The trip to Asheville, NC opened up a lot avenues for exploration. I had no idea of the extent of the local food economy in Appalachia.I also didn’t realize how extensive and respected heritage foods are in Appalachia. For what I write about, this offers a lot to explore.

I discovered a really cool place, Asheville, NC. I would go back again in a heartbeat. When I travel, I like to go some place new all the time. There’s so much to see on earth that I want to see as much as I can. It’s very rare I go back to the same place twice. Asheville though will see me again and again.

As I wrote in the last post, I found a resource for developing a food product using heirloom and threatened varieties. A few other opportunities presented themselves, and as they progress, I will write about them.

Before I left, I wrote about how Thoreau will be a major influence and an inspiration for what I do with my blog. This piece of the puzzle will be very helpful as I get more involved with the food movement. I will become an Italian citizen by the end of the year, which will allow for greater integration and research into potential vanishing heirloom varieties around the world. It also offers a great networking opportunity with the international food movement.

My book will launch May13, 2012, provided I can get my new online bank account verified. I’m using a small bank and it’s process is a bit slow. If not, than shortly after that date.

And, saving the best for last, my garden this year is coming along very well. The Purple Majesity potatoes are in the ground, kissed by frost one night. When I went to buy composted manure, I found Red Sails lettuce plants, which are a good source of Vitiams A & K, and Cheddar Cheese cauliflower, which has beta carotene in it to give it the color of orange cheddar cheese, which is not the natural color of cheedar cheese. I’ll leave it at that.

Tuscan Kale, Sorrento Broccoli Rabe, and Rapini Brocolli Rabe are direct sown, as is the Flat Red Onion of Italy. Jing Orange Okra went int he ground along with Bisiagno #2 tomatoes. Not to mention some Romanesco Brocolli, which I think would be better as a fall crop, some lavender, marigolds and sunflowers are planted as well. Lots of zinnias also. I want a feast for the pollinators too.

The Three Sisters joined the party in the form of Purple Morado Corn, Devil’s Tongue Beans, and White Scallop Squash.

I have two 4 foot shelves of various tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, and peppers on deck. This will provide a lot content to write about, including a cookbook. As I harvest the varieties, I’ll whip something up with them, and put the recipes together as a cookbook that will available by the end of the year.

So there you have it. Pieces of the puzzle, or stories or chapters yet to happen, either or or fit together to create final piece.

Update: A bunny got in the garden, and no more Roamansco Broccoli until the fall. One Cheddar Cheese cauliflower plant is stripped, and the wind has been taken out of the Red Sails lettuce for now. The fence has been secured for now. Last year the bunny that hung out in my garden would laugh at me when it saw me. It never left when I would arrive. So perhaps he or she is back.

Blue Ridge Food Ventures is an 11,000 sq. ft. shared-use kitchen incubator and natural products manufacturing facility that offers support in product development, guidance through the maze of regulations governing safe production of food products and dietary supplements, advice on packaging and label design, and much more.

On the surface, BRFV seemed like it removed a huge barrier, access to commercial equipment and storage, that is necessary to entrepreneurs who want to start a packaged food business. And they do. There are requirements that must be met, another selling point to me, however if you are serious, it’s a great facility. The best part though is the staff. I was very impressed with their knowledge and their willingness to find solutions to the challenges that arise.

Once I took the tour, I was very impressed.

As an advocate for keeping threatened varieties from vanishing, one way to ensure their survival is to create minimally processed marketable products from heirloom varieties. Since a common characteristic of heirloom varieties is their delicate skin, which is a detriment to shipping, having access to commercial grade equipment for a start up is a key component in a launch of an heirloom variety product. BRFV fills that void.

One of the key things I heard discussed at this forum was how to frame the success in Appalachia in the local food economy as a model for the rest of the country. My hope is that this happens, and that more facilities like the BRFV fill the void between food entrepreneurs, farmers and the consumer markets.

Keeping with the entrepenurial theme, I attended an session called  Models of Sustainability; The Role of the “Agripeneur.” One of the speakers was Dale Hawkins, of Fish Hawk Acres. He told his story of of growing up in West Virginia, leaving to become a classically trained chef, and realizing that what he left was exactly what he was looking for.

