Thought for Food

For quite some years, we’ve been purchasing shares in a community supported agriculture farm. Rarely have we shopped at a farmer’s market; sometimes at a roadside stand. We’ve bought quarter or half an animal for meat (beef and lamb) in bulk from local producers. Long ago we tried our hands at growing our own vegetables. That was a course in frustration involving poor soil, wildlife freeloaders, uncooperative weather, lack of training, plus excessive biting insects.

there’s more than one way to harvest sunshine

Photo by J. Harrington

Something like a dozen or so fruit trees have been sacrificed in our efforts to start a small orchard of apple and pear trees. At this time of year I deeply regret not having planted any crab apples for just their blossoming beauty. The fruit tree deaths appear attributable to sandy, excessively drained soil and the taste pocket gophers have for fruit tree roots.

The Better Half [BH] and I share two memberships in local food co-ops, if we are liberal in our use of the term local. The BH took out a membership in a central city co-op back in the days when one or both of us were working in one Twin City or another. After we moved to the exurbs and headed “downtown” less frequently, I took out a membership in a Greater Minnesota city co-op next to a favorite book store.

We annually make what we consider meaningful contributions to a regional food shelf. I usually shop for native harvested, Minnesota grown wild rice. For several years we traveled to rural areas in the state to buy, roast, and eat at Thanksgiving a heritage breed turkey. In the years when I was more active as a waterfowler, we occasionally enjoyed a roast Canada goose at Christmas. We consider ourselves fortunate to have been able to indulge our food and taste preferences and to limit our dependence on industrial scale agriculture.

All of the preceding is lead up to my pleasant surprise at finding in my email inbox this week several announcements from organizations I’ve been following for some time. Rhey are now emphasizing their focus on food as part of a response to reducing greenhouse gases. For example:

Welcome to Drawdown Food

Food is the forgotten frontier of climate action. While energy, transportation, and industry garner much of the attention, what we eat and how we grow is one of the biggest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. To equip those in the food systems sector with the tools and insights they need to reduce emissions, Project Drawdown is launching a major new initiative: Drawdown Food.

“Using available technologies and practices, we can meet every person’s food needs while also neutralizing the food system’s impact on climate,” says Project Drawdown executive director Jonathan Foley, who is leading the initiative. “We just need to apply the right combinations of solutions in the right place at the right time.” Be sure to follow along – and invite those in your network to do the same – as we advance food-based solutions in the weeks and months to come. Learn more >>

and

🌸 Announcing the 2024–26 Rural Regenerator Fellowship

Calling rural artists in the Upper Midwest: Applications are now open for Springboard's 2024–26 Rural Regenerator Fellowship! We are excited to announce that this year’s Fellowship will focus on supporting artists whose work is connected to land, environment, and/or food systems.Rural artists who are using their creative practice to explore environmental justice, land and food sovereignty, agriculture, foodways, climate solutions, and/or sustainability are welcome to apply. We will select 12 fellows total. What the two-year Fellowship offers: Unrestricted $10,000 stipend to continue or expand rural artist's existing work. Opportunities for exchange and learning with other Rural Regenerator Fellows across the Upper Midwest. A supportive platform to build solidarity across rural geographies. This year’s new effort to amplify and support the urgent work of environmental stewardship aims to bring a new level of focus to the Fellowship in order to collectively contribute to long term change and support existing movements. Applications are open now through June 24, 2024. Interested in applying? Join our virtual info session on Friday, May 31 to learn more about the application and the fellowship.

Learn more and apply

I’m encouraged by the concurrent serendipity evidenced above because for years I’ve experienced how challenging, and expensive, it can be to eat healthy while limiting one’s climate (and related) footprint. If we really want to see widespread systems change, we need to make it much easier for families and individuals to do the right thing. Maybe we’re finally headed in that direction.

The Farmer

By W.D. Ehrhart

Each day I go into the fields to see what is growing

and what remains to be done.

It is always the same thing: nothing

is growing, everything needs to be done.

Plow, harrow, disc, water, pray

till my bones ache and hands rub

blood-raw with honest labor—

all that grows is the slow

intransigent intensity of need.

I have sown my seed on soil

guaranteed by poverty to fail.

But I don’t complain—except

to passersby who ask me why

I work such barren earth.

They would not understand me

if I stooped to lift a rock

and hold it like a child, or laughed,

or told them it is their poverty

I labor to relieve. For them,

I complain. A farmer of dreams

knows how to pretend. A farmer of dreams

knows what it means to be patient.

