It's still winter for some of us but...

....I haven't posted for most of the time I was serving in VISTA in Kentucky and now that I'm back in North Carolina, it's time to get growing.

My 12 months in eastern Kentucky were amazing, an experience of true community service I encourage everyone who has felt the yearning to give back in a strategic way to try. I'm grateful for all that I learned as the coordinator of the Wolfe County Grow Appalachia program. This region-centered organization is funded almost entirely by the vision and kindness of one man, Jean Paul DeJorio. He has made it possible for 44 learning sites to bloom in over five states in the Appalachian region where over 1 million pounds of food were grown. I was lucky enough to serve at one. Thank you Jean Paul and everyone at Grow Appalachia for your guidance and assistance in revitalizing food security in the Appalachian region. Now, on to spring!!!

 After the big snow of last weekend if finally melting, I am catching the scent of something that stirs the heart and soul of any gardener. You know it: "that" smell on those days when the temperatures rise and a soft wind blows across the ground whispering it's almost time for gardening. OK, so you can't get out and dig some new beds or direct seed your favorites yet but you can get ready, get set to go as soon as the Almanac and the soil temperatures overlap. Here are some great ideas to warm you up.....till you can dip a spade in soil.

Make some pots from newspaper for starting seeds!

Then make your own potting mix for all those recycled paper pots! 

Now you're almost ready to start this year's garden indoors!

I say 'almost' because you need seeds. If you saved seeds from previous years (of course you did!) you'll want to test them for their viability, a fancy word for still alive. This will save you wasting precious resources as well as time for seeds that will never germinate. Take a few seeds and place them on half of a damp paper towel. Cover the seeds with the other half. Set on a paper plate or tray in a warm dark place for a day or two. If the seeds begin to sprout you can assume that most of the seeds in your packet are worth using. If after 3-5 days there is no activity, you will want to locate new non-GMO organic seeds for that variety here. 

Light is critical for seedlings to be strong and healthy. Once the green leaves have broken through, they will need plenty of light, 12-16 hours a day. Ideas abound here on Pinterest for putting together an indoor greenhouse with lighting. Or..

....you can follow these steps and manage some seedlings au naturel, blessed by free solar sunlight from your south-facing windowsill.

Whatever you have available, you can use. So join the fun! And post your ideas below. 

As Grow Appalachia funder, Jean Paul Dejorio, likes to say: "Success unshared is failure!"

In whatever way you celebrate this season of light and magic, may it include bundles of gratitude and of course, joy. 

With sincere hope that 2015 will find us more grateful, more tolerant, more connected and more compassionate for ALL

that share with you this miraculous blue spinning ball, 

Mother Earth. Our home.

Many Blessings,

Yvonne

Hey, I'm official!

A few years back, 2009 to be exact, in a fit of boredom, I started an on-line application to hopefully free myself from life behind a desk. I wanted to get back into doing what I most love: helping people grow their own food and enhance their food security. It all starts with a kitchen garden and expands and grows as families realize the connection between eating well and food sovereignty, between food security and increased incomes, as I witnessed in Cuba this past May. 

Around about July, I decided to complete that time-consuming questionnaire and get on with the search for an opportunity to share, learn and grow myself. On July 28th, my application to Americorps VISTA was in the hands of whoever and after more than a month of various interviews and submissions to a plethora of organizations (some of whom appeared not to want me, can you imagine?) I connected with the SOAR Initiative (Shaping Our Appalachian Region) in Kentucky. And I was the lucky person who landed in Campton, Kentucky, in November to work with the chair of the Agriculture component for eastern Kentucky. The initiative is a bi-partisan endeavor of Democratic Governor Steve Bashear and United States Congressman Harold "Hal" Rogers, a Republican. It's quite an honor to be part of this and to know that VISTA was considered a key component to move this initiative forward. Once the goals are approved by the executive board, we'll be taking all that back to the communities and creating the structures to implement them. The next meeting is February, 2015.

Here in Wolfe County where I'm based, we've got great things going on: focusing attention toward a real jewel of a program, the Jackson County Regional Food Center, as well as bringing in the Grow Appalachia program to the community, encouraging new opportunities for growers, creating mentoring connections and offering all sorts of training for growers from seed starting to rain barrels to seed saving and food preservation.

