Dispatches From The Field: "Farmer Joe" Weighs in on The Householder's Guide to the Universe

Nowadays, “go local,” “organic food,” and “sustainability” are on the tip of everyone's tongue. Harriet Fasenfest's A Householder's Guide to the Universe takes up the banner of progressive homemaking and urban farming as a way to confront the political, social, and environmental issues facing the world. While offering plenty of useful advice on how to do common household chores sustainably, Fasenfest goes deeper to discuss the philosophy of "householding." The book is organized in monthly installments according to season, and the author invites readers into her own home, garden, and kitchen to consider concrete tools for change. Streetwise and poetic, fierce and romantic, the book is more than just a blueprint for escaping the current economic and environmental logjam — it’s also a readable and pithy analysis of how we got there.



Joe says:
The subtitle for this surprisingly handy book that could be called "A Monthly Guide On How To Get Back To Basics and Change The World:. Fasenfest is serious. She says that her approach is radical, even subversive: that growing and putting away your own food is a political act, and after finishing this book, I agree with her. It might seem the simplest thing in the world: growing some food in your backyard, but steeped in the words of Wendell Berry, growing your own food can become a radical, political, even a spiritual act. One of the unique things about this book is that Harriet Fasenfest is not one of those folks who have returned to their rural roots by leaving the city and moving to the country. She lives in suburban Portland, and has turned her urban plot of land into a garden that goes a long way in sustaining her family year-round. This book is full of handy charts, some of which I have never seen the likes of, such as a chart of how many plants to grow based on what you want to do with their produce. Very handy indeed! She talks about soil composition, composting, harvest, mulching, canning, drying and even fruit cake. At $16.95, even the price stays true to one of her values: thrift. This book is ideal for anyone thinking of trying to step away from store-bought food, in whole or in part. And although she is writing specifically of her experiences in the Pacific Northwest, her gardening and preserving tips translate to any climate.