A few months Several months ago my friend Angela published and gave me her book called Backyard Farming on An Acre (More or Less). For a suburban-raised guy like me who’s now living in the country, it’s become my go to book on how we can lead a more sustainable, eco-friendly, healthier lifestyle.

How You Can Get Started

First, buy the book. It’s a quick but detailed read and helps you understand the basics of growing your own food regardless of the size of your property. With a quick trip to the home improvement store I was off an running with a bunch of 2×4, my circular saw, a cordless drill and some screws. For every three pieces of wood, we were able to cut one in half and make a nice raised bed for our 20′ x 20′ garden.

Once you get the hang of it you can literally have a raised bed put together within minutes. I saw kits recently at Home Depot for making raised beds, but it’s cheaper to buy the wood yourself and do it yourself. Plus, it’s not exactly an intimidating project as you’re not building a house or solid structure – you’re just screwing 4 pieces of wood together in a rectangular shape. Simple, right?

My wife and I then plotted out our garden based on the flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables we wanted to grow. A quick drop off of soil from the local nursery and we’re off and running. We’re even giving some vertical gardening a try with a trellis that we picked up for a few bucks from the garden center. It’s also crucial that you pick up heirloom seeds so that you’re getting non-GMO products. Unless, of course, you like those bland, apple-like tomatos.

They say the biggest barrier to getting started is just your will to do it. Hopefully this post shows you it’s a lot easier to get started than you think. And, in a short while, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of a weekend’s worth of work.

Food You Can Trust

As my pal Vincenzo says, if he can’t make it he typically won’t buy it. Growing our own food is just one way we’re teaching our kids about taking responsibility for their actions and specifically the food that they eat. It’s also going to be a treat when they go out back to the berry patch or tomato plans and snag a few out of the garden.

You can DO IT!

Will you give Backyard Farming a shot? If you are and are blogging/tweeting about it, please drop a link in the comments to share your progress!

At any rate, my neighboring town of Highland, NY passed a law banning the practice of hydrofracking in their town the other day. This joins several other towns in our county who’ve agreed that a quick, temporary fix for the local economy at the price of contaminating our water and air forever isn’t worth it.

“The concept of jeopardizing our surface waters and aquifers is entirely repugnant to me. I strongly believe that a community has the right of self-destiny, also known as ‘home rule’ and it is abundantly clear that this community overwhelmingly wants to ban fracking from our borders. On a personal level, for the past 50 years I have spent an enormous amount of time in the woods, on lakes, and in streams and in rivers. Fighting to make sure this legacy is insured is what a sportsman is about.”

Councilman Scully posed the question, “For those of you who think that we are taking away your rights to make money and have rights to your minerals… what makes that right more important than the rights of the people of the Town of Highland to have clean water and land to pass on to their children?”

And that’s exactly what it comes down to. I have a right to clean air and water. I have a right, as do my kids, to not be poisoned because you want to make a buck (drug dealers and pimps could make the same argument re: “let me use my land to make money!”, btw).

The fact is that the Catskills are beautiful, natural and pristine and that’s the way of life those of us who’ve chosen to move or vacation here want. We moved up here to give our kids the space they need to be kids, a way of life that doesn’t involve purchasing everything in order to survive, and one that will teach them about living a sustainable life. We moved here to be a part of a community. We moved here because, even if some opinions are different than ours on issues, the core of why we love the Catskills is the same. Why would anyone want to take the risk of ruining it for a quick buck?

Did I mention that our cottage that has privacy? Our cell phones barely have a signal, our neighbors can’t hear us and it’s a more common sight to see a tree, deer or hawk than it is a person.  It’s actually quite divine after spending a work week in the noisy city to have a quiet retreat. It’s as peaceful as you can imagine, and it’s as close to nature as I’ve been in a long time.

We also bought a place that had immediate access to water. Our kids would be able to swim, fish and row around a beautiful, spring-fed “lake” (or glorified pond) for months on end and we’d be able to give them the piece of Michigan we left behind when we traded in and traded up to live in metro New York. Aside from the immediate access to water, our drive up to the cottage includes several miles along the Delaware River. It’s unbelievably serene and beautiful, as much as it is from a distance in the mountains as it is literally a few tens of feet away at 30 miles per hour. We regularly pull over to watch the river run and marvel at nature.

