Beginnings

Recently, some friends of mine and I were chatting on Facebook about forming an old-fashioned gardening group. You might remember your grandmother or mother belonging to "Garden Club". Generally these types of groups were social clubs. While each member would contribute their knowledge on a certain subject to the group, the allure of the group was getting out of the house to talk to people about something you enjoyed. Participants would swap plants, get together for potlucks, and admire the fruits of their neighbors' labor. Belonging to these groups provided members with connection, knowledge and the opportunity to to make friends. Unfortunately interest in such groups waned as television and subsequently the Internet replaced "community" in modern society.

The issue is that while not all of my friends are gardeners, they are devoted to "living lightly" on this planet and many were "green" before it was trendy. Many are striving to learn traditional skills which allow one to turn away from the culture of rampant consumerism that has devastated our planet's resources and the health of a nation.
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I put the idea out there to more friends and I received enough favorable responses to make the endeavor seem worthwhile. I think many people are longing for that sense of belonging to a community that so many of us lack in today's society.

So that is basically the story behind our conception. A few of us decided that getting together to discuss all aspects of "urban homesteading" and "sustainable living" sounded like something we would enjoy. Sarah stepped up and offered to be a co-organizer of the group, so we are off and running.

Iowa City Homesteaders is not another group formed strictly for disseminating information about how to garden or how to conserve energy. Iowa City is well-served in this area by wonderful groups such as Backyard Abundance, ECO Iowa City, I-RENEW and many other worthwhile organizations.

Iowa City Homesteaders was created to fill the niche in this community for a family-friendly support network for individuals, or families, committed to living a sustainable lifestyle. While we certainly intend on learning and growing together, the primary focus of this group will be to band together to share resources, to build friendships and to create community.

If you are ready to take (or have taken) your interest in living a sustainable lifestyle to the next level, please consider attending one of our gatherings. If you are just beginning your journey, feel free to join us as well. There is a wealth of wisdom to be shared by many of my friends.

Our first newsletter will be published in July. If you are interested , join our google group to keep updated and to help us plan our kick-off get together.