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."

"Look at your fish!"

The object I chose was an empty glass milk bottle that I got from the farmers market. My husband and I go every Saturday to get our favorite milk, amongst other things, from JD Farms. The glass bottle has their logo on it, its a little barn and silo with a cow and the words "JD country milk" Russellville, KY. It also says it's all natural grade A milk, low temp pasteurized at 150 degrees and non-homogenized. At the very bottom of the bottle is a bible scripture "This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." The bottle says its 64 oz but it looks bigger, that's probably because of the shape and the thick glass. It has grooves in one side of it to grab for easy pouring. The top has a plastic handle for transporting milk to the car and into the home if you have multiple jugs. On the back of the bottle it tells a little more about the farm, who they are and what they believe. It tells you that this is a family business (which my husband and I know, because its the sons who make the trip every saturday from kentucky to nashville,tn.), that the milk is natural and fresh. It tells you a little about the cows too! The cows roam on green pastures of chemical free grass and have been injected with no artificial hormones or antibiotics. They make a promise to the consumer to "treat our cows with respect. Happy cows produce healthy milk." The bottom of the bottle says "stanpac" which when I researched is an Ontario based company that sell packaging for dairy products, one being these half gallon glass bottles. The glass bottle is a great option for packaging milk for many reasons. Glass bottles can be sterilized and re-used. Helping reduce waste produced from plastic milk jugs. Another is it is more friendly to the enviroment, one site states that "Plastic is made from petroleum, and its manufacture is highly polluting. In fact, making one 16 oz bottle out of #1 plastic generates 100 times the toxic emissions as making the same bottle out of glass." Another benefit is the flavor, it locks in the same farm fresh flavor, without the free of chemicals seeping into your milk. The same website states that, "Some people have raised concerns about chemicals leaching from plastic. And nowhere is this more worrying than when the plastic is used to hold our food. Glass, on the other hand, is known to be safe." And lastly, the glass milk bottle is nostalgic. But more than nostalgia, I think this is pointing to something greater. The idea of doing things as they were done before technology, consuming food the way our grandparents did, is what I think this generation is heading towards. The milk is not only from a local farmer who you can know, in a glass milk bottle but the milk is pasteurized at a low temperature. High temperature pasteurization helps extend a milks shelf life but kills the good enzymes and bacteria that your body needs. But who wouldn't rather have fresh milk every week that tastes better and is better for you? When you buy locally you don't have to think about extending a shelf life because of the transport from a big factory many states away to your grocery. This is something else we can learn just by examining the bottle.

There is a new trend of farmers markets popping up all over the country and in Nashville, it is now possible to attend some sort of farmers market somewhere in the city Monday through Friday. Now,\ that's pretty sweet if you ask me. 

Mini-study

I spent my time at Bongo Java watching and taking field notes. I chose this location as my field site for a couple reasons. One is that I love coffee and I could drink while I watched and secondly, it's a close location for campus, making it easy to visit often.

I made myself comfortable each time on the outside patio. I visited twice for this study and both times, it was a gorgeous outside. The sun was shining , the temperature was around 70-72 degrees, though it felt warmer with the sun on you. I longed to take in a lungful of fresh fall air but was choked up by all the smoke. It seemed that over 50% of people sitting on the patio outside were smokers. Due to Nashville laws about smoking inside restaurants, that includes coffee shops, it made sense that people would be smoking outsides. However, we are on a college campus, so the majority of people at this coffee shop were students, evidenced by all the bookbags and backpacks propped next to their owners. Again, it made sense then that there would be smoking at this location since Belmont is a smoke-free campus. Still, I couldn't help but be taken back by the fact that these smokers were so young. With all the literature and advertisements about the harmful effects of smoking, I am perplexed. Could it be the pressures of school? Is it a casual thing? Whatever the reasons, I am sure they are vast and I was just observing and not asking questions.

Bongo seems to be the hub of social activity for campus students. A way to feel away from campus but still close enough to take a quick coffee/cigarette break. Most of the people I watched on the patio were talking, there were a few people reading or on their computers, but this seemed to be a time to catch up with old and new friends. There was a couple, on my first visit, sitting right next to me, who appeared to be on a first date of sorts. She sat very closed off, upright with her hands in her lap and her legs crossed. They bounced back and forth with stories of where they were from, interests, etc. He seemed more comfortable and he leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

Another trend I noticed at Bongo was all the plaid. There was literally one table of 5 young men, all in plaid, not to mention the other plaid strewn across the patio like a splatter of paint. It felt like 6th grade all over again for me, I could hear Nirvana playing in the background of my mind.

These visits just touched the surface but two trends I noticed were plaid and smoking. I would be curious to see if those two were connected somehow; if it has anything to do with image? Curious.

Research Ideas

Homesteading (Urban?)

I think I would like to investigate, locally, the recent resurgence of homesteading in our country. Possibly follow a couple blogs, online groups and possibly meet with a couple local women who have their very own homestead. I think the question here would be what is the motivation? Or why have a homestead? What are the benefits of a homestead? Something along those lines. 

As of now, I don't know of another idea of something I would be interested in researching. I think I am pretty sure I will go the homestead route. That could all change but it's something I am very interested in learning more about.


***I am now considering changing my topic because it may prove to be rather difficult to study my fieldsite via the web. I am not exploring the idea of the farmers market and why to shop locally. I would attend the Nashville Farmers Market on Saturdays during their busiest time and watch listen smell and also, dialogue with the farmers and the consumers.