Each day I go into the fields.

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Post solstice solace of space and time

Yesterday was winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. According to my copy of the Minnesota Weatherguide Engagement Calendar, the sun rose at 7:48 am and set at 4:34 pm. Today the sun rose at the same time as yesterday but sets at 4:35 pm. That doesn’t mean we gained a whole minute. It’s actually as little two seconds if on Tuesday 4:34 was actually 4:34:59 and today’s 4:35 was actually 4:35:01. But that’s not what I’m trying to figure out. Does the extra time come at the beginning, the middle, or the end of the day, or all three? It probably doesn’t make much, if any, difference, but I’ve become curious about whether we’re measuring time or daylight or both and how it works. The twenty-four hours in a day is reported to be comprised of “23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds to complete one rotation and that we round up to 24-hour days. But that additional 3 minutes, 56 seconds takes actually into account Earth’s movement around the sun.” And remember, every four years we add a whole day at the end of February.

where in time-space are the tree lights?

Photo by J. Harrington

So, it appears that our time-keeping is somewhat arbitrary, but not necessarily capricious. Does this have anything to do with Einstein’s time-space continuum? Possibly, according to this description from What is the Space-Time Continuum for Dummies?:

But in a relativistic universe, time cannot be separated from the three dimensions of space. This is because the observed rate at which time passes depends on the velocity of an object relative to the observer. Also, any gravitational field strength slows down the passage of time.

I’m not enough of a physicist or philosopher to actually think I understand all this but the phrase "the observed rate at which time passes depends on the velocity of an object relative to the observer” makes me wonder if there may not be some significance to where in the day the extra light gets added. If you have thoughts about this, feel free to share them in the comments.

I spent part of the morning today helping the Daughter Person assemble some flatpak children’s furniture. I think that trying to follow the instructions may have caused my mind to slip into a different dimension. Plus, more cloudiness and cold is affecting my brain. I believe I need a dose of Alfred and the Chipmunks to get me back on the seasonal straight and narrow.

The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)

Alright you Chipmunks, Ready to sing your song?
I'd say we are
Yeah, Lets sing it now!
Okay, Simon?
OK
Okay, Theodore?
OK
Okay Alvin?...Alvin?...ALVIN!!!
OKAY!!

Christmas, Christmas time is near
Time for toys and time for cheer
We've been good, but we can't last
Hurry Christmas, hurry fast

Want a plane that loops the loop
Me, I want a Hula-Hoop
We can hardly stand the wait
Please Christmas don't be late

Ok Fellas, Get ready
That was very good, Simon
Naturally!
Very Good Theodore
He He He He
Uh Alvin, You were a little flat
Watch it, Alvin... Alvin?...ALVIN!!!
OKAY!!

Want a plane that loops the loop
I still want a Hula-Hoop
We can hardly stand the wait
Please Christmas don't be late
We can hardly stand the wait
Please Christmas don't be late

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Eclipsing the eclipse

Minnesota: 100% cloud cover

The good news is we didn't travel 500 or 1,000 miles to have cloud cover obscure the eclipse. The bad news is cloud cover is obscuring our eclipse. It'll be interesting to see if the degree and type of darkness triggers any noticeable aberrant behavior among the local critters.

an August full moon

Photo by J. Harrington

We walked down the drive with a pair of eclipse glasses in hand. Trees surrounding the house interrupted a direct line of sight exposure to the sun. Through the clouds we could see a bright light, like the sun behind clouds. To protect our eyes, we put on the eclipse glasses, looked up, and saw --- nothing! It was as black as a coal bin at midnight or, for those of you who never had coal bins, as black as the inside of an upside-down oil barrel. The movies and television coverage of the eclipse are fascinating, but I think I'll wait to read the book. It is getting darker, about the way it would look if a thunderstorm were in the neighborhood.

wolf pup exploring

Photo by J. Harrington

Since we're not going to have any photos of the eclipse we can share, we want to offer something visual, more than just cloud cover. The first photo above is of the full moon from exactly two years ago today. The second is of a Wildlife Science Center wolf pup from a visit a little more than one year ago. The pup hadn't yet mastered howling at the moon but I bet it's doing better these days. It may even be howling at the eclipse, if the clouds ever break up.

