“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”~

At The Garden of Eden, I have experienced true unconditional love and acceptance and have shared in the creation of a chicken coop and the beautification of the garden. I have found a light and loving way to progress through life inspired by ideas and fueled by passion. I feel good, therefore I do good.

My time at the Garden will be ending soon. It’s bittersweet. I’m heartbroken and falling in love at once. I enjoy it here and don’t want to lave, but I take the change as an opportunity to create something new elsewhere and within my self.

I trust that everything I do with good intent will be exactly what I want.

Michelle “Maggie” Maggied (pictured left) and I will be setting off toward the Southwest to visit intentional communities, eco-villages, and to meet others living the sustainable American dream. Our idea is to travel from Texas to Arizona in March then to the Northeast in April.

We’re raising money for our trip and for organic non-GMO seeds that we will share and plant with do-gooders we come across in our journey. I will be guerrilla gardening along the way as a protest to Monsanto’s agricultural monopoly and ties to the FDA. (FYI: Monsanto controls most crops and sues organic farmers for saving seeds.)

We’re planning an event to benefit organic growers and small farmers, sustainable activists creating community, and individuals planting good in the world, so check back soon!

(**UPDATE** We can’t accept donations through paypal at the moment, but we’re working to resolve this, soon.)

We are selling earrings as a fundraiser this Saturday at the Bicycle Swap Meet at Rahr & Sons and at Hump Day at the Where House on the February 15.

In love and with gratitude,

“Love is like a good cake; you never know when it’s coming, but you’d better eat it when it does!” – C. Joybell

I was that little girl standing in line before the birthday girl/boy to make sure I’d get the biggest and best slice of cake. I call this condition “Birthday Cake Syndrome”: awaiting my piece of cake excitedly, to behold it as a sweet luscious opportunity, and to scarf it down joyously as if it was a last meal.

Dumpster diving sends me to that birthday cake place. It’s a reminder of the giddy little child I am when I do what I feel. It’s an opportunity to be in ecstatic love with every moment as a surprise.

Last night, Maggie (right) and I found a whole decorated birthday cake and cupcakes on top of the overflowing bin. It’s as if they were there for us to celebrate the dumpster fare of the evening. Man oh man, did we celebrate! We found organic corn and breadcrumbs for our hens, organic chips, a pound of  flour, organic juices and cereals, oatmeal, along with all the fruits and veggies we could ever need.

When I moved to Texas from Tucson, almost every store I investigated had a compactor and there seemed to be few opportunities to exercise my food freeganism. That was until I moved to The Garden of Eden, where I got the low-down on dumpster alley, a row of Walmart and Kroger dumpsters open for our feasting celebration.

These days, Every moment feels special like a birthday cake surprise, especially when I dumpster dive.

I’d love love love to hear stories, comments, and questions about dumpster diving and freeganism!

(((♥)))

Emmanuela

Stay tuned in for a video and guest post about dumpster adventures!

I was in pure admiration of her strong hands and her unwieldy self-attitude. I used to dream of being that kind of woman. Today I know I AM that woman.

It feels marvelous to work with my hands. It feels satisfying to work together to turn inspirations into a realities at The Garden of Eden. To continue our journey as a sustainable eco-community, we envisioned a chicken coop built out of re-purposed materials.

The process has been a beautiful flow. At every moment our reality has shifted: something doesn’t quite fit, we have a difference in opinion, or we have a spark of inspiration to deviate from ideas we hold loosely. We step back and take a breath. We observe ourselves and we communicate consciously with each other. We see the structure in a new light to connect with it at every nail, screw, and staple. This is the best chicken coop I’ve ever built because I really feel it as myself– every idea, pallet, and breath.

As I become self-trusting, my hands become rustic and my inner self resonates capability and clarity. I used to say, “I’m not a builder.” But I am building just as I am growing. Today I helped create something strong within and outside of myself. Tomorrow we welcome 35 hens and one mighty rooster to the garden roost!

Garden of Eden community builders (Photo via Michelle Maggied)

For more inspiration about chicken coops read Growing closer to protein independence II: coops and rebars.

I’d love to hear about your inspirations for self-actualization and sustainability, so leave a comment if you please!

plump as a cherry floating on the sea.

Our organs feel pain, a desire–implosions!

An expulsion, impulsions to be free.

An orchard of feelings: breaking of a vase.

The vessel is my body.

There is no danger in letting go.

I stare into plasma oceans

awaiting this supercilious birth.

Crab dropping fertilizer

like manure on a lazy baby–

Growth.

We look upon the green coast

for breath. Deep breath. I’m home.

You’re home. You are my home.

I dismember you to remember me.

I wake up to sun risen birds at The Garden of Eden, a co-op farm in Kennedale, TX. I drink organic orange juice harvested from the dumpster and sweet potato harvested from the earth. I go out into the garden to check on the tractor tire greens that slept under the frosty moonlight. I take a deep breath. I am thankful to be me.

Last night I fell asleep in front of the wood burning stove, laughing and playing music with my house mates. We peeled sweet potatoes for pies and did yoga exercises together. I am surrounded by passionate, open people. I am in daily meditation with community, food, laughter, dance, music, nature, and honesty.

