small-scale: life in an ecovillage

One of the most challenging things to reacquaint myself with out here in the “real world” (a.k.a., not Dancing Rabbit) has been the food. I became really used to being able to eat fresh, whole, organic foods at every meal, but out here, it’s much more challenging.

The majority of the produce I ate at Dancing Rabbit was grown right in the ecovillage, with some supplemental stuff ordered from a local Mennonite family. Everything was local. Everything was organic. All of the beans, grains, etc. were ordered in bulk, and were readily available. Trying to do the same out here is much more difficult and expensive. A lot of the produce I am now eating comes from the supermarket, shipped from God-knows-where, and most of it is not organic. The wheat and everything else is pretty standard fare. I try to buy organic when I can, but it’s not always within reason. I miss Sandhill’s wheat berries and Bobolink’s shelves packed with jars of dry, organic beans and lentils and big buckets of other staples (like peanut butter!).

On Sunday, a good friend of mine and I made some tempeh and natto, and thankfully both were successful. I specifically brought home 6 or 7 pounds of soy beans to make these goodies and some tofu. This should keep my protein needs met for a while. I have decided that I will not be eating meat while I am here. Normally, I am omnivorous, but I just can’t get that excited about meat from the supermarket. So, I decided that I would try going all-veggie while I am here. It’s going pretty easily.

Food… I really do love it. I especially love it when I know exactly where it’s coming from and how it was grown. It’s more fulfilling that way. But it’s back to the supermarket shelves for the meantime!

Note: Please find all of my cob building related content at my new blog, The Year of Mud: Building a cob house. Thanks! See you there!

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