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So I started a blog. I'm a planner. I like to organize and prioritize. Sounds kind of weird for a gardener, but hey, its who I am. I like dirt. I like starting things from seeds and help them become the greatness that is veggie! I spent countless hours/days/weeks/months preparing for my garden adventure. I read. I read seed catalogs, old books of my mother's, other gardeners' blogs, random websites about gardening basics, and magazines. With that said, I will forever be a beginner gardener/farmer. So, again, I started a blog. I'm going to share my gardening ups and downs, what worked for me and, of course, my epic failures. I love to share tricks and knowledge and experiences with people that I've learned over time. So please, read my blog and come over to my garden, and mostly, enjoy!



Friday, October 1, 2010

Why?

The big question that everyone asks me is why? Why do I make things when I can just buy them? I have several reasons but mostly its for the process. I can't willingly rely on other businesses/people to provide me with my basic needs. I wish had been raised on a farm where making what you needed went without saying and was second nature. I wish I had someone in my family to sit me down and show me how to knit or make jam or tell me how to grow healthy tomatoes. I don't, so I make do. I love the process of learning. When I go to the bookstore, I go straight to the cookbooks or craft section. I don't read romance novels or biographies of famous people. I'm more star-struck by innovative local celebrities such as our 15 Thousand Farmers founders and my favorite local band, My Morning Jacket. I love how-tos. I want to learn forever about "how-to." Self-sufficiency. If it can be made, I want to make it. If I can grow it, knit it, can it, save it, build it, whatever, I want to try.



The process of making things, allbeit sometimes frustrating, is actually peaceful to me. Sometimes when I give handmade things to people you can see the disappointment in their faces. Its not shiny and new with a pricetag. Its pricetag is invisible, but its there. It is printed with my heart, my time, and my effort. Its not perfect or designer-labeled. But its unique and already has a history. It was specifically made for you by me. As my hands push the fabric across the sewing machine; as I sit for hours at a time with two needles and some yarn, as I watch to make sure the temperature is just right in the oven...it was made for you.



The process is something that I want to pass along, but I know not many will be receptive. When you understand the process, you understand the effort and why. A good friend of mine gave me some frozen applesauce that her grandmother made from apple in her orchard. I wonder if she took the time to learn how to make the applesauce herself from her grandmother. Soaking up every little bit of knowledge from those who understand self-sufficiency from neccessity is the most valuable form of knowledge. Thats surviving knowledge.



P.S.
She does know how to make the applesauce and I'm very proud of her for that! Of course, now she has to teach me. ;-)
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