A Solar Eclipse

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In that great journey of the stars through space
     About the mighty, all-directing Sun,
     The pallid, faithful Moon, has been the one
Companion of the Earth. Her tender face,
Pale with the swift, keen purpose of that race,
     Which at Time’s natal hour was first begun,
     Shines ever on her lover as they run
And lights his orbit with her silvery smile.
Sometimes such passionate love doth in her rise,
     Down from her beaten path she softly slips,
And with her mantle veils the Sun’s bold eyes,
     Then in the gloaming finds her lover’s lips.
While far and near the men our world call wise
     See only that the Sun is in eclipse.

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Can mining become a good neighbor?

It's not just Minnesota environmentalists who find fault with the way hardrock mining is done. A previously mentioned article by Jane Kloeckner, "written for completion of an LL.M. in Urban Law, environmental emphasis, at the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Law" cites a 2004 report, "Office of Inspector General, Evaluation Report, Nationwide Identification of Hardrock Mining Sites, Report No. 2004-P-00005, which found:

"...This [hardrock mining] industry successfully resists modern environmental law protections, follows antiquated mine development rules, and uses waste management practices that damage the environment and harm human health. The federal, state, and tribal environmental and natural resource laws and regulations exempt hardrock mining and mineral processing facilities from reasonable pollution control and allow unsustainable nineteenth century mineral activities and industrial behaviors."

northern Minnesota's St. Louis River

Photo by J. Harrington

We are now well into the 21st century. Hardrock mining has quite a bit of catching up to do as Ms. Kloeckner writes: "Developing a sustainable mining and mineral processing industry with appropriate governmental oversight means (1) enacting “necessary legal, fiscal, and environmental policies”15 to support strong mining institutions with accountability and transparency,16 and (2) establishing clear environmental and social policies, as well as compliance standards that achieve rigorous standards of environmental and social conduct, which would include providing support to local and indigenous populations." Such social policies might have preempted a recent refusal of permission to allow a wetland scientists to access study sites PolyMet hopes to obtain from public lands while also claiming "Modern mining is no threat to Minnesota." That inconsistency reads to me like resistance to transparency and accountability as well as a reflection of the mindset that accompanied mine development in the early days of mining, which sometimes preceded statehood's limited regulatory framework. (small numbers are footnotes in the cited paper.)

solar panels in northern Minnesota

Photo by J. Harrington

On the other hand, several recent news articles reflect growing interest in the development and use of renewable energy by some in the mining sector [The importance of solar and wind energy in Mining; and, Sun-Drenched Miners Look to the Skies to Cut Fuel Costs in Half]. The first article linked even notes  that Glencore, a major investor in the proposed PolyMet NorthMet development, "...recently installed a 3MW wind turbine and energy storage facility at its Raglan mine in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, in Canada..." to save money on diesel. Is a more "progressive" approach to mine development in locations other than Minnesota, due only to cost savings, or are those locations more insistent that mining companies be better citizens and neighbors as a condition of the "social license" to operate? I don't know how you feel about it, but I'd take a bet that learning to install, maintain and repair solar energy in northern Minnesota probably has a longer and brighter future than either iron or hardrock mining. I'd be betting that the sun will outlast ore. Has Minnesota looked at the idea of a community benefits agreement as a condition of any potential future permits to mine? Why not forego trying to win a race to the bottom and try things the Minnesota way. Remember Reserve!

Our Neighbor:

By Ivan Hobson 

Every family that lived in our court

had an American truck

with a union sticker on the back

and as a kid I admired them

the way I thought our soldiers

must have admired Patton

and Sherman tanks.

You once told me

that the Russians couldn’t take us,

not with towns like ours

full of iron, full of workers tempered

by the fires of foundries and mills.

It wasn’t the Russians that came;

it was the contract, the strike,

the rounds of layoffs that blistered

until your number was called.

I still remember you loading up

to leave for the last time,

the union sticker scraped off

with a putty knife,

the end of the white tarp draped

over your truck bed

flapping as you drove away.

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How you live -- energy tax credits

What type of tax credits are offered by your state and local governments for installation of energy efficient devices (such as solar hot water heaters)? [sic]

free-standing photovoltaic panels, northern Minnesota

Photo by J. Harrington

The phrasing of the question may cause some confusion, at least it confused me, because solar hot water heaters are usually considered renewable energy devices rather than energy efficiency devices. Also, many of the available tax credits relate to the federal income tax. Finally, it doesn't include the economic incentives associated with a currently contentious "solar garden" net metering debate that's occurring in Minnesota. Now that those quibbles are out of the way, let me direct your attention to Minnesota's Clean Energy Resource Team helpful list of Minnesota Residential Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Incentives, which includes links to the other standard resources on the (too frequently) changing tax credits and other incentives for improving our energy efficiency and source portfolio. There are other sources of information on wind and solar tax credits and other energy incentives, perhaps the most inclusive of which is the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency® [DSIRE®], which lists 171 programs for Minnesota, 64 of which match my zip code (many are utility-based programs).

roof-mounted photovoltaic panels, Marine-on-St. Croix

Photo by J. Harrington

Forecast

By Josephine Miles 

All our stones like as much sun as possible.

