Musings from the Farm

Still Here

2009-07-27T11:35:00.011-04:00

Hey folks,
I just wanted to say that we are still here. It has been very busy lately with a new staff of 5 and much planting, watering, planning, renovating, constructing, etc. We are experimenting with some value added products like relish and pickles. Our tomatoes are beginning to ripen and we will see what we will do with them. We are here most days and would love to see you for visiting or volunteering. Grace and peace to all.

Here are a couple of pics from our corner of Buffalo.

We would love to develop the vacant house in the background for students and AmeriCorps members in the local community. Contact me if you would like to support this effort.

Meghan and Rod McCallum

Vision for Queen City Farm

2009-06-30T07:52:00.002-04:00

Is it possible for a white kid from the So Cal suburbs to inspire this kind of movement? I pray that it is because this is the vision for Queen City Farm:

Rochester Roots

2009-06-05T12:09:00.004-04:00

Our neighbors from down the Thruway have some great programs for school gardening and education. Check out the video about their program.

Life, Inc.

2009-06-03T12:57:00.002-04:00

I love it when people write books about the way I think about things. It makes it so much easier to organize my thoughts and argue my position. That said, here is the next book I am going to read:

Life, Inc. by Douglas Rushkoff

Cobblestone

2009-05-19T08:14:00.006-04:00

My mom was visiting our 6 week old son this weekend. Yesterday we went down to Buffalo's oldest neighborhood, the end (in my opinion, the beginning) of the Erie Canal. We walked around a bit before heading to the airport to send my mom home. That's us in the first few seconds of the news video from a press conference that was being held while we were there.

Apparently the mayor and other dignitaries thought it was a good day to announce that the cobblestone streets that have long been covered over will be uncovered and restored for the Erie Canal Historic District. This district is turning out to be a beautiful area that showcases a unique piece of national history that made American agricultural and industrial might possible.

The Erie Canal opened the Midwest and beyond to the markets of the eastern seaboard and Europe. All the grain from the bread basket made its way through Buffalo and its enormous grain elevators that stretched for miles along the Buffalo River. It wasn't until the development of the interstate highway system and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway that the Erie Canal became obsolete. Today most of the Erie Canal is still passable and is mainly used for recreational purposes. For more on the Erie Canal: http://www.eriecanal.org/

Another part of this development will feature the uncovering of a section of the actual Erie Canal that has long been buried under housing projects, sporting venues and elevated highways. In this case, regress = progress. Here is a link to the plans that are being implemented where the Erie Canal, the Buffalo River and the foot of Main Street all come together: http://www.eriecanalharbor.com/

Built to Last Wins!

2009-05-13T09:03:00.006-04:00

Local documentarian and friend, John Paget, won the Congress for the New Urbanism's video contest. Here is the press release: http://www.cnu.org/cnu17/node/2853. John Norquist, president and CEO of CNU said, "Built to Last made me laugh out loud... But this video is serious too."

John is an award winning documentarian, the talent behind Paget Films (www.pagetfilms.com) and the producer/director behind the local internet tv channel, truebluebuffalo.com. John produced Let's Grow Buffalo, the short film that makes a case for urban agriculture and preservation in Buffalo.

John also teams up with other friends from Southern California, Chris Elisara, Drew Ward and Aaron Lemen. It was this team, collaborating as First and Main Media (www.firstandmain.tv), that produced Built to Last.

Congrats friends! I hope to see all of you in August.

Grace and peace to all.

Rethinking the Lord's Supper

2009-05-12T09:09:00.008-04:00

Below is a link to a blog that I read on a regular basis. I have been thinking this way about the Eucharist for some time now. I believe that Christ's word about being present when two or three are gathered in His name is simply another way of saying, "remember me when you break bread together."

Rethinking the Lord’s Supper

Grace and peace to all.

Image is the work of deb hoeffner.

Housing Crisis My A@#

2009-05-06T08:08:00.006-04:00

Forgive the provocative title. It's all about the headline right?

I have been asking myself this ever since the word foreclosure became the most commonly used word in the national media.

What's the big deal?

