The home economy

Ta da! Kamut bread fresh out of the wood oven ready for lunch. We’re all starving today, having built up quite an appetite.

We’ve been harvesting pears, nashis and apples and are now removing the nets from all the trees.

Above left is Taron. Taron’s been spending every Tuesday here at Melliodora since he was 4 years old. Don’t you wish that your parents had arranged such schooling for you when you were growing up? We look forward to watching him continue to mature into a wise, thoughtful, creative and healthful young man.

We’ve been marvelling at the colours of the quinoa plants, waiting for their leaves to drop so we can harvest the seeds. Did you know that you can eat the young leaves of the quinoa plant, too?

We’ve been tending to the seeds we planted a week ago, as they slowly and miraculously grow into our winter veggies. On this tray Mitch holds leek, cabbage, beetroot, cauliflower and broccoli.

We’ve been harvesting corn, which we are now drying to cook and make into tortillas, and to save as seed for next year.

And we’ve been having meetings with our accountant who assures us that our home economy is in great shape. David adds, “This home-based and community way of life with more exchange and less money is healthier and more fun at the same time in that it builds household resilience and community connection. The big surprise for some is that it might be the most effective political action we can take to create the world we want and stop supporting the world we don’t.” If you’re interested in reading more of David’s writings on the issue of the household economy you might be interested in his essay, Household economy counts, originally published in#123 of Arena magazine.

OK, let’s eat. Please, come and sit with us a while as we talk and gobble and share stories. There’s a spare plate next to me. Itadakimasu!