He started a Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) co-op, where he works with a  group of local farmers and growers. He realized that if he became a food broker for the group, than the farmer and growers could concentrate on their farming and growing, and he would have product to sell, or for use in a catering business. Through the use of a community kitchen, the catering business became possible. He was a very passionate about what he’s doing, and is another example of the can do, make it work energy I found at this forum.

This is another example of possibilities for not only the chef/farmer, but for an entrepreneur who wanted to get a heirloom variety food product up an running. A food broker with access to a co-op of small farms and growers who could possibly grow the crop needed for said food product is a definite asset.

These are two of many examples of local food as an economic development tool in Appalachia. This forum presented the results of a comprehensive two years study of the consistent and innovative work in Appalachia to build local food economies. This bodes well for the future, and for the awareness of threatened varieties. 

First thing, Asheville, North Carolina is a great place. They have been working on the local food economy for 20 years, and they should serve as a model for the rest of the country. It’s not a perfect system, and they will be the first to acknolodwde that. They know their challenges, and they embrace them. They are constantly looking for innovation and collaboration. Mistakes and failures are looked at a lessons to share so they are not repeated. At the funder’s panel luncheon, collaboration was noted as a key element in consideration for grants. The focus is on developing the community as whole, while encouraging entrenuers to start their businesses.

They have a Buy Local program that demonstrates the community’s commitment to success. It’s everywhere, and most noticible in the restaurants. The local farms are listed, and people know the local farms and the farmers, local breweries are noted, all 12 of them, and so are local bakeries. The downtown area has an independent art supply store, an independent hard craft supply store, a spice store, a chocolate store, a fresh potato chip store, numerous coffee houses and tea houses, Not to mention art galleries, and hand crafted artisan products such as a custom belt and sandal shop. And, a general store that’s been around since to 1880s.

The demonstrated success of the 12 breweries is bringing a Sierra Nevada brewery to the area.

As I noted, this local food economy has been 20 years in the making. The forum was sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commision.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a regional economic development agency that represents a partnership of federal, state, and local government. Established by an act of Congress in 1965, ARC is composed of the governors of the 13 Appalachian states and a federal co-chair, who is appointed by the president. Local participation is provided through multi-county local development districts.

What was very impressive to me was the infastructure and cooperation that’s in place to support the local food economy. The North Carolina state goverment is also very proactive in supporting their farmers. Yes, there were complaints about burdensome goverment regulations at all levels, but from what I saw, there were advocates who worked the complaints as means to an end. That being a succesful outcome for the community.

The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, ASAP, is another example of  the support to the local farmer and community.

ASAP’s Vison

Our vision is of strong farms, thriving local food economies, and healthy communities where farming is valued as central to our heritage and our future.

ASAP’s Mission 

Our mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.

This is a beloved organization. And, from talking to people, rightfully so.

Than there’s Mountain Biz Works. They offer lending services, consulting services and training services.

A common theme that I heard through out the forum was that for too many years resources were extracted from Appalachia and that was it. Because of that, now there is deep commitment to use the assets that exist there in Asheville, and Appalachia. Their assets are the land and the people. They recognize that working the land, and caring for it, sustains the economy, and the people who rely on it. The know it builds a strong community, and allows a local-based economy to be realistic.

It starts with a commitment, and being open to new ideas. That’s one of many points that I took away from this forum. The commitment started 20 years ago in Asheville, and an infrastructure is in place to support the innovation and vision they have to succed and sustain.

Next up, I’ll highlight a business incubator and common use kitchen in the Asheville area, and a community kitchen in West Virginia supported by a family of Farms.

Appalachia’s strong food heritage is an asset local leaders can build on to develop sustainable local food systems and strengthen local economies. In this session, panelists will describe how communities across Appalachia are using local food resources to foster entrepreneurship, attract tourists, and diversify local economies.

Sounds like a very interesting topic, and one that is relevant for me.

The second breakout session, Models of Sustainability: The Role of the “Agripreneur” offers me insight into the business of sustainability. As I grow what I do here, this session will be helpful in determining if a food product or products is a feasible way to sustain myself and the concept.

Entrepreneurial farmers and food producers throughout Appalachia are finding new markets and niche products to sell, increasing revenue and creating business ventures that are both profitable and environmentally sustainable. In this session panelists will discuss innovative ways “agripreneurs” are adapting to changing market conditions, satisfying customer demand, and creating new agricultural and culinary experiences.

