Subsistence Farming - Hawaii

sustainable living. what topics are important to address? water systems, power systems, local food sources, , local material structures, waste management, transportation. these seem to be the main ones i addressed.

my recent experience homeschooling Lauren (9th grade) has given me a new perspective. why isn’t education in the top ten list for sustainability? how can we expect there to ever be second generation of sustainable homesteads if we are allowing the “system” to fill our children with their ideas of history, their values, their definition of successful, their priorities?

one of the reasons i chose to home school is because i wanted to include all the stuff i considered essential for my education that i didn’t get in school. why didn’t we read Ishmael, Your Money or Your Life, A People’s History….? how come i got support for insisting on gender equality? why was the only choice about what to do after high school either going to college to pursue the career that made the most money or get an entry level job? when i graduated from college i wondered how i could be ready to enter the world yet still not know how to build a simple shelter, take responsibility for my health, know where my electricity came from or what a phantom load was?

here is my chance to give my daughter the experiences, the information and alternatives i wish i had received.  maybe she will choose to carry on with the work we are doing here. how lovely that would be for her to have the basics in place and then add her input. and how lovely it would be for us to know this property won’t be dozed one day to put up a cul de sac of 3,000 square foot plywood and sheetrock homes with air conditioning.