What’s going on in sustainability:

The common thought is that a farmer lives in the country as far away from the city as possible, concentrating on the land and little more. And a band, they live on the road, playing music and partying in each city they find themselves in for the night. Yes, some city folk have community gardens and some bands have a social message. But few urbanites are really trying to make a homestead, and few bands get invited to sustainable farming conferences.

So when me and the boys headed to the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) for the weekend, a little confusion was natural. When we first rolled in, I felt like a rock star, loading the equipment, doing sound check, watching the band take the stage to the crowd of farmers ranging from young kids running around to an elderly couple jitterbugging on the dance floor. But as I spent most of time explaining that no, I am not the bands roadie or their number one fan, but the bands sustainability writer. And when it wasn’t until the second or third set of workshops for people to realize that the band wasn’t making a cameo celebrity appearance, but that they actually were at the conference to learn, and not just play their music, the celebrity feeling started to wear off.

What was left was the project found on this blog; me bringing the farm to the city and the band taking that message out on the road. And after the weekend, I now believe that its this unique style people crave for the change this world desperately needs. It was amazing to see over 2,400 farmers from all walks of life get together under the auspices of sustainability. But what really impressed me were the few snippets of conversation I’d hear. One farmer saying, “Yeah, we’re staying in the hotel, this is my vacation for the year.” Or “I’m only staying until Friday, I got to get back and do some work on Saturday.”

This was not a trade show where business people just write off their time. This was a conference of working class people who realize that there will be no more work on the farm if they can’t take a few days to further develop their sustainable practices. In each workshop, whether it was as theoretical as learning how to write the farm story or as practical as methods for bio-intensive farming, there was always the underlying message that this earth and our society are changing. And if farmers aren’t prepared for the transition to a more sustainable economy, then there’s not much hope that anyone else will be. It made no difference if the farmers were as traditional as the Amish or as progressive as my urban Philly friends. Each person in attendance is on the forefront of this change.

And by the end, I believe that Hoots and Hellmouth is right there with them. I must admit that it was a rare for a farmer and writer to be treated as a rock star. I couldn’t hide my smile when the hotel bar broke into applause when we walked in during the conference or the star treatment we received by Tim and the great staff at the Owl Creek Cafe. But my favorite moment of the tour was when we were driving home in the van, engaged in deep conversation about transition towns, peak oil, farm subsidies, Monsanto, Michael Reynold’s EarthShips, biodynamic farming and any other sustainable issue the conference invoked.

As I said before, it was this tour that made me realize that this blog and the idea of Hoots and Hellmouth being a farm band are not just gimmicks to sell music. It’s a holistic approach that makes sustainability a viable way of living. By using their music to progress their message and provide people like me a forum to articulate change, I truly believe that Hoots and Hellmouth is doing more for sustainability than many of the non-profits, advocates and policy people that I encounter everyday. And I’m more than happy to be a part of it.

So please, keep tracking this blog for the amazing projects I’ll be taking on this season; a glass bottle green house, bees, and another bio-intensive farm to name a few. For more information on the transformative experience we had this weekend please check out www.pasafarming.org. I would personally like to thank the great PASA Staff including Anna who took care of us all weekend, the folks at Penn State, Greta and for putting us up Saturday night and Tim and company at the Owl Creek Cafe.

That’s it for now. Until next week, this is the note from the urban homestead