And neither rain nor snow nor cold temps is keeping a valiant crew of volunteers from putting up a hoop house/high tunnel/greenhouse behind the Extension Office where I'm working! This will be our home for growing transplants, experimenting with season extension and classes of various kinds. I'm looking forward to using this as my "second office" some days.

For me, it's always a stimulating challenge to move to a new area, create a new network of friends and just learn your way around. Driving to our SOAR meeting recently in Manchester, Kentucky, my supervisor shared with me the land that is near and dear to his heart as we passed through it. For all the difficulties that often brand this area of Appalachia, I have yet to speak to someone who hates living here. They may wish for an improvement in their financial circumstances or living conditions, but they don't want to move. They just want those better opportunities to come here.

It's only been about six weeks, but so far I've learned: that a fully-stocked grocery store or lumberyard may be 20 miles away; that fast food franchises substitute for local restaurants, and often Family Dollar stores substitute for shopping centers. Yoga classes and a dentist are 90 miles round trip. The librarian as well as everyone else in town knows everyone's geneology...back four generations!

I've also learned that no 5-mile stretch of eastern Kentucky landscape is the same: serpentine 2-lane roads, death defying right or left turns that spring up out of nowhere, meandering creeks or rivers and the impressive stratified rock precipitously overhanging the waterways and roads looking like they stepped out of "The Phantom Tollbooth." Instead of tokens, these tollbooths require us simply to slow down and admire the scenery which is pretty dang easy in eastern and southern Kentucky. And in this land of "no guardrails" I'm quite happy to slow down and take in the natural beauty of this region, like the Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge State Park. The impressive views seem more abundant  than organic vegetables but I'll see if I can help change that. Stay tuned! 

Reflections on Cuba (Part 2)

Patio Pelegrin

There is so much that I drank in (besides mojitos!) during my 10 days in Cuba that remains long after getting off that plane back in Miami. It has taken some time to ground myself again in this place I call home, the United States. The comparisons between the small island nation and this enormous one really are unfair and most depend on a skewed vision of what constitutes "wealth" and a "high standard of living." For many of the people I spoke to who were born after the Special Period (1990-1998) Cuba is far behind on developing jobs, resources, opportunities for its people. For those who know life during the Special Period, things aren't necessarily so bad. In Cuba today you will hear differing opinions and voices, a testimony, I felt, that discussions about life and politics are more transparent and open than before. A hopeful sign.

As an American, the most profound experience was discovering how the decade-long Special Period affected the lives of each and every Cuban continuing right up to the present. That Cuba is still here after a crisis some state was three times worse than the Great Depression here in the US, is a testament to the heart, courage and resourcefulness of the Cuban people.

Imagine if you can a moment in time when your source of fuel, grains, fertilizers, pesticides and trade ended virtually overnight. Everything upon which you depended for a livelihood just collapses. Electricity is limited and erratic. Buses stop running and cars sit idle. Food disappears from shelves. And food rots in the fields because there is no fuel for the trucks to move it to markets. Animals lack for feed.  That is what happened to Cuba in 1990. While attempting to recover from the failures of the "green revolution" --a totally unsustainable, monoculture farming of vast expanses of land completely dependent on petroleum products--Cuba's main trading partner, the Soviet Union, ceased to exist. Without petroleum, without a market for their chief exports of sugar, tobacco, citrus, the Cuban economy collapsed. This was 1990. Within two years, the average Cuban had lost 20 pounds and many were suffering from a degenerative eye disease due to lack of certain nutrients. While the United States trade embargo tightened rather loosened it's restrictions, hoping to finally choke the life out of the socialist experiment just 90 miles away, Cubans completely reconstructed their lives and created ways to feed its people without assistance from any other nation. So far, they are the only country in the world who has accomplished this.

We were in Cuba to see how almost 25 years later, this grand experiment in agroecology and socialist cooperation was working. While it still has hiccups and there is still much room for improvement, the farms, cooperatives and urban gardens we explored and enjoyed with gusto and great food, have restructured agriculture and continue to explore and implement new methods using the resources at hand. Most farms, whether labeled or not, follow permaculture models of diversity, planting zones, tree guilds, and a closed loop system--what resources are used on the farm are returned to the area. Solar panels powered well pumps, special huts were built to grow ladybugs and beneficial predator insects for controlling pests. All farms and locations had worm beds, large troughs of brick or concrete block that were constantly producing worm castings from manure for fertilizer. The manure comes from draft animals, either horses or oxen, kept on larger acreages for hauling and tilling. And for producing the precious manure. Mechanization virtually ceased during the Special Period and what was observed was the soil became healthier and less compacted over time so we saw most farms utilizing animal traction even when tractors and fuel were available. Everything on these farms and urban gardens or organoponicos has a purpose and feeds into the system of production, environmental restoration and energy conservation.

