Thursday, May 28, 2009

Doing It Ourselves

Practitioners. That's the word Erik Knutzen uses to describe what we do.

It fits. Thanks to google, carefully crafted, intelligent, and passionate essays about the importance of [green, local food, sustainability, Factory Farming, global warming, community] are easier than ever to find. The trick is to put some of these ideas into practice. Big plans fall prey to lack of money or institutional power, small ideas seem to be completely useless in the face of huge problems.

That's where these simple planters come in. Made of readily available materials, they deliver real results with very little effort.

And they produce more than vegetables. There is something powerful in the simple act of growing a little bit of your own food.

Or, for that matter, planting a few flowers.



But back to the practical for a second.

We loved talking with Erik while he was in town and hope to make it out to L.A. sometime soon. Also, his visit was a chance to officially meet Martha Bayne, who wrote the Chicago Reader article about Earthboxes that started me down this path. And we all came together because Nance Klehm suggested we hold some SIP workshops while Erik was here promoting his book.

Thanks to all of them for providing inspiration.

We hope we're doing the same to some of the people who visit our site.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

You are. Or, rather, inspiration runs both ways. I spent the morning dumpster-diving for five-gallon buckets. Will let you know how the peppers turn out ....

Bruce said...

Thanks Martha.

Assuming you need enough for all the peppers, that's a lot of buckets to go diving for. Good luck.

Any tips on the best locations, or is it like mushroom hunting--the less said the better?

Unknown said...

Not only is this site inspirational it's also charming to read.

I've made one SIP myself this year with two old plastic paint buckets from my father, wondering how if I will succeed :)

H2 said...

Martha and Kriz:
Thanks for the kind words. We'd love to have pictures of your results, if you'd like to share.

Unknown said...

A closely guarded secret!

But the guys at Al's Drive-in (North and Elston) were very nice. "Ya puttin plants in those? Good idea!"

I'll be sure to send pix.