OUR EARTH, WE DIG IT

One Trowel Revolution

Freedom Gardens is declaration of independence.  It is all about taking back responsibility and control of our own food supply and out of the hands of corporations.  And Freedom Gardens are sprouting up all over!

With the launch of Freedom Gardens just about 1/2 a year ago I am excited to say that we now have topped 2200 members. One FG in a congratulatory email summed it up by saying

Great job and hopefully you can reach the one million mark by the end of 2010. Now that would be nice for freedom gardeners…

Upcoming So Cal Freedom Garden Meetup

The upcoming meetup & community event on Sunday Jan 25th will be featuring a SWAP N TRADE table.   What’s people are bringing so far:

hubbard squash, acorn flour, nuts, olives, seeds, seedlings and more.

If you are a So Cal FGer I have put up a place online where you list what you’ll be bringing.

I’ve said this before,  but I’ll say it again.  I know many of you are salivating over having your very own FG meetup in your town/city and that application will happen very soon.  So just sit tight as we work on the guidelines and legalese (yep, there’s legal stuff involved because FG is a public social network) and thanks for your patience.

There’s so much happening at the FG site already I can’t keep up.

There’s new groups like Food Preservation Station

and

Freedom Garden of the Month profiled (congrats Meg)

and more!

I have some ideas for some specific groups if anyone is interested in heading those up.  You can email me.

Jordanne has announced that there are coming improvements and new applications so stay tuned.  We aint done growing yet!

FG Highlights

The Freedom Garden (Grit Online Magazine)

As we faced issues at the beginning of 2008 of global climate change, increasing costs of oil (which by the way is the basis of all of our commercial “inputs” like fertilizers, pesticides, etc.), regular warnings about tainted foods in our stores and economic pressures that were starting to limit our food buying power the Dervaes family launched a site called “Freedom Gardens” and with it put a name to a movement that was already beginning to form not only here at home, but world wide. Whether you’re a young family trying to make ends meet or a rural farmer that want’s to not just grow commercial crops but actual food as well or a suburban parent worried about the future of the earth for your kids this is a movement for you. If you’re a city dweller who wants to eat organic foods but can’t afford the exorbitant costs at the whole foods stores or someone worried about providing consistent, healthy food to your family in the event of a crisis then this is a movement for you.

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Freedom Gardens and the 100 Foot Diet Challenge (Sustainablog)

More and more people are taking the plunge into backyard gardening. Some are even planting fruits and veggies in their front yard and adopting the “no-mow” approach. Last year one website, Freedom Gardens, used its social networking platform to coordinate the “100 Foot Diet Challenge.” Hundreds of gardeners throughout the country accepted the invitation by getting out their hoes and spades.

The “Freedom Garden” borrows its name from the Victory Garden movement (but dropped its the militaristic overtones). Victory Gardens were popular during World War II, during which many Americans ramped up local food production as a means to bolster the economy and support the war effort.

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