As one of the talks in the Decatur Metro-sponsored “Homegrown Goodness” track at the Decatur Book Festival, I was interested in seeing how Caleen Madigan’s talk on a hands-on pursuit like “The Backyard Homestead” would take shape inside a church.  Surely they hadn’t built a couple raised beds between the aisles of Decatur First Presbyterian, had they?

Thankfully not.

Madigan actually spent very little time talking about the physical labor and intricacies of keeping bees or chickens, planting asparagus or harvesting wheat.  Instead she spent a good deal of time reflecting on “Who are these new homesteaders?”.  (BTW, The “old homesteaders” are the 1970s back-to-the-landers.)

According to Madigan, the new homesteader is different in three ways.  They want to live in the city, not the country.  They want to use farming as an opportunity to create a community working towards the same goal.  And they want the literal fruits of their labor to be a “gourmet event”.

She also promoted foraging in the city and referenced nearby ginkgo trees and their putrid fruit; a list by Slow Food International called “The Arc of Taste”, which includes endangered Southern delicacies like the Ossabaw Island hog, Tupelo honey, Carolina Gold Rice and Sea Island Chickpeas; and that perhaps hunting invasive species was the next wave of the locavore movement.

Plant a tomato, save the world.  Kill a squirrel and eat it…save both the world and the tomato!

Clairemont Avenue Decatur, GA (photo submitted by Alison)

There’s been a ton of Decatur news in the past week, so I haven’t really had a chance to mention this, but if you’re spending the day at the Decatur Book Festival today or tomorrow and you’re inspired to write a report about a specific author event or the even just an overview of the festival, type ‘er up and send ‘er in to nick@www.decaturmetro.com!   I’m happy to post them.

We did this last year and had some very interesting and thought-provoking discussions on both the festival and author topics.  I know it’s sort of last minute this time, but I just wanted to let you know that the option is still available to everyone.

Happy book-festing!