Really Doing It

I’m taking a week to just hang out with my family.  We’re not going anywhere exotic, in fact most days we’re just knockin’ around the farm.  But posts for this week may or may not reflect reality or current events, as I’ve set them up to publish themselves so I can be off splitting firewood or toasting marshmallows or re-inventing myself as the Chicken Whisperer.

Because I wrote a book about raising pigs and chickens, and because one-half of our granary roof is tiled with photovoltaic panels, I am sometimes touted as being part of a sustainability movement.  We are indeed trying to raise much of our own food and find a way to balance convenience with renewability, but in truth, I am at best a skimmer and a dabbler.  But this guy here is really doing it.  It’s been fascinating to watch his efforts evolve and expand over the past few years – hoop houses, gasifiers, biodiesel, scythes, and now a big ol’ red truck.  I believe that truck reveals a solid streak of realism.  I admire people like Rob who combine sharp scientific smarts with nearly boundless energy and then back it all up with sweat.