The World of EATer’s and Permies

The Labyrinth at Rose Creek 

I thought I would be posting sooner than now, though “re-entry” into reality has left me a little shell shocked and bewildered.  I was away for two weeks at a permaculture design course outside Ashville, N.C., but it wasn’t the run of the mill pc course.   For starters, we were spoiled with three ‘organilocal’ squares a day, which were shared over in depth conversations of conflict resolution, tantra, permaculture playground design for burning man and the like.  This was preceded and or followed by various earth based rituals with lots of singing, sharing and getting in touch with your inner self (looking like a fool).

  

Laying out contours w/ an A-frame and a quick permaculture design on 1/8 acre

Not to be taken lightly, this was an intensive course to say the least.  Interwoven with the required course material, including a design project and participation in a no-talent show, we were sporadically exposed to surprise actions in which we were enticed to procure a collective intelligent response.  As example, a spontaneous dance party broke out between lectures and was abruptly halted when we (the dancers) were corralled by the police (actor children and other students) and beaten with batons (paper batons).  Things got quite physical when we banded together, fell to the floor and started to chant.  The police, thoroughly engaged (and enjoying it) in their role, began to attempt to pull people (me) from the pack.  I was ultimately terrified of becoming seperated from my sisters & brethren, who had a firm clasp on my extremities to the point at which I began to wonder if this were a real direct action, would I simply be pulled apart?  Note: see Starhawk’s non-violent activism resources.

Jack’s restored 67 VW

There were herb walks, where I learned how to identify water hemlock - ‘veins to the cut, pain in the gut - veins to the tip, everything is hip.’  There were peaceful nights in the tent and wet soggy mornings in the tent.  There was a girl named Dragonfly, a guy named Noah who is an active member of the International Solidarity Movement, a girl that was studying to be a doctor in Cuba and the author of Radical Healing, among other inspiring souls.  I didn’t get as dirty as hoped due to the relocation of our course, but I did get to hike to the Tennessee River and take a dip.  Oh, and the mead.  If I got nothing else out of this course, I took away an intense interest in mead and mead making.

Noah & Kelly exhibit their Fire Poi talents

We were remotely located away from cell phone service and nearby towns, so we created our own “bar” at our retreat, where the organic porters, double belgian brews, ports and meads flowed.  I sampled apple-lemon cyser, hyssop-anise metheglin, apricot-cinnamon melomel and various other home made meads.  I witnessed a small (30-40 gallons) homebrew mead operation, a mead making demonstration at the no-talent show and various wild yeasters sporting their wares.  Within two days of arriving home, I had a gallon of Joe’s Ancient Orange mead bubbling away on the counter and another gallon in the makings.

Mead at AVI

I got to hang with the female permaculture heavy weights for two weeks, Starhawk, Penny Livingston-Stark and Patricia Allison.  I forewent the day trip (our one day off) to Earthaven Ecovillage to catch up on some much needed relaxation.  Ah, another time I’ll make the trip to see how they have assembled their little village.  I’m back home now, immersed in courses and design work.  Back to 90 + degree days and the land of the flatwoods.  Got mead?                

Speed Restrictions on Housing

Exit door of “Pipe Dreams” at Elefante, handcrafted home structures

I wish that I could claim that I thought of Slow Home first, what can I say?  I didn’t, but when I ran across the idea, I was like, “Well, yeeah.”  As a residential designer, who secretly (guess it’s no secret now) wants to design & build treehouses and garden rooms, I hope the Slow Home movement sweeps the nation.  I hope it brings a new era of building or deconstructing that encompasses environmental restorative design, reconnecting humans and nature, and is a celebration of the human spirit possessing both anima and animus traits.  That is all.

The 10 Steps to a Slow Home 

1. GO INDEPENDENT

Avoid homes by big developers and large production builders. They are designed for profit not people. Work with independent designers and building contractors instead.

2. GO LOCAL

Avoid home finishing products from big box retailers. The standardized solutions they provide cannot fit the unique conditions of your home. Use local retailers, craftspeople, and manufacturers to get a locally appropriate response and support your community.

3. GO GREEN

Stop the conversion of nature into sprawl. Don’t buy in a new suburb. The environmental cost can no longer be justified. Re-invest in existing communities and use sustainable materials and technologies to reduce your environmental footprint.

4. GO NEAR

Reduce your commute. Driving is a waste of time and the new roads and services required to support low density development is a big contributor to climate change. Live close to where you work and play.

5. GO SMALL

Avoid the real estate game of bigger is always better. A properly designed smaller home can feel larger AND work better than a poorly designed big one. Spend your money on quality instead of quantity.

6. GO OPEN

Stop living in houses filled with little rooms. They are dark, inefficient, and don’t fit the complexity of our daily lives. Live in a flexible and adaptive open plan living space with great light and a connection to outdoors.