I’m looking forward to learning about the work that people do to preserve the local food culture and the direction they see it going in.

While I’m here, I will be meeting with  Susannah Patty and Ashley Gillett from the Appalachian Food Story Bank.

The Appalachian Food Storybank, a program of Slow Food Asheville, seeks to acknowledge, honor, and archive Appalachian heritage foods and foodways in order to promote the preservation of diverse local knowledges, natural resources, and food biodiversity.

I love this.

The AFS Storybooth is a portable recording booth that is set up at fairs, festivals, farmers markets, and other venues.

And, the Asheville area is absolutely beautiful. I have a lot to explore and learn about this week, which I will share with you. I’m very fortunate to be here.

If you read Walden, Thoreau lays out an example of being self-sustaining, and the value of economy. The chapter of Economy in Walden, to me,  references what we call our carbon footprint today. If blogging been around in his time, Thoreau would’ve been a great blogger.

Thoreau’s writing about phenology is cited frequently.

Phenology

is the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate.

Nature’s influence on Thoreau’s journal writings, his beliefs, and philosophy was immense. I would love to read what he would write about GMOs, factory farming, and especially climate change.  When you consider the painstaking detail of his phenology work, and how climate change can make it all obsolete, his point of view of where we are at today, and the lack of government action on climate change, would be an important critique. All though with the state of society today, he would have to do it a reality TV format that our culture embraces so dearly to have an impact.

Can you see Bravo or TLC doing Civil Disobedience, where Thoreau lays out his argument for taking a moral stand against the government? Neither can I.

In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau’s wrote about how an personal act of conscious is larger than any civil law. Thoreau’s objection was to slavery and the  Mexcian-American War, both embraced by the American government at the time. He wrote about this after spending a night in jail after withholding his poll tax while at Walden. He was released after someone paid his tax debt for him.

Mention civil disobedience in conversation, and it send shudders down the spines of a lot of people. It’s not for everyone, and long term, it’s not sustainable, like a an organic, heirloom garden. That may seem like a huge leap, but it’s really not. Both are actions that can be used to take a conscious stand against actions that our government or corporations are taking that have negative impacts on society and nature.

Genetic Modified Organisms (GMOs) uses genetic engenering to modify an organism to achieve a certain end than nature intended. There is no value to nature, or to human beings added by this process. It’s about profit and control by the corporation modifying the organism.

While governments outside the USA are taking steps to ban these organisms, we have a government that appoints Michael Taylor,a former lawyer for Monsanto, the company that is leading the charge for GMOs, as the Deputy Commissioner for Foods at The Food and Drug Administration. The American government is also siding with the Industrial Food Complex by allowing GMOs into processed foods, and not enforcing these foods be labeled so the consumer knows what they are eating.

It’s not slavery, which was Thoreau’s objection, but with the government allowing the use of GMOs while not enforcing the labeling of foods that contain GMOs, this action removes the freedom of choice and trust that is part of the social fabric in a free and just society. While there is no law forcing the American public to eat GMOs, allowing the use of them while not enforcing the labeling of foods that contain them, in my opinion, is  tacit concent.

tacit consent – (law) tacit approval of someone’s wrongdoing

It puts more value on the profit of the Industrial Food Complex than on the health and well being of our planet, our democracy and our society.

When you have a society that embraces Snooki, Kim Kardashian and Real Housewives, asking them to take action that would qualify as civil disobedience would fall on deaf and dumb ears, like their reality TV Goddesses.

Positioning an organic heirloom garden as means of action against the tacit consent of the American government on GMOs is more accessible to a wider range of people than an act of civil disobedience.

It’s also a good first step to disconnect from the Industrial Food Complex. Social change takes a long time. Especially, when it’s against large corporate interests, and their influence on government policy. An organic heirloom garden is nature driven, sustainable and authentic. Positioning it as an action for social change against government and corporate interests that puts the health of nature and society at risk, such as what’s going on with GMOs right now, is one that I think would have Thoreau’s approval.

It’s spring planting time. The calendar and nature sure are on schedule, perhaps nature is a bit ahead of schedule. It seems March is the new May around here, which adds to chaotic feel of things here.

So last week as I was swirling around in the chaos, which works well for my creative process and nothing else in my life, I opened a cabinet door to get something I rarely use, and wa la, there are Purple Majesty potato plants growing up from the bottom shelf.

