We bought our garlic seed from our friends Sue and Eland (her son), who operate Duck Creek Farm here. I was so glad they were at the market today because the garlic I planted earlier in October is already sprouting - and some of the sprouts are around 4 inches already. Sue reassured me that it should be fine, maybe just needs a bit more mulch. Hers is sprouting as well.
I mentioned in Wednesday's blip that we'd stopped in Sydney on our way home to get G a book he'd been wanting. The book is This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate. We were excited to read in our local paper on Wednesday night that Naomi Klein, the author of the book, was speaking here, and we went to see her today. We've seen her before and read her previous books. She's one of the finest minds in the nation, in my opinion. This book won "...the prestigious Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. It debuted at #1 on the Maclean's and #5 on the New York Times bestsellers lists." (Gulf Islands Driftwood, Oct. 22 2014)
Our food supply is only one of the big issues in terms of climate change. The drought in California is significant - the price of produce here is expected to rise around 30-40% as a result. The work that Sue, Eland and other farmers are doing to produce more of our food locally and to take care of the environment is vital. We are so dependent, ridiculously so, on food from the US and overseas - pears from Australia, apples from New Zealand, produce from Mexico, Peru, China...on and on. We could grow so much more locally. So, as Klein states, "Climate change isn't an 'issue' to add to the list of things to worry about, next to health care and taxes. It is a civilizational wake-up call." We're all in this together, and I hope the powers that be wake up soon.
A couple of links if you're interested:
Naomi Klein
This Changes Everything