My photos on instagram paint a pretty picture.
The above broccoli and cabbage are part of the harvest from our backyard vegetable garden. We took advantage of the beautiful weather today (70 degrees and sunny) to weed and pull.
It’s the second season we planted; and the second season we’ve tasted vegetables we grew ourselves.
And, yes, our broccoli tasted delicious. And yes, it was exciting for us and for our children.
Truly.
And, while I am so proud of us; because even a backyard garden takes effort and intention and love, part of me judges me in a way I imagine some of my Facebook friends silently judge me:
Like:
“Oh how quaint. Look at us. We grow our own vegetables. Look at us. We teach our kids how to get their hands dirty.”
I can see how people might say that when they see my posts.
I can see it…because … um … sometimes I have thoughts like that about you.
Facebook tends to make you look like a braggart, a goodie two-shoes, a whiner, or an asshole.
But the people who really know me, know that I grow my own food as practice.
Practice being the perfect mom I’ll never be, but moreso practice being Caroline Ingalls … for the day when the grid goes.
My green lifestyle … the green gardener I play on TV?
It’s still practice.
Every day I am practicing how to be less dependent on stores, stuff, and things.
Less dependent on electricity; less dependent on gas.
Less dependent on the internet, too, though that proves to be a bit more challenging.
I’m just a formerly semi-spoiled Jersey girl looking for meaning and hope on a semi-vanishing planet.
If I can do it, so can you.
Start small.
Buy less. Recycle more. Eat less. Grow more. Take less. Share more. Drive less. Walk more.
Find five minutes to talk to your kids about the impact of trash.
Find five minutes to talk to your neighbor about the impact of pesticides.
Find five minutes to strategize with your partner about taking small steps that make a big difference.
Then actually take those steps. Do something. Anything.
And then write about it. Talk about it. Paint about. Blog about it. Scream and shout about it.
Pass it on.
Jen Maidenberg is a writer, editor, activist and former assistant editor at the Arizona Jewish Post. Visit her website at http://jenmaidenberg.com/. She first posted this on Jan. 26, 2013.
