The Future of Urban Permaculture Retrofitting Is Here! Welcome to The Plant
I’ve been mulling around different business plans for retrofitting older buildings with whole systems that include integrated aquaponics, renewable energy, and waste recycling. Well, to my great surprise and delight it turns out that a coalition of students, urban farmers, scientist, designers, and green entrepreneurs are currently underway developing such a place in Chicago! Rather than pie in sky expensive “farmscaper” schemes the Plant is a efficient vertical farm with in an existing building that will provide cost savings, innovation, and jobs for new tenants and the community. Cost savings, innovation, and jobs, why that sounds exactly like what the US desperately needs right now. Check out the amazing flow diagram below to get a picture of all the systems being deployed and support this upcoming series of webisodes on the Plant via this kickstarter campaign. I hope to see first hand the Plant and other amazing projects in the Chicago area when I arrive there with the Green Living Project mobile tour. If you know any sweet sustainability projects in Chicago that could use some more exposure please feel free to contact me via mobiletour(at)greenlivingproject.com
keep innovating,
@gaiapunk
Lost Valley, Sol Trekker, and the Green Living Project Mobile Tour
Gaiapunk is going on the road!
@Gaiapunk standing happily by his freshly double dug garden bed
Hey folks,
Here is some is exciting news folks, I @gaiapunk (Evan Schoepke), the editor of punk rock permaculture e-zine may be coming to your town soon. I’m happy to announce that I just recently accepted a position as the mobile tour lead with the Green Living Project and I will be traveling the country documenting the most exciting sustainability stories and regenerative projects I can find, as well as, doing environment education presentations in schools along the way. And if this wasn’t exciting enough I will be riding (and living) in the colorful Sol Trekker an incredible retro-fitted RV which you can learn about below. The Green Living Project is a one of a kind sustainable media production company that truly cares about promoting the best ecological projects in the world. They have some amazing non-profit partners such as the famed Lost Valley Permaculture Education Center which I was fortunate enough to vist recently for the first time. I’m currently in the Portland, OR area for the next 3 weeks and will be posting my rough calendar shortly (if you want to meet up just tweet a message to @gaiapunk). I would love to connect with people on the road or on the web as the tour progresses. If you know of a exciting project that we should capture on our route we would love to here about it. I also would like to give a shout out to all my supporters here at PRP e-zine, as well as my friends and family, and I promise I will to continue to provide some of the most interesting content documenting the permaculture movement to be found on the web, thank you all!
~gaiapunk
Eveergreen Co-operative Initiative and the Permaculture Unconference
Permaculture News:
Permaculture and Co-ops
I want to take a moment and highlight something very amazing happening in the US and around the globe which is the beneficial merging of the permaculture and co-operative movements. This makes a lot of sense because both movements are in line with ideas and ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. Although it’s not yet advertised, Punk Rock Permaculture E-zine is even part of a bigger Permaculture Media Co-op which includes Permaculture.tv and other sites.
In previous posts we’ve emphasized how the combination of cooperatives, permaculture, and community land trust are winning combination to bring ecological, social, and environmental regeneration to affected communities. Please take a minute and educate yourself about the innovative Evergreen Co-operative Initiative in Ohio, and then if you want to learn more about the cutting edge nexus of the permaculture and co-operative movements please follow the upcoming spring Permaculture Unconference in the SF bay area.
How Sustainable Bamboo will Help Haiti and the World
Humanitarian and Sustainable Bamboo for Haiti and beyond!
Hey Folks Gaia Punk here,
New Developments
I haven’t had much time to post because I’ve been working pretty much non-stop on a Permaculture Relief Corps mission call Perma Corps for Haiti, which has been getting a LOT of support from here and also here . Which brings me to my next subject sustainable bamboo production! I absolutely love bamboo, in fact, I currently live in cozy and locally sourced bamboo framed yurt. I wish to bring up the subject because RIGHT NOW there are currently around two million people homeless in Haiti, 1 million or so in Port Au Prince and another million scattered throughout the countryside. It is very likely that in couple of weeks when when the seasonal rains begin in full force (not to mention Hurricanes) many of the tents and encampments where displaced Haitians are housed will be completely washed out. Haiti desperately needs cheap, permanent, sustainable housing that is hurricane and earthquake resistant ASAP and bamboo combined with Cob is the ideal locally sourced combination. Below is a wonderful manual about Humanitarian Bamboo from the amazing IDEP foundation, as well as, my top 5 reasons bamboo rocks. This list comes with the best and most up to date links you could ever hope to find on the web regarding sustainable bamboo. If you have any bamboo resources such as connections with bamboo plantations or builders or can offer help in anyway please email thejulianeffect(at)gmail.com as Perma Corps for Haiti is looking to have teams on the ground shortly and then building structures right away.
