Craig Goodwin's year off

Where I live at 10,200 feet, the
trees have not yet budded. May is still early, early spring in Leadville,
Colorado, but all around me is a sudden burst of gardening. For months, people
have been filling their homes with starter plants; now they're calling around
to see who has space for more in the few small greenhouses. There have been
several meetings discussing large-scale community gardens, and now there is
more than one plan in place.

All this is truly a renaissance
for a town where piles of mining slag are referred to as "heritage"--and where
gardening is truly hard work, with only about 30 frost-free days per year.

Leadville is riding a cultural
wave of local food production and just beginning to model efforts like those of
the "Garden City" of Missoula, Montana. We're a decade behind the curve--but
being ahead or behind may not be the most significant matter. I recently read A Year of Plenty, by Presbyterian
minister Craig Goodwin, who details his family's attempt to take a year off
from a consumer-driven life.