Ryan1983

Hello,

I have been browsing these forums for years, but have never felt the need to post anything. Most of the bicycle-related things I am interested in discussing have already been discussed, and most of the comments I have felt like making have already been made. It is a fantastic community, filled with interesting people.

This evening, I finally registered, in order to share my carfree story, in the hopes that it may amuse or inspire other car-free or potentially-car-free folks.

I live in western Canada (North Vancouver) and, as with most places in North America, mine is a very car-centric community. Some years ago, I embarked on a career that almost always requires the use of a truck. I am a self-employed horticulturist, specializing in soil fertility and food gardens.

I have never held a drivers license. In my early twenties, I figured that once my horticultural schooling was finished, I'd finally enroll in driving school, in order to be able to buy a truck and whizz around the city like everyone else. Fortunately, a friend of mine presented me with the idea of using a bicycle to move myself and my tools around. While at first this seemed impossible, I eventually agreed to give it a try. That was in 2006. Now, in 2009, I can honestly say that the decision to forgo automobile ownership and run a bicycle-powered business has enriched my life in ways I'd never thought possible.

It really helped that, shortly after going into business for myself, I met my community's other bicycling horticulturist. To know that another person had made such a venture work went a long way in reassuring me that I wasn't wasting my time. I suppose this is the main reason I am posting this: I feel that, in our lives, there are many hidden opportunities, the sorts of opportunities that, if we knew they were there, we'd explore. For me, one such opportunity was the possibility of operating a bicycle-powered business.

My intention in writing this is certainly not to suggest that people working in my field forgo trucks. Many types of work require the use of trucks, cars, and other heavy machinery. I do feel, however, that a great amount of work can be done without them, and that many tradespeople can accomplish most, of not all, of their work without motorized transport. I believe that part of the solution to our dependence on the internal combustion engine lies in demonstrating hidden possibilities.

I use an Xtracycle to haul myself and most of my tools to the yards I work at. I also use a customized, two-wheel flat-bed trailer from time to time to haul small amounts of lumber and/or my wheelbarrow. In many instances, I borrow the tools of my clients, none of whom mind at all. From time to time I hire trucking companies to drop off mulch/manure/etc. for me, and from time to time I hire people with pickup trucks to do my heavy bidding. Clients always pay such bills.

I hope some people find this interesting.

Peace and love,

-Ryan.

Roody

Not only interesting, but inspirational. And a great rebuttal to the people who post that it's "impossible" to live normally in our society without a car. If ever there was a line of work that I thought "requires" a car or truck, it would be horticulture.

On a much smaller scale, my stepson just started a job that traditionally required a truck, He is selling ice cream on a bicycle.

Thanks for posting this, Ryan, and I wish you continued success and prosperity in your carfree business.

P.S. Any chance of getting some pics of your bike and a typical cargo?

uke

Hey, that's awesome, Ryan. Welcome to the forum.

This is very true.

Platy

Hi Ryan, it's really good to have you posting here. Six years of car free retirement living has led me to an urban homesteading sort of life style. Vegetable gardening is a big part of that.

It is so cool to have all those little green solar collectors humming away in the back yard turning sunlight directly into groceries. Sometimes I look at a squash or a tomato and I think, this is the ultimate molecular technology and thousands of generations of people every bit as intelligent as we are spent their lives perfecting it.

Lots of people can haul dirt around and build things out of wood. What's rare is a person who can figure out what's really going on in a garden and what needs to be done. Hmm, I guess I'm not really one of those people yet. Maybe I need to find a local bicycling horticulturalist. If they're sprouting up in Vancouver maybe there are a few in Austin as well.

billew

I've beeen a carfree carpenter since I also have never had a drivers license. It has not been easy because employers want to use your vehicle to make them money. When people ask how I can do it I say lumber yards deliver and make sure you order everything at once. That and there are hardware stores on both sides of town. More peolple could but won't even though on my Island most car trips are less than five miles.

