About One Straw
We are living in one of the most exciting times in history; a time of massive paradigm shifts, rapidly changing value structures, and unbelievable possibilities. It is also a time where Great Wisdom is needed to navigate through these changes; a time when both action and calm are needed. Knowledge for a more Sustainable Future must be discovered and communicated in a manner that makes it accessible to those that need it most. As our current Built Environment is one of the largest problems, I am working in my little corner of Suburbia to implement Permaculture while still living in an H.O.A. and will detail my trials and discoveries here, as well as relate resources and articles.
I see food production as one of the paradigms most ripe for change, and with some of the biggest benefits to a more sustainable society. Much of my work is centered around sub acre agriculture using low to zero inputs to help add to the growing body of knowledge of growing food on a much more personal scale than is currently experienced in The West. I also dabble in community building, and the ubiquitous Green Living: we are experiencing many problems and must engage in the search for many solutions. Plus backyard farming is really damn fun.
I believe in small, personal solutions to the Big Problems of today; I believe in the power of Hope and Community; I believe in the power of each of us to improve our Future. And that belief in the individual is itself a Revolution.
I live with my incredible wife and 2 young children in Southern Wisconsin, where I drive my Honda Insight daily to work for a Fortune 500 Company. I dream of a time when we can live lighter on the land, build healthier communities that do not owe their affluence to the reduction of future generations wealth. Struggling at times to remain balanced between being a father, husband, and employee with my obsessive Moral Imperative to try to Save the World, I try to live my life one day at a time and to end each day having learned a little, laughed a little, and loved a little.
I hope you enjoy the site, and hopefully together we can learn how to better Be The Change we wish to see in the world.
-Rob
Rob,
I have been reading up on worm farming and so me and my oldest decided to give it a try. We are starting small but have hit a few snags. Well actually a big one. I think that our worms are dead. They don’t move much, if at all and do not seem to be eating anything that we put in there.
We got our worms from a fishing store and dumped a few cans of them in a bucket with some extra dirt. We then put in some table scraps, popcorn, a banana peel and some coffee grounds. Anyway it has been about a week and the worms do not seem to be eating any of it. Oh yeah the worm bucket is in the garage.
Any tips?
thanks. PS love the new site.
Cooter
Cooter,
Great to hear your back from Defending the Free World in one piece! Assuming your garage is not overly warm I would blame temperature for your lazy worms. Under 65 degrees worm’s metabolisms all but shut down. If that doesn’t work I would make sure you are spending time each day saying encouraging things to them. All the disparaging remarks in the English language about “worming your way into things” may be getting to them. Or not.
Good Luck!
-Rob
Cooter,
What type of worms did you get? Only certain species of worms will make
good worm composters. California Red Worms are the best, and other
species of earthworms may not be interested in eating your food scraps.
Please read the book “Worms Eat My Garbage” for more details. I hope
you try again. I have been worm composting for 3 years and they are still
doing well. I keep them outside in “Can-o-Worms”, but I live in a temperate
climate (San Francisco) where it never gets below freezing.
-Chris
Chris, I love your site! Just came over from Green Bean. You’re on my reader now.
Cooter, If you actually see the worms, but they just seem sluggish, make sure that the bedding isn’t too dry. Mine get like that when it’s too dry. Wet sponge consistency is what you want.
If they really are dead, it is possible that the banana peel could be the culprit, though, I doubt just one would do it. Unless it was an organic banana, they tend to have A LOT of pesticides sprayed on them. Or at least that’s what I’ve read. Never had a problem with them myself, but ours are mostly organic.
Just a thought.
PS- We’ve been doing worm composting for 4 years or so and it is definitely worth the effort, even if you have to try again, maybe with better worms like Chris says. I’ve also got a lot of info on it over at my website. I’m thinking about starting to ship out free starter worms if I can figure out how to do it without them dying.
I really love your blog and think you might be interested in wranked — an exciting new community of passionate people who create and share “Best of” lists on any topic. We’re inviting just a few experts to get in on the ground floor, and I would love to invite you to our private beta if you are interested.
Send me a note and I’ll fire off the invite!
Thanks!
Jackie
Chris — this is a great site. I share a lot of your interests and gardening ambitions (although with a much smaller yard, I fear). I’ve signed up for your RSS feed and look forward to reading your posts. Since we have a very similar category/tag clouds you might enjoy my environment-issues-from-a-Californian-Quaker-perspective blog — titled with great imagination: EarthQuaker (www.earthquaker.org).
Cheers,
Simon
I just came across your site and I think it is great. Excellent philosophy and lots of interesting stuff i look forward to delving into.
We made the leap 4 years ago to live a life closer to the land, moving from London to a small farmstead in the Cevennes mountains of South of France. I journal my efforts, on http://www.masdudiable.com, to grow our own food, what I do with it in the kitchen, saving and sharing heirloom seeds and the rural skills needed to live in a dry mountainous region like ours.
Keep up the good blogging
Rob,
I’ve just come across your blog and it looks like a real treasure trove. I look forward to digging in to all the useful information you’ve made available here.
I’ve just started a blog of my own and your work is a real inspiration.
Thanks,
Frank
Rob, I am writing an article for a national consumer magazine about food safety and backyard microfarming and I’d love to interview you by phone this week for the story. Please reply to my email if you’re interested. Hope to hear from you.
Best, katie