The housing crisis has been in full swing for decades in my neighborhood. Of the 50 grand homes that used to sit on my block, 18 are still standing. That's 64% of the housing gone. Not in foreclosure or sitting vacant... GONE! That means that 64% of the houses on my block have already been through foreclosure and sat vacant for many years and fallen apart and been torn or burned down. Another 10% sit vacant today. This is just one block out of the hundreds like it in Buffalo and hundreds of thousands like it throughout the nations urban communities. Where is the outcry? Where are the billions of dollars of federal money to bail out these communities? Welfare right?

Welfare in the form of federally funded highways that make wealthy suburbs possible?

Welfare in the form of mortgage interest tax deductions that make middle and upper class homeownership possible?

Without these, the largest welfare programs in the history of humanity, everyone would be stuck in the 'hood. But, if everyone was stuck in the 'hood then the 'hood wouldn't exist. Instead, the 'hood would be a stable, viable community. Not perfect, but stable. Not without problems, but with solutions. Almost like it was before this mad scientist experiment called suburbanization began.

How do we move forward from here? We have moved to one of the abandoned places and are building a community here. With our neighbors we are trying to cross racial lines, socio-economic lines and spiritual lines. We are sharing the joys of new babies and the pain of mothers having to leave those babies to go to war. We are loving our neighbors but more importantly, our neighbors are loving us. "Move to the 'hood and minister" is the call but the surprise is that the 'hood has much more to give than we do.

Grace and peace to all.

P.S. Here is the news item that started this little rant: Empty neighborhoods fill Rust Belt
Also, 6 of NY State's 10 most abandoned neighborhoods are on Buffalo's East Side - our neighborhood.
The picture above is the view from our front window.

From Coincidence to Providence

2009-05-05T21:11:00.002-04:00

As many of you know we are developing an urban farm in the heart of Buffalo, New York. Last June we moved into a house that had been vacant for a number of years and has been a lot of work to renovate and make livable. It still has a lot of work to go. We didn't own any of the land that we would like to farm but this winter we purchased the vacant lot next to our house.

With no resources and no preparation of the soil last fall we hatched a plan to plant the veggies needed to make a pasta sauce. This way we will have a non-perishable product that we can distribute to low-income families and use to generate support for the farm from churches and non-profit organizations. We mentioned this plan to some church folks we met that recently retired from operating an apple orchard. They offered to grow 150 Roma tomato seedlings for us – Miracle 1.

Knowing that we wouldn't have any extra resources or time (full time job, new baby, commitment to being a good husband/father) we have been trusting that God would provide. However, the growing season in Buffalo is fast approaching and prospects for getting 50 cubic yards (a.k.a. 50 tons) of nutrient rich compost to our farm have been few. We need this compost to plant the tomatoes because of the poor quality of the urban soil.

Cancel tomatoes?

Trusting God.

Miracle 2 – After several prospects ended unsuccessfully we asked our neighbor's boyfriend (Christian? Not even close.) if he had access to a commercial dump truck. He did and said that he would make the trip to the suburban municipal composting facility to pick up the compost for us on the opening Saturday of the season – May 2nd.

The municipal composting site sells compost for the very low price of $16/cy. This is great but 50 cy at $16 each is a lot more than we have on hand.

Cancel delivery?

Trusting God.

Early in the week we hear that the dump truck is in the shop and it may not be ready for the planned delivery.

Trusting God.

Late Friday we get the message that the truck is out of the shop and the delivery is on. My goal for delivery day: a huge pile of compost to be turned into rows at a later date… preferably before Memorial Day (a.k.a. planting day in Buffalo) but definitely in God’s time.

Delivery day – We get to the composting facility and learn that there is a 10 c.y. daily limit this early in the season. We would only be able to get 20% of what we had planned. Load 10 c.y., leave $160 rubber check with the clerk and head home with 20% of our plans almost fulfilled.

Trusting God.

