Celebrate Everything, Waste Nothing

Greetings from Truxton, New York! I’m quite settled here, on my ninth day at Frosty Morning Farm, a 9-member CSA owned by Karl and Alison Frost. Now, let me assure you, my week-long blog hiatus does not reflect a lull in my work load or my education. I have been weeding and potting and planting and labeling and organizing and experimenting and observing and playing hard since I’ve been here, and my time on the internet has been sparse. Perhaps because they have dial-up, or perhaps because I’m so engulfed in the simplicity that Karl and Alison have created here, but either way, I’m on a self-proclaimed technology detox. A much needed one.

Karl and Alison live on the Common Place Land Trust, an intentional community made up of 15 households that follow basic principles reflecting a genuine love and understanding of the land, its natural cycles, and the ecosystem that they (we) are a part of. The people here at the land trust celebrate everything and waste nothing. (except for the jar of goat milk that Karl had to dispose of this morning because they don’t even have a refrigerator and the cooler wasn’t cold enough to fend off the summer heat. Wait. No. The chickens are now delighting in it, and their poop is composted and made into potting mix. See? Nothing goes to waste).

The composting toilets, specific sorting of trash (or, not trash), solar panels, minimal amount of artificial light, homemade soaps, rainwater-catching cistern, and endless piles of composts assures that nothing goes to waste and everything has a purpose. Even after its purpose is fulfilled and you think there is no possible way to keep recycling that damn milk jug that they didn’t even buy in the first place, it is once again recycled– aha! a scoop for making potting soil!

Oh, look at my bitty house. It's so cozy. I will be sad to part with it.

And now, an introduction and visual aid of the people I'm working with everyday here on the land trust:

Alison: owner of Frosty Morning Farm, singer/songwriter, perennial expert, planting machine, garden goddess

Karl: anti-fracking activist, cheese-maker, random knowledge provider, handyman, wants to retire and sit under the apple tree but can't because has the hardest working wife...ever.

Karin: goat enthusiast, pursuer of simplicity, hula-hoop master

Penelope: milk provider

I’ve learned so much in the past week – and not just about growing food. I’ve begun my schooling on perennials via Alison, watched Karl milk the goats to make cheese and yogurt, learned how to make kombucha, watched Karin and Jason brew beer for 14 hours one day, sampled Alison’s homemade wine, learned about the composting toilet system (first hand, of course), run a farmer’s market stand, been introduced to new vegetables and new ways of eating vegetables, learned how to make hula hoops, and the list goes on.