It ain't easy bein' green

Most everyone who knows me knows I have a little tinge of green haired tree hugging freak in me. I don't know where it comes from honestly. I'm a staunch right winger on most issues. I drive a foreign car. I don't recycle anything but aluminum cans and I REALLY don't do that.   I give them to my housekeeper and SHE recycles them. I am a meat eater. I give my kids too much sugar and yes, (gasp here) I am not convinced there is any real threat from global warming and even if there was, I'm not sure there's anything we can do about it. Oh, and I've never even been close to Berkeley!

So, even though I have no clue why I have an "eco-affliction", I know I've always had it and it's here to stay. Part of it is having an agriculture degree, and being raised on the land. But, I think a bigger part of it is that I worry about my own children and the world we are leaving them. The more I read, the worse it gets. I heard a scientist talking on a BBC show the other day and it caught my ear. The premise of the talk was that "organic ain't where it's at".  The scientist, Dr. Tim Lang, insists that although organic farming is a valiant endeavor, FOOD MILES is the kicker. More could be done to alleviate environmental concerns by buying local food rather than focusing on buying organic food from across the continent. Interesting.

However, my concern over food production in this country has less to do with the environment and more to do with sustainability and survival. When fossil fuels begin to dwindle and we can no longer afford to import our food, and no one here remembers how to grow their own, what WILL we do? This is a problem that should be dealt with now- not later. This is why I part ways with my republican friends over Drill Baby Drill. Why prolong the agony? Why push this problem on down to your grandchildren? The problem with fossil fuels isn't going away. It should be addressed, not passed off to future generations. Personally, I have made it a point to pay attention when my daddy plants his garden, and I want the girls to pay attention to how food is grown, where it comes from, and how to prepare it.  If we wait on the government, it will be too little too late. If we act individually, it will be too little, but if we act as a community focused on providing each other with wholesome, local food when possible, it just might make a difference.

I recently joined a facebook group called "Liberate your lawn! Grow food not grass!". I say this as my sprinklers water my azaleas outside, but the idea does fascinate me and when I have more time, I'm going to GROW not MOW! I did recently talk my husband out of spending 600 dollars on Zoysia seed for our front yard. Seriously, who needs that? We live on a dirt road in a pine thicket in a beautiful house that we literally carved out of the bush.  I love the "wildness" of this place. If I wanted Zoysia, I'd have stayed on a golf course. Pine needles, crabgrass, and sand make a great front yard in my opinion- at least till I have the time to grow peppers and tomatoes out there.

With THAT being said, my husband has had a wild hair for several years now to raise his own honeybees for organic raw honey. Raw honey has many more medicinal effects than pasteurized, strained honey. Many allergists believe that taking daily doses of locally grown honey can solve 90% of all the seasonal allergy issues we endure every spring because the local pollen, mold, etc. that makes us all miserable is found in the honey and your body will build up an immunity. Fascinating.  Anyway,  I guess there are far worse things for men to spend their time doing, so I'll humor him on this one.  And I thought I was the eco-nut! We already have homegrown organic eggs. Now raw honey. We're regular hippies around here these days but I couldn't be happier about it.  A little slice of heaven is what it is.