Along their joints run both solar access and decline

In equal splendor, like a mica chipping

At every beat, being sun responsible.

How much sun then do you think is due them?

Or should say, how much sun do you think they are apt to have?

It has misted at their roots for some days now,

The gray glamour addressing itself to them.

I should think possible that it go on misting likewise

A good way into next year, or time as they have it,

A regular cool season every day for our stones.

Not a streak that low of any sun or longed surprise. 

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Summertime, and the solar is growing

This was one of those magical Summer mornings when mist, unruffled by a bird-song-carrying cool, soft breeze, hovered over water bodies like the pond down the road. Last night's errant bears, seeking easy pickings from the bird feeders, were on their way home for a morning nap. Summertime, and the livin' is easy...

Hoary Alyssum (Berteroa incana) with ladybug(?)

Photo by J. Harrington

I headed off early to a meeting in Minneapolis. On my way home, I drove north on Central Avenue. Just about where Minneapolis turns into Columbia Heights a "mile-long" train of tank cars (full? empty?) tied up traffic for a while at a grade crossing. I started to wonder about vulnerabilities and derailments and fireballs. I also found myself pondering what Ed Abbey would write or say or do about some of the environmental disasters being heaped on citizens in the name of progress, jobs and profits. If our national and state leaders were actually leading, Canada could leave its tar sands and North Dakota its Bakken oil in the ground, we could install more solar panels in Minnesota and create a decentralized power generation system and avoid fireballs and oil-train induced travel delays and minimize Anthropogenic Climate Disruption. That probably makes entirely too much sense to ever get political support, especially if the Republicans maintain control of Congress and let the solar tax credit die next year, although maybe by then it won't make much economic difference. Think about that. Maybe going solar would be the best response those living in Minnesota Power's territory, instead of subsidizing big industrial users. (See pages 24 and 25 to decide if you think the reduction in electric costs will make a real difference.)

Cartoon Physics, part 1

By Nick Flynn 

Children under, say, ten, shouldn't know

that the universe is ever-expanding,   

inexorably pushing into the vacuum, galaxies

swallowed by galaxies, whole

solar systems collapsing, all of it

acted out in silence. At ten we are still learning

the rules of cartoon animation,

that if a man draws a door on a rock

only he can pass through it.   

Anyone else who tries

will crash into the rock. Ten-year-olds

should stick with burning houses, car wrecks,   

ships going down—earthbound, tangible

disasters, arenas

where they can be heroes. You can run

back into a burning house, sinking ships

have lifeboats, the trucks will come

with their ladders, if you jump

you will be saved. A child

places her hand on the roof of a schoolbus,   

& drives across a city of sand. She knows

the exact spot it will skid, at which point

the bridge will give, who will swim to safety

& who will be pulled under by sharks. She will learn

that if a man runs off the edge of a cliff

he will not fall

until he notices his mistake.

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The sweetness of Spring

It's Friday, late in March. The sun is shining. The wind has stopped blowing, at least for now. Warmer temperatures are in the forecast, although that part's easy since this morning's low around here was 16F. The frost crystals sparkled beautifully in this morning's flashlight beam when I walked SiSi. Yesterday's open waters that refroze over night should be open again soon. The snow that fell earlier in the week is gone. The Department of Natural Resources has officially declared "ice out" at some metro area lakes. Song birds, raptors and waterfowl are flocking in. The Minnesota legislature is on spring break for almost two weeks. We just learned that we're due a refund on both our federal and state taxes. This may be about as good as it gets at this time of year.

I have a small favor to ask. Can any of you help me identify the reddish-brown plants growing around the trunks of the tamaracks in the photo below? I was too busy being enchanted by the overall effect and foolishly neglected to take any closeups or grab a small sample. A quick search on the internets has yielded nothing helpful. If I finally learn to be more attentive, and mindful, I may end up having to reveal my ignorance less often. But if I become more mindful, I probably won't be as troubled at having to reveal what I don't know. That sounds like a win-win.

