Year of Plenty

Thu., Dec. 10, 2009

“Real Live Farmers”

Lily (pictured above at last summer's impromptu lemonade/farm stand) is doing a "culture basket" presentation at her second grade class where you take artifacts from family life and do a presentation about your family culture. One of Lily's artifacts is the ribbon she won for Best of Breed chicken at the Spokane County Fair. This morning she did a practice run through and in reference to the ribbon said, "This is our first year of being real live farmers."

I love the image of our family as farmers even if we do live in the suburbs in a master planned community. I wonder what it would be like if all of us imagined ourselves as farmers, caretakers and stewards of the land we own and the land that surrounds us, with an eye on sustainability and soil fertility.

Posted Dec. 10, 2009, 10:49 a.m.

The Year of Plenty blog was created by Craig Goodwin in the winter of 2008 to chronicle the experiences of his family as they sought to consume everything local, used, homegrown or homemade. That journey was a wonderful introduction to people and movements in the Spokane area who are seeking the welfare of the community through local foods, farmers markets, community gardens, sustainable transportation, and more fulfilling and just patterns of consumption. In 2009 and beyond the blog will continue to report on these relationships and practices, all through the eyes of a family with young children. Craig manages the Millwood Farmers' Market, is a Master Food Preserver and Pastor at Millwood Presbyterian Church. Craig can be reached at goody2230@gmail.com