TOP 5 Reasons That Bamboo Rocks!!!
1.) Bamboo is a very strong, very cheap, natural, quickly renewable, highly flexible and adaptable, building material.
To see just what Bamboo can do just take a peak at this link and especially these great e-books below:
2.) Bamboo is a ideal perennial and beneficially plant for Permaculture Design applications:
- Bamboo in Permaculture Design
- Bamboo in emergency housing
- Permaculture Bamboo farming
- Expert Permaculture educator Robyn Francis shows off some of the amazing Bamboo varieties at Djanbung Gardens (video)
3.) Bamboo can sequester TONS of carbon while still being regularly harvested and can drastically improve soil fertility when used as biochar!
- Detailed description of the potential for large scale bamboo carbon sequestration projects
- Bamboo used as biochar (large pdf)
Biochar from bamboo has a unique pore structure, making it a perfect soil structure for beneficial aerobic bacteria and fungi, resulting in crop yield gains of as much as 800-percent. It is important to mix the biochar with well-prepared compost inoculated with bacteria from undisturbed (usually nearby forest) local soils.
4.) You can eat it and it tastes amazing!
How to grow edible bamboo shoots
5.) In Permaculture there is a saying, “Unity through intergration, intergration through diversity!” and the world of Bamboo is full of diversity. Due to bamboo’s amazing diversity of both products and species it will be a key economic factor in helping the 2/3rds (developing) world out of poverty especially in heavily deforested regions such as Haiti.
Steve Cran on Permaculture Disaster Relief
Syndicated from Permaculture.tv an interview with Steve Cran on Permaculture disaster relief and Haiti.
Haiti update from Permaculture relief expert Andrew Jones
Permacorps and Haiti by the numbers
My instructor Scott Pittman of the US permaculture Institute on the need for a Permcorps from permaculture.tv
Gaia punk here,
Update: Permaculture Relief Corps in Haiti!
Below is a great update from Nika Boyce (@nika7k) I want to thank everyone who has expressed interest and I am inspired that this idea IS HAPPENING! Stuart Leiderman (Lakou Permaculture) is on the ground in Haiti right now calling out for help stateside with coordinating a long term Permaculture Relief Corps effort. People working in Haiti have asks that folks do not send goods just yet as you can see from the photos the port is a total mess! Below is a email list of key coordinators by region:
Stuart Leiderman —Currently in Haiti right now was working on the Lakou-Permaculture project
leiderman(at)mindspring.com
Joni Zweig –Currently in Haiti works with AMURTEL disaster relief
info(at)amurtel.org
Cory Brenna—Currently in FL coordinating funds and people in FL works with permacultureguild.us which has a donation site up now for the creation of a Permaculture Relief Corps
cory8570(at)yahoo.com
Kevin —-Currently in Hudson Valley NY coordinating fundraising
regenerationcsa(at)gmail.com
Rhonda—- Coordinating in the Bloomington IN region
rk.baird(at)yahoo.com
Marvin Warren —Coordinating for the Ithaca Finger lakes area
greenmansinger(at)gmail.com
If your not on this list and want to be or on this list and don’t want to be….
Evan Schoepke (@gaiapunk) Currently coordinating for the Olympia WA and Seattle area
thejulianeffect(at)gmail.com
From Nika Boyce (nika7k):
Like you, I have been simply swept away by the brutal earthquake that has subsumed Haiti into a hell that gets worse by the day.
I have been mostly learning about it via CNN and on twitter. I have been pouring over the satellite images of the destruction as seen in Google Earth.
As I write, Reuters says that more than 200,000 people have died and as of this evening, they have buried 40,000 dead. MANY more bodies lay in the streets and under endless tons of ruined buildings.
Thank goodness for twitter and the permaculture people I have gotten to know there because that is the only thing that is keeping me from feeling utterly lost in desolation over this apocalypse.
It is through @gaiapunk, who is something of a one-man permaculture media empire, that I have begun to learn about and really love the idea of Permaculture First Responders.
He posted several links to projects already either training Permaculture First Responders or projects on the ground in Haiti and other disaster struck places.