Oh yea. Seed potatoes. Now what? Perplexed to start. I’ve never grown potatoes before. I thought when I ordered them, they shipped a bit early. When they arrived, I put them in a dark, comfortable place. I hoped they would be ok until my community garden plot became available on March 24, 2012. The potatoes, which have no concept of man’s imposition of time on nature, had no desire to wait for me, or the community garden regulations. Can’t say I blame them, when you have to sprout, you sprout.

Inspiration strikes. I have to get them in soil. I can be brilliant at times like this. I stopped what I was doing, and headed out to find some peat pots. The larger the better I thought. It was going to be a challenge for the larger peat pots. The local stores are just getting up to speed with their spring planting goods. I couldn’t find the larger round peat pots I wanted, so I got the largest square ones I could find.

My thought was to get the pieces of potatoes into a peat pot. The instructions with the potatoes said to cut the potatoes into pieces with a minimum of 3 eyes on each piece to be planted, cyclops style I suppose. Some of the pieces ended up with only a pair of eyes, which I hope will see them through to sprouting.

When it comes time to plant in the ground, the soil will be compacted from being in the peat pot. I won’t have to remove the contents from the pot. I could place the pot in the ground, and I can cut the pot down the sides and peel it away.

I assembled thirteen pots, some showing signs of responding well a week later. I’m glad the potatoes are responding well, the gardener on the other hand, is trying his best not to end up as a compost pile.

I’m very fortunate and grateful that so much is going on my life. It’s a very fertile time, and the potato plants growing in a cabinet prove that. I bought an iris last year called Banish Misfortune. I planted it, and asked it to work it’s magic. It did evidently. I will say when it bloomed I was ready to banish it to the compost pile. The magic wasn’t immediate, wasn’t in the form I thought it should be and as a storyteller, you would think I would have recognize this.

I recognize it now. It goes to show that the person who encourages you to live your life as a story you write everyday, that said person being me, needs to tells a story about his life to open his eyes to his own process from time to time.

If you take a look at the agenda, you will see what I think is a well-planned event. I’ve worked on enough business development seminars to appreciate the effort that goes into creating a thoughtful, diverse and informative event. Particularly, I like how they offer concurrent sessions and tours of local ventures. Knowledge and application, what more can one ask for from a forum? Along with finance people who offer their insight into how they see future investment in local food and sustainable agriculture ventures, this event offers a comprehensive experience.

Show me a topic such as Food Heritage and Culinary Arts as Economic Drivers, and I’m sold. While this session will focus on Appalachia, the concept of food heritage is universal, and to have the opportunity to see an application of it in economic terms offers tremendous potential for me.

Another topic that catches my interest is Models of Sustainability: The Role of the “Agripreneur” . This will focus on finding a niche market that is environmental sustainable and profitable. It’s a winning combination.

And to wrap up the forum, tours are offered. You can choose from three tours. I chose the West of Asheville tour, specifically for the tour of Blue Ridge Food Ventures, a shared-use kitchen incubator and natural products manufacturing facility. Food heritage, models of niche markets and sustainability and a food incubator. A nice trinity for someone like me striving for an heirloom solution here at Vanishingfeast.com.

I’ll be sure to share my experiences in Asheville, NC here. I will get there on 3.31.12.

I wrote an earlier post about how I was going to have two gardens this year, and I was going to compare and contrast the results. Well, it seems like some egos, and one ego in particular connected to a city government, conducted a micro coup d’état. This cabal took over a local community garden from the folks who built it over the last 6 years. I was told the offer for my plot would have to be renegotiated with the new regime. No thank you. I can do much better things without drama. And for the record, I believe the new leaders will destroy it.

I’m back to one garden, and that’s fine by me. Now, granted I could’ve split my current plot up, but there are vast differences in how these two community gardens are structured. Those conceptual differences were going to be as much of the story as the harvests from the gardens.

For this year I will have a 20′x60′ plot, which I’m going use a Square Foot Gardening/Intensive Gardening (SFGIG), hybrid technique. I will also be mixing some containers into the layout. I’ve always used my own version of intensive gardening, but always planted in rows. This year will be a new challenge. I have A LOT of new varities to grow, photograph and write about. So the SFGIG approach is approprite for me this year.

