When we are young, we are taught to believe in everything from magic to trust. As we grow older these concepts are tested and our faith whittles down to what we will accept as reality. Then comes reality.

At some point I decided that there was a human condition that deserved a little tweaking. Unfortunately, it appears this condition is so deeply woven into culture and tradition that this tweak requires defying generations of conditioning. I have come to believe this is by design.

For decades I searched and engaged the volumes of information tied to every corner of society, looking for the thing that must be dismantled and rebuilt. Then, as I watched some documentary about Mexico City being built over and around a pyramid left by a long-forgotten society, it hit me. We can build from where we are.

The last clutch of years I searched for ways to build forward in ways that would inspire the adoption of new cultural and traditional norms that represent the tweaking I feel we need. Coincidentally the increasing climate crisis calls for many of the changes I hoped to implement. From agricultural methods and resource handling to political philosophies and economic structures, if we do not change course things will not improve but degrade further.

But it’s not all doom and gloom when you have a solution to focus on as you invite each coming step. My first step, and I hope ours, is to localize food production and adopt more sustainable and regenerative methods. Once we reorient towards a local community structure of reliance and engagement, we build on that momentum and localize other industries from electricity production, utility management, and other consumable products. This is not to say there will be no imports or exports, but it will be limited when possible. It is also not to say communities will be isolated from each other, but instead a free exchange of information as we teach and learn from each other. By diversifying innovation into many control groups that are connected enough to coordinate efforts as decided independently by each locality, progress will move more rapidly, while maintaining an equilibrium across a broad range.

The most common argument I am met with when pitching this idea is conflicts over resources. Trade will be possible and encouraged, but the development of alternative sustainable resources will likely globalize access. Also, some communities will fall to greed and imperialistic tendency. In this case there would be a broad enough opposition to isolate those threats until they are willing to play nice. War will not be eliminated completely from our specie unfortunately, but I hope it can be limited greatly simply by putting control of society directly into the hands of the people. One person’s desires leads to war, but generally the people will oppose it.

As I am a man of modest means, and only have a shouting voice to reach hundreds when thousands are needed, I have decided to localize at the most local level and am going to starts addressing the needs of my family. Step 1 I am going to address our food production and processing. I am fortunate in having available a 1/3-acre plot in a suburban neighborhood, but this limits what I can produce. At best I am thinking I can provide 1/3-1/2 of what my family consumes, from strawberries and lettuce to ketchup and pickles.

Homesteading is a heavy lift. This is my first year and there were more lessons and failures then harvestable food. I did however harvest a ton of biomass for composting, and I am hopeful this will lead to a more productive future. Right now I am composting three ways. I have a basic compost bin I built out of pallets and repurposed wood for food scraps. I also have two heaps for brush, one for leaves and trimmings and one for larger brush and twigs. There are also two medium sized flower beds, and I will be building a small hoop house for more production space and to extend our harvest season. My hope is to build out to triple my capacity next summer but I’m trying to keep it small at this point as I get the feeling I have more to learn before this becomes reliably productive. Around the same time I will be converting a shed to house canning, drying and storage, which really is the step needed to make preservation and creating secondary products like pickles and ketchup. I would love to make my own vinegar but as of yet I’m not really sure how that happens.

So here I am, at square one, with a lot to learn, and super excited about it.