2023 was my second year attending the Mother Earth News Fair in my hometown of Belton, Texas. I have a background and passion in regenerative food systems and recently got my real estate license in Austin. I attended the fair because I want to help people in the homebuying process understand how they can transform their homes into edible landscapes or microfarms. So I invited my best hometown buddy to join me and we arrived bright and early on Saturday.
We went through the schedule beforehand and circled all the talks we were interested in. We first went to Building With Natural Materials by Cat Taylor where I was inspired to learn more about beautiful and insulated living roofs and learned you can thriftily raid new-build job sites to source materials. Next, we went to Turn Your Yard into an Edible Oasis by Crystal Stevens where we learned there’s 40 million acres of lawns waiting for us to plant a diversity of plants that are healthy for you and the environment. We stopped by the Wild Bill’s Soda Co. for a root beer on our way to lunch at the food trucks onsite.
After lunch we browsed the vendors and bookstore. I got to speak with a representative from Two Hives Honey and learn about their apprenticeship and visitor days they have in Austin. I also spoke with One Rth, of which a division is Nature Towns – a development with the goal of building regenerative and self-sustaining organic communities. Once I got my “Love Your Mother” T-shirt from the bookstore, we were off to Seven Steps to Homesteading by Leah Webb. Leah took a complex topic and made it into a pragmatic and digestible process. Her mantra of finding resources that are “FREE and ABUNDANT” echoed throughout her talk.
I took a quick stop by the GORGEOUS greenhouses brought by Exaco. If you ever wanted a Victorian style structure to have dreamy, garden tea parties, they’re your vendor. Our last programming for the day was Here’s the Scoop from the Coop by Daniel Dalton where we learned about the benefits of fermenting and sprouting whole-grains for your chickens to not only provide added vitamins, minerals, and nutrients but also to save money on food because your chickens eat less. Rumor has it that healthier chickens lay consistent and delicious eggs too.
On Sunday, I was only able to attend the fair for an hour but I definitely made the most of it. In this time I was able to meet with Senior Events Producer Josh Wilder, and Janice Cox who led the hands-on workshop Garden Herbs and Flowers for Health and Beauty. She joked as a dad passed by her holding his handmade lip balm from her workshop the day before – to which he then responded, “It works great!” I instantly wished I had signed up for that workshop. I sat in briefly on Leah Webb‘s Regenerative Practices for the Home Gardener talk and really loved how she connected her messaging from the previous day’s talk into this one.
Mother Earth News Fair is a place for making connections with people who feel just as passionate about growing food and self-sufficiency as you do. To support vendors and speakers, I made social media posts from each talk and tagged them directly. This created a ton of engagement from my own social sphere. The more people who show interest in this way of living, the more we can transform or even reverse the environmental damage we do to our Mother. This fair is a nurturing environment for you to learn, connect, reimagine, and inspire. I will definitely be back next year!
Find Nevia Lopez at Your Austin Living Group, Facebook, and Instagram.
