| They were ridiculed, laughed at, and boycotted. Why on earth would anyone not make use of science and harvest a bigger crop? They were not producing anything NEAR a 'normal' farmer (course not, the soil was all messed up and what wasn't eaten by pests didn't get the chemical nutrition the near dead soil needed to work) and their produce looked small and sickly. Since they harvested so very little compared to their traditional In short, they starved, because nobody wanted their things. We were conditioned to go for the big, shiny, crisp apple. They, however, could not be stopped. They installed solar roofs and dug in. It must have been a very lean decade for them.... then one by one little sheds appeared at the side of roads, close to farmland (and no, that has not been done before in Germany... very uncommon... we have farmers MARKETS, and that’s it). In the beginning, it was often a makeshift plywood stand with wooden crates and a big umbrella. Cutting out the middle man and working insanely long (opening) hours, being informative and always approachable (another nostalgic effect, the little corner stores were almost completely wiped out by that time, and many of us still remembered 'auntie emma' and wanted her back over the damn supermarket - that’s the tiny neighborhood store where she lived above the stuff and you could knock on her window if you were in the 'gotta cuppa sugar' state of mind in the middle of the night. Remember, Germany’s closing hours for all shops were 6pm at that time. Apart from a source for 'darn, I forgot to get' they slowly became an institution. Couldn't sell the wrinkly apples? No problem, homemade covered apple cakes sold like wildfire (who in this time and age has time to make some that taste like you remember???). The strawberries looked too small? The jam was to die for. Nobody fancied local wildflower honey, fine, they used it to make mead. AND were smart enough not to sell out to chains when it took off, so they’re holding the monopoly. They reintroduced the custom of 'don't know what it's like, TASTE it' and made people understand that it could very well be better even if it didn't look it, by having a fruit sliced up to sample. They gave away one tiny egg with each purchase and promised to make up for it if you happened to find a beak in it (what IS a free roaming chicken anyway? Ewww, there’s goo on the shell….). Took a while to get used to the taste, we missed the fishy flavor of battery eggs. They sold to curious browsers just because you felt guilty eating up half their freebies and fairness demanded you gave something back. And they were so damn NICE. They created demand you didn't know you had, and expanded further. They, it is my believe, had a major part of starting the 'green wave' of back to naturalists. When it looked like they had a fighting chance, they carefully began educating people (a little flyer here, a note there) about the dangers of pesticides. In time, traditional farmers started looking 'over yonder' to those weirdos' fields, which by now, after being pampered, crop exchanged, loaded in horse shit and meticulously worked over AND given a rest every few years, produced like there was no tomorrow. And without the extra cost and time of pesticides. Maybe we could have them over for coffee sometime and talk things over.... Now, in fact, farmers at the market are faced with 'but, this isn't ORGANIC????' and passed over. Supermarkets, even the tiniest ones, have to have an organic isle, or they can just as soon shut down. And they had better be reasonably priced, because by now we know that organic is NO longer a luxury item! Many more people are willing to pay 10-20 percent more for ‘free’ eggs without even blinking. It’s no longer a big deal. If you’re poor, you simply use less. My MOTHER, for god’s sake, lectured me about the virtue of organic potatoes a few months back. I almost choked (I’ve been a herbalist / naturalist for over two decades, not that she paid attention much). The 'yuppie farmers', however, are preparing to conquer one more corner, I think. I started seeing things like homemade baskets (with how to make booklet), stone oven baked breads (with recipe booklet and offer to bake it for you if you bring yours), organic local seeds (with how-to grow flyer), clothes made from, you guessed it, flax and cotton (and yes, with where to see booklet and invitation to come look at the looms), and everything in between you can think of. They're even going after the children offering 'a night in the barn' sleepovers and 'a day in the strawberry field' kinda deals. They can't possibly be making money with what them little monsters eat, but they're doing it nevertheless, grooming, I'm sure, their future clientele. Their road side stands, by the way, are now pretty wooden huts with real roofs and a patio to sit and have a cup of tea and homemade cookies. The entire mindset has changed. Now you are being ridiculed if you DON"T try to eat healthy, and use organic wherever you can. The moral of all this? You think you have it hard getting started, herbally? Getting dirty looks for going environmental? Feel weird slugging your recycle trash around because your area doesn’t give you a container, so you go to where there is one? Give it a decade. It seems to be the normal timeframe to make a success of a new idea. But most importantly, never give up. Never stop believing, and smile at those who shake their heads at you, thinking 'Imma get you too, you just see' Society is so 'over civilized' there IS no other way than going back. Thanks Goddess. Green Blessings, Sorcy Summerwind |
