The Tilsons

Yesterday, my fabulous husband decided to start dinner, which was super sweet because I was out for the afternoon.  I cam home and found him and the Sun Oven out in the Garden, cooking away.  Since the chicken was only at 80 degrees F, we decided to turn it and come back in a while.

The thing was, when Justin went out to check the chicken, it was gone, along with our garden potatoes, thermometer and Sun Oven.  Someone stole the whole show.

Justin came in to tell me - and if you know how much stuff we’ve had stolen, you could understand - he was defeated.  Neither of us could believe it.  We decided to go for a walk and see if we could find it, maybe someone just tossed into the bushes.  Nope.

We did find some homeless people under the bridge though, and asked them to please let us know if they see anyone with it, or get it back if it was in their power at all.  We decided to finish the trail under the Burrard bridge and head to GI to get another chicken.  Then, the most amazing thing happened.

One of the guys that was under the bridge, cycled up to us and tossed a 20 at Justin.  He told us to go buy ourselves some dinner and that it is wrong to steal someones food.  If he could, he would find it and bring it back to us.  And no, he would not take the twenty back. Then he zoomed off.

I burst into tears. Someone with apparently so little, and sadly the last person I would expect,  just gave us something that we lost a long time ago - a sense of greater community outside of our friends.

I have no doubt that he will find the Sun Oven and bring it back - hopefully he will except a hot meal in return.

Wow.  I am pretty pissed at this point.  Knitted the back of the sweater - too big.  Ripped and knitted it again - soooooo small. Added side pieces (ack!) - fits better. KNITTING UNEVEN??  Look at this.  Just LOOK!

See my finger there in the left hand corner?  See how the front is coming up over the back?  Then see the other side - upper right hand corner, how there is a bit of ripped knitting there?  See how the ripped knitting doesn’t meet up with the back?  Those two sides of the front, they are supposed to be even with the back two sides.  Neither one of them are! ARGH!

Justin suggested that I not worry about it, and give the sweater to him.  He would wear it even if it is a bit crooked.  Sweet of him.  But I said no.

He then suggested knitting a triangle and sewing it in there (he is clearly less of a perfectionist than I am)  I said no.

He asked if I was going to frog it.  I said yes.

And I did. Then I washed it, and put little hooks in the wall so that I can look at it.

And think about how much I am dreading trying again.  I think I have depressed knitters syndrom (DKS).  I think I need to knit something very easy to bring my confidence back up.

Handspun.  Who would have thought.

Farm Love

Justin and I really enjoyed our stay at OUR Ecovillage.  We spent some time hanging out with the great posse that lives there, and spent some time in the garden transplanting sege.

Great things about OUR Ecovillage:

1. We vibed with the residents. Its rare that you find people who speak the same language as you.  People who get God in the same way you do, and feel the same passion in the same way for the earth and people who desire the same level of communication and co-operation.  This is what we found at OUR, people who were just like us.
2. The ecovillage is old enough to have gone through a lot of the zoning issues.  Sure, the farm is still an infant, but they have moved through a good portion of the zoning challenges, have applied for grants and have dealt with some of the major money issues. (The most stressful parts I think)
3. The ecovillage is small enough for a new family to influence the process. One of the major things that drew us to OUR was their openness and changeability.  There are no homes built on site, except the house that was originally there.  They are just establishing their program, their specialities and are still looking for experienced people to teach courses (and not so experienced people to grow into the roles available).  Justin and I both felt that our energy could make a difference there.

Read the complete Post.

Justin and I have been feeling the weight of life lately.  It is partially the economy, partially the pressure on humanity to evolve consciously, and partially the pain of the earth beneath our heavy footsteps.  Lately though, it feels more intense.  The other night, standing in the kitchen, I let out a childish groan, and then another one, telling Justin that is how I feel inside.  Childish because, for the first time in my life, I don’t feel like there is anyone to make all of “this” normal again.  In fact, every day I understand more clearly that the normal I grew up with will never be again.  It’s Justin and I and whoever else wants to join us, standing there letting the changes pass through us as fluid beings.  Sometimes it gets to be heavy.  Like now.

After the feeling of wanting to remain a child, comes the feeling of wanting to take responsibility and act as stewards for what is given to us.  Part of this action has been happening for a while, collecting supplies and skills. The weight of recent events has made us want to take it further - the veggie oil kit installed in the truck, and touring some ecovillages.

So here we are for the next few days:  OUR Ecovillage. OUR Ecovillage is located about halfway between Nanaimo and Victoria on Vancouver Island, near Shawnagen Lake.  They have been running the 25 acre ecovillage for 10 years and have established a residence, healing sanctuary, some temporary residences, many gardens and animal husbandry. Read the complete Post.

We just put our garlic in the ground. I started two years ago with a couple bulbs - about 10 plants in total. The experiment worked quite well except I didn’t plant nearly enough! We ran out in a month. To remedy this I scaled up last year and planted about 500 cloves (1 clove planted in October = 1 plant = 1 bulb of garlic next July). The bulbs grew so well the first season I figured there wasn’t much to do except put them in the ground around Canadian Thanksgiving and take them out the following July - with perhaps a couple waterings in May and June. It turns out that if you desire a reliable crop year after year, there is a little more preparation required to ensure your success. The soil was rather poor and the net result was a a large number small plants. We still have considerably more garlic than our family needs, but overall the experiment was disappointing because organic seed garlic is pricey and we didn’t get the yield we expected.

Read the complete Post.

