Oregonian October 14, 1999: A Lot Of Possibilities

[Guest guest]

October 14, 1999

 

A LOT OF POSSIBILITIES

Summary: An Ashland family lives off the land -- in their back yard

 

 

What if some of the more dire predictions for the dawn of the new

millennium came true?

 

What if, in the face of massive power failure, we needed to rely on

stores of bulk grains and grow our own vegetables and fruits? Eat

raw foods? Line-dry clothes? Compost waste?

 

What if we couldn't watch TV?

Who but the most ardent doomsayer would predict such a pessimistic

outcome -- the end of America as we know it?

 

For Pamela and Jonathan Weber of Ashland and their 17-year-old

daughter, Crystal, life would go on.

 

The Webers have been held up as a model of Y2K preparedness simply

because of the way they live.

 

Like many other Oregon families, but perhaps more ardently than

most, they grow the vegetables and fruits they eat, store grains and

other bulk items, eat mostly raw foods, hang their laundry to dry,

keep the heat down in winter, and trade goods and services with

their friends and neighbors.

 

Earlier this year, they opened their home for a tour that was part

of a university conference on the related topics of Y2K preparedness

and sustainability.

 

As they told participants, the way they live has little to do with

potential computer failures and much to do with a spiritual

connection to the Earth and community.

 

It's the way lots of folks have lived, to a lesser or greater

extent, since the environmental movement began in the 1960s. Only,

these days, in the face of the year 2000's unpredictability, more

people are paying attention.

 

" For us, the lifestyle has to do with living in balance with the

planet so that there is a sustainable human culture, " Pamela Weber

says. " And doing our best to both live as an example and spread some

awareness to other people so they can make choices.

 

" Things like: The sun is out -- put some clothes on a line instead

of using a dryer. Give something back to the Earth by having a

compost pile. "

 

Ashland itself has attracted national attention because of its

response to the possible Y2K computer problem and disaster

preparedness in general.

 

Though Jonathan Weber suspects that " we're at the far end of the

spectrum " in terms of a lifestyle that supports

sustainability, " it's all about making choices. "

 

" These are choices we've made that other people can make that, in my

opinion, are more in harmony and create a more harmonious life, " he

says.

 

In simple terms, " sustainable " means something that can continue

through time. Much of American society, from the way we construct

buildings to the way we eat, move around and dispose of waste, does

not promote sustainability.

 

For the Webers, the choices they've made -- from the foods they grow

and eat to their emphasis on reuse rather than consumerism --

support a lasting planet by creating less physical waste and

pollution. They say they benefit by physical and emotional health as

well as monetary savings.

 

Though they each work different jobs, they share a common role as

teacher, putting effort into the way they live in hopes that they

can teach as many people as possible to live in a similar way.

 

" We are in town in a small house on a small piece of property " and

demonstrate what people can do in town, Jonathan says. " People like

to do this lifestyle and live out on several acres. But not

everybody can do that. "

 

He is surveying the garden behind the family's two-story ranch house

a block off the town's main drag.

 

Aside from the home, the one-fifth-acre lot contains 10 large beds

of vegetables and flowers, several fruit trees, a compost bin, a

rabbit hutch, a detached garage, a greenhouse and sheds for food and

wood storage.

 

Fresh vegetables and fruits are key to their nearly-all-raw-foods

diet. Year-round, much of what they eat comes from their garden.

 

" We get a lot of food out of it, " says Jonathan, a building

contractor who takes several weeks off each year to complete

projects at home.

 

A low-flow water system provides irrigation to the beds and lawn.

Flowers and vegetables are planted side by side for aesthetic and

practical reasons. Marigolds, for instance, help keep pests away

from vegetables. The family eats the nasturtium's trumpet-shaped

flowers, which bloom beside parsley and basil.

 

Some of the leafy vegetables, such as kale and Swiss chard, grow far

into the colder months. One particularly sunny bed is home to two

generations of vegetables in the same season.

 

" In the spring, I put in lettuce and spinach, which grow quickly, "

Jonathan says. " And when they are gone, we can put the squashes in. "

 

Fruit comes from three apple trees, a cherry tree, a grape arbor and

a vast blackberry clump in a portion of the garden that the family

has let grow wild.

 

Other important food sources are wheatgrass and a variety of home-

grown sprouts, which are rich in vitamins, proteins and enzymes.

 

Wheatgrass and sprouts are part of a raw-foods diet that the Webers

say has made them more energetic and alert -- and less hungry.

Longtime vegetarians, they made the switch to raw foods about five

months ago.

 

Though they use blenders, juicers and dehydrators, raw foods, on the

whole, require far less energy to prepare and store than the average

American diet.

 

They've never felt better and have " lots more energy, and feel more

in harmony and healthy, " Jonathan says. " You don't need to sleep as

much. You don't need doctors as much -- or at all. And after a

while , you want less food because you are getting more nutrition. "

 

Crystal says she has benefited by her family's habits in countless

ways. Good nutrition, for one, has helped her do well in school, she

says.

 

" I've learned a lot about the ways you can help the environment, the

different options and basic things like turning off lights and

saving water, " she says. " And I have more gardening skills than most

people my own age. "

 

The roots of the family's beliefs, including gardening and eating

habits, can be traced to the Findhorn Foundation community in

Scotland, where Pamela and Jonathan met and lived for six years in

the 1980s. Pamela had previously lived in London, where she was

trained in mime, street theater and clowning.

 

After two years in Hawaii, they moved to Ashland, attracted to the

college (now Southern Oregon University) and the community's

connection to theater and environmental awareness.

 

Through the years, all three have worked as professional clowns, in

schools, at birthday parties and fairs, using those skills to

promote respect for the planet, self-esteem and peace.

 

They see Y2K in positive terms, as a way to convey some of those

messages to a population that is perhaps more willing to listen.

 

" In terms of our lifestyle, I don't think it's affected it very

much, " Pamela says. " We always bought bulk. We used wood heat. We

have food storage. "

 

If anything, the Y2K issue has caused them to think more about their

neighbors and what they might need in the event of shortages. To

that end, they have stored cooked and canned foods that they no

longer eat (peanut butter, juices, tofu patties, some beans) along

with the ones they do.

 

A small storage room adjacent to the garage holds bins of grains,

everything from raw buckwheat, soybeans, lentils and kamut to 25-

pound bags of wheat for sprouting. Jar after jar of dehydrated

fruits and vegetables -- tomatoes, mushrooms, peaches, nectarines

and bananas -- line the shelves as do foods they have canned:

sauerkraut, salsa, pickles and jams.

 

Not only are they nutritious, bulk foods are " definitely a lot

cheaper, (and) you don't have to make so many trips to the market, "

Jonathan says.

 

Buying bulk and storing foods are two habits that have moved them

further away from a convenience culture.

 

" Hopefully, Y2K will encourage people to make neighborhood

connections and (say), 'Who lives around me, and what help could

they use?' " Pamela says.

 

" I think all three of us have a mental attitude that we live with

such abundance. And it's not so much an abundance of having to have

a lot of things; it's the fact that the world, the planet, is such a

rich place. "

 

Elisabeth Dunham can be reached at 503-294-4059 or by e-mail at

elisabethdunham