A visit to Spring City’s Broadened Horizons Organic Farm

I think it’s probably already clear that doing it yourself, making it from scratch, getting it for free, and giving something back are all important ways in which we work to preserve the resources at our disposal. It’s very seldom that I see anyone who’s really put this aesthetic, these ideals, into practice.

Last weekend I visited with Leaf Myczack and his wife, Cielo Hodson, at their farm and homestead, Broadened Horizons Organic Farm, just north of Spring City. I carpooled with a friend who was interested to see the place, and I figured it would be well worth the fossil fuel expenditure to check it out. Leaf was gracious enough to give me a tour of the farm, tell me some of his plans for future projects, and talk about how they live off the land. He has a relentless energy and excitement about the farm.

I’d heard about Leaf and Cielo before. They were the RiverKeepers of the Tennessee River. Patrolling on a sailboat with 84 square feet of living space, they were investigating the health of the water of the Tennessee for 15 years before returning to the land. Now they have 11 acres of farmland which provides almost all the food and a good bit of the energy they need to keep themselves going.

Put a pack on your back to appreciate the big world

New to this column, as you may have noticed, is a picture of me, your humble narrator. In selecting this photo for my headshot, my thinking was to put myself in the greenest light possible: Your columnist as a Woman of the Woods. I am a backpacker. Backpacking is when you take food, shelter, and clothing and put it in a backpack, don hiking boots, and carry your supplies several miles into the wilderness. It’s more fun than it sounds, though I’m sure there are many who would not enjoy it, or think they would not.

I used to loathe the idea of backpacking. Not only does it require technical knowledge and a special skill set (how to read a map, make a fire, not get pissed off if it rains) but also equipment, clothing, and, apparently, those extremely annoying bumper stickers declaring your allegiance to sporting goods companies. Whenever I’d see photos of young people, ruddy-cheeked and hale, wearing fancy lightweight windbreakers and dirty bandannas, looking triumphant at the top of some vista, my first thought was usually, “What a bunch of show-offs.” Until I learned two things: One, most do not backpack in order to appear cool to other people, and two, backpacking is more about nature than Nalgene.

Making ice cream for fun and—well—fun

Now that summer is over and we’re into fall (meaning temperatures have dropped to the 80s and there’s not a red maple leaf in sight) I have received an eagerly awaited wedding gift: an ice cream maker.  I’ve never been much for ice cream, or dessert in general, but since moving to Chattanooga I’ve fallen for the frozen stuff, hard. I don’t know if it’s the heat, Clumpies, or just the fact that I went years without eating ice cream, but I can’t go more than a week without getting a sugar-cone fix.

And me being me, I really wanted to make my own. Not only can I rest assured that my homemade ice cream is organic, not only can I make up my own flavors, but in my research, I discovered that it’s just really easy to make a good batch of ice cream at home. Granted, the pros know what they’re doing, but as with anything, it feels great to make something yourself. If you aren’t up for investing in a machine (an inexpensive one runs around $50), you can still make your own, although it won’t come out quite as smooth.

Five ways to help the planet (and save money)

Pretty much every week I get a suggestion for future columns from a colleague, friend, family member, and even from my editors here at The Pulse. So far, I’ve intended to write about one or another of these suggestions, if only to make sure no one feels insulted. I like suggestions; good people generally have good ideas. One friend has been saying I should do a “five simple things you can do to save the planet” column. I feel that column has been written elsewhere and possibly much better than I could write it. What on Earth can I say that hasn’t been said?
This friend went so far as to mention some specific examples of environmentally sound habits, but these things don’t really apply to the way I live, or I’ve already done them to the furthest extent possible. We joked that these were green tips for suburbanites. Perhaps the “things [I do] to save the planet” would be markedly different if I did not rent an apartment, but owned a house; if I did not commute by bike, but drove an SUV, etc. Things I wouldn’t think of. The suburban lifestyle dictates different measures. So here goes: