Hello! Here are CELs’ Goals for 2009.

1. Focus on creating Community Scale Edible Landscapes, aka “Garden Nodes” AND teach classes in neighborhoods so people can learn in their own contexts. We are looking to move beyond individual landscape projects. Doing this will make managing projects (less admin.) and educating gardeners more efficient. Plus, we will be able to reduce our carbon footprint (drive around less). CEL is actively looking for community partnerships, individuals to help develop this concept, and promoters to spread the gospel.

2. Trade CEL’s work —building gardens in the community– for housing. That is, in exchange for subsidized or free rent, we will build gardens for low income individuals in the name of the sponsor. For every $500 of value in rent, we’ll provide $500 in labor (which is about enough to build 1-2 basic vegetable gardens and educate those gardeners).                                                                                                                                                                                                   
3. Sustainably expand the Plant Start and Perrenial Plant sales. (A) Community Supported Plant Starts Program (30-50 members committed in February). (B) Selling at 2-3 Farmers markets in Springtime. (C) Attend Tilth Sales, WSU Master Gardeners Sale and other plant/local food events

4.Increase business to sustain three or four, ¾ time worker-partners, at living wages. Build long term partnerships with people, who share CEL’s vision.

[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q[/youtube]

We are going to continue Community Supported Plant Starts, as 2008 was a successful (pilot) year, and we expect further interest because Organic Gardening Magazine picked up this innovative program and will be publishing an article about it in Spring 2009. We are looking to make some changes to CSPS where we make available plant starts–appropriate for the time of year– every 4-6 weeks, to help gardeners stay on top of succession planting. We will also be making the program more flexible and seeking more information and investment ($$) upfront (FEB 2009) in order to meet your needs and minimize waste. As said, we are looking for feedback people to help make this program really successful, especially anyone who would like to house our medium sized greenhouse on their property! (more…)

We will be needing help with future maintenance, so if you are a skilled pruner (and can help teach high schoolers what to do), contact us at food @eatyouryard.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcF0bexWsos

2-4-6….Hands–—2 from mexico, 4 from el salvador—–load 6000 nutritiously devoid not croissants, but “product”— into packages 4 at a time so the machine I run can wrap them, in order for another person, often myself, to place them into trays of 6, and then pile the trays  into stacks of 12–Over and over and over and over again.

2-4-6 My other job: como el jefe blanco, tengo que mirar cosas y communicarse con los manos obscuros sus tareas re- importante.  Perdone mi sarcasmo.

2-4-6  In the end we package 250 trays that the National Food Corporation will come to pick up and deliver to our pimp– I mean customer– Starbucks, for them to resell to their prepackaged consumers.

2-4-6 If Jesse James saw my hands, he probably would not rob me and might actually  loan me a buck

2-4-6.  My life is like that book….Nickled and Dimed where the woman tried to survive by working low earning jobs for a year….oh wait, my life is real and in the end I can’t fall back on my book deal

2-4-6 Whereas before I had time to enjoy the scenery, to read books and cook………  now I barely have time to taste my food or to even turn my head and look.

2-4-6 Since croissants are called “products”, we people must be robots, and I’m feeling lost ‘cause my labor’s been got in the thirst for profit …meanwhile my skills and talent are leaking out the faucet.  I don’t want this job but I can’t afford to toss it.
This economy is a flawed Process…somehow I  wake up at 5 am and this is called progress?  So please excuse that I’m little grumpy and extremely Caustic……..

2-4-6: Hours I could spend improving myself or the world.
2-4-6  There’s Global Climate Change
2-4-6 Freedom of speech and too many women being assaulted.
2-4-6 Losing prime agricultural land, small farmers, and the ability to feed ourselves
2-4-6 Secret police state spying,
2-4-6 Google and China in cahoots.
2-4-6 Oil companies looting individuals, while the government gives them more gifts.
2-4-6 Cutting healthcare and education to pay for more wars.
2-4-6 The rich are getting cuts in their taxes while riding poor folks’ backs and slapping their asses.

2-4-6 Rather than incite the masses, I’ve been too tired and instead have been napping.

2-4-6.  Holy shit! What scares me more than the above list is the quantity of people not realizing their potential at jobs like this.

2-4-6 I really wanna quit, but I gotta eat and agitation/rabble rousing/ organizing/creating are not lucrative occupations.

2-4-6 But I’m no dim wit chillin’ in this dim lit building.
My spirit is strong and I’m actively engaging my illest feelings,
mediating over the rhythm of the Machine,

as to how I’m going to chisel away at it with the core of my being.

Some of my time off is used to strategically funnel resources to the food cooperative in my basement, one piece of a sustainable –of the mind body and soul–economy, one run by people seeking harmonious autonomy.