Permaculture First Responder – Permie Disaster Relief Training Course
Cegrane Camp Permaculture Rehabilitation Project
Cuba-Australia Permaculture Exchange
I have been wondering how I might be able to help nurture this idea here, tucked away in my small part of the world without actually going to Haiti myself.
I have been chatting with Cory at Permaculture.org and am happy to share this link that is very constructive in terms of the next steps.
Help for Haiti from Permaculture
(UPDATE: @gaiapunk will also be posting a Long term Permaculture Relief Corps project on kickstarter.com a crowd funding site look for that in the next day or two)
From that site you will see:
Some of the projects which permaculturists can design and implement are:
Short Term:
Building sewage systems, composting toilets, compost and recyclying centers, rocket and solar stoves, temporary shelters (perma-yurts), water catchment and filtering, and plant nurseries.
Rocket and solar stoves are key because the major ecological problem in Haiti which causes huge hardships from many angles is deforestation for fuel. Solar stoves use no wood and rocket stoves, which can be made out of old cans and pipes laying around, use almost no fuel and can cook with twigs.
Correct diversion of sewage, human waste, and water can substantially contribute to rebuilding farm land in the area – the idea is to create the conditions for long term self-sufficiency and abundance with even our short term handlings.
Long Term:
Permanent, low cost, earthquake resistant natural buildings, water storage, earth works, renewable energy, permaculture food forests, broad-scale reforestation, farms, aquaculture systems, and community buildings such as schools and health centers.
We are currently working via a worldwide network of permaculturists to bring resources to Haiti, and several permaculturists are interested in traveling to Haiti to help with the rescue and relief efforts, but need funding to do so. We are in contact with disaster handlers in the area who they can coordinate with for maximum effectiveness. There is a permaculture project existing in Haiti that we are working to connect with as well. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me – I am also willing to meet with potential funders to answer questions personally.
If you want to donate now, please use the “Haiti Donations – Donate” Paypal button on the right hand side of this web page. For past projects we’ve funded, please see the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation article under “Projects.” We will use initial funding to get people there on the ground and most needed resources such as equipment for building the short term items needed. Whenever possible, we use existing resources in the area that are free or very inexpensive – permaculture is very effective at getting the maximum return for energy invested, so you will know your money is going to a good cause.
I know that the idea of surviving this disaster is like a miracle and then the idea of Haiti being able to climb up from a place so dark seems too distant to contemplate.
To this end, I have been graphing out what the needs would be over time for people living through such overwhelming disasters.
I think its extremely important to do this now and for Haitians, now, because these same ideas and strategies will be needed again and again as climate change progresses.
In the graphic above, I try to illustrate the needs of a person immediately after surviving a catastrophe (earthquake, fire, flood, etc). The needs are pretty basic but inelastic in their being absolutely needed.
Once the person is out of immediate danger and is left standing with nothing, no assets, nothing but other survivors around them, they need to find a way to rebuild, regenerate, and boost their resilience so that they become embedded in a community that provides current and future needs.
In this next graphic, I extend on the specific needs outlined in the second graphic with permaculture and no/lo-carbon and low cost strategies for coping and rebuilding.
Please take some time and explore these graphics and tell me what you think, whats missing? What would you add?
Please consider becoming involved in helping the Haitians, using permaculture or by other means, as where the Haitians are right now, that hell, could easily be ours, any of us.
We are, in many ways, their community.
We are each other’s community and it is through us banding together that we build resilience in every place.
Permaculture Relief Corps Forming For Haiti Earthquake Response?
The Remarkable History (and Possible Future) Of Permaculture Disaster Relief
Devastation in Port Au Prince photo: Carel Pedre via twitter
Devastation in Port Au Prince photo: Carel Pedre via twitter
1/13/09
Yesterday the island of Hispanola was hit with a devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake near Port-Au-Prince the capital of Haiti . Many multiple story buildings have completely collapsed including the major Hospital in the region. Thousands may be killed or trapped in the rubble and aid is being mobilized from around the world. With little to no backup power, sewage, water, housing, or food aid systems in place, Haiti, which is currently the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, is in a VERY DIRE SITUATION. Without a doubt resources and expertise are moving en mass to Haiti, but beyond this temporary relief, what will sustain this nation of 10 million people when it’s left in an even poorer position than ever before? This is where permaculture design comes in, with an adaptable and ever evolving tool kit that can be of vital assistance in disaster relief and the long recovery period to follow.
