Christians, Animals, and Vegetarianism

Finally! -- the Christian Vegetarian Association has just produced and released a 26-minute video on a Christian/biblical perspective on animals and the mandate to exclude them from the human diet. It is a calm reflection by a number of pastors, scholars, and doctors (like Caldwell Esselstyn) -- as well as "the Mad Cowboy," Howard Lyman. It was such a pleasure to hear Lyman speak -- a man who spent 40 years in the factory beef industry before realizing that God never intended meat to be eaten. Getting up in years, he is such a wise and gentle man with an obvious love for animals.

The video can't be embedded so you'll need to go here to watch it. If you are a Christian of any flavor, and have thought vegetarianism is a lunatic fringe element of the faith, I encourage you to watch this video. The Christians who speak come from a broad perspective of the faith and they won't all sound like what you're familiar with. But that's a good thing -- helps us grow and learn.

CSA Firstfruits

I have joined the New Town Farms C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) program for the summer. New Town Farms is owned by farmer Sammy Koenigsberg, Charlotte's longest-standing organic grower. A CSA program is a subscription plan: subscribers pay a set amount to the farmer at the beginning of the season and get a box of fresh produce in return each week. The up-front payments help the farmer with planting costs and gives him a good idea of how much he needs to plant. Sammy keeps his CSA fairly small and there's always a waiting list of folks eager to join. I picked up my first box today: German red head radishes, baby arugala, salad mix, braising greens mix (10 different mustards, kales, and Asian greens), Bordeaux spinach, and kale. Belonging to a CSA is a study in eating with the seasons as people have done for thousands of years -- before refrigeration and international shipping altered our view of the cycles of nature:



Sammy's main growing field. Come mid-summer it will be lush with growth:



Tool house and washing station:



Beautiful lake on the other side of which Sammy and Melinda are developing a Bed and Breakfast:



Sammy was an architectural design major in college and designed a beautiful home for his large (eight children) family. It's a well-used house, hosting church, farming, and "slow food" groups all year long:



The chicken house -- Sammy sells fresh eggs and chickens to his customers, and he and his son are getting into raising heirloom pork as well. (Bummer.)



Sammy's a good man and a good organic farmer. He and Melinda are well-respected by all who know them:

Yard Farm 2

An update on how the garden grows:

Tomatoes and eggplant on the side yard. There are TV and cable wires running underground in the middle of this area so I have to avoid it until I get the cables marked:



"Containers" has become the theme. A couple of neighbors have supplied me with additional buckets, in which are tomatoes, peppers, oregano, dill, parsley, etc. Looking forward to seeing how they do:





Jade plant (from Daniel) and aloe starts:



Seed starts -- everything is coming up nicely except the tree seeds from my parents' yard in Alabama. Especially pleased that all the Brandywine heirloom tomato seeds from 2-3 summers ago that I saved have sprouted nicely. Note to Daniel: the Winstrip trays fit PERFECTLY in a wheatgrass-growing tray for soaking and bottoms-up watering. Nice! (I'll bring you one.)