What’s going on in sustainability:

I can’t wait until I can start these blogs with “what’s in the ground,” but soon enough. For now I guess we must settle for what’s on our windowsills. If you haven’t already, now is the time to start those collard, kale and chard seedlings. If you have a window that faces south that gets good sun exposure, a little bit of soil in a ceramic planter or even plastic cup will get those seeds going. As I said, we’re working on that community greenhouse, and it should be up and running by next fall. I’ll keep you updated.

But for now, I’ll entertain with a tale of urban homesteading at it’s finest. With the same energy as our community apple pick and cider press, much of the same crew (names anonymous) have taken up the search for the finest maple syrup in Philly. I must keep the location a secret, but Philadelphia is the home to many sugar maples if you know what you’re looking for. From there, the process is as easy as forging a spout, drilling a hole into the tree trunk, nailing in the spout, attaching a plastic tube and letting the sweet water drain into the bucket. The time to do it is right now, as the seasons are changing. The warm days and the cool nights make the trees begin moving the water it has stored up and down the trunk to disperse water to the new buds. As this exchange happens, our hole and tube catches the water and it pours out.

Once you have the water, you need to cook it down over an open flame for a long time. In Vermont they build sugar shacks with fire pits right next to the trees for easy processing. We must be a bit more discreet in the city, so we will do this at a friend’s house. But it is a lot of work, the ratio is for every forty gallons of water you collect, you’ll get 1 gallon of syrup.

Now, this seems like a hassle and a lot of work, but that’s the point. Yes, my crew and I got lost in the woods, trudging through the snow trying to find our location, and when we finally hauled the five gallon buckets out and got back to the truck, we found the truck’s tires to be stuck in the snow and we had to push it out. A mission that should have lasted thirty minutes took two hours. But aside from the sereneness of the woods and the water flowing, and the fun I had with my adult friends on a monday afternoon basically playing in the woods, I learned a much more valuable lesson, one that puts into perspective the whole idea of homesteading.

Yes, I love and respect those great Vermonters who manufacture my maple syrup. These natural industries are what support our high standard of living we enjoy in this country and I love to support them. But as I gained the satisfaction of finding our spot after getting lost, and I felt that sublime exhaustion after pushing the truck out, I captured those moments in my mind, hoping to remember the process when I sit down to enjoy my pancakes and syrup in a few weeks. When our culture ceases to produce, whether it’s syrup, veggies or energy, we lose both our sense of conservation and our sense of how we are a part of this earth. When I sit down to that breakfast, I won’t just drown my pancakes in syrup and then scrape the excess off into the trash. I’ll savor every bite with the satisfaction that I had a larger part in my breakfast than just going to the store. And you better believe that I won’t be wasting a drop.

It’s this participation in creating the means of your existence that is the most important part of homesteading and natural living. As I said, I’m thankful for those talented individuals whose labor provides me the time to focus on my own talents. But every now and then we must honor their hard work by finding out how valuable their products are. It’s the most important step towards learning how to conserve.

So, I’ll let you all know how that syrup tastes. Until next week, this is the note from the urban homestead.