During the war in Kozovo back in 1999 when displaced refugees flooded into Macedonia Geoff Lawton and a crack team of eager permaculturalists secured international aid to design and implement the master plan for the Cegrane Camp Permaculture Rehabilitation Project, a large refugee camp that provided relief for over 43,000 people.
Permaculture Disaster Relief
Geoff created the design around water capture and storage. The final design called for 7.2 km of swales, with an estimated water holding capacity of 30 million liters, greatly reducing the flood potential. Many passive solar strawbale buildings were constructed by trained locals who quickly grasped the simplicity and efficiency of this natural building technique. Large gardens, composting toliets, and chicken tractors all came together in a very short time span. The skills and systems thinking acquired during this process may help secure sustainable employment and economic development for the entire region for years to come.
Another successful implementation of permaculture relief took place in Cuba during the early 90′s when Cuba was suffering from a crippling petroleum embargo. Working with a grant from the Cuban government Austrailian permaculturalists, including Robyn Francis, traveled to Cuba to work with hundreds of Cubans on sustainable food systems design. Robyn, a well traveled expert in permaculture education in the 2/3rds (developing) world, helped local organizers use permaculture design prinicpals and techniques in their urban agriculture efforts. During this time, worker cooperatives were set up, market gardens and public transportation flourished, little to no pesticides or fertilizers were employed, and catastrophic famine was avoided. This partnership has continued to be highly successful and now some of the most experienced urban permaculture experts in the world come from Cuba because of the courageous spirit of the Cuban citizenry. Currently, the Cuba-Australia Permaculture Exchange (CAPE) is working on sustainable housing developments using natural building to compliment the work they began together with urban agriculture
Water Harvesting
There are numerous ways in which a full-time Permaculture Relief Corps could operate in Haiti in short and long-term time frames.
Short Term:
Building sewage systems, composting toilets, compost and recyclying centers, rocket and solar stoves, temporary shelters (perma-yurts), water catchment, and plant nurseries.
Long Term:
Permanent natural buildings, water storage, earth works, renewable energy, permaculture food forests, broad-scale reforestation, farms, aquaculture systems, health centers and schools.
In 2003 following a intense hurricane, a team including Eric Davenport, an American architect, and David Doherty, a Peace Corps Volunteer, worked for several months with the local community to rebuild a rural village after severe flooding. This team was then joined by Frederique Mangones, a renowned Haitian architect, and engineer Frantz Severe of ORE draw to the challenge of designing low-cost housing adapted to Haitian rural family activities. In the fall of 2003, a team of permiculturalists also offered their expertise to the village project.
Design for a new village
| Today their team in collaboration with the local community and the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment ORE is working on: | |
– Low cost relief from floods - Waste management & recycling to protect the environment - Hygienic toilets to improve family health - A community center to bring people together - Privacy to reduce stress within families - Green spaces to enhance quality of life - Fruit trees to generate income - Utilizing daily wind patterns, heat and cooling cycles - Covenants to protect their community Haiti is in desperate need of our assistance which can not come soon enough. 8 out of 10 Haitians live in abject poverty and need the long term commitment of folks working for a sustainable and abundant future. Please check out the links below of organizations doing great work in this field. If you are interested in the formation of a Permaculture Relief Corps like the one I’m proposing please email thejulianeffect(at)gmail.com and I will keep you up to date on the latest developments. My heart goes out to all those working and living in Haiti right now, Sincerly, Evan Schoepke (@gaiapunk) *CORRECTION*: I had previously mixed up David Doherty (peace core volunteer with Darren Doherty (broad scale permaculture designer), sorry about the confusion. Principal of Gaia Punk Designs Chi’Bagoda (bambitat perma-yurts www.oursoil.org |
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Can Permaculture Save Detroit?
Detroit Permaculture
Here is some completely heretical news in for the world of eco-capitalist dreamers; no silly white multi-million dollar media men will ever solve the worlds ecological or social problems. Yeah I know what your thinking blasphemous right? Specifically, I am referring to the uber opportunistic and freshly greenwashed faces of Al gore, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Richard Rainwater, and now John Hantz. Hantz, a big time financial investor and longtime Detroit resident is proposing to put 30 million down of his own money to build a high tech farming operation that will be coupled with “green” estates. In Fortune Magazine’s limited interview Hantz said that Detroit is suffering from a lack of scarcity and that the only way to save housing prices is by taking as much property off the market as possible, hence the massive farm and real estate combo. But, couple this seemingly benign idea with a one track profit motive and instead of community revitalization one gets rampant community gentrification that pushes out the very people (the poorer residents of Detroit) that one is purporting to be “helping”. The team Hantz has assembled thus far is glaringly white in a city that is over 80% black which is highly suspicious to say the least not to mention naming the entire operation Hantz Farm doesn’t inspire thoughts of “community”. Rather than going to the folks who have already spent immense amounts of effort to bring local organic food to their communities and bring jobs in their neighborhoods, and then offer to assist financially in their efforts, thus far Hantz is developing a hierarchal strategy that may put those very folks out of business. Hantz’s preliminary proposals have garnered lots of unwarranted media attention even though very few details have emerged about how this farming project will be managed and who exactly will manage it.
The Hantz Farm site is just a collection of stock photos that to me seem as hollow as their message. Okay perhaps I’m being too cynical but right now important questions remain around what exact types of technology the farm will employ (already energy expensive technologies like hydroponics and large scale harvesters have been mentioned) , if there is even a viable market in the region, and most importantly, who will this for profit enterprize benefit the most. ”I’m concerned about the corporate takeover of the urban agriculture movement in Detroit,” says Malik Yakini, a charter school principal and founder of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates D-Town Farm on Detroit’s west side. (from CNN)
Organic farming is enjoying a nice trendy resurgence as a solution to urban, rural, and ecological ills. Unfortunately, farming no mattter how popular can only do so much. It is well known that various economic events some deliberate and some unexpected have cost the United States and urban manufacturing centers like Detroit obscene amounts of jobs. What is not well known, is that neither local organic farming, or any green high tech green wizardry, is likely to bring these jobs back in the near future. But, never fear, there are three simple solutions to this whole mess we’re all in along with Detroit.
ONE: Permaculture
Detroit honestly doesn’t need anymore scarcity (though real estate barons may see it differently) it desperately needs abundance, and permaculture is a complete system that designs for abundance. If the polluted landscape of Detroit is going to be regenerated then organic farming is just not enough.
TWO: Cooperatives
The entire history of Detroit is one of total abandonment by the world of capital and a complete lack of responsibility or loyalty to the local community. Cooperatives by their very nature encourage horizontal investment, diversity, democracy, and local responsibility.
THREE: Community Land Trusts
Community Land Trusts are set up in such a way as to encourage low income buyers into positions of ownership and avoid volatility in housing prices. There are few communities in the the US that have suffered worse volatility in housing prices than Detroit. What Hantz is proposing is just green veiled gentrification while the real solution for the people of Detroit lies in Community Land Trusts. Burlington VT has many successful examples of how and why CLT’s can close the gaps of classism.
Note, I did not mention 30 million dollars from some rich white guy! Now if that 30 million was invested in those 3 things I would surely change my tune, but if it’s invested in anything else, I really wouldn’t get my hopes up. Currently, Detroit will likely be the venue for the 2010 US social forum and I plan on being there purposing real solutions based on living permaculture and cooperative principals not on selfish, dead, capitalist oriented ones.
Organizations doing the real work in Detroit:
Evolve Detroit http://detroitevolution.com/
Detroit Agriculture Network http://www.detroitagriculture.org/
Detroit Summer http://www.detroitsummer.org/
Midwest Permaculture http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/
Permaculture Knowledge Ecosystem!
How we can and must open permaculture knowledge up to hundreds languages and people all over the world and bring it from the digital dark ages! Publishing on demand will cut out the middle men, save money, and open up content!
recommended sites working in this direction appropedia.org
Rob Hopkins Transition Guru at TED
This is a really innovative and inspiring talk by Rob Hopkins a key thinker in the the Transition Movement. For a great transition resource check this ebook by the Trapese Collective
CRASS! and Permaculture
There is no authority but youself
!
Here is a great dutch documentary about one of my favorite punk bands of all time CRASS!. It features great archival footage of their permaculture farm the Dial House in Essex, UK and how and why operates in the beautiful way that it does. Featuring urban permie punk instructor Graham Burnett from Spiralseed.
Radical Mycology from the Spore Liberation Front
Hey folks,
This is a great zine on radical mycology that some friends of mine in Spore Liberation Front put together. If you would like to further support their efforts you can order the nicely printed version from the anarchist themed distro
You could also just print it yourself, honestly they really don’t care as long as you spread your spores! Enjoy!
Ingenio “Patent” Campus?
