Homesteading values26thMarch
While this is the adult programs newsletter, I have to tell you about a new kids summer camp I'm excited very for, Little House in the Big Valley. No matter how old we are, Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic books strike a spark in us all. At this camp kids will make candles, preserves, simple cheese, churn their own ice cream and live from a time of slower days and handmade sustenance.
Today, we really do see people slowing down and buying less with a renewed interest in skills that bring us back home. We'd be right to associate this with the economy yet there's a deeper sense that comes with these monetary challenges. I've noticed a loss of confidence and a gain in prudence. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In the moment it may feel like trauma but it could lead to more moderate habits. We lost confidence in a financial center on a street many of us will never walk down. We lost confidence in irresponsible fat cats that were earning money at the expense of others. And this loss opens up a void, one we can fill with whatever we wish. I suggest family, friends, time on the land and good food. Wishful thinking for a tracker?
At TrackersNW, in our marketing savvy (winking emoticon here), we have started to refer to this movement as urban homesteading. Now, we're not fools, we recognize that movements are like waves you surf; they don’t last forever and there will always be another one after it. Yet the skills to ride any wave is a balance that will always remain the same to us: beautiful, eloquent and gorgeous relationships for one another and the many generations to come. For example, let's take a meal harvested from the garden or foraged from the wild zones...
Steamed nettles mixed with fresh backyard eggs and sourdough breadcrumbs. All of this is fried in patties with ghee made from locally raised raw milk. Add in some mussels baked in garlic (from the garden) butter (from the raw milk) sauce.
Who could ask for a better meal? The mussels and nettles not only feed you, they give you a reason to visit the coast and venture out into tide pools with your family or friends. The butter/ghee is cause to forge relationships with local farmers and the garlic and eggs give you time to putter in your backyard with kids planting cloves under hay and friends nailing a chicken coop together out of pallets. In these simple steps to urban homesteading we go beyond the value of just eating better, we find more time to spend together with those we love and the land around us. Ironically, to quote the visa card commercial, this is priceless.
Will this go on forever? Maybe not, maybe soon enough magnanimous leaders will restore esteem in our financial security. So I’m just asking a favor, remember the consistent cycle of boom and bust and see this as an opportunity to establish new habits and routines before the value of pieces of paper (checks and cash) and binary code (credit) become convenient again. Make room for the values of homesteading and time to hunt and gather with family and friends.
Class roll
March 28 Food Fermentation with Chris Musser from Lost Arts Kitchen, Learn more here
May 9-10 Eugene Wilderness Survival Basics with Shaun Deller and Lost Valley, Learn more here
May 22-24 Women's Outdoor Weekend with Michelle Balfe and friends, Learn more here
Nature of the Villages
May 30-June 5 Spring and Permaculture Village at Lost Valley
September 6-12 Fall and Buffalo Village at Trackers Land
Learn more about Nature of Village