7. GO SIMPLE

Don’t buy a home that has space you won’t use and things you don’t need. Good design can reduce the clutter and confusion in your life. Create a home that fits the way you really want to live.

8. GO MODERN

Avoid fake materials and the re-creation of false historical styles. They are like advertising images and have little real depth. Create a home in which character comes from the quality of space, natural light and the careful use of good, sustainable materials.

9. GO HEALTHY

Avoid living in a public health concern. Houses built with cheap materials off gas noxious chemicals. Suburbs promote obesity because driving is the only option. Use natural, healthy home materials and building techniques. Live where you can walk to shop, school and work.

10. GO FOR IT

Stop procrastinating. The most important, and difficult, step in the slow home process is the first one that you take. Get informed and then get involved with your home. Every change, no matter how small, is important.    

Ah, the Emerald Coast

I just couldn’t help myself.  I saw this article and I was hysterical.  I was instantly inspired to write about it.  Upon further reflection, I thought JHK would do it better justice.  I ripped off an e-mail to JHK and was delighted this morning to see a reply.  Not that I didn’t think he read his e-mail, but I certainly had the impression he had quite a bit of it to wade through.  Because I read JHK every day, hope to see him in person at some point in my life and love his satirical, punchy and descriptive prose, I had to post our short correspondence…for the archives.

Dear Jim,
I am an avid reader of Cluster*uck Nation and thought you’d be interested in this article.  Well, not really interested, or surprised really, it’s just another absurdity of our times.  “Realtors Pray for Better Times” http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/6725, just a few short miles from Seaside, FL.  Huh??  I guess they haven’t read The Long Emergency or don’t connect the real estate bust with maybe someone upstairs is trying to tell us something.  Maybe instead of praying for a resurgance of house sales and well, let’s face it, more destruction of the planet, they should be praying for another way to feed themselves.  Hey, I’m in this growth industry as well and you better believe I’m working on some other skills to survive the long emergency.  The world and especially the Emerald Coast has too many realtors and designers (myself included) as it is.  The lull in the housing market isn’t hurting my feelings, Im spending more time in the garden and getting acquanted with my neighbors both human and otherwise.  When will these people get a clue and how can that preacher seriously lead a prayer asking God to allow these realtors to continue their profession by exploiting this planet some more.  It’s simply mind boggling.  Ta-ta and I hope you get to Seaside some day again soon.  I’ll be there!

His reply:

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/6725

Hey, thanks for this.  I just posted it on “The Daily Grunt” http://www.kunstler.com/ That part of Florida has just exploded beyond all limits. Seaside and Rosemary Beach were great things.  But all the wannabes and copycats maye have come to the party too late.I hope they don’t get whacked by storms on top of this.

Jim
“It’s All Good”
(”Va Tutto Bene“)

Fun stuff.

Potluck

 

Events, daily happenings and course work  have spurred the blogging hiatus, which I’m briefly interrupting.

The graduation of the child and reuniting of all the various step, grand and parental “units” (as my sister likes to call the respective mother / father and their marital partner) went without a hitch.  Well, except the little one involving me making party arrangements at the wrong clubhouse.

Anyhow, there were other graduations to attend as well as a wedding, papers to write, books to read and projects to complete (still completing).

Among the projects is a Neighborhood Cooperative I’m constructing, loosely following a business plan model, with the intent of reuniting humans with nature and their communal roots.

The Blue Bag program is finally under way and there are talks of a CSA or community garden or farmers market???  I say “or” because it’s in the works and the specifics haven’t been revealed yet.

The Green Meets is attracting the attention of a sponsor, no specifics on this development yet either.

Today marked a culmination of these small events that represent a growing body of local, powerful, eco-conscious minded individuals.  The fringes of South Walton County are starting to infiltrate and with some hope and momentum this small corner of the coast may just prove itself in the green department.

Today a group of 14 of us came together for a potluck luncheon featuring local and regional foods.  The tables were set outside in the southern heat, under a canopy of pines, bound together with prayer flags.  The tables were covered with Sari’s and adorned with pickle jars filled with magnolias, produce props and beautifully mix-matched napkins, chairs, plates and glasses.  The representation of food was incredible: Gulf shrimp & fish ceviche, venison burgers, inkberry tea, blueberry-peach chutney over Mahi Mahi, watermelon water, spinach & duck egg quiche, pepper jelly, lima beans, pasta w/ local veggies, peach & basil tea, black bean & soy bean salsas, lemon balm & kaffir lime tea, zucchini bread,and cantelope & cucumber salad.  There were other samplings, though these were the staples.  Great food, great conversation with the majority of food coming from local gardens, farms, the Gulf, Alabama and Georgia.

 

Radishes Abound

The garden is well on its way to realizing its full potential.  One of my earlier goals for 2007 was to increase the garden size, which has been a success, though I’m already thinking of expanding.  Here’s the latest on what’s growing.