Hello lovely Permies,
Due to my posting of the entire Permaculture Designers Manual , commonly known as the permaculture bible, I received a swift take down notice from Tagari Publications and Scribd which I respectfully followed. It is my opinion that this book is so important that it should be made completely free on all the myriad internets. We’re living in a time of extreme ecological and social crisis and the tools needed to fix the crises must be made available to everyone not just those with the economic privilege to afford them. Please see the letters below and also please comment if you think the designers manual should be liberated onto the internet. I feel this debate gets at the very heart of the permaculture ethic of “fair share” and I will post any further correspondence with Tagari here and elsewhere.
Join the campaign by tweeting for the liberation of the permaculture manual on twitter @gaiapunk #permieliberation
My first letter from Tagari:
ATTENTION: Evan Schoepke
Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a statement that:
I am the exclusive rights holder (being the Publisher) for the book titled: Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual written by Bill Mollison.
ISBN 0 908228 01 5 and first published in Australia in 1988 and reprinted in 2004, 2009 by Tagari Publications, Australia.
These exclusive rights are being violated by material that has been available upon your site at the following URL(s): http://www.scribd.com/doc/22260478/Permaculture-D-Manual and http://punkrockpermaculture.com/.
I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder’s agent, or the law;
Under penalty of perjury in a United States court of law, I state that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on the behalf of the exclusive rights holder for the material in question.
I may be contacted by the following methods:
Phone: (Aus) 61 + 3 6445 0945
Fax: 61 + 3 6445 0944
Address: 31 Rulla Road, Sisters Creek, Tasmania, 7325, Australia
Email: mollison.lisa@tagari.com
I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material now and in the future as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible. Thank you.
Regards,
Lisa Mollison
Director
My reply:
Okay Tagari,
Hi Evan
Thank you for your response and we appreciate you removing the book from the internet. We know there are several versions available free and we are trying to get them removed. If you would like to direct us to the free books that you know of then this would be of great assistance to us.
In regards to your questions about making the book free of charge – All end of year profits from the sales of Tagari Publications books go to the Permaculture Institute which in-turn assists several organisations that have limited funds, knowledge and resources. Bill Mollison and the Permaculture Institute have worked tirelessly with many organisations over the years and regularly donates funds and books to people who have limited resources, so if the book was available free then this would drastically effect this assistance plus the future of any sales, re-prints and new material written by Bill.
We try to keep the costs of all our books to a minimum but there are costs associated with printing, publishing and distributing our titles, and if the books don’t generate any income I’m sure you could foresee the outcome for Tagari Publications and the Permaculture Institute.
Bill Mollison is now 82 years old, he still writes, teaches and supports many organisations. Bill has dedicated much of his life to this cause and is a valuable entity to all involved, but without finances Bill would not be able to continue with his teaching, writing and community assistance.
Tagari Publications will be re-printing The Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition in the next few months (due to sales of our other titles). Current stocks are limited or nil throughout the world and therefore book stores and second hand dealers plus private owners have realised its value and increased the price significantly. When Tagari Publications have new stock we will be selling the book for approx. $46.00 AUS.
Thank you again for your response and please view our website in the near future for information regarding our stocks of Ferment and Human Nutrition.
My new response:
Dear Tagari,
Waterpod rocks!
photo credit: Mira Hunter
First, the Miss Rock Away Armada an now, the Waterpod, sustainable education and art barge design reaches new heights…
The water pod project is a retrofitted sustainable education barge full of art and enthusiasm for appropriate technology. This collaborative and nomadic project traveled down the Hudson river doing education demos at stops along the way. A new kind of out of box imaginative and artistic thinking related to permaculture, appropriate technology, new ways of living, is exactly what is need to get people inspired about transforming our civilization and the Waterpod fits the bill. Check out the design and technology employed below.
Waterpod project image galleries: here
Masdar City makes waves
So I decided to take a little break from the ole’ computer screen and it seems as though in a single week everything has gone wild…
For instance, NASA actually decided to bomb the moon, honestly, was this really necessary! Is Iraq and Afghanistan not enough space for the US government to bomb that they need to waste 79 million dollars by crashing a useless probe into moon? Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize all the while considering how many troops to commit to two illegal and unnecessary wars! I guess he got the award for promising to do work around nuclear non-proliferation. If I promised to bring about everlasting world peace could I win a Nobel? Most interestingly though, Geoff Lawton, permaculture expert of greening the desert fame was featured by CNN news in their “green section”. Congrats to Geoff and big WTF!! to Obama.
