Wecome to Dragonwood Chronicles

Tucked away deep in the woods at the southern edge of the Tug Hill region of New York. Dragonwood is our off-grid sanctuary. Six acres of pond and gardens bordered by forest on three sides.







The project began in 1995, when after a long search, Debe and I purchased the property from a local logger. To date we have built a cabin, a bridge, out house, two sheds in addition to expansive gardens and stone work. We have a generator, propane lights, refrigerator and grill, a wood stove and modest solar system. A dug well and small stream suitable for watering gardens and other needs and a nearby spring for drinking water.





The Dragonwood Chronicles will serve to document the project with photographs and notes. Future projects will include additions to the cabin, a root cellar and a studio building.















Comments and questions are always welcome.

We enjoy hearing from people who visit Dragonwood Chronicles. Please feel free to leave a comment or ask questions.







Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Food Safety Act of 2009?

Hopefully you have heard of HR 875 "The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009" and have joined the fight against this sweeping piece of legislation that will forever change farming and gardening as we know it.

Ever wonder how "Pork Barrel" spending gets approved? Most often it is tacked on to an otherwise decent bill. Buried somewhere at the end of lengthy legislation and either goes unnoticed until after it has passed or in many cases is accepted as just part of the price of doing business in Washington.

Who doesn't want a safer food supply? We have all heard about the peanut scare and other food safety concerns of late, so it stands to reason that most Americans will simply assume this is a good bill without any knowledge of what is in it. Members of Congress seldom ever read entirely through every bill they vote on. The bills are lengthy on purpose so it is too time consuming for every one to be read and dissected. Most in Congress rely on staffers to skim bills and then get briefed and weigh opinion voiced by constituents and peers to determine how they vote

HR 875 is currently in committee and is moving along "under the radar" of the media and therefore most Americans are unaware of the broad implications of this bill.

HR 875 is driven by lobbyists from "Agri Biz" giants ADM, Cargill, Monsanto and others. The bill was introduced by Rosa L. Delauro (D- CT) whose husband Stan Greenberg's firm has Monsanto as a client and who has recieved over $180,000 in campaign contributions from "Agri Biz" political action committees (PACS).

In a nut shell, this bill will change agricultural laws and regulation to the point that small farms, organic growers, farmers markets and road side stands will be all but put out of business. Open pollination seeds will no longer be legal and food grown in your own back yard for your own consumption would actually violate some provisions of this legislation.

DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! LOOK IT UP YOURSELF. GOOGLE HR875 AND READ THE BILL YOURSELF.

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