Confused Flora

I believe in climate change. I have for a long time. Although I don't have deep technical, scientific knowledge of the issue, I don't know that I need it to see an impact close to home. The potential for radically changing the growing season. In my lifetime.

For several seasons an arrow-head type plant in my front garden has grown far too late into the season after having died out and assumed that the brief cold snap was winter and the sure-to-be brief warm snap justified popping up out of the earth again.

But today, while walking, I saw what is in the picture above. Buds on a nearly dead rose bush, on November 10th. Buds sitting side by side with massive rose hips from dead roses and spotty leaves that appear just about to give up the ghost. Clearly the plant seems pretty confused. If roses are confused it's sad. If food crops are confused, and don't fully complete their growth cycles, then what?

Pop up poster show - Day 2

The first seasonal (Fall) show of Lexicon of Sustainability posters ended and quietly disappeared, leaving no physical trace of its presence. No trash. No damage. A simple end.

However it did leave some things behind. It left an energy behind to continue lots of conversations with new connections. And it left other people with next steps for projects in their backyards that promote local, sustainable food. And too, it sparked ideas for how people could work together to get more done collaboratively than they could alone, all without reinventing wheels. The two-day show was a start. It's up to everyone to keep the momentum going.

Watch the Art of Sustainability Facebook page for information on where you can see more posters at the Winter Pop Up Show.

Pop up poster show - Day 1

One of the posters from the show November 2 -3, 2013 in Three Oaks. More information here.

Yesterday was the first day of the Lexicon of Sustainability pop up poster show in Three Oaks. The weather - sadly - didn't cooperate. It was mostly drizzly and got colder over the day. Overcast, dull and gray. Yet there were some hardy folks who came out to see the show and talk to those of us who were there. And in the venues, Edington Gallery and Pleasant House, chance patrons who knew nothing about the show saw it, engaged with it and perhaps one of the hosts. And so it starts.

Then a few of us stayed to continue the conversation around the Viking Table at Journeyman. 

Today, we start again. It's sunny and promises to be warmer for the show's second day. Fingers crossed for a bigger crowd and more conversations. The topic is important. Although the show had no specific outcome in mind other than focusing attention on the importance of our local food system and the meaning of sustainability, that itself is a big goal.

Today at 6pm the show disappears (although the issues it raises don't.) But mark your calendar for the next pop up show - January 18 and 19 at Journeyman - and more terms from the Lexicon of Sustainability. In the meantime, you can contribute to the conversation at the Art of Sustainability Facebook page (link is above under the image...)