Here it is, in all its bountiful, abundant and colour saturated glory.

In total there are approximately 1000 lbs of fruit dangling off of the wall in our appartment pantry. Since our big stock arrived, Justin and I (and mom) have canned the beets from the garden (about 60 lbs). Then of course there are the 30 or so lbs of Green Beans and the Apple Jelly. I love that the shelves are so full that I can’t squeeze it all inside the viewfinder of the camera.

I wish we could have had more photos, I wish we had the energy to blog while the whole thing was in motion.

Now that I got that out, I wouldn’t go back and change a thing! We all learned so much about community, stamina, patience, food, canning, love and happiness. Thank you my love - Justin, Matt, Larry, Josh, Byron and Alanna - our neighbors, Deb - for her charitable work with food, Hart - The Camera Guy for discovering the meaning of teamwork with us and Galeet, his wife, for her patience with the underpaid film industry, my Mom for teaching us how to can and finishing the last of it with me. Thank you to the folks who find us on the web and comment or even just watch from the shadows. (I have stats, I know just how many people are out there!) Your comments keep us writing.

We’ll let you know when we are up and live on YouTube with our short.

Infinite love and blessings,

The Tilsons

Movin to the CITY gonna eat a lot of peaches
Im movin to the CITY Im gonna eat me a lot of peaches
Im movin to the CITY Im gonna eat a lot of peaches
Movin to the CITY Im gonna eat a lot of peaches
Peaches come from a can they were put there by a FAM
In a KITCHEN
IN THE CITY, WITH THE TILSONS
GONNA EAT ME A LOT OF PEACHES

Presidents of the USA & guest writer- Lisa Tilson

That was our theme song while we stood (and sat) in the kitchen, Justin, Larry, Josh and I - blanching, peeling, pitting and squishing peaches at 10pm.  Justin - judging that the stress lines on my face weren’t disappearing any to soon- called Larry to see if he and Josh would come over and help us can.  They came over at around 9, and wow was it awesome to have some fresh energy in the house!  Larry is a bartender, and Josh works at the same place as bar-back; they are extremely efficient.  We had canned the peach quarters in syrup last night (I think we were up until 4am?  STUPID) and needed to move through the rest of the peaches for the tomatoes.

Read the complete Post.

Today we realized the magnitude of our decision to order such a gargantuan amount of food.  Food of this quantity needs jars, lids, screw bands, TIME, PATIENCE…and if you are going to can a crazy amount of food - like say 800 lbs, do yourself a favour and buy a propane tank, a large burner and the biggest pressure canner you can buy (ours actually fits 26 pints and 18 quarts).

I figured you all should have a leg up if you’ve made the same commitment we have.  Here is a post of all the helpful canning tips and hints we could think of, so that you could breeze through your canning experience instead of barricading yourself in the kitchen and screaming at the top of your lungs while your husband and roommate cower in the corner. Read the complete Post.

I’m gearing up to start year two of three of my MBA in Sustainable Development at Bainbridge Graduate Institute. I love the BGI experience for a couple of reasons. One, it quickly opened my eyes to the reality of what our economic system has done to the health of the planet while at the same time bringing together multiple cohorts of people determined to set a new course. Two, unlike the vast majority of MBA programs around the world that produce business graduates whose only goals is to perpetuate the destructive paradigm that has been established, BGI has given me enough wisdom, insight and the integrity to develop businesses that can profit without degrading the environment and exploiting people. Taking a quick look at the state of the world, business graduates will not be able to continue on the path to success without these invaluable qualities. Earn an traditional MBA - get the skills to externalize your waste into the environment and manipulate people for personal gain! (Needless to say I had little interest in pursuing a traditional MBA.) There’s my plug for BGI, now check out this video:

Fortunately not all MBA grads from other schools are quite as myopically focused on profits and growth as I have alluded to above. Mark Albion is one such graduate and prof from Harvard’s MBA program who has seen the light. He has teamed up with the good folks who produced The Story of Stuff to create a 3 minute movie called The Good Life (above). The movie gracefully illustrates typical MBA thinking and delivers a gentle wake up call. The wake up call is for all folks on the money treadmill, not just MBAs. It’s time to reconsider what you are doing, how and why you are doing it and if what you are doing makes sense considering what you genuinely want (hint: meaning) and what your community and the world needs. Enjoy!

Suzanne and Dominique of Rocky Mountain Flatbread threw a media event today to promote Feast of Fields. Feast of Fields brings farmers and chefs together at three different events each summer including Vancouver, Whistler and Vancouver Island.

The morning event included some delicious dessert like pizza featuring toppings from our garden and two other urban farmers: Ward of City Farm Boy and Craig of Kitsilano Farms. Fresh fig with blackberry or fig with apple and a bit of cinnamon are incredible! The figs were so good I plan to go buy a Desert King fig tree tomorrow. It was a great event with many passionate and committed folks in the room. I was able to connect with some allies who may be able to help get Vancouver’s bylaw (9150) changed that prohibits keeping chickens in the city.

Numerous media folks attended the pizza tasting including the daily newspaper 24 Hours. 24 Hours wanted to snap a few shots in the garden for a short story so I gladly jumped on the opportunity to give the urban farming movement a little exposure. I got page 3, right across from from Kate Moss and some other celebs. Sadly, no calls from Oprah or Martha yet. The article, like the attention span of the intended audience of urban commuters, is short but carries a positive tone. Maybe a few more people will make the connection and realize just how nourishing urban gardening can be.