And some are more man-made, but environmentally friendly nonetheless:

If you’ve followed me on Twitter over the past few months, you know that I have become a passionate citizen of the Catskills. We explore the geography but also the history of the area. We read the local blogs and take in the issues that our new neighbors are facing on a daily basis. One such issue is that of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”. One of our new neighbors (not literally, of course) up in the ‘Skills has a great documentary out about the gas industry and its efforts to retrieve natural gas from the New York area. Here’s a preview of it in case you haven’t seen it:

Scary stuff huh? John Fox points out that six states have documented over 1,000 cases of ground water contamination. Six. Not one, not two – but six. This means that in six states the property value for these cities, if not counties, is now in the gutter. Do you know what it also means? That two of the three New York City sources of water are directly in line to be contaminated by fracking. That’s right, the Catskill Mountains and Delaware River both supply New York City with its drinking water. And oil companies from here and abroad want to come in and literally poison us in the name of dirty drilling practices and profit. We can’t allow this. We can’t.

Having grown up in Michigan and seeing what Dow Chemical did to the Tittabawassee River, I can tell you that the folks along the river can’t sell their homes. And they’ve developed health issues, much like our friends in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Kansas and elsewhere have from hydraulic fracturing. Not enough to make you think “Wow, this is bad stuff”? How about these facts:

• 12 companies injected 32.2 million gallons of diesel fuel or hydraulic fracturing fluids containing diesel fuel into oil or gas wells over five years;
• Diesel fuel was a significant component of the diesel-containing fluids these companies injected.  The companies used 10.2 million gallons of straight diesel fuel and 21.8 million gallons of products containing at least 30% diesel fuel.
  
• Not one hydraulic fracturing company sought a permit for diesel fuel use in hydraulic fracturing. According to these Members of Congress: “This appears to be a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.  It also means that the companies injecting diesel fuel have not performed the environmental reviews required by the law.”
• None of the companies could provide data on whether they performed hydraulic fracturing in or near underground sources of drinking water.
• Regulators seemed completely unaware of this use of diesel.

Source: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall/hydraulic_fracturing_has_used.html

Don’t believe it when these companies throw up a boat load of “Truth about” and “Safe fracking” web sites. It’s not only a litany of lies and spin but their way of trying to bottleneck the internet with a “fair” point of view. Except in this case, the only ones profiting from this are the PR firms helping to astroturf the web.

Given that the economy is given as a major reason in support of fracking, the big promise made to those receiving offers to lease their soon-to-be-useless land is that it will help them — and local officials who are looking to “help” the local economy claim there’s no alternative. So, will it prop up the economy? Maybe, while the oil companies temporarily move in, get what they need then leave deserted fields. The reality is that the local diner that is about to go under will go under next month, or it’ll go under in two years once the oil companies leave a trail of useless land and poisoned residents behind. My family and I intend to support these businesses to the best of our abilities. But remember — it’s not just about the folks in Sullivan County.

The biggest issue at stake is that, if like every other “whoopsie!” and finger pointing that goes on in the oil industry, we’re sacrificing our drinking water and the City’s water supply — and that seems like it’s hardly worth paying that price.

Are you with me yet? Good. Check out Gasland’s site and help out. And if you live in the Trenton, NJ area please submit your comments in person on Thursday, February 24th to the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive between 12:30-5 PM and 6-9:30 PM. You have to register to speak but can attend without registering. They’re also accepting comments on the Delaware River Basin Commission online here. I urge you to send them your thoughts and please help spread the word.

Molly is ready for some summer fun!

So why am I so excited about summer for my girls? The first reason is mostly a selfish one. Like many parents, my wife & I just spent an entire school year trying to keep the kids on a decent sleep schedule and struggling to get them out the door for the bus in the morning. There were countless evenings when we’d be having a good time reading books, playing games, or watching the Celtics and we’d have to force ourselves to cut the night short because we wanted to be sure they got their proper sleep. Then on the flip side, there were the mornings of dragging Molly out of bed and having to hustle her along to eat breakfast and get ready. I’m looking forward to 10 weeks of extended playtime at night and stress-free early mornings.

The second reason is plain and simple: I loved the summers of my youth. I have fond memories of waking up late and grabbing the newspaper to devour every box score and game story I could find. Then I’d head out to the back yard to toss the ball up in the air and catch it, or imagine those game situations where I’d come through in the clutch. Afternoons and evenings were filled with bike rides, pool time, and summer food like watermelon and corn on the cob. Sports were popular as well since I’d play driveway hoops and summer league baseball. The best nights were those where I could poke around the tube and find a random doubleheader or late game from the west coast. The sights and sounds of those summers in northern Vermont are some of my most vivid memories.