Mini-miracle 1 – It had rained the night before. Not a lot, but enough. While backing onto our property the truck, with a 10-ton load, dug an 18-inch rut in the grass between the road and the sidewalk. This is 120 feet from where it needs to be dumped. Now, 120 feet isn’t far to walk but it is far to wheel 10 tons of soil in a Lowe’s “Homeowner” wheelbarrow. A second try with one set of tires on the neighboring properties walkway and a little more momentum and we were in the lot.

Miracle 3 – The in-laws live around the corner and have renovation work of their own going on. The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg had a service day on May 2nd and sent a small team to help Ric and Leigh Anne with their house. They tried to cancel because their daughter and two granddaughters from Denver were flying in that afternoon. They were unable to cancel and the team came to help. With several people helping around the house, a couple with little to do, and a mound of compost freshly dumped on the farm, Ric brought Duffy Smith over to see what we might be able to do.

Miracle 3 continued – Duffy is an experienced corporate executive with a strong work ethic and no fear of manual labor. Duffy’s degree is in plant biology and he has spent most of his career in the food industry. In fact, Duffy was in charge of growing all of the tomatoes for Campbell’s soup. God is so awesome and funny in the way (s)he chooses to confirm, affirm and lead us in service. Needless to say, we had a great conversation and experience working alongside each other on a beautiful spring day.

Mini-miracle 2 – Duffy and I spent the morning cutting rows in the grass and preparing to fill them with the compost that was delivered by our neighbor. Remember the rain? It was just enough to soften the soil for cutting in garden rows and not too much to keep the truck out of the lot! God is great!

Mini-miracle 3 – We got four rows cut in and mostly filled. We thought that we would need at least 12 c.y. of compost to fill the 4 rows but with the rows roughly half full we have about 75% of the compost pile left. Loaves and fishes anyone?

Around noon the work team had to leave and Duffy and I exchanged contact info. I hope our day was as much a blessing to him as it was to me.

The family finished the day by welcoming my sister-in-law and her two girls to Buffalo to visit our new son barely 4 weeks old.

Like most, Sunday is our Sabbath and we spend the entire day with our kids. We have church on Thursday night so Sunday is a true day of restful enjoyment. Sometimes I will work on a fun project during Ashland’s nap and then play with him when he wakes up. Last week I built a small sand box for him and we spent the afternoon playing in the box. This week I built a planter box complete with Plexiglas top so Ash can plant his own crop of greens and “trees” (a.k.a. broccoli).

Miracle 4 – As I was finishing Ashland’s planter I received a call from a friend that runs a community development organization in the neighborhood. He said that he had a lot of left over fruit trees from his organization’s weekend project. He wanted to get these trees planted because he had to return the auger he rented on Monday morning. Within 20 minutes he rolls around the corner in his bobcat and digs 5 holes for 2 peach trees, 2 plum trees and a pear tree. I spent the next couple hours planting the trees and in a matter minutes doubled the size of Queen City Farm’s small orchard. We now have 3 apple trees, 3 pear trees, 2 plum trees and 2 peach trees in addition to the 3 mature cherry trees that were on the property when we moved in.

Mini-miracle 4 – The total cost of the developments this weekend was the $160 “rubber” check that was left with the suburban compost facility. A quick check of the savings account that some of my paycheck goes into for fixing our house: balance = $165.

Sunday night, feeling exhausted and ready for bed I couldn’t help but laugh and praise God for bringing everything together in good time. I couldn’t have planned or orchestrated the events of this weekend any better than they happened. If I could have planned it, there wouldn’t have been room for God to wow us and send our little community into praise for the wonderful gifts that God has given. I can’t wait to see what else God is pulling together for this little group of broken believers.

Built to Last

2009-05-04T08:14:00.008-04:00

A few friends of ours put together a short film for the Congress for New Urbanism's YouTube video contest. John Paget is a Buffalo based film maker behind the web tv channel, TrueBlueBuffalo.com. The contest is based on the number of views on YouTube so show your support of walkable communities and local artists by watching this thought provoking film.

Here is the link: Built to Last

P.S. I would embed the film but then it doesn't count as a view on YouTube. Now go to YouTube and watch the film.

Here we grow again!

