Change Of Address

Prairie Roots has moved! Take a look at the new digs: http://prairieroots.wordpress.com/

Tip Of The Iceberg

Here's just a fraction of the cucumbers growing from my three plants. They're Mideast Prolific cukes from Seeds of Change, and despite the 90-degree weather we've been having lately, they're surprisingly sweet. Guess who's making cucumber salad for tonight's supper side dish?

This is the first batch of beans harvested. They're destined for my daughter's tummy tonight.

The zinnias are the second batch I've cut from my thriving flower patch. The first lasted nearly two weeks before wilting. That's with just plain water for nourishment. Sure can't say that about store-bought flowers. The sunflowers are from Seed Savers Exchange's Sunflower Mixture.

We've enjoyed only a few ripe tomatoes but bunches will be ready soon. Sweet corn and bell peppers are close behind.

Roots Reading

A friend recently asked me for the reading list I used for one of my classes at Regent College. Since this blog has been a little short on theology, I'll post that list here.

This was a guided study class taught by Loren Wilkinson. The year I was there Professor Wilkinson happend to be skipping a year in his usual rotation of teaching "Understanding Creation," but he graciously consented to teaching it as a small group guided study option for a few of us. The format ended up more like a seminar class rather than a first-year graduate lecture course, which was great. We first read through For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care by Stephen Bouma-Prediger. Then each of us chose a research area and presented our work to the class. I focused on developing a theology of food. Here's my reading list for that paper (I cited several other works, but these were the main books I read through completely for the course):

Brueggemann, Walter. The Land: Place As Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith, 2d ed.

Capon, Robert Farrar. The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection.

Jung, L. Shannon. Food for Life:The Spirituality and Ethics of Eating.

Schut, Michael (ed.). Food & Faith: Justice, Joy, and Daily Bread.


A few other great titles I would throw into the mix for anyone wanting resources on environmental stewardship from a theological viewpoint:

Basney, Lionel. An Earth-Careful Way of Life: Christian Stewardship and the Environmental Crisis.

McKibben, Bill. Pretty much anything he's written, but especially The Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job, and the Scale of Creation.

Berry, Wendell. Again, pretty much anything he's written (including his fiction and poetry), but especially:

The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture This is by far his densest, meatiest book. If you need something a little less scholarly (but certainly no less significant), check out the titles below.

Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community

What Are People For?

Home Economics

Mason's: Plan B

Given the possibility that our beloved local Mason's building may never see brighter days--it has sat mostly empty for the last decade, after all--Cory and I have been trying to think of outside-the-box ideas for what could stand in its place, should it have to be razed (perish the thought!). Our latest idea: a park.

But not just any park.


This locale could remain the best "outdoor brownie-eating, people-watching, solving-the-world's-problems spot, right at one of the liveliest corners in town". With careful planning, it could be a beautful gateway to Madison's downtown. And just what would make it so distinctive? Architectural elements from the Mason's building itself. Salvaging things like the front columns and bricks would make it a dream project for any good landscape architect. (Oh, and we just happen to know one young Madison native who has a landscape design degree and a keen interest in sustainability.)


The columns could easily form a stunning park entrance creating what might literally be known as Madison's front porch. It would be a nod to stately home front porches around town like this one, which Cory and I always refer to as the "White House," since our good friends Steve and Becky White spent some of their formative years there:


It would connote neighbors getting together for a glass of lemonade (or a DQ Blizzard from right next door!) and a good chat. To enable the most chatting, a landscape architect could design some aesthetically-pleasing sound buffers. There could be great gardens, great spots for picnicking, and maybe even an area for outdoor performances. Think the Queen Bee Mill Ruins at Falls Park in Sioux Falls...only a lot less ruinous.

But that's just the beginning. The next logical step would be to relocate the farmers market here, although its current location at Library Park is indeed a lovely spot. But imagine the Mason's corner on a beautiful summer Thursday evening, bustling with locals scanning the best tomatoes from area gardens and farms. Madison musicians (and we have some great ones like Howard Hedger, Perry Killion, Mitch Villhauer, and Mike Lee) could provide outdoor entertainment. Downtown businesses could stay open late and enjoy the increased revenues that come with farmers markets located in the heart of retail areas.

What a useful, beautiful, energizing, productive, and yes, even unexpected spot this could be both for visitors to Madison and its own residents.

Update 8/3/07: More support for why this type of shared space can make Madison a more vibrant place:

New Urbanism makes shared space the organizing element of a community. Architecture physically defines streets as places of shared use. Care for the public realm adds character, builds value, promotes security, and helps residents feel proud of their community. Plazas, squares, sidewalks, cafes, and porches provide rich settings for interaction and public life (source and more about new urbanism here).

