Writings

What Path to Freedom represents is a lifestyle change, a way to transition from this system to a better one. This difference sets us apart from other projects because we have created a real model where the tangible results of our changes simply speak for themselves. We are living it.

We are in pursuit, most often, of what is faster, bigger, and easier. Nature, by contrast, takes 500 years to form one inch of topsoil. America was a “blessed” land, and we took it for granted that the original fertility would always remain the same without our having to be good stewards. Belatedly, we are now finding out that there are consequences to neglect that need to be dealt with. Still, it is difficult for people to pay attention to something so low. Soil does not get much respect; we treat it like dirt! We have other, more important things to do, but, ironically, there is no more important matter than where our food comes from.

While these 10 factors make up the “ideal” urban homestead, it should be understood that individual circumstances vary greatly and that many of these factors take years to implement fully. Therefore, any urban homestead SHOULD be a work in progress.

Although green is popular today, it is easy, in our euphoria, to believe that things are getting better. But, with popularity comes superficiality. Therefore, it is necessary to get past the first flush of trendiness and search out deeper green steps. This will require the discernment of seeing beyond easy, quick, hip actions and the courage to work toward serious, long-term solutions. The real change the world needs can only come about through personal sacrifice.

Today, at 61, I am a diehard homesteader turned urban revolutionary. The world today — and, tragically, my children’s inheritance — offers more violence while bearing graver threats. Each day, living selfishly beyond our means, we walk dangerously along the precipice of cataclysmic global warming. Why not take a different path? The way to survival is through working in our earth, and the tool of salvation is a trowel. I brandish it now in the cause of a one-trowel revolution.

What we have accomplished and the freedom we have gained was by way of manageable stages, along with incremental steps, because there is no quick fix. Path to Freedom has taken the vanguard position in order to incite change and to be an example of the possibilities. Today, more and more green options are widely available for the average person. Because not everyone can employ all these extreme measures at once, the question narrows down to: What can you do, where you are, with what you have, right now?

I call it Path to Freedom because I know growing my own food and becoming self-sufficient is not a one-time action. Nor is it a broad, easy, paved way. It is narrow, rocky, sometimes hard to find, and I must navigate around obstacles. It is a winding path, and I cannot always see the way ahead. [...] It is also freedom from prejudice, preconceptions, and the status quo. It is freedom to break out, to grow, to improve. It is the freedom to get daily bread from, to admit dependency on, and to become a student of nature.

Paraphrasing Theodore Roosevelt, I encourage people to do what they can, where they are, with what they have—right now. Begin with small steps. The most important step we have taken has been to grow some of our own food.

As the world situation worsens, people will need to commit fully to a different, non-mainstream way of life. One can start a project of change whatever the circumstances, but one cannot keep straddling two positions, occupying the middle ground.

You must be prepared to sacrifice to achieve results and, also, to stay the course over the long haul. No dream of any worth can be realized cheaply. The fulfillment of a dream comes only at a cost; so, at every stage of its development, you must be willing to step up and pay the price—whatever it is.