Breaking Ground Breaking Laws...The Farmer As Rebel
I cannot say for sure, but I am guessing that the moment the hoe went into the ground at Nathan Athans' home, there were alarms that went off. If nothing else, someone somewhere peeked out of their window when they saw the front lawn go away and when they saw digging. I cannot say for sure but we know something like that happened and set in motion a series of events that put him on the front page of the local paper and made him the subject of blogs like this one and articles all over the country and beyond.
I cannot say for sure, but I can rightly guess that someone who was peeking out of their window called someone who called someone else. Given that he was presented some time later with a citation and told to remove his plants , I am guessing someone somewhere held a meeting and got a friend or some acquaintance to tell some city councilman and get engaged in some conversation about property values and community that led to the decision being made to make it essentially illegal to do such things as grow food on the front lawn. Yes, he could have put it in the back (not enough sunlight) or he could have gone down the road to pay for a plot in the community garden (why pay for something one should be able to do?)
Hearings were scheduled, while he was at work. Decisions were made. He was not consulted.
I am writing this because it is a common story. It happens all the time and there are many aspects to the discussion on both sides. On the one hand, many believe that if you buy or rent (with the permission of the landlord) you should essentially be able to do whatever you want. So it becomes about freedom and above all, the freedom to feed your family. The flip side says that every land owner in a community has a responsibility to the community to keep their home neat and clean.
What kind of animals can you have? How many? Where? Noises. Smells, Visitors. What do you do if your pig gets out? Or what if your neighbors dog attacks your chickens?
For many people, the solution is to move out of the city or town and out into the country. Some people are not so well set to do that. So, in our quest for independence from (a lot) of government, from battles with neighbors, from pretty much any law aside from gravity and physics. we are taking to the water.
We hope that you will follow this blog. It is the result of frustration. Lots and lots of frustration. We are going to talk about battles with the city. We are going to talk about battles with neighbors. We are going to talk about battles with corporations. They are all there.
We are doing something a bit different. We are not heading out into the middle of the country. We are heading out into the middle of the water. The Savannah River, to be precise. The Floating farm is under construction. It is the first of several platforms where we are going to build and grow. That is it. We are going to grow as much as we can possibly grow while floating down the river, and do some good along the way. Completely mobile, and it does not get more off-grid than that.
We are not farmers. We are makers. We are creators. We are artists. We are scientists.
We take off from Lake Hartwell, in South Carolina, on July 30 and begin a journey down the Savannah River to where it meets the Atlantic.
Like our facebook page HERE.
If you want to get some cool stuff or support the cause, make a donation!
I cannot say for sure, but I can rightly guess that someone who was peeking out of their window called someone who called someone else. Given that he was presented some time later with a citation and told to remove his plants , I am guessing someone somewhere held a meeting and got a friend or some acquaintance to tell some city councilman and get engaged in some conversation about property values and community that led to the decision being made to make it essentially illegal to do such things as grow food on the front lawn. Yes, he could have put it in the back (not enough sunlight) or he could have gone down the road to pay for a plot in the community garden (why pay for something one should be able to do?)
Hearings were scheduled, while he was at work. Decisions were made. He was not consulted.
I am writing this because it is a common story. It happens all the time and there are many aspects to the discussion on both sides. On the one hand, many believe that if you buy or rent (with the permission of the landlord) you should essentially be able to do whatever you want. So it becomes about freedom and above all, the freedom to feed your family. The flip side says that every land owner in a community has a responsibility to the community to keep their home neat and clean.
What kind of animals can you have? How many? Where? Noises. Smells, Visitors. What do you do if your pig gets out? Or what if your neighbors dog attacks your chickens?
For many people, the solution is to move out of the city or town and out into the country. Some people are not so well set to do that. So, in our quest for independence from (a lot) of government, from battles with neighbors, from pretty much any law aside from gravity and physics. we are taking to the water.We hope that you will follow this blog. It is the result of frustration. Lots and lots of frustration. We are going to talk about battles with the city. We are going to talk about battles with neighbors. We are going to talk about battles with corporations. They are all there.
We are doing something a bit different. We are not heading out into the middle of the country. We are heading out into the middle of the water. The Savannah River, to be precise. The Floating farm is under construction. It is the first of several platforms where we are going to build and grow. That is it. We are going to grow as much as we can possibly grow while floating down the river, and do some good along the way. Completely mobile, and it does not get more off-grid than that.
We are not farmers. We are makers. We are creators. We are artists. We are scientists.
We take off from Lake Hartwell, in South Carolina, on July 30 and begin a journey down the Savannah River to where it meets the Atlantic.
Like our facebook page HERE.
If you want to get some cool stuff or support the cause, make a donation!
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