Andy Goldsworthy on Staying Put

I finally watched the 2001 documentary Rivers and Tides about Scottish environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. He does amazing, mostly transient, sculptures with natural elements like stone, leaves, and ice. I should not have been surprised to hear him say this about living in one place long-term:

I’ve lived in places for four or five years and moved on, and that is not enough time, it really isn’t enough time to understand the changes that happen in a place. You have to live on the same street in the same village for a long period of time, seeing children when they’re waiting at the bus stop grow into adults and have children of their own. There was an old lady in the village who has since died. She was quite a dour lady and she’d had a tough life. And she used to walk up and down the street that I lived in. And I said, "Since I’ve been on this street my son--well all my children were born there—my elder son was the first child to be born on that street for twenty one years.” And she said, “Well, you see only births, and I see only deaths.” From her perspective she just knew all the people who had lived in those houses and who had died. And I hope I never forget either those people who have been born and those people who have died.

Goldsworthy books and DVD available here.

A Walk In The July Garden

Photos taken July 16.

Learning to live with weeds.

The carrot and cilantro patch. Hmmm, looks a lot like last month's photo, doesn't it? Absolutely nothing germinated. Ugh. Must not have kept the seedbed wet enough. I tried carrots last year, too, but they didn't germinate. Anyone have tips on carrot-growing?

My three surviving, and now flourishing, cucumber plants.

Tomatoes and peppers. More tomatoes in the background. Two transplanted raised beds on the left. Cory brought them over from their previous home in our cabin's yard. Soon I'll start building soil in them for next year.

More tomatoes, plus a pepper stuck in there, and a few calendulas.

Beans and nasturtium. I lost several bean plants to bunnies.

My beans in need of taller a taller trellis. Next year I plan to build bean teepees, which should bring as much joy to our little one (who will be two years old by then) as they will to me.

The nasturtium win the Prettiest Leaf contest in my garden. I love their shape and color.

In the middle of about 25 sweet corn stalks.

More losses to bunnies here in the sunflower patch. The remaining plants are thriving. When I caught one rabbit mid-munch, I dug out the old chicken wire for a crude fence around this spot. Cory then set to work building me a more structured anti-rabbit device, which is still in process and soon will protect the entire garden.

Cory's experimenting with branches for a gateway to the garden.

Zinnias about to bloom!

I had to include a shot of this lovely spot, the public boat dock, just down from our driveway.

Support A Poor, Starving Artist

OK, we may not be starving, but Cory's headed back to grad school this fall for a Doctor of Information Systems at Dakota State University. So, our pocketbook will take a bit of a hit paying for tuition for the next three years (although that's somewhat mitigated by an assistantship).

I'm planning to get an Etsy site up and running this summer, so we can start selling Cory's art online (and around the world!). In the meantime, you can enjoy his latest paintings up close and personal at the Community Cultural Center in Brookings, where work like this (one of my favorites) will be displayed for another couple of weeks:


You can view his exhibit until July 27, Tuesday-Saturday from noon to 5:00 p.m. at 524 4th Street, Brookings, SD. His artist reception and gallery talk will be Friday, July 27, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Madison Farmers Market Starts

The local farmers market is open!

Thursdays
4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Library Park
South side of the Madison Public Library

Brookings HFH ReStore To Open

One of my favorite places in the world--my hometown of Brookings, SD--will soon have a new Habitat for Humanity Restore warehouse. Sustainable-building-minded South Dakotans in the east central region of the state will now have two places to pick up recycled housing materials: the ReStore in Sioux Falls and the new one in Brookings.

ReStore provides a win-win-win situation for everyone. Builders can find recycled materials at reduced cost, materials are kept out of the landfill, and money raised by ReStore funds future Habitat homes.

Cory and I had hoped to get a few things at the Sioux Falls ReStore when our house was built. Unfortunately, we just didn't have the time to sort through their materials (something you'll need to keep in mind and budget into your timeframe). By the time our house was at the stage when we needed to pick up things like doors, it was the dead of winter, Cory was in the middle of the busiest time of the teaching/speech-activities-coaching year (out of the house by 6:00 a.m., not home until 7:00 or 8:00 p.m.), I was traveling to Brookings a few days each week for work, and I was eight months pregnant. However, when we get around to that strawbale greenhouse I'm so keen on, we'll definitely hit ReStore for doors and windows.

Click here for a map to the Brookings ReStore.

Click here for a map to the Sioux Falls ReStore.

While you're at it, take a look at Habitat's Construction and Environmental Resources pages for some great information on sustainable building.

Green Tour

Being an advocate for small houses, I'm addicted to Apartment Therapy. For lots of ideas on greening your living quarters, check out AT: Chicago's Green Ideas. Of note is their Green Tour of homes like this lovely passive solar cottage:

Garden State

Long overdue update on the garden. I got a late start but should still get a decent yield. Photos taken June 16.

