Food sovereignty, how we participate.
I very recently joined steemit and through @papa-pepper I found the challenge by @homesteaderscoop. This will be my first challenge so bear with me..
We too grow food for our family. In our area there was a lot of media attention regarding food safety and high-tech ag doesn't make the situation much better. Our food contains less and less nutrients so as a species we see more diseases popping up. As a family we decided we do not want to participate in this food system so we opted-out. Our number one priority is nutrientdense food not only for us but for our community as well.
As we began on our garden a few years ago we knew that in order to have nutrientdense food we need healthy plants and for that we need healthy soil. Due to our background in biology we instantly made the connection there was something entirely wrong with the way food is produced today.
Now after years of trial, error and lots of learning we grow most of our food ourselfs. Still there is always more knowlegde and skills out there and that is a great asset as well. Once you've grown that tomato plant you will eat so much that you don't know what to do with it anymore. That is when you start you first skill: canning. Nowadays besides canning we also make bread and cheese quite regularly. However my favorite crop of all remains the potato.
The best thing about taking control over your food? “The sheer ecstacy of life” like Joel Salatin calls. It is indeed the most motivating thing there is.
I mean, just look at this!
Every once in a while we make a mistake like planting daikon at the wrong time of year. Nature rewarded us with lots of pollinators though.
So the message of the day is to go out and don’t turn a blind eye to our food system.
I encourage you to grow just one plant, you can make a difference too!
Thank you @warfsterveld for joining our challenge! I really enjoyed reading this post :) You've hit on a lot of important issues and I love that you have found a natural and healthy way to provide nutrition and joy for your family. I see a lot of experience in your photos and am loving the animals integrated in the gardens. Nice work!
p.s. I noticed you are new to steem and I've delegated a small amount of Steem Power from our community account @homesteaderscoop to help you have some mana to operate while you are building your account. Welcome to steem and great first post!!
A community marketplace of ethical, handmade and sustainable products available for STEEM, SBD (and USD): https://homesteaderscoop.com
follow: @homesteaderscoop
Woot! Great intro to a great contest, and welcome to steem!!!
I'm Nate, I like greeting new folks here, especially Homesteaders and permaculturists. There's a bunch of us here, and I'm here to help give you a quick reference to get started and established quickly.
@sagescrub directed me here. He's the one that built @homesteaderscoop and is the one hosting this contest. Lots to thank him for!
As far as Homesteaders on chain, you already know @sagescrub and @papa-pepper; two outstanding steemians! A few others are @riverflows (creator of @naturalmedicine), @freedompoint and @freedomtowrite (creators of @ghscollective), @pennsif (our steem guru and British homesteader), @bobydimitrov and @bghandmade, @elfmyselfandi, @digitaldan, @porters, @walkerland, @goldendawne, @mountainjewel, @makinstuff, @goldenoakfarm, @senorcoconut, @belleamie, and @ligayagardener, and @stortebeker, just to name a few!
Most of the steem communities rally in discord servers, so if you're looking to get involved with community (and who on steem isn't?) then discord is your friend. On discord, you'll find @ginabot is an immensely helpful service that will send you notifications of comments, token transfers, mentions, and many other activities on chain via concise messages. Most steemians that I know use her because she works so well.
Depending on what you're wanting to do here, there's many interfaces. My personal favorite is SteeemPeak, but there's also steepshot, partiko, steemit, dtube, appics, and many others. These interfaces are often also called dapps. You log into them using your private posting key, which you can find in your wallet under the "permissions" tab. There's lots of dapps already, and will be lots more as we grow! Also, don't lose your password or you'll have to start all over like I did. Most interfaces support the use of five tags on your posts. These make it easier for more people to see you, so it is advantageous to use as many tags as you're allowed to use.
I look forward to seeing you around the chain and communities! There's a lot to learn here, but I hope this comment and the support you're gonna get from our communities will help.
Thank you, this is really helpful!
We're all enjoying being part
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Wow fab post @warfsterveld wish i had the space to do everything your doing! Looking forward to see what you post in the future! Followed
Thanks, waiting for the storm to clear to get started on this year's projects.
I can relate to that, waiting for it to get a bit more stable temps and wind before i rebuild the greenhouse and some other bits, looking forward to seeing your projects
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Looking forwards to your updates as well. Followed.
Loved this post! We've been growing most of our own food for decades. It's really cool to sit down to a meal that came nearly entirely (except for salt, pepper, etc.) from the farm.
Your pigs are just lovely! And liked the cow and tree photo!
Oh yes salt we buy but don't have a good local/sustainable source for those things yet. Honey we buy also because I'm not much of a bee person. I do make some spices like garlic powder. Tried coffee plants indoors, needed a lot of care but after a couple years were finally started to produce berries. Then we had to move and the person that was supposed to take care of them let them die. I was so disappointed. Will give it another try in the greenhouse. Not sure if it will be this year because we ordered way too many seeds already. The idea of making your own coffee, even if it's just a little bit.
Idea: Keep some coffee plants/bushes in an office building near a window, they did awsome there and look really nice. Do mist the leaves once a week (learned that from a worker from one of the worlds most famous coffee brands).
I don't drink coffee, just tea. But I have been getting into herbal teas lately...
I make things like celery salt, garlic and onion and green pepper powder, etc.
Wow @warfsterveld! Welcome to Steemit. I am glad that you have found @papa-pepper and @sagescrub! Your gardens look so beautiful. I love seeing the results of hard work. Be well.
Global Homestead Collective Come join us on discord! https://discord.gg/hPJs5Rb
Awesome what you are doing here!
I think this is the best decision you can make as a family! I think for kids this is a really good learning factor too!
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STOPDucklings! Cows! Pigs!! What's not to totally love - oh yeah, and you're getting that food sovereignity thing down pat... awesome. Following you - reach out if you need support!
Very nice!!!! Welcome!
Nice post. You're doing well. Re the Daikon, have you tried 'summer white radishes' ? They are pretty similar and were trying them for the first time this year
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I do have another variety lined up for this year. I really like the original Sakurajima daikon (and the surplus makes great food for pigs, it stores well).
I'm interested in hearing how that variety go
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