Personal Utopia
Want to farm?
Like, just a little bit, and not in a very high-stakes way?
Maybe you want to grow a bunch of a particular type of bean that you like?
Maybe you want to plant a really big bed of flowers, and put a chair in there, and steal off for a read from time to time? You know, a totally unnecessary - yet vital - adventure.
Maybe you want to grow one thousand square feet of wheat, just to make a loaf of bread.
I don’t know, you tell me what you want. This is your Personal Utopia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it cost?
Nothing. It’s absolutely free. I’ll even till up your patch, give you a few tools, a big pile of straw for mulch, and keep a water tank full nearby.
What do I have to do?
First, you tell me your hope and dream for your Personal Utopia. Apply today.
Second, you keep up on the weeds. The mulch should help, but a couple visits for weeding might be necessary. It doesn’t have to be perfect - I mean, it will be, it’s your Personal Utopia after all - but if you decide to give up part way I can just mow it all down for you. The slate can be wiped clean - how utopian.
Third, you tell me about your experience enacting your Personal Utopia at the end of the year.
How big is a Personal Utopia?
A Personal Utopia is a fortieth of an acre - roughly one thousand square feet. It’s a strip up to 10 feet wide and 100 feet long. We can negotiate specifics - larger Personal Utopias are available, and I can make the standard ones narrower or shorter if need be.
Do you have any ideas for me?
I mean, sure, but I’m not interested in my Personal Utopia - I want to know about yours. To get you started, however:
A little bit of farming: Try growing a bunch of onions, or potatoes, or some special kind of bean, or a field of wheat, or weird heirloom varieties of corn, or heck, just do some clever take on the three sisters
A beautiful flower patch: Sunflowers are easy, as are cosmos and zinnias.
A place to sit and read: Plant some flowers, stick a chair out there, and bring a book out a couple of times this summer, maybe before you harvest some blueberries, make a little unnecessary adventure out of it.
What are you getting out of this?
First, the satisfaction of community in evidence. When I walk into the Back Four Orchard, and see the Personal Utopias, silent of their people yet communicating their presence, their hope and their dream, their joke, their earnest enthusiasm, I will be glad, and I will think fondly of the people.
Second, I won’t have to mow those spots.
