Permaculture
On Friday I was invited to a happy hour at Greengate Farms. Being the social bee that I am I was not going to turn down an invitation to any happy hour on a Friday evening. There’s just no excuse. Especially when this happy hour was byob. Seeing as how I had been to a few happy hours at Rain Lily Farm during the summer I thought this would be similar. Drinking a beer and socializing on a blanket in a field with some friends and maybe a few new people. Well when I got there I was suprised to find out that it was for the students in the Planning Department at UT.
Skip and Erin,the farmers/owners of Greengate gave us great tour of the property and the farm’s projects. They discussed issues facing farmers within Austin such as waist water fees and zoning restrictions. Then we were shown the animals and their massive composting project. I thought to myself, ‘This is permaculture in action.’ They get old produce that Whole Foods regularly ships across the country back to Austin to be composted in Austin (they really have turned corporate haven’t they.) The pigs and chickens eat the old produce and their waste fertilizes the land. Evidence of the cycle was on the ground growing around us. Volunteer tomato and squash plants were in the chicken coup. I wonder if its too late to get any fruit off of them.
After the tour we all sat around a fire and drank a couple of beers. I didn’t meet anyone new, but I did have a great conversation with Mackenzie about landscape design and gardening. Turns out she’s starting a business too. Now I have a buddy to talk business with.