Geoff Lawton is currently a key landscape consultant on Masdar city a futuristic supposedly zero waste carbon neutral city slated to be build in Abu Dhabi which is part of the UAE. Interestingly, the per capita ecological ecological foot print of Abu Dhabi also happens to be one of the highest in the world and though now being called a hub of sustainability don’t expect the UAE to move away from oil extraction anytime soon. Loads of companies have signed onto Masdar and the city will be a proving ground for some the the most intelligently designed and profitable green ideas and smart products to come in the next few years. Masdar plans to feature the latest in renewable energy, high tech transportation, and pedestrian oriented streets. The main problem I have with big eco city developments like these is that instead of starting small and building up organically they try to master plan everything and the people most likely left out of the plan are the poor and disenfranchised.
Recently, the gulf states have been using their surplus oil money to go on a building spree so that they’ll be able to leverage the equity accumulated to continue to make investments when demand deflates. Financing a massive project like this is another issue too, Masdar City is currently set to cost a mere 15-35 billion and right now their looking for 600 million in investment financing for the start of construction….good luck! . In order to finance they’ll have to sell a whole lot of real estate, especially ritzy real estate, like luxury eco condos, hotels, malls, and conference centers and this type of blatant eco classism will create multiple social divisions. Let us all remember that conspicuous consumption labeled green is still conspicuous consumption. This is the crucial paradox around building idealized eco utopias if you don’t address salient social issues then you’re just simply sowing the seeds of inequity wrapped up in a nice little green package. Personally, I like ingenious projects that can be scalable to various sizes, create community resilience and reliance, use natural building, and don’t cost billions of dollars, but hey thats just me (see: Gaviotas, Columbia and Curitiba, Brazil). I would be curious to know exactly what Geoff’s true opinion of the whole thing is and whether he see some true substance in the midst of all the hype . Just like Obama’s Noble we shouldn’t be awarding accolades simple for promises yet to be fulfilled…
For some really great and well balanced ecocity guru discussions on Masdar City see this treehugger post.
Liberate the City! #1
A really great zine published by the Curious George Brigade (of anarchist twitterer fame) and if you like it check out their book anarchy in the age of dinosaurs.
Permaculture and Protest
Hey folks Gaia punk here back on the attack,
Today I wanted to focus a bit on the news. It has come to my attention that a real hero of mine Van Jones has been forced to resign from his position in the Obama administration as a special advisor to the Department of Environmental Quality because of right wing attacks of by the ignorant likes of Glenn Beck
another patriarchal rascist white wacko pundit on the airwaves
and his Army 0f misguided Screwballs. I am both pissed off and in some weird way excited about this news. I’m pissed off because it show the ineptness of Obama by not defending a pragmatic and dare I say radical leader like Van Jones from obvious bullshit red baiting, but I’m also happy because knowing Jones adversity will only make him stronger. Van Jones is one a few folks in the mainstream environmental movement making the links between classism, racism, and environmental degradation and offering genuine solutions to all three. There is a war on common sense going on, a war against new ideas, and folks involved in permaculture need to step up their efforts of building community resilience and promoting real ecological alternatives. I promise as the faithful editor of prp e-zine to fight and fight hard! Are you with me?
In other news permaculture is hitting many college campuses including Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, Warren Wilson College in Ashville, NC, and the USC in South Carolina. All three campuses have installed some form of permaculture garden or edible landscaping and are in some way increasing permaculture education with in the mainstream academic sphere, and that’s good news. Below are some nice photos…
my kind of dorm at Warren Wislson
USC permaculture landscaping photo: Jonathan Sharpe
Evergreen's ever-changing Permaculture garden
Radical Community Profile: Free state Swomp (Amsterdam) under threat
recycled materials strawbale house
I’m reposting this post because I just learned that they may be facing eviction 
There is a genuine non violent revolution going on around the globe. One that crosses boundaries of race, creed, color, religion and subculture. A revolution that heals the heart even as it dismantles the heartless systems of oppression. It is of course the permaculture revolution; a revolution that is interconnected and diverse.
“…the greatest change we need to make is from consumption to
production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of
us do this, there is enough for everyone.
Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on
the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food
and shelter.” – Bill Mollison
I want to take sometime and give you a picture of some of these true revolutionaries….
