Katrina and Julia

How well do you know your home?  On average, a human will move eleven times throughout their life, often making them desensitized to their natural surroundings.  Here in Arcadia we are trying to foster a sense of bioregionalism, a term that includes attachment to and knowledge of a place, along with an independent community focused on a common goal.

This past Wednesday, Bill McKibben, author of Wandering Home and Deep Economy, paddled across Massawepie to share his passion for the fight against greenhouse gases.  Perched in our outdoor classroom the topic easily turned to our common love for the Adirondacks.  After a hot discussion on global warming we needed to cool off with a dive in the lake.

With Bill's insight fresh in our minds we visited the Kent Family Farm, which provides us with all of our tasty produce.  Using six acres of sustainably farmed land, the Kent's provide community supported agriculture (CSA) to about 65 families.  They expressed the importance of eating food locally to reduce carbon impact - as today most components of the average meal travel over 1,500 miles to reach your plate.  After popping some cherry tomatoes straight off the vine, we hitched a ride to a neighboring farm on the Kent's horse powered wagon.  At Bittersweet Farm, we reasoned that to eat meat one should be prepared to take the life of the animal that sustains you.  Out of the twelve, eight forced a chicken to the gallows.  by learning these trades passed down through generations, we are becoming familiar with practices closely tied with the North Country and the origins of our food.

Our mantra at dinner that night gave thanks to the land, animals, and people who make our nutritious meal possible as well as the good company which we keep.  To counter our veggies we enjoyed a vegan chocolate cake with tofu frosting (yum!) to celebrate Ryan's 20th birthday.  In our short two weeks as a family we have already sewn seeds to a deep-rooted sense of belonging in our tiny, solar-powered yurt village and the greater Adirondack region.