2009-05-02T16:33:00.001-04:00

Today was a huge blessing. Our neighbor took his dump truck out to Amherst's municipal composting facility this morning and picked up 10 tons of beautiful soil. He backed into the vacant lot that we own and tried to dump the load. Unfortunately for me, even his skilled driving couldn't get the soil out of the bed. I ended up climbing inside and shoveling the remaining soil out of the truck.

Duffy, a volunteer from the Wesleyan Church at Hamburg came over and spent the morning helping me remove the sod and mound our raised beds with soil. A few hours of hard labor and we have several beds almost ready for planting. Come Memorial Day we will set out 150 tomato plants and a variety of other veggies. Thanks to all who lent a hand.

Buffalo's Urban Farms

2009-05-01T09:26:00.004-04:00

A neighborhood friend and blogger just posted about Buffalo's urban farm history. fix Buffalo highlights the city program to establish urban farms to feed the poor and hungry during hard times in the 1890's. Ironically, Buffalo was following the example of Detroit's urban agriculture program. Today, Detroit is working to establish urban farms on its acres and acres of vacant land. Let's hope that Buffalo can again follow the example of others in developing urban agriculture.

The aerial photo above is a 150 acre farm at the Buffalo Psychiatric Asylum in 1927. In 1927 Buffalo's population was more than double the current population and we still had room for 150 acres of farm land. We now know this farm as Buffalo State College.

Links:
fix Buffalo's 1890 urban farm post
WNY Heritage Press article on 1890's urban farms
Detroit urban farm proposal

Baby on Board

2009-04-21T11:52:00.003-04:00

Our urban farm has a new resident. On April 3rd I came in the door from my last day of work before two weeks of spring break. My lovely wife said to me, "I think I'm in labor." These words didn't evoke panic but they did provoke action. I finished putting the car seat together and installed it in the car. I encouraged Meghan to eat some protein for energy during the event to come. Meghan called the midwife and she said, "Meet me at the hospital in 30 minutes." We spent 5 hours on the delivery floor of Children's hospital of Buffalo. Meghan is a champion laborer and weathered all her contractions through transition with seemingly little disturbance. About 4 or 5 pushes and Levi Isaiah became Cold Spring's newest resident. He was 7 pounds, 12 ounces and perfectly healthy. He has been a joy for more than two weeks now. He sleeps all night and nurses and sleeps most of the day. His older brother is a so sweet and gives Levi kisses, hugs and gentle head rubs whenever he can. One change in Ash is the decibel at which he plays. It has increased noticeably and we are doing our best to help him transition. Thanks for all your prayers, meals and gifts. I look forward to sharing more thoughts about faith, community and the rhythms of life soon.

Grace and peace to you,

The McCallums

The First Step to Recovery

2009-04-03T08:44:00.016-04:00

I work at a school with 105 students. 103 of these students are African-American and 2 are white. The demographics of the surrounding neighborhood are similar and my wife and I have chosen to live in a neighborhood with similar racial demographics. In this environment the saying: "don't judge a person until you walk a mile in their shoes" has taken on new meaning for me. I have become the racial minority in my community. I feel my skin color every time I walk outside. I wonder how the people walking and driving down my street think about my skin color. I hope that they don't judge me based on their previous experiences with people of my similar hue. My skin color, its cultural meaning and its practical ramifications in my community are never far from my mind. This experience has challenged me to think about, talk about and study race, racism and race relations.

Depending on your perspective you might think this is odd in a "post-racial society." With the ascent of President Obama we have heard a lot about the end of racism. The most common phrase I hear when I talk to white Americans that are not engaged in race relations is: "I'm not racist." Now, I'm not going to present an argument for the position that our society is profoundly racist (although I believe it is and may attempt this in the future). However, I think we do ourselves and our communities a disservice by pretending that we are not prejudiced or biased. It is impossible not to be biased, in some way, toward almost everything. It might be argued that the highest form of injustice is the refusal to recognize injustice in the first place. I believe that it is time for us to stop pretending, admit our prejudices and work together to break them down and eliminate them. Elimination of prejudice is the goal that will never be achieved because of human nature but it is the goal nonetheless. I would like to challenge you to reflect personally and honestly about your beliefs and feelings, conscious and subconscious, about people with a different racial heritage than your own.