Photo by J. Harrington

Many places are offering maple syruping demonstrations this weekend. I admit that until I read Braiding Sweetgrass, I hadn't thought about tapping and syruping as something that could be done in small quantities. We never did get around to identifying our maples. That's still something to be done before this time next year. Have a great weekend!

Cold Spring

By Lawrence Raab 

The last few gray sheets of snow are gone,   

winter’s scraps and leavings lowered   

to a common level. A sudden jolt

of weather pushed us outside, and now   

this larger world once again belongs to us.   

I stand at the edge of it, beside the house,   

listening to the stream we haven’t heard   

since fall, and I imagine one day thinking   

back to this hour and blaming myself

for my worries, my foolishness, today’s choices   

having become the accomplished

facts of change, accepted

or forgotten. The woods are a mangle

of lines, yet delicate, yet precise,

when I take the time to look closely.

If I’m not happy it must be my own fault.   

At the edge of the lawn my wife

bends down to uncover a flower, then another.   

The first splurge of crocuses.

And for a moment the sweep and shudder   

of the wind seems indistinguishable   

from the steady furl of water

just beyond her.

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Sustainably rural

Sometimes I get to share some really good news. Today is one of those times. If you read all of this posting, or almost any posting on My Minnesota, you can be reasonably sure that your intelligence, or at least your attention span, is well above average. If you're a regular reader, we already know that your taste is well above average. What triggered this pandering, you're probably wondering?

A new dawn for rural sustainability

Photo by J. Harrington

I've been faced with a challenging decision after reading a recent blog posting that notes that the average attention span of Americans has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds during the past decade or so. I came across the initial link on a different blog that was about the Internet moving to digital story telling and the need to keep it short. That comes from the "give 'em what they want" school of communications. As I read it, I could hear my mother's voice asking me "if all your friends jumped off the garage roof, would you join them?" Now, I'm in favor of telling a story in an effective way, but that doesn't mean I think we should reduce everything to accommodate the attention span of a goldfish. I give an audience (at least this one) more credit than that (plus, I have been known to talk or write more than the minimum absolutely required on a subject).

I'm going to assume you're familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet and / or the way it was retold in West Side Story. The movie ran slightly more than 2.5 hours. I haven't tried to time the play, but 2.5 hours is more time than needed to Tweet: Boy and girl meet, fall in love, marry, screw up fundamental communications, one (West Side Story) or both (Romeo and Juliet) die. Although that's less than 140 characters, I don't find the synopsis very satisfying, nor do I intend to shorten postings here to something that can be read in less than ten seconds (unless I decide to start posting only haiku each day).

Here's more good news that ties together nicely with yesterday's climate change march: more and more rural communities are moving toward sustainability. The first of today's examples can be found on The Daily Yonder, the same blog that brought to my attention the growing interest in brief video messaging. A key paragraph about growing rural sustainability in Macomb, Illinois states:

The range of projects and groups is wide, including reducing solid waste, preserving historic areas, creating a new food cooperative, and starting two community supported agriculture operations. We’ve also established the Prairie Land Conservancy, Environmentally Concerned Citizens, Lamoine River Ecosystem Partnership and a green student organization.

The sun shines on Fond du Lac solar power

Photo by J. Harrington

Minnesota has a similar efforts through the University's Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, but the other example I want to point out today comes from the Duluth News. The Fond du Lac Reservation will soon be the site of a $2.5 million, 1 megawatt, solar farm that will help power the band's Black Bear Casino. Minnesota Power is helping to develop and fund the project. If you read the whole article (it'll take more than 8 seconds) you'll see that the band has undertaken a number of projects helping to make the band more sustainable. (I had the pleasure of working with them during several years past on a couple of green affordable housing developments.)

Light-years

By Hester Knibbe

Translated By Jacquelyn Pope

It’s a beautiful world, you said,

with these trees, marshes, deserts,

grasses, rivers and seas

and so on. And the moon is really something

in its circuits

of relative radiance. Include

the wingèd M, voluptuous

Venus, hotheaded Mars, that lucky devil

J and cranky Saturn, of course, plus

U and N and the wanderer P, in short

the whole solar family, complete with its

Milky Way, and count up all the other

systems with dots and spots and in

that endless emptiness what you’ve got

is a commotion of you-know-what. It’s a beautiful

universe, you said, just take a good look

through the desert’s dark glasses

for instance or on your back

in seas of grass, take a good look

at the deluge of that Rorschach—we’re standing out there

somewhere, together.

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