Trees of trash for dignity.
When we first started building the farm, which is in a series of repurposed shipping containers, our day-to-day issues went beyond calculating costs, getting the right permitting, supplies and tools.
We had frequent unwanted visitors and the entrance was a local trash dump. So everyday, before I’d get to the gate, we’d drive by trash; and everyday we’d pick it up. Under the Mushroom Good Agricultural Practices trash and mushrooming are not allowed to mix.
But it still hasn’t really stopped, even though we’ve planted trees in the old tires left behind, put up signs and cameras, the trash still happens. It’s decreased. But it still hasn’t stopped. We first thought it was kids. And maybe it was. The afternoon we spent a few hours picking up the coke bottles, beer bottles, fast food wrappers, and old tires, we decided to put up a no littering sign and plant the trees in the tires.
We thought our vision was redneck fancy. I never really minded the entrance being a hangout spot for kids. I am only 23, I understand having a good time by a fire. But I do however mind the trash.
The day after we planted the tree and put up the no littering sign, I arrived to the tree we planted in the tire decorated with monster energy drink cans and limited edition budweiser beer bottles. And a note inside a pill bottle. I laughed it off and then went and bought security cameras. I didn’t want to. That was money I didn’t really have to spend and normally wouldn’t have to spend. But after that we started working nights.