Dancing with Demeter

We’ve come to realize just how important cultivating community is when homesteading—especially in a rural area like ours where “like minded” people are few and far between. Let me give you a glimpse of what I am talking about here. We live in a small rural town on the outskirts of Tampa, Fl. There are churches on every corner it seems, big trucks, a small downtown area where the antique stores outnumber everything else, and plenty of reminders that you are in the South. It is rare to come across people who are growing food organically, let alone people who are interested in permaculture and homesteading. Be that as it may, it has taken us about three years but we finally feel like things are coming together–or should I say people are coming together. It’s a small group of homesteaders and farmers who certainly make for an eclectic bunch. There’s a sheep farmer, a survivalist homesteader, an edible and native plants nursery owner, and of course there’s us.

What started out as meeting new friends and visiting their prospective homesteads/farms has grown into something bigger. Something that resembles community. We all have expressed similar feelings of isolation and misunderstanding from those around us. “You mean you don’t run the AC in the summer?” or “You do what with your pee?”–you get the idea. We’ve also come to realize that we can’t flourish as isolated homesteads. Does everyone have to raise chickens, herd sheep, grow the same veggies etc.? The majority of us have two person homesteads where one of the two works full or part time (oddly enough it is the women who have jobs outside of the homestead). This makes it extremely difficult to do everything we want to do let alone have a consistent food supply coming in. Forming the group has shown us that perhaps we were going in the wrong direction. Maybe it is just as important when starting  a homestead to cultivate community as it is to cultivate the soil.

A different approach….

This little eclectic group of ours has been doing some exciting things. We’ve held potluck dinners where each member brings something from their homestead to share. It doesn’t matter if some are vegetarian and others are not. We each understand the work that was put in to the dish and have a deep admiration for one another. I don’t eat meat but I respect how the other members raise their animals and slaughter them themselves in a way that is much more humane than slaughter houses. We’ve also done seed swaps and work trade days. On work trade days, we all trek over to one members homestead/farm and eagerly assist with whatever tasks need to be done. Our latest adventure brought the group to Wendel’s Farm in Sumter County, Fl. Wendel and his wife have 25 acres where they run an edible and native plants nursery. Their farm is a little gem tucked away from it all. Pear, apple, persimmon, peach, and chestnut trees eagerly greeted us as we followed the winding path to their home. Sunflowers with faces the size of dinner plates jutted out from their lush vegetable garden. A wrap around screen porch adorns their home–which Wendel’s wife designed. The 10 foot ceilings and vented alcove provide a constant circulation of air so that no AC even in the middle of a Florida summer is required. Fat healthy chickens sprang about our feet as we made our way to the pear trees where our work began. That day, we picked bushels of pears, gleaned the fig tree, harvested eggplant and cherry tomatoes from the garden, transplanted rosemary, basil, and peppers, as well as collected black eyed susans. The work (which didn’t seem much like work at all) went by fast with so many helpers. Again, we shared a delicious meal of green beans, hard boiled eggs, figs, basil pesto, rye bread, and fresh tomatoes. At the end of the day, we sat around on the cozy porch, glistening with sweat and with dirt under our fingernails. I couldn’t help but smile as I sat listening to the group discuss plans to build a solar dehydrator together. This is it, I thought savoring the moment and the deep appreciation I felt for this funky little group.

The most delicious cherry tomatoes. Surprisingly this prolific plant was a volunteer from last year’s hybrid sungold and sweet 100 seeds.

The harvest of pears we collected, mostly by shaking the tree and letting them drop. Those suckers hurt!

Me picking figs from the largest fig tree I have ever seen in this area.

The guys listening to Wendel who is a wealth of knowledge. What a bountiful garden.

The house that Wendel’s wife designed. Nice and cool inside despite lack of AC.

The lazy days of summer time…