To encourage you to reflect honestly I would like to admit that I am racist. As our recovering friends tell us, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I know that our society and my position in it has taught be some profoundly racist attitudes. I also know that this is no excuse for inexcusable behavior. No matter where my beliefs and attitudes come from they are still mine and I must own them and deal with them in a morally, ethically, and socially responsible way. The problem is that I can't deal with the problem if I am unwilling to recognize it, admit it and address it. This is why conflict of interest policies and judicial recusal policies exist at every level of society. The purpose is to identify bias and prejudice and take steps to reduce or eliminate its impact on ourselves and our communities.

Harvard University has an ongoing project that seeks to identify subconscious attitudes in many areas including race. I completed the race test and received the following result:

"Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American."

Here is the breakdown of how all respondents scored:

I don't want to imply that these tests are perfect but they are challenging and may help you to think and identify attitudes and feelings that you may not have realized were there.

Here is the link to Harvard University's Project Implicit. Go to the demonstration tests and choose a category to test yourself on. I would suggest race.

Ss. Columba-Brigid Montessori: Closing

2009-03-20T12:16:00.008-04:00

Ss. Columba-Brigid Montessori is the last Catholic school in the area of Buffalo known as the East Side. The East Side is known as the worst of the worst for those who know Buffalo but don't know the East Side. The vast majority of East Side neighborhoods are tight-knit and safe family neighborhoods. Many residents have been born and raised in the homes they now occupy. Unfortunately, tight-knit communities don't automatically translate into wealth or economic stability.

After more than two years of deliberations the Catholic school system decided to let the administration, teachers and parents of Ss. Columba-Brigid Montessori School know that they would not continue funding the program after June of 2009. This is a miscarriage of justice in more ways than I can count but I will try to list a few reasons here.

- Instead of telling the school administration and families that they were considering the financial options so that the school could seek alternatives the Catholic Schools administration kept the secret. Some might argue that this was done to prevent a "save-our-school" campaign but all it really did was leave struggling families hanging. They are hanging because applications for Buffalo Public Schools were due on December 1st of last year. Parents now have no options but to go to the end of the line at every school in the failing district.

- Columba-Brigid has full enrollment and a waiting list for admission. Most other Catholic schools are struggling to fill their classrooms. Why is it that the most successful program in the district is eliminated? The only reason I can come up with is that the Columba-Brigid population is largely low-income and minority. In other words, a marginalized group that can be pushed aside without much difficulty.

- The other Catholic schools are facing reduced support but Columba-Brigid is being eliminated. Why? I created a map of the list of schools that was handed out at the parent meeting. You immediately notice that every other school is located in an empowered, shall I say, enfranchised neighborhood. You will also notice that there are clusters of schools with a couple very close to one another. If there is enough room in these Catholic schools to absorb Columba-Brigid then there is enough room to consolidate one or more of the clustered schools with ease. The other factor that makes this easier is that none of the other schools has a unique and specialized program like Montessori. Instead they simply close Columba-Brigid with the side note of exploring the potential of moving the Montessori program to another school. Why? The only answer I can come up with is that Columba-Brigid serves a marginalized, disenfranchised community that can easily be pushed aside.

View Larger Map

- I would like to know what the church is for if not to care for the marginalized in society. Jesus says that whatever we do for the least among us we do for him. Said another way: whatever we do to the least among us we do to him. You can't tell me that taking education away from children in marginalized communities that have no other viable options is good stewardship. Christian faith is not about taking care of me and mine. It is about sacrificing perks and benefits for me and mine so that you and your's can have basic needs met.

The leadership of Ss. Columba-Brigid Montessori School are as shocked and angry as anyone. They understand that the church has effectively slammed the door in the face of the poor and marginalized in Buffalo and they don't really care. Once again, I am proud of those Christians who are faithful to Christ's message and ashamed of the church that claims His name.