This all leads to my belief that it’s our parental duty to make our kids’ summers memorable. There is no secret recipe for doing this, and in fact it’s mostly a state of mind. In order to get the ideas flowing I’ve decided to jot down some of the things I plan to do in order to show my girls what summer is all about. So without further ado (and in no particular order), I present:

The Summertime Bucket List

1. Go see a baseball game under the lights. It doesn’t matter what level it is, anything from MLB to a local American Legion game should do the trick.
2. Run around catching fireflies in the yard (bonus points for going barefoot). Store them in a glass jar with holes in the cover. Make them an unconventional night-lite for the evening.
3. Go night swimming. (Molly thinks I’m kidding about our pool having a light in it. I plan to prove this to her this summer!)
4. Go out for ice cream. Go a lot. You need to average at least 2 ice cream trips per week in order to cross this one off the list.
5. Have a picnic in your yard or a park. Picnics are greatly underrated, especially when it comes to young kids.
6. Take the family to a beach. The ocean or a lake, it doesn’t matter. Be sure to pack peanut butter sandwiches so you can test my theory that the beach makes any food taste 50 times better than it normally would.
7. Sit outside some warm night and listen to a baseball game on the radio.
8. Roast marshmallows over an open fire.
9. Camp outside in a tent at least one night, even if it’s in your backyard. Granted the kids might not last out there the whole night, but the excitement leading up to it will be memorable.
10. Take your kids to a drive-in movie if you’re fortunate enough to have one nearby. Be sure to pop the popcorn ahead of time and store it in a paper bag for maximum effect.

I could keep going, but I’d like to request some help from the reading audience. What’s on your Summertime Bucket List? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.

It's tough to get through a gate with a broken hinge.

Pitches and catchers report.

The spring game for your favorite college football team.

The white of winter giving way to rain and warming temperatures as nature begins to awaken from her slumber.

And, of course, there is the annual list of chores and tasks that mankind must conquer. Jobs and to-dos left over from the fall, that cropped up during the winter — and it was just too damn cold to do anything about — and those that sprout every spring, no. matter. what.As we move from spring into summer, how’s your list coming along?

1. Cleaned up the dog poop before that first mowing session?
2. Garage cleaned out (including those fall leaves that snuck in)?
3. Flower and garden beds raked out and cleaned up?
4. Finish raking up and burning / hauling away those dang leaves that fell after your final fall yard clean up?
5. New flowers and/or garden planted?
6. Fresh coat of paint on the shed, barn or even house?
7. Grill cleaned up and good to go? Or, did you have to buy a new one?
8. Minor repairs and other fix-it jobs done?
9. How’s the car / van / truck doing? Is it ready for the summer road trip?
10. Is that Father’s Day list ready?

I figure it was about 20lbs of dog crap. It was a long winter.

Hey, after all that hard work you put in this spring, making a well-deserved wish list for Father’s Day had better be on YOUR to-do list.

What did I forget or miss? What else have you crossed off on your list?

-Mike

When Mike is not being an EOT Dad or finishing off his honey-do list, he’s blogging at MikesPoints.com. If you want to see what he’s up to now, click on @MikeDriehorst.

SON#2 showing off his huge head

This year will see some significant changes, as two new additions have been made to the Keable clan – SON#2 and my brother’s son, to go along with SON#1 and my sisters two kids.

I’m really excited about the additions and what it means to family activities like Thanksgiving.

SON#1 and I enjoying a pre-Turkey walk in 2008

Prior to breeding, these gatherings had begun to lose some meaning for me. I think this happened because we had lost some of the joy that children bring to these events. Watching all the kids and listening to how they view the events really makes it special for me. Not every activity in the world is enhanced with kids around (watch for a future post on Moving with Children), but family gatherings is at the top of my list of things to do with kids.

Plus, having kids can sometimes get you out of certain duties that really suck e.g., pulling the dock out of the water

So this year, with five ankle biters in attendance I’m sure to have a great time.

All that being said, there were some really good times in there, and more important – it kept me busy and with everything going on in our crazy lives it means I’ll actually spend time with my older boys.

So as I mentioned, my wife signed the boys up for Cub Scouts and Webelos and tonight was their inaugural bonfire. It was a pretty standard evening with the new guy leading the kids through a series of sketches, that to be honest I could only remember one because I was busy cracking jokes with a few other dads in the back. Some things never change.  Here are a few lines that I recall…

Dad #1: “I’m going to wear my old uniform in to work for my performance review. I figure it’s gotta impress them somehow.”

Dad #2: “I went on a few camping trips. It’s not bad. The kids all stay up until 11 and the dads sit around the campfire and pound beers.”

Which then lead us into a discussion about merit badges. I posed the question: “Shouldn’t us Dads get merit badges for going camping with the kids?”

This spiraled out of control fast:

“There should be a merit badge with a picture of a flask on it. You know, for the Dad smart enough to sneak some booze.”

“It could be a Jaeger badge, with one antler on it.”

“I could see a keg badge for the Dad that brings that along.”

“What about one for the Dad that pukes but keeps drinking? Not everyone could earn that one.”

After several laughs and “SHHHHHs!” from the front it dawned on me — regardless of age, hairline, income or background that boys will be boys. I just hope mine aren’t the ones with the crusty underwear.