"American Gothic" was painted by Grant Woods from 1930. The key components as you can clearly see are a farming couple, the pitchfork, and the background cottage "with a distinctive upper window." Notice, the man in overalls. According to Wikipedia, the painting "is one of the most familiar images in 20th century American art and one of the most parodied artworks within American popular...
A friend wrote me to ask, "Are you getting any business amidst all the 'awareness-raising' that you're doing?"I am, I'm happy to report. Below is one garden project I worked on this past week: a food garden in Carol's backyard.Carol wanted two raised beds with a small fence around them to keep her pups from digging up her winter greens. The day before I started digging, she called with a...
This past week, I made a trip up to North Carolina to my alma mater, Warren Wilson Collegefor homecoming with two friends, fellow alums. Warren Wilson is a work college, which means that all students on campus have a 15-hour-per-week job. Most of the routine maintenance and tasks are performed by students. For example, there's a plumbing crew, a library crew, cafeteria (dish-washing) crew, etc....
Folks, the food movement is growing quickly in Tallahassee; however it is not root-bound within our home town. A few years back, I read a book named Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Softwareby Steven Johnson. It's about how semi-connected individuals can work together as a coherent whole; the system can and usually displays an "intelligence" greater than that held by...
Monday through Friday this week, I spent hours-upon-hours on roadsides in Tallahassee clad in overalls, holding an upended pitchfork in the vein of the "American Gothic" painting. I simultaneously held signs with catch-phrases about food gardening like, "Grow Your Own Food and Share It" and one with a picture of Rosy the Riviterthat said "WE CAN GROW FOOD." Another one, an infomational sign...