The Swomp in Amsterdam is a collective squat that is guided by permaculture and its principals. Besides providing for themselves with their garden production the Swomp does community outreach and education. They are under constant threat of eviction and they may need some media attention soon. Please take the time to read their declaration and the inspiring sustainable ethics by which the community abides. Here is just a sampling of what they’ve accomplished:
- successfully squatted a unused urban lot and turned it into a permaculture demonstration site.
- built a strawbale home from mostly recycle materials
- organized with numerous other collectives on a wide range of important global issues
- provided free education to the community
- demonstrated that one can live in harmony with one’s conscience and with the earth
Please visit their awesome blog and if you are aware of other radical communities in the permaculture vein we would love to feature them here.
p.s. We are always looking for more contributors so if you would like to write for PRP e-zine please contact thejulianeffect(at)gmail with the subject “gaia punks.”
Landslide Community Urban Farm!
Radical Community Profile: Landslide Community Farm
Pittsburgh, PA
The history of the Landslide Community Farm is analogous to one of natures little accidents, a mutation if you will, that with in a certain given context becomes crucial if not startlingly beautiful.
Landslide has grown from a couple of fixed up “farm houses” to a non profit in control of multiple city plots used for urban farming. Landsliders are using permaculture techniques, inclusive outreach, and smart campaigning to get strong rapport with city (even enough to fight off a unjust eviction attempt). These permie punxs along with their equally amazing neighbors are making their urban environments more livable, more ecologically sound, and if dare say, all around more krunk. Landsliders are truly stout folks with aspirations that include more than just themselves, but instead a desire to elevate the relationships around them, including the earth, and the greater Pittsburgh community as a whole. Many Landsliders volunteer with collectives like Food NOT Bombs and most likely a dozen other awesome radical or progressive projects too numerous to mention here.
It is my view that permaculture is really 10 % physically oriented and 90 % percent community oriented because ultimately it is the community that will implement the work that is most needed. The first rule for building community is just being inclusive by making what your doing accessible, affordable, and autonomously oriented. Even when all the steel money is long gone it is the history of our relationship with the earth and others that will remain. Landsliders are leaving a history in Pittsburgh that anyone would be proud of.
go Gaia punks go!
Ooooby! and One Million Gardens!!
(Out of our own back yards) is a new social networking site on the Ning network that is dedicated to localvores, permaculture, gardening, and a lot more. When you can also check the Transition Movment and the One Million Gardens campaign. Welcome to regenerative culture! Gaia punxs unite!
I have a quote that I’ve been inspired by lately I would like to share with you:
“Revolution is based on land. Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of Freedom, Justice, and Equality.”
–Malcolm X
Food Forests!!!! EVERYWHERE
Sod your days are numbered...
A campaign has just been launched to plant food forest all across the U.S. and the world as well:
A food forest is a multilayer poly-culture garden that mimics the natural structure of a forest and improves ecological integrity on many levels. A food Forest may have 9 various layers starting with:
Mycylieal (fungi) and bacterial
Rhizomal (roots)
Ground Covers (for holding moisture, the soil, and soil fertility)
Herbaceous (vegetables and herb)
Small shrubs (berries)
Large shrubs (small fruits and nuts)
Small trees (large fruits and nuts)
Big trees (hardwoods)
Vines, climbers, and lots of flowers
Eric holzer of Permaculture Earth Artisans of Sebastopol, CA one of the US leaders of this campaign has this to say,
“My vision is to educate communities as to the whole system benefits of food forests from, climate change to relocalization of food sources and creating oases of human settlement in our communities. To do this we will help students and interns design and install these systems.”
For more good resources on food forest design see the links and resources below:
Gaia Punks in Costa Rica II
A little Providence….
Cob Building with Sun Ray Kelly!
Just 4 days before I left for Costa Rica I casually picked up a book at my favorite local bookstore (Last Word Books) and as is my habit started flipping through it. This book was entitled
Sun Ray Kelly
It featured some of the most amazing natural building I had ever seen. The work of Sun Ray apprentice of fammed cob master Ianto Evans was esspecially amazing and I wished that I would have the opportunity to learn from such a inspiring artisan, architect, and craftsman, but then Icyni saddly thought fat chance of that happening. Little did I know that my wish would be granted half way through my permaculture design course at True Nature Community when one evening I was walking up to the balcone and there, as if by divine providence, was a smiling and radiant Sun Ray. Later our class was able to pitch in on amazing spiral temple/house cob dome project in the La Florida area. Here are some pics and a short video (forgive the feet filming)….
