how rude we were. I went by our bush to see perfect blueberries dripping off the bush, littering the sidewalk and totally wasted. I cried. We sold a property and have a nice chunk to buy a couple acres. We will keep our city home and airbnb investment (a primary income producer, and our main investments and blood sweat and tears over the last decade) and rent them out at exorbitant prices to people who share the values of let the fruit rot, degrade a child for picking for his dad, and roundup ready love for whole foods so they can feel "crunchy". That leaves us with WTF do we do now! We are entrepreneurs and have spent our adult lives in hospitality and biz management. Our goal is to buy3+ acres and build a home*garden*stay business. I primarily want fruit orchard and large potager type garden. I know how serious ill need to be to keep the wild animals away - those city rats are fierce though!) Chickens too. More than likely no other animals. Its not in my heart. We will host airbnb tents/cabins on the property, special events, etc. We've looked at dozens of properties both far and close to home. We're staring down a Dec 1 self imposed deadline. I have the good butterflies in anticipation, and I'm simultaneously nearly frozen by fear of hating being rural, like I did growing up. But lord do I LOVE real food, despise chemicals in the food system (I manage the biz of a neurodevelopmental pediatrician and yall, what is happening to most children -- primarily poor - should scare us all to high heaven), and have a drive to be self sufficient. Praying five days searching and away from my boys helped narrow down our choices in the southeast (with the caveat of salt water close by). Right now I'm leading with faith, love, and hope. Also, my kids love the city and convenience. And honestly (again, I'm sorry to not be my mama- I'm just trying to be real) they hate that we are doing this. And like me, I'm sure they will rebel against it all -- just like I did. I'm hoping by only going half in and not full farmer they wontš¤£ thanks for reading - that was a lot of going on! Xo
I'm so glad you contributed this, Pholiday. And I'm glad everyone doesn't want to be farmers, where would we be then? I think we all fit together, can come together, with a variety of skills and ways to contribute to build our local food systems together. You don't want to farm, but you want good and nourishing food for your children (and a blueberry bush they can pick from for heavens sake). These are the things I think we can all come together for and build for all of our security. Good luck in your new venture!
I adore Slowdown and Tara and keep my most treasured substacks in my inbox to read any updated comments. Thus far the marriage discussion and this one have been most wonderful. My families experience seems similar, yet far from most here. My mama has been a prepper my whole life - greenhouses, stocked basement, Amish midwife - the whole 9 yards. Of course, all I wanted to do was get to the big city when I was 16 and could. And I did. Fast forward 25 years and my husband and I are raising our three boys in the smallest city we have ever lived in (150k pop). Since having children a decade ago, we have prioritized real, local food. We spend more money making that happen than all other costs. We have truly failed (and I say that with good sport) at our sweet city garden and chickens. Three gals that give us one egg a day and a garden full of tomatoes ravaged by the rats that we have failed time and again to abolish. Our freezer kicked the bucket last year so we transfered the last of our grass fed 1/2 cow to the house freezer. We at the last meat a week ago. I told my husband how bare and vulnerable I feel having nothing in the freezer, or the garden (not nothing, but the garden couldn't feed us all.) We have a Tupperware bin full of rice and beans and have a twice a year csa. I find some security there. I buy the twice a week meat we eat at the whole foods and trader joes (and lord knows i should go to the farmers market and the expense IS worth it. But i dont). Truth be told, we don't want to be farmers (please don't be mad at me!) However, the last couple years, and a change in neighbors through gentrification, has us itching to get out of the city. This year my boys and I were picking blueberries from a bush planted in a Community garden a decade ago when the new owners asked us to only pick from the sidewalk. My 9 year old went back the next day to pick for his father's day breakfast and was told to leave. I am not on FB, but my husband caught wind and to keep peace asked me to abandon our tradition. Just last week a neighbor shared that we had been blasted for picking on social media and the entire neighborhood piled on to day how rude we were. I went by our bush to see perfect blueberries dripping off the bush, littering the sidewalk and totally wasted. I cried. We sold a property and have a nice chunk to buy a couple acres. We will keep our city home and airbnb investment (a primary income producer, and our main investments and blood sweat and tears over the last decade) and rent them out at exorbitant prices to people who share the values of let the fruit rot, degrade a child for picking for his dad, and roundup ready love for whole foods so they can feel "crunchy". That leaves us with WTF do we do now! We are entrepreneurs and have spent our adult lives in hospitality and biz management. Our goal is to buy3+ acres and build a home*garden*stay business. I primarily want fruit orchard and large potager type garden. I know how serious ill need to be to keep the wild animals away - those city rats are fierce though!) Chickens too. More than likely no other animals. Its not in my heart. We will host airbnb tents/cabins on the property, special events, etc. We've looked at dozens of properties both far and close to home. We're staring down a Dec 1 self imposed deadline. I have the good butterflies in anticipation, and I'm simultaneously nearly frozen by fear of hating being rural, like I did growing up. But lord do I LOVE real food, despise chemicals in the food system (I manage the biz of a neurodevelopmental pediatrician and yall, what is happening to most children -- primarily poor - should scare us all to high heaven), and have a drive to be self sufficient. Praying five days searching and away from my boys helped narrow down our choices in the southeast (with the caveat of salt water close by). Right now I'm leading with faith, love, and hope. Also, my kids love the city and convenience. And honestly (again, I'm sorry to not be my mama- I'm just trying to be real) they hate that we are doing this. And like me, I'm sure they will rebel against it all -- just like I did. I'm hoping by only going half in and not full farmer they wontš¤£ thanks for reading - that was a lot of going on! Xo
I'm so glad you contributed this, Pholiday. And I'm glad everyone doesn't want to be farmers, where would we be then? I think we all fit together, can come together, with a variety of skills and ways to contribute to build our local food systems together. You don't want to farm, but you want good and nourishing food for your children (and a blueberry bush they can pick from for heavens sake). These are the things I think we can all come together for and build for all of our security. Good luck in your new venture!