Summer is in full swing and I have enjoyed my first harvest of veggies from my urban farm yard. I have to admit it is a great feeling when I venture out towards my backyard and I find myself self picking the very vegetables I planted 30 day's ago. Having your family enjoy the fruit of your labor is a wonderful feeling. More importantly knowing that which you have reaped, has been a labor of love, for you and to your family. So make it a point to get out their and start growing something.
However, I can not take all the credit. I have received some help to get to where I am. Gardening comes natural to me, its in my blood. I descend from a family of farmers. I believe it to be part of my DNA. I can not pass an empty abandoned lot with out thinking how great it would be to have it cleaned up and grow some sort of vegetables on it. I can clearly recall childhood memories on my Grandparents farm on the Island of Puerto Rico. I can remember picking and roasting coffee beans. Then later on that every evening using a hand miller to mill the coffee beans and bagging it for storage. I remember as my brother's and I chased chickens, gathered eggs, fed pigs, counted cattle, and climbed orange trees. I can still recall all the familiar smells of the farm. I didn't know it then, how blessed I had been to have spent time on that farm, but now as an adult I find myself missing those simple days on lush pastures.
Realistically, I could never recreate my Grandparents farm on my small parcel of land here in Staten Island. However, I can apply the skills I learned from my childhood working on their farm to help me transform my urban lot into a micro farm. Therefore, I have to give thanks my Grand Father, Pacqito Miranda Rivera, and my Grand Mother, Francesca Miranda Rivera, for their love of farming and for passing the farming bug on to me. It was their love for the land and their respect for their livestock that I remember the most. They believed that livestock animals needed to be treated humanely and allowed to free range on pasture, that is what made the meat taste better. They knew then what I am relearning now.
Growing vegetables was the easy part in my sustainable living arrangement. Buying vegetable plants from my local nursery was one way, and starting them from seed was another. However the most powerful tool for growing anything is the Internet. I have met so many like minds via the Internet and I find myself forging my very own community of growers and hobby farmers. I have used, meetup.com and joined a few gardening groups to keep up with new trends in gardening and urban farming. I am also learning every thing I can about establishing an urban beehive. For this I have to thank Ron Upshaw of world of beekeeping. He has created a DVD which is available through his site which is a must have for those of us with a curiosity of beekeeping. There is also a forum where individual like myself can share their experiences in this old world hobby of beekeeping which benefits both man and animal. If you feel up to the challenge and think beekeeping may be for you give his website a try. However, if you are looking for something a little more local for those who live within New York City area and love little history, try Doughas farm. Doughas farms has a very fascinating story that dates back to the Father of Our Country. Now that's what I call history!
As I work on my urban farm yard, I find myself wondering about organizations such as these and wonder if there are any like minds out there that share my passion in sustainable living and what pit falls they have encounter. This is where garden forums such as the ones I have just listed are so invaluable. Joining groups such as these allow me to build communities through the Internet, sharing ideas, successes, failures and trading supplies. Within a gardening group within meetups, I met Maggie. I am grateful to Maggie, for without her help I would not been able to acquire my hens. Maggie, has been a great mentor, and has been a world of information in regards to chickens and is my go to girl on chickens when things go wrong. So Maggie, you rock! I can't imagine not having chickens in my back yard. It seems so natural to me having them around it is better than having dogs. The dog can not feed us, but egg laying chickens can. They are also so fun to watch, they seem to have all sorts of comical antics. Having backyard chickens seems the way to go for me. However, a word of caution, whenever anyone decides to join an Internet group, please do the research, never go and met anyone alone. Always remember safety first! Always make sure these groups are family friendly.
Now having livestock in an urban backyard has been quite a conversion piece. I have met many a neighbor having them around. Having these chickens roaming my yards has left such an impression on my neighbors where they went a head and built themselves chicken coops and have acquired a few hens for themselves. It seems I may have started a trend in the neighborhood, and it wont be long before I have a well established community of urban farms up and down my street. I find that many of us are trying to get back to something more simpler, something more grounded, a connection to the Earth.
As I harvest my vegetables this season, as look back and think about all the people I have met that have made this possible, I smile and I give thanks. I hum a familiar tune and think to myself. "Lettuce Bee Sustainable in our communities too."
No comments:
Post a Comment