The Avalon Organic Gardens, Farm, and Ranch Report

OK, we’re witnessing the highest rice prices ever, semi-trucks are paying 1000 dollars a tank to fill up, the government is subsidizing the massive corn agribusinesses to grow GMO corn to sneak into every little food item they can and create biofuel to monopolize that emerging market, the disaster response groups in the East have reported 800% mark-ups for basic food supplies, and Haitians are subsisting off of “cakes” made of dirt, vegetable oil and salt to fill their bellies. What is going on?! Who’s getting richer off this? Who is ill-managing this world crisis, behind the scenes? People are reporting that there have been deliberate disasters allowed by governments to further their own agendas. I guess what we can do is manage it on our ends, however we may, by making better choices.
Choices: getting to the asparagus that needs attention, the basil, broccoli, tomatoes, and peppers that need planting, …or is it the harvest (carrots, bunching onions, beets, sweet peas, collards…) that the kitchen is awaiting that is the priority? Of course, the weeds aren’t waiting for me, and plants need water, the cabbages are getting aphids, we need to move the rabbits into their new mansion, and the fruit trees need some fertilizer, …and we’ve just got a call about a swarm of bees in Nogales we should go get ASAP. Such is the life here in the garden. Developing a sustainable eco-village here in the Santa Cruz Valley is a lot of work! The farm is just one small part of the bigger picture here, but one that keeps us always busy. We choose to better the world around us, starting with our very own soil, literally and metaphorically.
We had a group of youth visit to get a first-hand taste of some of our various angles of permaculture we apply on our ranch. They were at that age of emerging teen hood, where we may recall the attention span towards s and most everything outside their little bubble = about 2.3 seconds on average. Still, they were nice kids, they are our future, and every bit of experience we can facilitate for them is worth it. Plus, their help with weeding, transplanting lettuce, and planting basil was appreciated on our part. We are thankful for all the many hands that contribute to this experiment here. Day by day, with the combined efforts of this group of dedicated group, including the visitors, volunteers, guests, friends, neighbors, and family members (got my dad planting tomatoes with us the other week, on his visit from Michigan) that aren’t community members, we are building this future. It is a future alternative for all the peoples of the planet, where food security, to name one area, won’t be an issue that a child loses sleep over.