I dug out the paths and added the extra dirt to the beds to raise them a bit. The straw for the paths insulated the outside of the north wall of our basement over the winter. We got the straw bales from neighbor, organic farmer, and sustainable agriculture activist Charlie Johnson.

Left: carrots and cilantro planted
Right: cucumbers

Cukes sprouting.

Tomatoes, paste tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers

More tomatoes and peppers, plus calendula planted on the right.

Beans and nasturtium


Experimenting with growing beans and nasturtium together.

Sweet corn. Note for next year: Organic Gardening tells me I should have planted it in a square, rather than in rows for best pollination.


Sunflowers


Sunflower up close.


Raised beds.
Front: spinach and lettuce planted too late (will replant in fall) and overgrown with weeds.
Middle: tomatoes and chives.
Back: zinnias sprouting.


The nifty bin made by Cory out of pallets stores grass clippings and leaves for composting and mulching. The bags on the left are full of leaves that spent last winter insulating the ground around the water pipes going into our cabin. They'll get used for mulch on the garden or put into the compost pile.


Compost bin where all of our veggie scraps go. I asked Cory to make this for my birthday one year. Yep, that's how much of a nerd I am. I asked for a compost bin for my birthday. And would you believe I didn't want a diamond engagement ring? Ah, but that's another post for another time.

Where All The Lights Should Be Bright: Part II

Economic development is a hot topic in Madison. In fact, the governor just named our fair town “Large Community of the Year” (um, that’s “large” in South Dakota terms—Madison’s population is 6,500!) primarily because of funds raised by the economic development group, “Forward Madison” and work done by the city and local businesspeople to recruit tech graduates from local university DSU.

Cory and I brought our own idea for attracting tourism along with a little economic development to the city commission and city marketing committee last summer. Without giving away all the details here, our idea was for a signature event for the city of Madison. It’s a great idea, if I do say so myself, and it was very well-received by both groups. We couldn’t get a guarantee of any immediate funding for the project, though, so we hope that sometime in the future, we’ll have the time to commit to the fundraising for it.

However, I’ve done more thinking about it lately, and I’ve concluded that before Madison tries to bring in thousands of people for a weekend event, we may need to consider the message we convey to those people when they look around town, in particular, at our downtown area.

What does the current state of this building say about our community?

I've been inspired by my recent online discovery of the mecca of downtown revitalization information: the Main Street Program, administered through the National Trust for Historic Preservation. What is conspicuously missing from our local economic development activities is any talk of revitalizing our downtown. I think this is a critical piece to our local economy. Madison would do well to initiate its own local Main Street Program.

Before I weigh in further on why all of this matters to Madison, here are a few quotes and stats from the information I’ve been poring over (since I really can’t say it any better than these people already have):

Your downtown or traditional commercial district is the most visible indicator of community pride, along with its economic and social health. It is either an asset or a liability in the effort to recruit new residents, new businesses and industries, retirees, tourists, and others to your community and to keep those you already have. Quality of life is what separates successful cities and towns from declining communities in the new millennium. Finally, your downtown or neighborhood commercial district is the visual representation for your community's heritage. The architecture of your commercial district is a physical expression of your community's history. The Main Street approach encourages forward-thinking economic development in an historic preservation context so this community asset and legacy can be passed on to future generations. (source)

The underlying premise of the Main Street approach is to encourage economic development within the context of historic preservation in ways appropriate to today's marketplace. The Main Street Approach advocates a return to community self-reliance, local empowerment, and the rebuilding of traditional commercial districts based on their unique assets: distinctive architecture, a pedestrian-friendly environment, personal service, local ownership, and a sense of community. (source)

One of the dozen reasons they list as why Main Streets are important:

The commercial district is a reflection of community image, pride, prosperity, and level of investment — critical factors in business retention and recruitment efforts. (source)

From MainStreet of Fremont, NE mission statement:

To Improve the quality of life in Fremont by strengthening the Historic Downtown as the center of the Community.

MainStreet of Fremont capitalized on the idea that the downtown is the center of community life and more than just a place of commerce. We believe that a revitalized downtown benefits the community because an active downtown is a symbol of community economic health, local quality of life, and pride and community history. The purpose of MainStreet of Fremont, Inc. is to encourage, promote, and support downtown Fremont's economic vitality as well as the image and appearance of downtown. (source)

From the "Revitalize Geneva Vision Statement" (Geneva, NE):

Downtown businesses flourish and meet the needs of local residents while attracting the tourist who wants a safe, convenient and comfortable place to enjoy the historic trappings of brick streets, appropriate lighting and landscaping. The overall revitalization of the community gives visitors the feeling that this is a place for people who make things happen. (source)

And finally, click here and here for stats on the economic impact of Main Street Programs.

I hope Forward Madison, the city marketing committee, and other like-minded residents will consider initiating South Dakota’s first local Main Street Program. They can count on me to happily volunteer my time to start making that possible.

Thoughts, anyone?