April 4, 1968

2009-03-17T14:08:00.003-04:00

I just finished reading Micheal Eric Dyson's new book, April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr's Death and how It Changed America. Dyson is a sociology professor at Georgetown University and an ordained Baptist minister. He is considered one of the most influential African-American thinkers and cultural critics. His writing is engaging, poetic and a joy to read. I highly recommend the book to anyone who is struggling to understand race, poverty and how MLK's death changed us. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:

The poor are… in effect socially dead persons. They suffer social alienation: They lack standing, status, and protection. They are mercilessly flogged in the press, demonized by fellow citizens, made a football by politicians, viciously criticized by public policy makers, and assaulted by scholars and intellectuals. The stigma the poor carry bans them from the presumption of political innocence, of being good citizens; they carry the weigh of social pariah. They walk in the door with a capital ‘P’ on their foreheads. The irony is that King spent his last few years rescuing the poor, helping them help themselves through political agency, and forging connections among the poor of different races and ethnicities. If we are to resurrect King’s spirit and work for what he worked for, we must love and concentrate on the poor for whom Martin Luther King died. - p. 73

Dirty Jobs

2009-03-10T11:05:00.004-04:00

I needed something to listen to while I cleaned off my desk. So I go to ted.com and recognize Mike Rowe from Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs. When I am visiting my parents and have unlimited viewing options this is one of the shows I will watch. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much but I was intrigued by Mike Rowe on TED... the two don't really fit together in my mind. After watching the video I have to say... WOW! He is funny, smart, interesting and dead on. You MUST take the time for this video.

Shooter Effect

2009-02-27T08:51:00.013-05:00

Are you more likely to shoot a black man than a white man? The University of Chicago has been studying this for some time and has developed an online "game" (the word game makes cringe in this situation) to test your reactions. It has been a few months since I have done this so I am rusty. I recently completed the test again and will post my score in the comments. I challenge you to take the test and post your results as well.

Shooter Effect "Game"

Shooter Effect Info

Why Say No?

2009-02-25T10:49:00.007-05:00

I found my way to a strange blog post. This blogger said no to blogging. He is shutting down his blog (ironically, he has another blog that will continue). Apparently, his hyper-connectedness has disconnected him from people. Being connected to the information superhighway has turned friendships and relationships into blog posts and wall writing. He has chosen to begin saying no.

Saying no has become taboo in our society. And the most taboo of taboos is saying no to yourself. The singular goal of advertising is to get you to say yes to something you don't need or want. The most common tactic is to convince you that you deserve it.

Some traditions say no to almost everything. The Amish probably say no more frequently and purposefully than any other society. Sometimes they say yes and we cry hypocrisy. For example, some Amish communities allow telephones... in the barn. What's the point of having a telephone in the barn?

It's hard to understand for people who allow telephones to rule our lives. I marvel at those whose phones can take them away from anyone and anything without a thought or consideration to what is happening when the person in front of them is instantly discarded for the electronic devise in their pocket or on their counter. What does this communicate to the person in front of us? This is a question that must be considered for those who value human connectedness and relationships above all else. End sermon, back to the barn.

A phone is a tool. Tools are to be used by humans not the other way around. A phone in the barn gives a family the benefit of the tool without the tool interfering with family relationships. The barn is cold in the winter and smelly in the summer. It is not a place to spend hours on end chatting the night away. This protects the sacredness of the home as a place for family, hospitality and relationships that are real, honest and vital to spiritual growth. How can iron sharpen iron (religious speak for mentoring relationships) if they never come in contact? This is by no means a perfect solution but it is one that has been arrived at after careful consideration of what really matters (deep meaningful relationships) rather than simply picking up the latest and greatest thing and letting it use us to its full potential.

Many other traditions practice saying no on a regular basis. Today is the beginning of Lent. Christians throughout the world practice saying no during this season. For many it is a meaningless exercise that ends in a matter of days or hours. Often the Lenten fast consists of giving up sweets or some other food item. Usually, this too has little meaning. An exercise in self-denial has its benefits but self-denial for its own sake is, at best, silly. But self-denial for the benefit of building, protecting and deepening relationships is a priceless investment.

