To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15397#sthash.dIwQAfKF.dpuf
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15397#sthash.dIwQAfKF.dpuf
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15397#sthash.dIwQAfKF.dpuf
| To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,— | |
| One clover, and a bee, | |
| And revery. | |
| The revery alone will do | |
| If bees are few. |
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15397#sthash.dIwQAfKF.dpuf
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15397#sthash.dIwQAfKF.dpuf
—Emily Dickinson
I live in a small rental home with my grandmother. She’s the
breadwinner in my family and an awesome human being. She puts up with my
eco-craziness but doesn’t see a point for most of it. We recycle
everything but glass (the city won’t take it) and we compost. I’ve had a
small vegetable garden in the backyard for three years and and a bit.
Total harvest so far: a handful each of peas, green beans, strawberries, and
carrots. Literally a handful each. I’m stepping up my game this year
with two modified African-style keyhole beds. Since we rent and the yard is
small, I can’t do anything too off-the-wall, like solar panels,
graywater, front lawn garden, get fruit trees, or putting in permanent
raised beds.
 |
| Current garden plans have been derailed by snow...in April. I live in South Dakota, it's a special place.* |
Chickens
are illegal in town, and G (my grandmother) has nixed rabbits, guinea
pigs, indoor worms, and bees. I managed to get a chest freezer for cheap
(classified ads are awesome) last year, so when I made friends with a
deer hunter and someone who had an extra half a hog to sell, I actually
had a place to put the meat, yay! G’s mistress of the kitchen, so I have
to keep reminding her that we have all this meat, but that’s a whole
'nother issue.
I
finally bought a rain barrel, so I won’t be using my big plastic bin,
scoop-out-the-water-with-a-bucket system that I’ve used for the last
three years. I have a drying rack in my basement for drying clothes.
Less wrinkles than my old leave-it-in-the-dryer ways, and things like
linen don’t wear out as fast. I’m working on cloth pads, and I only
shower about once a week (don't look at me like that, I use deodorant).
All
in all, I’m being somewhat green in the things I have control over. My
dream is to have a small house with a big garden, no trash, grey water,
small livestock, be eating local,have renewable energy, and maybe a place out
in the country where I turn marginal farmland back into prairie.
This project isn’t necessarily about the destination, though: it’s all about the wild ride!
*Disclaimer: Image taken in North Carolina, though with a similar snowfall to the one we had this week. South Dakota doesn't have Tulip Poplars.
