Today’s blog comes
from one of abby’s best friends, Shannon. Shannon teaches a variety of social
studies classes at an incredible high school in Lafayette, IN, that seeks to
re-imagine what education looks like. You can learn more about her school here
At Shannon’s request, abby
has lovingly edited this post to provide some context.
Food list
Breakfast: Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancake w/ no syrup, grapes,
scrambled eggs w/ cheddar
Lunch: vegetarian corn dog, waffle fries cooked in peanut
oil
Dinner: quesadilla from a Indianapolis-based Mexican restaurant,
piña colada
Some Reflections
Abby and I have been friends for 8 years. In that period of time, she has continued to
raise my awareness of a multitude of issues including theology, social justice,
what it means to be a vegetarian vs. a vegan, and the many variety of ways to
incorporate Smokey the Bear into all facets of life.
I am not a vegetarian or a vegan, but as you can see from my
diet today, Abby’s weekend stay with me has allowed me to broaden my dietary
spectrum. As she was updating another
post on this blog, I inquired about what she was writing. I instantly became fascinated by the content
of this work, and how, in it’s own unique way, it relates to my current studies
in the field of curriculum theory.
Presently, I am studying the post-reconceptualization in curriculum
studies, which essentially combines seemingly unrelated parts of various fields
into their own niche in curriculum theory.
Based on Abby and Erika’s work thus far, this looks like a
similar venture in the realm of theological and environmental studies (abby’s note: I have to work harder to
expose her to more of this!). I
welcome these new niches in academia and the “real world” because they reveal
the truth about the interconnectedness of our world and how nothing operates in
isolation. This idea of
interconnectedness is foundational to my life as a high school teacher trying
to make every aspect of school connect to the real lives of my students. So this is my attempt to contribute to a
burgeoning field which not only raises awareness about our planet and
sustainability, but also promotes a healthy lifestyle for all.
 |
| these are not shannon's cucumbers. |
So this is a little about my experience with container gardening.
I need to be honest from the get-go. I have never really had much of a green thumb
nor have I ever really envisioned myself becoming passionate about planting,
gardening, etc. I always thought of
gardening as something that people who lived in the country did as a hobby or
because they had limited access to a grocery store. (Because, why else would you take the time to
plant a seed and nurture a crop that may or may not successfully produce? That takes so much time and effort when you
could just go to the grocery store and buy the finished product. Plus, you might have to get dirt under your
fingernails! Ewww. People who garden obviously did this because
they had to in order to survive,
right????)
But last summer, my boyfriend started a container garden, or
an urban garden, right on our back patio.
(As renters, our “patio” is a concrete slab about 6 feet by 8 feet
big.) While I did not necessarily
discourage this venture, I was not convinced that anything would grow out of
planters and pots intended for flowers.
(Yes, that’s right. In my
extraordinarily limited view of gardening, pots and planters could only be used
for flowers. Haha. I literally laugh out loud at myself for
having such a narrow view at that point in time.)
However, it did not take long for me to come to view our
little urban garden as something I loved and desired to nurture and care for
until the fruits and vegetables grew to complete maturation. I often found myself racing home from work in
hopes that I was the first one home so that I
could water the garden and check for new fruit.
Needless to say, our little urban garden was a success. The fruits and vegetables that grew in our
garden became a huge point of pride for me as we shared them with our family
and friends in meals. I even began to
take note of things I wanted to do differently next summer in order to produce
more, better, or new yields.
Beyond the simple joy of caring for another living thing and
also reaping the fruits of our labor, urban gardening raised my awareness about
the relative ease with which I can produce items that I would regularly buy at the
grocery store. There was comfort for me
in knowing exactly how our fruits and vegetables had been cared for and
prepared. There was almost relief in knowing that there were no invisible
ingredients in our produce; it was very much a “what you see is what you get”
situation. There were unintended consequences as well. In addition to coming up with new recipes and
opportunities to use cucumbers and the other items that we had in absolute
abundance, I tried my hand at canning vegetables for the first time, too.
It is only a matter opening our minds to the array of
possibilities surrounding human-Earth relationships. These interactions can come in a multitude of
shapes and sizes and (evidently) do not require large plots of land and limited
access to grocery stores.
At its core, ethics is
about seeking the good life. Shannon does practical ethics in her classroom
every day, and she’s expanding into the world of environmental ethics this
spring as she works with some of her students to create a garden on the grounds
of her high school.
want to learn more about container gardening? visit http://urbanext.illinois.edu/containergardening/
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