Both techniques demonstrate a efficient use of land. Following Thoreau’s lead in the Economy chapter in Walden, both techniques fit into the philosophy he laid out in that chapter. As I move forward with Thoreau as an influence in my work, it’s natural to demonstrate how I apply that influence, and share it here. With economical use of resources that nature provides, you can create an abundance.

I will have 8 squares to work with. Each square will be 7′x7′, and I’ll have an approximated 2′ wide path around each square. The containers will have White Belgian Carrots, Crapaudine Beets, Lime Green Salad Tomatoes, Tequila Sunrise Peppers, Castelfranco Radicchio, and Rossa Di Treviso Radicchio.

Square 1 –  This will be heirloom tomatoes. I have 15 varieties to choose from including Hawaiian Pineapples, a new one of me this year. They are not to be confused with Pineapples, which I also have seeds for. While both varieties are late season beefsteaks, Hawaiian Pineapples are solid yellow with a hint of pineapple in the flavor from what I understand. Pineapples, are bicolors, and have notes of citrus in their flavor. This I know firsthand.

Square 2 – This will be interesting square since there will be an area that goes vertical. Growing vines vertically are part of the efficiency of SFGIG. So with that in mind, and always looking to push the boundaries, I’m creating art on a trellis. I view it as a blank canvass, and will growing Chinese Red Noodle Beans with Zucchino Rampicante. It should be nice contrast of foliage, flowers and fruit. The rest of the square will have Purple Tomatillo, Silver Edge Squash, Giant Cape Gooseberries and Golden Marconi Peppers.

Square 3 - Here will be Wild Garlic, Greek Pepporcini, and Green Nutmeg Melons. This square is a little light so something else may end up here.

Square 4 – This will be divided between Purple Majesty Potatoes and the classic 3 Sister combination using Morado Purple Corn, White Scallop Squash and Dragon Tongue Beans. While a traditional 3 Sisters planting uses a vining bean, I chose a bush bean since Dragon Tongue Beans are a famous Dutch heirloom variety.

Square 5 – More tomato plants here along with Winter Squash Marmellata, (Jam Pumpkin), as it’s known in Italy, or Jaune Gros de Paris, (The Large Yellow of Paris Pumpkin), as it know in France. It can be a very large pumpkin, with a pinkish-orange skin and sweet yellow flesh. In Italy it’s used for preserves, hence it’s Italian name. I plan on making some pumpkin jam later on this year. I will also be growing some Giant Orange Amaranth and Greek Giant Amaranth in this square.

Square 6 – This will be my succession planting square. Succession planting is where you plant with the intention of harvesting crops is a succession. Whether this done with specific type of vegetable such as tomato, where you plant early varieties, mid-season varieties and late-season varieties, or plant a vegetable such as lettuce once a week for three weeks in a row so the harvest will last for three weeks in succession after maturity. Or, you do something like I will be doing. I’m going to do a succession of Viroflay Spinach, which dates back to 1885, and is the father of many modern hybrids, and Broccoli Rapini and Sorrento Broccoli Rabe all at the same time, followed by yet to be determined radishes, and than Tuscan Kale.

Square 7 – Here will be Black Lentils, Padron Peppers, and Delice De La Table (Delight of the Table) Melons, a famous French cantaloupe. It’s very rare here in North America, still around in France. It’s an old variety of a true cantaloupe, not like the cantaloupes that are sold in supermarkets. They are muskmelons. I can’t wait have them delight my table.

Square 8 – This will have Jing Orange Okra, which I have seen described as a Asian or African variety. Any okra plant is a beautiful, and this one produces orange-red pods, and beautiful white flowers. I expect some beautiful photographs, and tasty pickled okra this summer. There will be Rouge D’Hiver Lettuce, an old french heirloom, which may get moved to the succession square with the kale. Since cool weather brings out the red color, that could be why they would be moved. Rounding out this square will be Shisgigatani or Tonas Makino pumpkin, a Japanese pumpkin developed in the ealry 1800′s and is considered one of the kyo yasai, which are traditional vegetables of the Koyoto area of Japan. It’s used in a vegetarian cooking known as shojin ryor, which is eaten by Buddhist priests. It will be a nice contrast to the Jam Pumpkin from Square 5, which is from France, and used for jam in Italy.

Still to be determined, Flat Red Onion of Italy, a red cippolini, and Romanesco Italia, a cauliflower that is called a broccoli, and is a chartreuse example of fractal geometry with a nutty flavor.