You don't have to be a Christian to learn from the lesson that the carpenter from Nazareth left for us. You don't have to be a Christian to let the Lenten season remind you that self-sacrifice for the benefit of others is the most noble of human endeavors.

What do we say no to? I would argue that the Amish are closer to having it right than the rest of us but you would think I am crazy and I am writing a blog so lets not go there... yet. Instead, consider the thing that takes you away from relationships the most and reduce or eliminate that thing. For me it is the news. I am a junkie when it comes to consuming news. This will be my second year giving up news for Lent and, I imagine, it will be my second year failing miserably. I will keep trying, renewing my resolve everyday to spend less time consuming news so I can spend more time building, protecting and deepening relationships with those who will be with me long after the president leaves office and the pundits retire and my little corner of Buffalo will be the better for it.

Here We Grow!

2009-02-24T09:14:00.014-05:00

Well. Last Friday I spent about 20 minutes with the owners of the vacant lot next to our house. Our house is the one on the left (the weeds are gone but the paint looks about the same). There may be a painting party this summer but I digress. I then spent about 5 minutes at the county clerk's office filing the deed and became the new owner of 191 Glenwood Avenue.

191 Glenwood Avenue is the first official field that we will cultivate beginning this spring. The lot is 32 feet wide and 192 feet deep, huge in comparison to most city lots.

Sunday morning we traveled to Harris Hill Mennonite Church where a couple, who happen to be recently retired farmers, offered to grow 100 tomato seedlings for us! The plan is to produce a tomato sauce for easy preservation, distribution and outreach. For those unfamiliar with the farm, follow the Queen City Farm link for the long description. The short description is this:

Our faith in Jesus has brought us to an abandoned corner of our city to join those struggling on the fringes of society and to learn, teach, grow, find and reflect Christ. The central piece of this effort is the cultivation of vacant land in the heart of the city to grow food for the hungry. We like to think of it as a back to basics approach to Christian discipleship.

We couldn't be more excited but we need to pull together a long list of materials. Take a look at the list and see if you have any extra tools that you can donate to the cause. We are in desperate need of everything on the list but we value relationships even more so feel free to join us any Saturday or contact me to schedule a visit. Grace and peace to all.

Farm Materials Needed:
• Compost/soil
• Soil/compost transportation from municipal composting facilities
• Seedlings/seeds
• Seed starting trays, soil
• ½” PVC and florescent shop lights for seed starting racks
• Roto-tiller
• Seed planter
• Gardening tools
• Chipper/shredder
• Chainsaw
• Organic/natural/sustainable agriculture experience
• Lattice & fencing materials
• Materials for vermiculture bins - Organic matter for worms to eat
• Canning materials/expertise - Canning jars
• Canning labels/label making materials
• Quilting materials/tools/expertise
• Knitting materials/tools/expertise
• Woodworking tools/materials/expertise - Planer, Lathe, Router bits, Joiner, Clamps, Drill press, Work benches, wood, etc.

Slow Life USA

2009-02-11T09:28:00.003-05:00

What would happen if money wasn’t king? What would happen if we worked to meet our families needs instead of our wants? All the extra time and energy could be used for more purposeful living. We could spend time with our family and friends. We could volunteer in the community. We could take up painting or ceramics or writing. We could watch the sunset with a glass of wine and the sunrise with a cup of coffee. What if we in-sourced all the housework that we currently out-source. We could grow and prepare better food. We could cut firewood instead of paying the gas company. We could be strong and healthy without going to the gym. We could open our homes to those who don’t look like us. We could understand where they come from and why they feel the way they do. But most importantly, we could do all these things together. We could have relationships; spouses, children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends. We could recognize that all anyone wants is to be loved, heard and counted more valuable than money.

What are your dreams that could be fulfilled without a mortgage, a car payment, credit card debt, student loans and all the other "benefits" of keeping up with the Jones'?

Sweet Land of Liberty

2009-02-04T09:59:00.002-05:00

I am currently reading Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North. This is the tale of the civil rights battles outside of the south; outside the national spotlight that ignored racism beyond Dixie's borders.