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| I have always looked down my nose at those women who think they don't have to try so hard anymore, after finally having bagged a man. I have always sworn I would NEVER, ever, be caught dead in sweats, without makeup, or with rollers in my hair. Period. I have sworn I would always keep my figure. (this is what you married, this is what you got/get) **** I was married last month. I'm going to work without makeup, without a hairdo (maybe a leftover from the Florida honeymoon, where you can't keep either for more then 5 minutes, humidity and all, and are allowed to be blissfully YOU, cause everyone else is forced to also) I gained a total of 20 pounds (back) during our honeymoon feeding frenzy (I'm glad I don't have to live in the states. I could not survive Arbys, and KFC, Bens'nJerrys, LongJohnSilver, and the Deli's. Oh gods, the deli's :) I hear a nagging little SLUG voice telling me it's okay, it doesna matter, 'he likes me this way'. And while, more's the pity, he really DOES, I am teetering on a knifes edge trying to keep a fraction of my sanity, and 40 years of perfectly cultured Barbi-ism intact. I have always scorned and harped at my girlfriends, who, once married, all of a sudden lost their urge to go out and party, and all interest in ME. When you were unlucky enough to be with more than one of them, and mentioned some new nail polish shade, they gave you THAT look. I met my first -still single- girlfriend oday in the supermarket, and after an exited hug she asked when we'll go dancing again. Dancing? Whaaa??? Errr.. (I don't wanna go out without m'man:( That'll mean some other jerk might ask. URGH!!). I'll give you a call when I have my next weekend off, like, next year or so... Besides, I had all my '20+lbs' party clothes altered by way of incentive to never gain it back. Course, I have got this lovely new sweat-set in army PT utility gray that are really comfy, and besides, who cares. He's not around to see me, so why bother? Besides, all the kids out there are so awfully young (thanks goddess I never have to be out there again, looking), what's the point? Amazing, one little signature and a flimsy teensy bitty ring, and from one minute to the other, adulthood slams in. Or old age. Or.... I DID bag my man, so what's all the fuzz about? Sorcygrinning |
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| If you answered one quarter of the messages, as is normal for most active members, even if only to say 'me too' (which we don't really do, right?) your time rises to 54 hours. If you responded to 10 percent of the entire mail volume with a real-response mail of your own, your time totals approximately 70 hours, or almost three full days. If you are a volunteer researcher, and/or a moderator with file duty, and have done your part for, say, 10 percent of all mails/requests/uploads, add another 70 hours, or three more days. Pray you don't have any other groups or interests. Your total HHI times is 140 hours, or 6 full days per month. Get a life. Lets see.... You had to eat about twice a day. Say 60 hrs a month. You had to go potty, clean yourself, and briefly acknowledge your family from time to time. Another 60 hours. You HAD to go grocery shopping, and somehow prepare the meals everybody expects from you. Even with cheating, another 60 hours. Housecleaning (make believe) Hmmmm.... 20 hours. That totals about 10 days, allowing for unaccounted emergencies, like friends visiting. Since the average body requires 8 hours of sleep (or another 10 days) and sheer hunger requires the same amount of hours employment (another 10 days), you are now officially 3 days behind (6 days per month for moderators). And you wondered why you're frantic? At the end of each year, you are short approximately 30/60 days, or 1 (2) full month. Therefore, you are entitled to a 'eclypse' every 12 (6) years, age slower, and will live about 2 (4) years longer then the average non-computer person. SOME of us, despite all this, obviously still have too much time on their hand and SHOULD be out there herbing. Oh, herbing.... whoops, gardening… errr.... 2 hours a day, or 60 a month, or 3 days, or a whole month out of each year, and, and, wait, making tinctures... and... you know, I think I made my point :) TIME IS RELATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorcygrinning |
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