So while the tale of two gardens are gone, the economy of land use will provide a abundance for a cornucopia of sensual delights. It’s a nice trade off.

Photo by Jeff Quattrone

No doubt about it, heirloom gardening is a hot trend. Take for example the class I’m about to teach. The class is a new offering at a local enrichment program, and I have thirteen people signed up for it. A WOW next to the last email in my inbox next to my  enrollment number tells me this is a good for a new class. This bodes well for everyone involved. The role of the enrichment program is fulfilled by offering information sought by those in the community. The participants will learn about the opportunities presented by heirloom gardening, knowledge about heirlooms and organic gardening will be shared, and most important, nature will be benefit by people learning to care for it in a natural way.

Nature has provided all we need to sustain ourselves. It serves as an example that we can learn from. Along the way societies have made choices, some good, some bad about how to sustain this example. After WWII there was a big shift in society, I wrote about a brief timeline about this change here. Woman were entering the workforce, the suburbs offered a reflection of a new prosperity, commuting and driving to regional shopping malls were eating into available time, television was a new medium that brought visual advertising into the living room, and industrial processed food was sold as a convenient product to fit this social change. One significant area that marketing could target this product was the fact more woman were working outside of the house. Their traditional role was changing, less time was left for cooking meals. Industrial food filled a gap by positioning it as new and convenient reflection of the new, modern and society.

However, the industrial food complex was very quiet about how their processing removed nutrients and replaced it with fillers and chemical preservatives. Never mind that people were canning their own food for ages without anything but what nature offered, the industrial food complex changed what they felt they needed for mass consumption and profit.

It also changed a lot of our choices about food.

Embracing this processed food was one of many choices that society made, and by doing so, ignored the lessons from nature that sustained societies for thousands of years.

Hindsight is 20/20. We’re at a critical point now with GMOs, and reliance on food that is low on natural ingredients and nutrients and high in chemicals. Biofuels have put a strain on food supplies. Factor in natural disasters thanks to climate change, and we are faced with challenges to sustain ourselves. The USDA just released a new hardiness gardening zone map that reflects a warmer USA.

With the rise in popularity of heirlooms, the opportunity is presented to transition this increased awareness into a lifestyle change that is more sustainable.

I wrote about Thoreau and Emerson here, and how their philosophy would be a big influence on what I aim to accomplish with Vanishing Feast, An Heirloom Solution. Since I wrote that post, I found an interesting parallel. In astrology Neptune has moved into Pisces, which in astrology is significant. Neptune is considered an outer planet. The outer plants move slow, and because of this their influence is a slow. This gradual change is what influences society since social change is slow, and what influences people in deep change to their being.

As a storyteller who studied the fine arts, symbolism is a paramount to being creative. An interesting fact I found out about Neptune moving into Pisces is the last time this happened Thoreau wrote Walden. Self-reliance and nature is a lot of what Walden is about. So in economy. What Thoreau did was write about how he lived and demonstrated the economy and practical nature of nature. He also studied nature and all the interactions that occur and has been refereed to the father of American Phenology. (The link will take you to the citation in a Google Books pdf.) That’s disputed, however it’s his observations that have attracted the most attention.

Phenology is a branch of science dealing with the relations between climate and periodic biological phenomena (as bird migration or plant flowering)

Today a lot of the current research and writing about phenology is the effect climate change is having on it. A new phenology is coming into being. I will say the new hardiness zone map reflects this.

Symbols in a story are opportunities. They creative the narrative. Living life as a story, as I encourage here, it’s looking for these symbols and opportunities to drive my narrative, which is to keep heirloom plants from vanishing. When you work with this technique, trusting your intuition is something that needs to be nurtured, like a garden. To Thoreau and Emerson, intuition was an integral part of their philosophy. It is to mine also.

I see the rise of interest in heirlooms as an opportunity. I see the move of Neptune into Pieces as a symbol. I see the threat to the environment from GMOs, chemicals and climate change as facts. It’s with Vanishing Feast, An Heirloom Solution that I’m using storytelling to fashion an heirloom gardening lifestyle as a response to it all. I encourage you to join me. Nature will reward you if you do.

If you don’t garden, I will write about other ways to support a heirloom gardening lifestyle. For now, check out localharvest.org for a lot of good information and links about how to support this lifestyle without a garden.