African-Americans moved north (and west) by the hundreds of thousands looking for freedom and opportunity. What they found was a lot of talk about equality and freedom and very little action. Northern whites talked a great game but [w]couldn't produce an equal society. Freedom riders rode into the lions den while the nation ignored Jim Crow's northern territory. Civil rights leaders dismantled school segregation in the north only to see whites flee the school districts for suburban and parochial schools. Eliminating official segregation gave communities the ability to "ignore" color while schools resegregated at an alarming rate. This is where we find ourselves today. The five most segregated states in the country are beyond southern borders (New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, and California). Likewise, the most segregated major cities in America are outside of Dixie.

Now that we are "color-blind" we can talk about moving in order to get the best education for our children without even nearing the issue of race. When we replaced segregated schools with "neighborhood" schools we gained the ability to ignore the socio-economic and "legal" limits that prevent[ed] people of color from moving from racial and economic ghettos. We integrated schools and segregated communities. This is why the word "urban" has become synonymous with "black". Urban schools, urban neighborhoods, and urban style are synonymous with black schools, black neighborhoods, and black style. The city has been abandoned and left, in large part, to people of color.

But I am not racist, my family is not racist and my ancestors were not racist and never owned slaves, why do I have to sacrifice myself, my kids, my family because of the sins of others? This is the question much of white America wants answered.

Baseball analogy from John Perkins:

It's the ninth inning.
The home team has been cheating the entire game and has a 20 point lead.
With pressure from many sides the home team promises not to cheat so obviously.
The home team refuses to start the game over or even the score.
The umpire sides with the home team because the past is past and we should look to the future.
The visiting team starts to walk off the field in anger/despair/disgust.
The home team says "Hey, aren't you going to finish the game?"

You are a player running very late to the game and come upon this situation.

You're on the home team

What do you do?

What do you do if you are in the visiting team?

Lumber Liquidators

2008-11-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

I spent much of last week stacking wood for our stove that was recently installed in the dining room. We had 6 face cords delivered/dumped in our yard. That is about enough wood to fill a box that is eight feet wide and long and four feet tall. I expected to dread the exhausting work of stacking the wood in the basement but I was pleasantly surprised. The work was exhausting but it was spiritually rewarding. For the better part of two days I had to set everything else aside and stock up for winter. I had to experience the change of season. For the last several years the change from fall to winter has meant little more than an extra layer of clothing and no overnight parking on the street. I grew up in San Diego where it is hard to tell summer and winter apart let alone the other monotonous seasons. Stacking wood forced me to recognize that the warmth and abundance of summer was over and several long and cold months were to come. This wasn’t a recognition that brought sadness to my spirit. Instead, I felt a sense of gratitude. Gratitude; for a glorious summer in the neighborhood I call home; for the blessings of the past year; for the warmth that will fill my home this winter; for the hope and promise of next season; for the strength and health of my body and fruits of labor.

Those of us raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition were taught that from the very beginning, the fall of humanity, we were confined to existing by physical labor and the sweat of our brow. From that very moment we have been scheming to avoid physical labor. We have become especially skillful at avoiding labor over the last century. The industrial revolution has allowed us to transfer the sweat of our brow to the tools and machines of our creation. I can’t help but think that humanity never gave up its quest to be God that led to our removal from the Garden of Eden. Only God exists without labor. Everything we need to sustain life comes from hard work. This is the very same thing that gives humans meaning, importance and fulfillment in life. The importance of meaningful labor can’t be underestimated. One of the most important aspects of sustained addiction recovery is meaningful labor. We have to invest ourselves in something that makes a difference.

Stacking wood was exhausting and it wasn’t very glamorous. The most recognition I am going to get for stacking wood is gratitude from my wife for the prospect of a warm home this winter. The cool thing is that my spirit was lifted by stacking wood. The smell of a crisp fall day. The exercise that makes my body feel strong and healthy. The time to slow down and reflect on a wonderful year past and a hopeful year to come and the comfort that my family has shelter from the cold this winter.