And they were beautiful!

The Cuban experiment in organic food production that is becoming a model for most of the country's small farms is studied by people around the world. Cuba reflects and honors the wisdom of the peasant culture and traditional farming practices. During the Special Period, Cuba needed to go back to traditional methods of farming in order to feed it's people. Today in Cuba, farmers are the highest paid of the legal professions. The numbers of farmers are growing as the agrarian reforms are opening up more and more of state land to those who want to farm. And the land is free for up to 10-25 years as long as its productive.We may see in Cuba's Special Period what life could be for us once the peak oil collapse occurs or as climate change and natural disasters increase.

While those who grow the food in Cuba still lack some of the resources that would make their lives easier, because of the continuing US embargo, they have adapted. Their diets have improved due to the diversity of plants now cultivated and sold in the point of sale (punto de venta) markets, similar to our farmers' markets. Direct sales of food items was approved during the Special Period to encourage everyone to grow food on their urban spaces in Havana and remains a dynamic incentive for food production all over Cuba. Since most food grown for human consumption is organic, Cubans don't need food labels. And organic food is cheaper than imported processed food.

I found Cubans to be creative, inventive, adaptable and artistic all at the same time. Not to mention funny and willing to share. Their farms are a reflection of those who work the land. There are murals on the walls, sculptures peeking out from banana or guava trees. Children come to create art next to raised beds of spinach and celery. A farm does not just feed the belly in Cuba. In order to be successful it must also feed the soul.

I hope you enjoy these postcards from a very special place. And to my companions on the tour, my hosts and guides in Cuba, gracias por todo. I hope to return one day soon.

I encourage others to participate in the next Food First/Food Sovereignty tour in January, 2015. For more information go here. 

Reflections on Cuba (Part One): land without billboards

The complete lack of advertising (besides political murals and slogans) as we bounced along the highways and back roads of the western end of Cuba during our 10 day acroecology tour in May was just one of the very positive differences between Cuba and the United States that I sincerely miss since I returned.

Ostensibly, I chose to participate in a Food First/Food Sovereignty Tour  because I've always had a strong desire to visit Cuba particularly after viewing "Power of Community," the video that introduced me to the urban gardening manifesto of the early 1990's. As a person who researches and writes about ways to end hunger, I realized Cuba is THE place on the planet to experience some of the best examples of organic food-growing systems at various levels of production.

It may take several posts to cover all that I saw and heard. I'm still digesting so much. I have hours of audio from our meetings with farmers, agronomists, agriculture experts, educators plus our amazing guide and translator. Spending time with family in New Mexico's summer heat has me dreaming of the white sand beaches in Cuba where we enjoyed not a few gorgeous sunsets and some not-so-weak mojitos. There was something to smile about every day in Cuba. The people smiled with us, laughed with us and enjoyed sharing what they knew, answering our questions however strange they sounded, and were proud to show us what they had accomplished in their particular locale. And what they have accomplished is nothing short of miraculous. I only wish our politicians weren't so pigheaded about the embargo....a 52 years embargo...that not only has failed to bring Cuba to its knees (as many hoped) but fails to bring to the United States a new and anxious trading partner just 90 short miles away.

The picture postcard town of Vinales beneath the 'mogotes'

While Cuba may not reflect a standard of living we might consider consistent with a wealthy westernized country, this island nation does provide for its people in ways we only talk about and which our government fights against: 1) all Cubans have some form of housing, simple or rustic though it may be; 2) all Cubans are guaranteed a free education through post-doctorate studies (and has a 100% literacy rate);  3) all Cubans have access not only to free medical care but high quality medical care. Many countries around the world send their medical students TO Cuba because of its outstanding reputation in medicine. In other words, the government provides for what it believes are the foundations for a nation to survive and has placed access to food at the top of the list. Because food is seen as a national security issue, Cuba has consistently altered its government policies to improve the way it feeds its people. Unlike most other countries where farmers are dying to have land, in Cuba there is abundant land available but not enough farmers! Anyone can sign on for up to 33 acres of land in usufruct for 10 years and renewable for up to 25. The catch? You must make them immediately productive. Some refer to this as "repeasantization" of the land and gives anyone with the stamina, the resources and knowledge the ability to have her or his parcel of land to farm. For free.

