http://milklake.tumblr.com/

I’ve decided to move my sleeping space to a cooler room in...

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:19:54 -0400

I’ve decided to move my sleeping space to a cooler room in the attic and thought a bunch of lilacs were the perfect way to spruce it up.

I took the advice of you sweet, wise and wonderful people and...

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:32:35 -0400

I took the advice of you sweet, wise and wonderful people and went on a strawberry rescue mission this morning. I hope I haven’t done more damage than good and that they will be happy in my garden, away from the blades of the Mowerbeast.

I think I’ve stumbled across a patch of wild strawberries....

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:39:17 -0400

I think I’ve stumbled across a patch of wild strawberries. The problem is, they are on a vacant property that is currently for sale. It looks as if the grass is cut regularly, so I’m worried they won’t ever get the chance to bear fruit. What should I do? I don’t want these little berries to be mangled. I also, quite greedily, want their sweet fruit.

Lettuce with one of my painted garden markers…. just in...

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:03:41 -0400

Lettuce with one of my painted garden markers…. just in case I forget that I planted lettuce there. ;)

I painted some rocks today to help me remember where and what...

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:07:19 -0400

I painted some rocks today to help me remember where and what I’ve planted.

my garden patch is coming along! the rhubarb is outrageous! I...

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:28:13 -0400

my garden patch is coming along! the rhubarb is outrageous! I can’t wait to make some pie or compote or something! we also had an invasion of dill seedlings (not a bad thing, dill is my favourite)and I may overdose on peas this summer!

considerbardwellfarm: Eggs, a sure sign of Spring. Our chickens...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:20:32 -0400

considerbardwellfarm:

Eggs, a sure sign of Spring. Our chickens are feeling good.

Look at these beautiful eggs.

My work in the garden today involved thinning out the radish...

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:44:56 -0400

My work in the garden today involved thinning out the radish sprouts! I collected the ones who did not make the cut and am going to use them in salads!

Things I am feeling about the urban farming movement and the media today:

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:16:47 -0400

I love urban farming, urban gardening, organic gardening, community gardening, any gardening, really. Gardens, especially ones grown with the spirit of community building and getting food to people who need it, are one of those things in life that just make my heart swell until it feels near bursting.

But the media is ruining it, as the media does. Profiles of “hip, young urban farmers” make it seem as if all gardening initiatives are the mindfruit of white people. Not just white people, even, but twentysomething women with long, slightly mussed hair and a “quirky” propensity for rolled up overalls and dirt smudged cheeks. This annoys me*.

This annoys me because it transforms those women and what they are doing into a product and a photo spread. It turns their real passion into just another commodity and it trivializes their skills, their entrepreneurship and their hard, physical work.

It annoys me because it silences and makes invisible an entire portion of the Food Justice Movement (TM). The media does not need to propagate more images of White People Doing Good Things For the World. There is enough of that.

I understand that in a media climate where “kinfolking” has become rampant, the images and stories of hip, educated, urban young people doing home-y, back-to-basics, nostalgic and ”simple” things are the ones that sell. Tumblr is a haven for these images- they make us sigh deeply and say “If only I could live the *simple* life!”

But social change is not simple and it does not happen solely at the hands of white people and it does not happen simply by putting on the outfit and holding a bunch of carrots. Every single woman in every single “urban farmer” portrait knows this, because when the photoshoot ends, she goes back to the physical work of her “hip, urban lifestyle”.

And so do hundreds of others who do not fit her mold, but are irreplaceable in the movement she is a part of. The Food Movement (TM) is diverse, and white-washing it in the media does nothing to celebrate its potential for real change or promote its aims. Please, please don’t believe what they are selling you.

* and it annoys me largely because I see myself buying into it.

Today’s teaching outfit. Vintage chambray dress, mustard...

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:34:02 -0400

Today’s teaching outfit. Vintage chambray dress, mustard cardigan, white tulip pin

"Please know there are much better things in life than being lonely or liked or bitter or mean or..."

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:52:27 -0400

“Please know there are much better things in life than being lonely or liked or bitter or mean or self-conscious. We are all full of shit. Go love someone just because; I know your heart may be badly bruised, or even the victim of numerous knifings, but it will always heal, even if you don’t want it to; it keeps going. There are the most fantastic, beautiful things and people out there, I promise. It is up to you to find them.”

- Chuck Palahniuk (via talisman)

want to go!

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:33:51 -0400

want to go!

Breakfast for mom today. Lilacs are in bloom and made the...

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:25:55 -0400

Breakfast for mom today. Lilacs are in bloom and made the perfect bouquet for the center of the table.

"Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:54:08 -0400

“

Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day. […]

More and more people in this country no longer make or do anything tangible; if your job wasn’t performed by a cat or a boa constrictor in a Richard Scarry book I’m not sure I believe it’s necessary. I can’t help but wonder whether all this histrionic exhaustion isn’t a way of covering up the fact that most of what we do doesn’t matter.

”

- TIM KREIDER

Tonight I planned out my vegetable patch.

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:57:34 -0400

Tonight I planned out my vegetable patch.

"If you have an idea of what you want to make, what you were put here to do, then just go and do..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 20:00:30 -0400

“If you have an idea of what you want to make, what you were put here to do, then just go and do that.”

- — Neil Gaiman

simple, sound, good advice.

Where do you all live?

Sat, 11 May 2013 13:43:54 -0400

Where do you all live?

"Don’t start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday. Every day is a fresh start. Each day is a..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:34:12 -0400

“Don’t start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday. Every day is a fresh start. Each day is a new beginning. Every morning we wake up is the first day of the rest of our life.”

- 30 Truths I’ve Learned in 30 Years (via outcamethesun)

On my lunch break, I like to wander a bit.

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:24:54 -0400

On my lunch break, I like to wander a bit.

This week has been incredibly self-affirming.

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:42:19 -0400

This week has been incredibly self-affirming.