 

On the left are miniature white cucumbers that will be working their way up the outdoor shower enclosure.  On the right is the first bed I put in back in November.  This was the one when tested, showed few nutrients and the carrots and beets have been floundering since November.  I’m surprised they didn’t rot away.  Anyhow, this is the hodge-podge bed of purple potatoes, chanterey carrots, garlic, lisbon onions, bull’s blood beets and thyme, all planted a bit too close together.

 

Bed 2 (L) consist of Bright Breakfast Radish started from seed, American Spinach from seed and (3) broccoli plants from my neighbor.  I’m trying the square foot method of gardening in this bed, which makes for tidier looking plants.  Bed 3 (R) has Rosa Bianca Eggplants (seed) and Bee Balm in the front (nursery), and Bloody Butcher (seed) and Yellow Pear Tomatoes (seed) at the rear.

 

Bed 4 (L) has the same tomatoes as bed 3, Eggplant, Rosemary and Sweet Red Peppers, both of these from a nursery.  In the far corner are (2) Romaine babies in one of the EarthBoxes.   Final, the second harvest, a handful of spinach and a radish.  I can’t show you the first harvest because we ate it already.  It was a handful of radishes eaten last night with this delightful butter and cream cheese concoction that you see in the corner.  Also in the garden but not ready for a photo-op are Arizona Cantelopes, Black Beauty Squash and another tomato plant in the Topsy Turvy, a gift from T.  All the new beds are a mixture of peat moss, topsoil and predominantly mushroom compost from Thos. Stein’s.

 

Garden Update

Not much to report around here, since I’m all into the school thing now, so I thought I’d share my latest purchase from Heirloom Seeds.

Mustard Greens Abound

I’m inclined to giving updates lately, so an update on my gardening attempts is in order.

The two EarthBoxes that I planted Cos Romaine and Mesclun are doing very well.  Although, I didn’t thin the Cos when it first sprouted, so now it has become very crowded and leggy.  That’s ok, as I have taken to thinning it now and adding the baby leaves in with the mesclun for salads.  This is working well as the remaining plants are quickly filling in and becoming crunchier.  The mesclun is also a bit over crowded and over run with mustard greens, which I like but not as the predominant green in my salad.  The mustard grows faster and larger than the other greens so they seem to be fighting for space and light.  Next time, I’ll be more careful about planting the seeds.  Fortunately, Elvis the rabbit really enjoys all my clippings from the garden, even mustard.

The other thing that seems to be affecting my salad greens is this freaky weird, warm winter weather we’re having.  With the temperature between 75-80 the past week, the plants sometimes look a little wilted or like they want to bolt.  They’re just not quite sure what they’re suppose to do.

The peppers are finally done in the third EarthBox, but I noticed today there was new growth and some new flowers.  This weekend they’ll be composted and I’ll start another box of something.  I haven’t figured out what just yet.

In the one raised bed, I’ve started bull’s blood beets, chanteney carrots, lisbon onions, a couple purple potatoes and some garlic.  I don’t have any books on gardening, so I’m really just winging it and finding whatever info. on the internet I can.  I found an interesting site on companion planting which I consulted with before deciding to plant such a hodge podge of veggies all together.  We’ll see if it works out.   

In Preparation

I am compelled to revisit a topic that I’m deeply interested in and I believe is inextricably connected to global warming, sustainability and well, just about anything you could imagine.  I read the Energy Bulletin every day and I keep up with half a dozen other related sites including one of my fav’s, Sharon Astyk’s blog.  The topic is Peak Oil, which I’ve shyed away from commenting too much on because I believe there is a certain amount of processing and information gathering that one does before espousing to the world their true feelings on the subject.  After all, I believe the initial reaction from most is to associate ”doomer” with believing in Peak Oil and no one wants to hear or entertain the idea that their lifestyle may in some way be threatened.  I was reminded of my outward projected “peaknik”-ness this week when my post about being a “peaknik” was linked to another blog.  I have to share the context, though I won’t know until after this weekend if a agree.

About that letter to Microsoft

I recently wrote a letter to Microsoft Corporation regarding the recycling of a non-functioning mouse and keyboard.  I won’t repeat myself, though if you’re interested you can read about it here.  It was written in a moment of frustration, though after some reflection, I’m less certain about the proper placement of that frustration.  I was immediately frustrated because I thought I was doing the right thing by replacing a tiny little transceiver only to have my efforts thwarted by the company’s planned obsolescence.  I was further frustrated by the thought that I had succumbed to the advertising pressures to be that this was an item I needed, though that purchase was made previous to me deciding to become more proactive in the practice of sustainability.

Sustaining SoWal

Just a little shameless self promotion here.  I’ve started a group blog called Sustaining SoWal.  Check it out if you’re so inclined.  The topics discussed are sustainability related (global + local) with the goal of creating relocalization awareness in South Walton County, Florida.  It’s still only a few days old so, not much content yet.