Cuba is much, much more than its very famous capital city of Havana and many have written about this lively and historic port on the northwest coast of the island. For me, it was spending the days visiting the farmers, members of the agricultural cooperatives and the innovators (like Vilda and Jose from Havana bringing the ideas of food preservation to Cuban households or Hector's finca where farming is an artistic extension of his sculpture garden and ceramics production) that excited me.

What deeply impressed me from farm to farm, was observing how the model of cooperation, deeply entrenched in socialism, has served Cuba well for many decades. There are many levels of training, resource sharing, and government research and information available, as well as support from other farmers, to help farmers succeed in their profession, part of the Campesino-to-Campesino movement brought to Cuba in the 1990's and now a foundation of the work of ANAP, the National Association of Small Scale (Peasant) Farmers in Cuba.

And the food! Each day's lunch built on the previous until I couldn't imagine we could sample or consume another amazing morsel of locally grown, organic, native food.

At the vegetarian restaurant  El Romero in Las Terazas

To truly understand Cuba's current agricultural accomplishments, it is important to comprehend what Cuban's call "The Special Period." What evolved from that crisis in the early 1990's fueled another revolution in food production that is now studied by food producers, agronomists, social scientists and farmers all around the world. This critical moment in history requires more than a short paragraph at the end of this blog so stay tuned for that and more photos next time!

Until then check out the video "Power of Community" on youtube, a documentary describing the Cuban Special Period and its relationship to a post-peak oil society. Now, for a mojito.....

5 days to Cuba!

In just under a week, I and 13 other participants will be taking that infamous 90 mile trip between the United States and Havana, Cuba. Yes, it's possible for educational purposes like this one through Oakland-based Institute for Food and Development Policy, more commonly known as Food First. For me, it's a dream come true. As part of an agroecology tour, I will experience what I have only read about until now: the transition from a petroleum-dependent, monoculture form of industrial agriculture to state-sanctioned and supported rural cooperative, independent farms, and urban organic growing systems feeding cities. Because Cuban policies are predicated on the belief that food security is national security, meaning every person has the right to be fed, this change required a complete reversal of food growing systems--in only a few short years know as "The Special Period."  It is a model that people from all over the world come to experience, to assess, to learn. It's doubly exciting for me since the process of this transition in urban and rural Cuba inspired and informed the research for my book, simply garden small!

Well, I still have a lot to read before May 9th (we were provided 150 pages of background articles)...
...and to pack to meet my weight limit of 44 pounds. While there won't be rum or Cuban cigars in my bag on the return I'm making room for the mementos of art and music and photos that I can share back here along with all the new ideas, information and experiences cultivated from 10 days in the island nation.

(Photo from Food First)

It is sad that we continue to harbor fear about the socialist protocols after so many decades. It is my hope that as I and others return and share our experiences we can erase more of those old Cold War myths that no longer serve either our country or our Cuban neighbors and refocus on how we can exchange what really matters: information and resources to improve lives on both sides of the Straits of Florida not just for today but for our future as well.

For more information on this tour and other agroecology and food sovereignty tours through Food First, check out their website. And stay tuned after May 20th for blog posts about the tour.

Celebrate Earth Day by cleaning out the fridge

Yeah, that's what I said. Clean out the fridge and celebrate Earth Day with me this Tuesday. If you can't get over to my gorgeous little mountain town of Sylva, NC, I'll post some pics and instructions on how to create a "second chance garden" from all that produce you would normally throw away (GASP! OMG! HEAVEN FORBID!) or compost. Whew, that's better. We're going to have a lot of fun snipping, watering and reviving romaine lettuce, beets, green onions, yellow onions and garlic, bok choi and sweet potatoes bringing those limp, shriveled, chopped off stems, roots and end pieces back to life.

Join us at Bridge Park on April 22nd. And thank yo Mama Gaia not just tomorrow but every day. Without her, there wouldn't be a you, ya know.