Kitchen Garden Guides

Friday, September 23, 2011

Evolution...

September 19th: So (as Pattie would start) I am sitting at my laptop with my coffee at 6am, like I often am, when in pops an email from Pattie.... "read my blog" was the gist of the message. So, being a good, obedient girl I went straight to her post that day on Foodshed Planet in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. What this usually means is that some amazing, deep and meaningful thing has happened which changes Pattie's direction and I sit and read it with tears in my eyes because she writes sooooo well. This time I also had tears in my eyes but for a different reason; it was hilarious.

 Background...You see, Pattie has written a book that everyone in the world needs to read: "Food for my Daughters.... what one mom decided to do when the towers fell". Here, Pattie shares the evolution of her outlook on life from being a good, American citizen to being a citizen for the good of Americans.... I don't remember how I found Pattie's blog in the beginning but I started reading her journey right at the start, when her blog did not include the word planet, even.

Pattie had never grown food, or collected water from her roof or even mowed her own lawn. Since the towers fell, Pattie has helped start the first community garden in her area, fought hard for bike tracks, turned her back yard into an edible garden and even planted vegetables around her letterbox, become a voice for feeding the poor home grown food, started foraging from public fruit trees and started the Sustainability Commission at her local council, just to mention a few things.

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But the book is not about that! It is about making connections, finding hidden treasure in people's souls, it is about passion, kindness, laughter and fulfilment. It is about children and childhood and growing food for, and now with, her daughters. It is about what happened on the inside as much as what Pattie did on the outside. It takes you to a space that removes the fear and stress of wanting to do something, and replaces it with a spirit which whispers to you "This I can do".

September 23rd Another early morning message from Pattie to read this piece and I laughed again, even more than before. So now I have 8 years to get ready for the arrival of Pattie and Julie, by kayak. If they time it right, they can paddle nearly right up to my front door. They'll need to duck under the bridge though, if the tide is high! Hmmmm, I'd better gets some ropes ready and maybe put in a post to tie the kayaks up to in my creek! Dreams and plans give life to us all, and having a friend like Pattie, who I have never met or spoken to, makes me very, very happy.

Life is good; get there fast and take it slow. (Do I need to explain this?)

1 comment:

Pattie Baker said...

Hi, Kate! It's me, again! Thank you so much for these generous words on your blog, for selling my book in your market stall, and mostly, of course, for your friendship and inspiration. Such a small world it is, isn't it? I like to think about how we're all working on it (and on ourselves) together.