A lot has changed for me lately. I quit my job and I am separated from my husband. But before you think “how sad” or “I’m sorry to hear that”, please know that I don’t have any remorse. I am grateful to be living true to myself, passionate in whatever expression it takes at each moment. I am happy.

Of course, my feelings and experiences are in a constant state of evolution. I hold them in the palm of my hand. I observe them like a bird, but I don’t harbor them in my heart. Expectations are flighty. I let go of them freely to welcome each experience fully.

I’m breathing and living moment to moment. I don’t want to miss a passion-filled heartbeat.

Now is your chance stand up to destructive industrial practices and, yes, Save the Rainforest.

I received the following urgent message from Third Millennium Alliance calling for donations to prevent rainforest habitat and endangered species from ending up in the hands of developers and logging interests: (They give the good news first)

“Good News: Throughout the forest we’ve installed “photo trap” cameras that are automatically triggered by infrared motion detectors, to assess animal populations in the Jama-Coaque Reserve. These cameras have revealed the presence of a surprising list of endangered species, most notably the extremely rare and elusive ocelot, which is a slightly smaller cousin of the jaguar. Prior to these findings, ocelots were believed to have disappeared from this part of the country. Their existence in our reserve is one of the most tangible successes of this project thus far.

ocelot in the wild (image captured by 3MA interns)

Bad News:
The new coastal highway has brought with it real estate speculation, land development, and other new threats to these last fragments of Pacific Equatorial Forest. This past month, a 200-acre tract of forest along the northwestern border of the Reserve was bought by a gentleman who made a name for himself by clearing the last mangrove forests to build shrimp farms. We were aiming to acquire this property in 2012, but we were too late. He is already lining up logging contracts with large industrial buyers, which effectively ends our hopes of expanding the Reserve northward. Meanwhile, our immediate land acquisition priority–172 acres of forest along the southwestern border of the Reserve–is being surveyed by real estate speculators from the regional capital. We are $15,200 short of closing this deal before the property is sold out from underneath us, a blow which would effectively end our chance to expand forest protection southward. Now is most likely our last chance to make a significant addition to the Jama-Coaque Reserve. This one of the very last remnants of one of the most biologically wealthy ecosystems on the face of the earth, and its fate is hanging by a thread of a few thousand dollars. If you have the wherewithal, now is the time to help. Thank you in advance.”

I’ve lived in these forests. They cannot and should not be in the hands of industrial interests. Please consider donating what you can: money, time, and words are all valuable. For more information visit www.3malliance.org or wordsprout’s conservation page.

Don’t forget to share this with friends, family, and social networks! The ocelots thank you!

Everyday I hear of inspiring people dedicated to growing their own food. They achieve a level of self-sufficiency, environmental conscientiousness, community connectedness, and down-to-earth happiness I dream of.

Growing food. Growing food started as an experiment: our answer to water draining endlessly from our rooftop evaporative air-conditioner. We recycled the water through a small garden. Why not? In Tucson, we grew tomatoes, composted kitchen scraps, and raised our first 3 hens. Our experiment in food production has continued for the better part of 4 years. Today, living in Texas, we grow tomatoes, pumpkins, squashes, potatoes, peppers, onions, peanuts, herbs and we raise 9 hens for eggs and occasionally meat. It’s enough to supplement our diet, but not enough to kiss gas-guzzling grocery store greens goodbye just yet.

Growing community. We’ve grown food and we’ve grown relationships. We connect with like-minded individuals who’ve opted into the gardening/urban farming lifestyle or who barter with us for our garden-raised goods. It’s exciting to see co-workers, friends, and family starting to grow food and raise hens. I love meeting new people getting into it, too. Like our lovely couchsurfer hosts in NYC who have a vermi-composting system in their apartment. Or like the friendly intern who gave us a tour of the Battery Conservancy’s Urban Farm, a bamboo-enclosed wild turkey nested at the feet of Manhattan’s skyscrapers. Then there are the more daring farmers in places like rural New Mexico. This Guy I know grows his own food, makes his own cheeses, produces honey and raises ducks, goats, and chickens alongside friends at his mudhut; watch his food production video series. It feels like the local food production movement is happening everywhere!

Growing movement. The conscientious food culture movement is growing. Authors like Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver opened the conversation about local food culture to the mainstream. Nourish: food + community is an educational initiative sprouted from that conversation with a video podcast series that facilitates the movement. The pulse of the nation is telling us that local food is a good thing, but a paradigm shift in food production is imperative to our dire economic situation, the health of our citizens, and the unpredictable state of the environment.

It’s time we grow up and meet nature halfway through food.

What’s your food production story? How have you met nature halfway?

Check out the Whole Foods Thrive video series below and stay tuned for part II of wordsprout’s growing food series!

Bike Friendly Arlington will have a table with a kid’s coloring corner, a raffle to win prizes, and educational materials about bicycle safety. BFA is proud to be a part of the Arlington community of do-gooders.

The city of Arlington is providing DIY classes and demos, like how to construct a rain-barrel, to “reduce consumption of natural resources as well as discussions to enlighten North Texans on different environmental issues and what we can do to help reduce, repair and prevent these problems in the future.” There will be a bike safety town and a free trees for residents. The free trees go fast, so get there early to claim yours!

Come out to learn something new, to network with environmental activists and businesses, and to help Arlington grow into a lovable and livable city. See you there!