Ryan1983

Roody - Thanks for the kind words. I have one image of me and my Xtracycle on my website, and will try to remember to take one of my trailer. Click in 'services' to see the image. I hope it isn't against forum rules to link to my site in a thread. If it is, and this post dissapears, I understand:

www.ryansgarden.com

Platy - I often view vegetable plants in the same way. Plants really are free solar panels. Food gardens can be made gloriously simple if the lifeforms within the soil are given the conditions they need to be healthy. I love to correspond about food gardens - E-mail me, if you like.

Billew - You have inspired me now. The sentence "Most people could but won't" sums up many of the things I have learnt about people. What sort of bike do you use to get your gear around? What sort of carpentry do you do?

Thanks for reading my post,

-Ryan.

cooker

The most incredible part of your story, having recently driven through North Vancouver, and knowing it looks like this.





is how amazing it is that you haul stuff in a utility bike up and down those slopes.

Roody

I'm not a moderator, but I'm pretty sure that you can link to your website when it's relevant to the thread, which it clearly is. Also, you're allowed to link to your website in your signature, which would be with all of your posts.

Mr York

Fantastically inspirational!!!

urban rider

WOW I am impressed!!! Keep up the good work. All things are possible!!!

LucasA

Killer site

Roody

Here's a picture of Ryan and his x-bike, from his website.





https://www.ryansgarden.com/

gerv 

I just had a look at the official web site of the City of North Vancouver. https://www.cnv.org/default.aspx

Considering the number of references to sustainability and sustainable living, I'd think it must be one of the most progressive cities in North America.

It sounds like the ideal place to be a cycling horticulturalist.

billew

Hi Ryan,
I don't use any special bike or even a trailer although I have been threatening to make one for a while. I have spent a lot of time in the passenger seat of trucks and vans. I took the bus to work for ten years. I use a bucket boss backpack for my tool belt and small stuff I also have duffle tool bag I put on the top tube like dutch style kiddy seat. The great thing about my city is it's on an island and only five miles across by three wide. If I need a table saw or ladder I ask for a favor from a friend (this rarely happens). I do a lot of window restoration and small jobs that don't need a lot of big gear. And like you customers don't mind if use their ladders and such.

Platy

Our garden isn't completely car free because we hauled in a lot of lumber, bulky stuff & soil components to get it started. Looking back, if we'd had more experience and been in less of a hurry, we could probably have started it with less effort. Now that it's been going for a while there's lots less hauling to do.

We're starting to count on the garden for a fair amount of our food. I guess the income in equivalent dollars per hour is pretty low, but there's no taxes, there's no commute and I'd be a lousy Walmart greeter anyway.

Yesterday we started picking the first hot season vegetables for this year. Tomatoes, peppers, yellow squash, potatoes, a couple of onions. Oh yeah, a couple of carrots & parsnips too. I wish I'd had a camera to catch my partner's "squash-eatin' grin" when she showed me a double armful of pickings. She put them in a pile on the ground. The Pomeranian snatched the smallest carrot from the pile and ran off with it. He ate it like it was a bone.

gerv 

Only the lettuce is looking ready to eat here. But it seems like it will be a good year for the squash (actually...in my case...zucchini... here too.

I agree with you that the effort is better if it's not pell-mell or concentrated. Better an hour here and there starting in late winter.

Platy

Squashes are great here. Most of the pests are easily controlled, except for that nasty little vine borer. Squashes are very hungry plants. I read that the Indians would traditionally bury a fish in every squash mound. That's one of the tips they taught the Pilgrims. Next year I want to try a traditional Indian Three Sisters setup, corn + beans + squash planted together, with the beans growing up the corn stalks and the squash at the bottom shading out the weeds. Maybe I'll even include the fish, what the heck.

How does butternut squash do in your part of the country? It bakes up like a sweet potato. It's somewhat vine borer resistant. It gets to be a huge plant. We train ours to go up and down 6 foot tall tomato cages. Where it comes back near the ground we'll bury a section of the vine in hopes that it will establish some secondary roots. That should help them survive the vine borers. Tomorrow I'm going to start a second round of squashes under fine mesh cloth. They should be ready to go after vine borer season passes.

gerv 

Never tried it. I have only ever planted zucchini, mostly because it's so prolific here. But that fish story sounds likely. The zucchini get all the compost I can spare..