Marching into gardens and CSAs

(3/2022) Our homes didn’t appear out of nowhere. Land was found, claimed and developed. But first exploration, imagination, perhaps feeling overcrowded elsewhere.

John Chapman was born in Massachusetts, on September 26, 1774. Born on the eve of the Revolutionary War, John grew up in a religious family and watched the progress of young Americans moving west to homestead. When he was about 18 he began his lifelong nomadic lifestyle of planting apple orchards ahead of homesteaders.

John Chapman became Johnny Appleseed as he began his adult life, leaving his home and venturing west ahead of white settlers. He sought land for growing apple orchards, buying and selling thousands of acres over the course of 50 years. His objective was the planning of orchards ahead of towns. With his foresight, food was available when settlers chose their homestead. Johnny was an astute businessman, his objectives focused on caring for the orchards he planted from western Pennsylvania to Illinois, traveling alone and on foot. He wore old clothes given to him, sometimes as payment for apples or seedlings. He carried almost nothing with him but his seeds and a cook pot. Being a vegetarian, he carried no gun or knife. He was a deeply religious man, carrying bibles to give away. Living his life and beliefs, he worked with everyone he met. This included gaining the trust of many Native Americans and giving plants to poor families who had no money.

Like John Chapman, nurturing what we have established, is the objective of the Livable Frederick Master Plan, and is what we have in our system of organic farming in the county, and networked across America. Planning for the important things in life—food, air, water, shelter. Living and raising a family in a city/suburb such as the Washington DC area offers all the man-made world has to offer, while being close to the agricultural roots that make up one of the pillars of our society. All those shiny modern things we have make it easy to forget that we have to maintain the basics of life—food, air, water, shelter.

The pandemic could have disrupted life at any time of year, but it came with spring, the season of renewal. Two things that kept our family going were our garden and our CSA, Community Supported Agriculture. A few local CSA or subscription food suppliers are Pleasant Hill Produce, Moon Valley Farm, The Sweet Farm. Frederick County has many more, an essential network we depend on.

For many family, friends and neighbors, the 2020 election brought anger, many are still angry, but we still have the gifts of the natural world around us. We have the ability to forgive and rebuild. A lot of people are focused on how bad it is that other people disagree with them. People yell about it in the media; public figures on TV, you and me on social media. Seeing the opinions of others can seem a threat to us personally. This view has taken us into a societal phase of threatening others—there are people in school systems around the country not only banning books, but actually talking about burning books! It takes a really high level of false security to feel that you can lash out at whole groups of people, without any consequences.

Your neighbors are still here and we are all coming out of the pandemic with our individual fears, troubles, and sometimes solutions.

My family responded to the ache of social distancing with a Saturday Salon during the first two pandemic summers. No, we didn’t trade hair care tips. We have the backyard space to accommodate 4 - 6 socially distant individuals or household groups and still hear conversation. In good weather this worked really well to stay safe and connected.

The Walkersville Branch of the Frederick County Library addressed the lack of indoor public access by creating new events. Their annual Farmers’ Market, supports the great network of farmers and craftspeople in our county. Saturdays beginning May 7, continuing through September 3, 2022, from 9:00am—1:00pm, Walkersville Library will host their Farmers’ Market on the side of the building along South Glade Road. There is plenty of room for vendors of local produce, meats, cheese, eggs, crafts to sign up for space to sell their wares. Contact Robin Bowers for more information, 301-600-8200.

One solution is always up to each of us—recognizing our own complacency and stopping ourselves from practicing it. This is a great time of year to recharge our energy. A meal with friends, a conversation with someone who disagrees with you, understanding that our right to live our ideas is the same right all of our family, friends and neighbors have—in our own home. In our society we vote on ideas that serve the common good, not just how we each think life should be lived. Individually we may have our own best interests in mind, but once our basic needs are met, working toward common best interests makes a society strong.

Johnny Appleseed is a memorable name because of folklore, stories that always come from something that people want to remember, and recreate in spirit. We can and do actually recreate the objectives of John Chapman. This example is found in the Frederick News Post online archive: an article from 2014 on John Smucker, of Frederick who founded Stream-Link Education https://www.streamlinkeducation.org/. From their website: Stream-Link Education plants RIPARIAN forests and educates the public about the connection between trees and streams.

Livable Frederick keeps the focus on our quality of life here in Frederick County—Livable. Putting community needs in the form of a "plan" gives us flexibility in reaching our objectives. To see where your dreams fit and how planning can fit you, you can read the Livable Frederick Plan at frederickcountymd.gov/7923/Livable-Frederick-Master-Plans.

Spring is renewal and energy. Renewal of faith and what matters in being a good neighbor.