Reflective Memo

Reflective Memo #1

My whole field site is an online community, so everything I am reading is extremely important and imperative to my research of this community. It is my only access really to my community of research as most women who have a homestead are living on land in the country, typically. And seeing as how I am in the city, it makes it difficult to find/know homesteaders.

I have found in my observing up to this point that reading different blogs, two in particular are incredibly insightful into the attitudes, beliefs and positions of homesteaders. I have recently discovered trend in homesteaders, they mostly tend to be Christians. I think I found a profile of one follower who neither professed nor denied their faith, so that is more ambiguous but every other blog or website I have read has a scripture on the main page or they talk about their Christian faith in the “About” section of their site. I thought this was very interesting. I myself am a believe and I know how my faith plays a role in my interests and desire for homesteading but it was really neat to see that theme in theses women's lives, yes they are all women. This is another trend I have noticed. All these sites are run by women, not that their husbands don't play a role but they are the ones blogging. So I wonder if men would refer to themselves as homesteaders or how they view their role on the homestead? These are good questions to ask in more upcoming interviews. Most of the sites are dedicated to helping one another with handy tips on home remedies, raising children, gardening, etc. They are for the new and experienced homesteader. The goal seems to encourage each other in more sustainable living and helping each other learn from their mistakes or to learn short cuts, that way they can still have time to spend on what is important to the homesteader, family.

I have loved what I have been reading. I have been learning so much and I feel like there are so many aspects to homesteading from house cleaning, budgeting, raising kids, raising chickens, laundry, gardening, canning, preserving..the list goes on and on and these women amaze me! One woman on her blog said, and I love this quote, “ going back to a simpler way of life (is what they have chosen) but simpler isn't always easy...making things from scratch takes time and money. Finding good resources takes time and loads of effort (it's) hard work. I am here to try and help.” This I think sums up what the homesteading community is about, at this point in my research. It seems to be about helping one another because it is a lot of work and if they can learn from another they can save each other from some headaches and have more time to spend on what's important to them. Each of these women are uniquely invaluable resources to the greater homesteading community.  

GLOSSARY

Glossary of Terms

homestead- a place where one makes their home and lives off the land. connected to sustainable living. 

bee-keeping- a way of farming honey from honeybees on your homestead.

homemaking-housekeeping, housework, household management including but not limited to raising children, cooking and cleaning. 

lasagna method- also called sheet composting, its a way of creating rich soil in you garden without tilling, you layer compost-able material such as grass clipping, newspaper, old fruits/vegetables, manure, etc. 

tilling-preparing, cultivating land for crops. it's like loosening the dirt to make it fluffy, so its good for drainage and so the roots can grow deep.  you can do it by hand with a shovel or hoe or use a machine. 

crop- fruits or vegetables that are grown/harvested, can also refer to amount of that fruit or vegetable. 

season- certain time of year when certain crops are planted/harvested. 

10-10-10- a kind of fertilizer containing 10% nitrogen, 10% phosphate and 10% potash.

raised beds- a form of gardening where you create a 3-4 ft. box on top of the ground and fill it with nutrient rich soil/compost, it helps to prevent/control weeds, extends growing season, and reduces need to use poor native soil. 

water bath- a method of canning where you place sealed glass jars with new lids into a big stock pot of hot water and boil for a certain amount of minutes depending on elevation .

canning- a method of food preservation where you take the harvested crop and jar it and use hot water bath or pressure canner to heat it and seal it to prevent botulism or bacteria. 

Pressure canner- another way of canning that gets heat up higher than water bath by sealing in pressure, need to use this for canning things such as carrots, sweet potatoes, etc. 

tattler- a brand of reusable canning lids

guinea fowl- a type of egg laying fowl 

fowl- bird kept for its eggs. 

menu planning- way of organizing meals for the week/month and a way of budgeting in attempts to live more frugally. 

hull- to remove the outer covering of a seed or fruit 

 

My first impressions of the farmers market were that this was a really big place and the fact that it had a permanent structure, made me a bit skeptical. The farmers markets I was used to in Columbus were help on the “Main St.”of the city or suburb and was comprised of lost of make shift tents and long plastic foldable tables. The farmers came each saturday to sell their produce, meat, etc. So, to see a structure that stayed open every day of the week, made me hesitant to take the seller's word that this was really from a local farm and not some commercial farm that was shipping in it's produce. Even as I walked by tables laden with packages of “fresh” berries, I noticed that they were from “California,” now I am not sure how “fresh” berries can be coming in from the other side of the country.

The farmers market also seemed to sell a lot of goods that I wouldn't have thought to be typical of a farmer but seemed to fit in better at an artisan market. Such as specialty dog treats, flavored popcorn (which smelled amazing), sugar coated nuts, and even clothing. Maybe I am just narrow-minded and only think of food and food that can be grown or fresh food. But I wasn't expecting this. The smell of the popcorn seemed to follow me around the whole market, it was a great smell, just not what I had expected to smell at a farmers market.

I felt comfortable in this place as a consumer but the second I sat with a pen and paper to take in my scenery, I immediately felt eyes on me, cynical eyes. And I felt like I needed to defend myself. What if I had just been journaling for personal reasons and it had nothing to do with a research project. I wonder if I would have felt the same need to defend myself? It was a gorgeous day, brisk air with the sun shining, and a temperature of about 72 degrees out. I am nervous to continue to return to this space and fearful of my interviews with consumers/sellers. I don't want them to be on the defense but I feel like based on my experience this past saturday that it may be inevitable. I am already thinking of ways to record my information less conspicuously. Maybe, I'll use my phone and speak into my headphone which have a built in microphone or I can just take a smaller notepad?

I knew I was an outsider and could be recognized by the fact that I had a huge backpack on with my pen and paper in hand. Everyone around me was either actively selling or carrying plastic bags, recyclable bags or wheeling smaller coolers around. The fact that I was not a seller and had nothing that I had bought in my hands was a dead giveaway that I was an outsider. My husband had dropped me off and taken our goods back with him. I was thinking while I was sitting there that maybe I should have kept my bags or maybe I should buy something else. So even if I cause suspicion, I am still supporting the market.

I interviewed Smiley, of Smiley's produce and he confirmed a lot of my suspicions saying, “There's only a few people here who are actually farmers. Half the people that sell here are just one step away from being on the streets.” And when I asked him why people should support farmers market, he replied with, “You know why you should eat local...cheaper, fresher, tastes better.” And I replied that yes, I knew why and that was exactly why I did.

(These were just my first impressions after my first day at my site interviewing. However, this site will be changing to following an online blog on homesteading.)

I drew a picture of the 2 barn like structures and labeled some of the places that stuck out to me most. I noticed that the back barn was fairly empty and that most of the sellers were using trailers, foldable tables and tents to house their products. Whereas, the first barn looked like most of the sellers areas were permanent fixtures with electric registers, walk in coolers and heavy shelves and furniture. This led me to believe that these sellers are here most of the week and have staked their claim on the land.

I also had suspicions, that were confirmed during an interview, that most of the sellers were not farmers but rather were selling produce from commercial farms most of which were not even local. Kind of defeats the purpose of my attending a farmers market, local farmers? So I kind of saw a trend, based on a local farmer selling there, that the actual farmers stayed to the left side of the front barn or in between the barns or in the half empty back barn. On my first trip to the market this local area is where I hung because it's what I knew, these are the vendors that I buy from for my family, so I thought why not start with what you know?! This coming week I hope to venture over to the "other side."