What’s in the ground:

Happy St. Patty’s day. The luck of the Irish brought us this amazing weather in Philly. But we’ve been fooled before by this winter, so please, don’t rush to put those starts in the ground. If they are getting too big for your little cups or planters, transplant them into bigger ones to let the roots expand to mature even more before that beautiful spring day when your garden comes back to life.

What’s going on in sustainability:

First, I would like to thank everyone who read and responded to the GRID article. It was an honor to have a story done about me. I would also like to apologize for my absense last week. I was in Mexico with my partner and couldn’t get to a computer. But from that amazing trip, I have the subject for this blog.

My partner and I went down to Mexico to reconnect with some of her distant family just outside Monterrey in a small Mountain town. In the  mountains are these lakes called las Playitas. Although she promised white beaches and crystal clear water, that wasn’t the case. This wasn’t because she was mistaken, but because the idea of conservation in Mexico is mistaken. From the official at the Flora y Fauna office, we learned that due to unregulated tourism by the locals, the beaches were closed. The young man, who by my account was an amazing conservationist, had the imprint on his forehead from where he must have been banging his head against the wall.

To make money, a group of not very conscious locals built a few cabanas along the river and a parking lot at las Playitas, collected an entrance fee, and then taking off before the people must have even left because the power point the officer showed was disgusting. At one point you couldn’t even see the water because of so much trash that has collected in the pools.

I tell this story because it was a great comparison to America. Just like the situation where my partner and I just escaped extortion by two Mexican border police and then were actually “legally” extorted by a Texas cop who gave us a ticket where the price would be set by the judge (anywhere from $0-$500 with no chance of defense), this situation is the same in America and Mexico.

In this country, everyday there are organizations who seek to privatize the land for their own use. Whether it’s the energy industry trying to drill in our state parks or hotels trying to privatize beaches, when land is put in private hands for profit, both the land and our right to enjoy nature are encroached. This even translates to green space in the city for farms and parks. The more people allow land to remain vacant, the more chance there is for a corporation to throw up one of their structures that promises jobs, but that just pays the people minimum wage. The community garden or park that you start, and your support of this amazing national, state, or city park system we have in this country is what will stop the destruction that amazing young Mexican man has to face.

I want to lend all the support I can to him, and the way to do that starts in my community, to keep creating this community consciousness. So, on this beautiful day that I hope signifies the start of a beautiful and plentiful season, I want to inspire you to go out and be as active as possible in preserving, conserving and feeding yourself from this beautiful land we are blessed with. Plant a garden where you can, visit and support with your vote as many parks as possible, and pass on this consciousness to someone else.

Once again thanks for the kind words from everyone who read the GRID article. And also, Mexico is certainly dangerous, but a bit hyped. The only way to stop the violence there is to open ourselves up more to our nieghbors rather than isolating and closing our doors. Until next week, this is the note from the urban homestead.