A View from Sierra County

Sustainable Sunday: Third Principle - Obtain a Yield

This permaculture principle might seem like a no-brainer... make sure you are producing something, right?  That's what we all do when we go to work each day... obtain a yield in the form of our paychecks.  Well, BP could say the same thing about pumping oil in the Gulf (and elsewhere), so the real difference in this third principle comes when we look at it in the light of the fundamental mission of permaculture: "Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share".

Now, while being urged to obtain a yield, we also need to examine our methods.  What do they do to the earth?  Are people being nurtured?  Are they being treated fairly?  Are our yields, while benefiting people, gotten at the expense of other species?  We can all start to think of many examples which fail the test.

Perhaps this third principle is the most zen of all the 12 principles of permaculture.  The more we examine this idea of obtaining a yield, the more questions raised.  However, that should not stop us from working productively and making the most of the great gift of life we have.  Perhaps you will start this spring by working in the garden... if you are fortunate, you will soon have a smile on your face as you bite into a completely ripe and juicy peach or tomato.  Notice that you have two yields here: nutrition and pleasure.  If there are more fruits than you can eat, maybe you will can or dry some, or maybe you will sell some at your local farmers market, or perhaps donate them to a local homeless shelter's kitchen.  Now, you have created a third yield... stored energy or shared energy.  Obtaining multiple yields from one input is an ongoing permacultural goal!

Those of my readers who know me through my fiber life will realize that I produce a LOT of fiber goods every year... truth is, I have a hard time just sitting still and work with my hands in lots of ways. As I have been living with this third principle of obtaining a yield this spring, I have looked at my stash, the objects I have created, and even my spinning wheel, wondering if I am producing a yield that fits within the idea of "Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share".  I finished a vest and completely made a sweater so far in 2010, as well as a beautiful shoulder shawl from a gift of yarn.  I even ordered some sustainably handcrafted buttons, made from downed branches for that sweater, with my limited purchasing power going directly to a craftsman (who lived a very long ways away and had to mail me a packet with those buttons).  Perhaps if I had been more patient, I could have crafted those buttons myself, or obtained them locally, but I did feel that I was applying the 'people care' portion of permaculture in knitting the sweater myself and helping someone else maintain a small craft business. 

I have been spinning on a half-fleece I obtained a few years ago from a local shepherdess (Sharon has the other half).  While we both felt very happy that Anna, who raised the sheep, lived halfway between the two of us here in the Sierras, we still had to ship the fleece to a wool mill a few hundred miles away to have it cleaned and processed and shipped back to us because we work at jobs to fill that need for cash rather than stay home and card our own wool.  It would have been wonderful to be able to go to a local wool mill, but the demand isn't there now.  However, another small business yielded a profit from customers like us, and manages to stay in business for small yarn producers.  Do we need to be producing our own yarn?  That's an interesting question.... I find it more ethical to make a garment I want than to buy goods shipped halfway around the world, where they were made by people receiving very low wages so that I can afford to purchase those goods on my medium-range salary.  While I would be rich in most of the world from the annual income I have, I am not that far above the 'poverty' line here in the US and purchasing high quality new clothing is often beyond my means.  Also, making things provides two yields: something I can wear, use or give away and the enjoyment I experience while I am creating.  That third yield sometimes comes when I teach others how to make the same item, or entertain them with my descriptions.

That half-fleece is slowly yielding a lot of yarn yardage, and as I ponder what I will do with that yarn, I am having the chance to look at my wardrobe with new eyes... do I need a sweater?  Does someone else in my family?  What else will we all need over the next few years?  If I go out and rampantly purchase items to fill my need/desire to create, am I overusing my 'share' of the resources?  So far, my spinning has been slow enough that I haven't had to worry too much... I usually end up with enough yardage to create a hat or a pair of mitts, or some other small item, which we can use in winter.  I am improving quite a bit, though, and am producing more through less effort.  This is an example of 'obtaining a yield', much the same way that nurturing your soil will begin to result in producing bumper crops of veggies!  While I can 'put by' veggies for later, I might actually reach my home's capacity to absorb knitted items; I don't quilt much these days because I already have quite a few around here that I made over the years.  I doubt I will stop either endeavor, fiber or food, but I might need to look at new outlets for the items I produce and that could be a very good thing.  It could help me have something to barter!

The Great Recession has caused a severe slump in jobs in my region.  Applying this principle of 'obtaining a yield' has led me to look for the creative solutions that people are trying out to sustain themselves since their old jobs have vanished.  I saw many shops close up while the yarn shop was located in downtown Grass Valley; we relocated to a less expensive location, and others were able to start new endeavors in shops that were vacated, especially when some of the landlords began lowering their rents rather than have empty buildings.  If those endeavors meet the needs of enough of the people, they will likely survive this downturn.  Some will not, and they might be ideas whose time is either past or has yet to come.  Some of the people I know without jobs have turned to new avenues of creativity, including selling crafts through outlets such as Etsy.  Some I have read about are learning new skills or completing their education.  My DD will finish her BA in Early Childhood Education in November, opting to complete college when she lost her job a year ago.  Others are volunteering, filling a need even though they are not getting paid.  These people inspire me to hope that something good will spring forth out of a very difficult and dark time.

I would love to hear how this third principle of permaculture resonates with you.  I hope you will leave me a comment!

Joys of Spindle Camp

We are having some pretty unseasonable weather for the last half of May, but that didn't stop a hardy group of members from Foothill Fiber Guild and the Sierra-Carson Handweavers Guild from meeting last weekend at Lake Francis for some spindling fun.

This joint venture started back in the deep, dark days of winter, when someone posted to our listserv about the glories of the Golding spindle website.  Soon, it seemed that members were vying for the title of Queen Spindle Slut, based on who owned the most, or coveted the most, or something like that. 

We also realized that a few of our members were real spindle experts, and those who were newbies suggested getting together for a chance to learn from each other.  Spindle Camp was born, and our dear Jan E. was the one to make sure all the details were gathered together.  After several suggestions about location were thrown out, we voted Lake Francis RV Resort as the location, with something for everyone, including tent camping, cabins with indoor plumbing, a restaurant, and even a pull-through camp site for Amy and her peapod trailer!

The only thing that didn't work out right in the end was the weather, but as Barbara Sue kept telling us, it was just one more excuse to wear wool... lots and lots of layers of wool!  There was also enough of spring floating in the air to give me a nasty case of allergies, but I had already opted not to camp, since this pretty little spot is only 20 minutes from my house!  The sky did clear periodically, but then the winds would kick in.....

We gathered on Friday afternoon, and set up one of the giant pop-ups we use at our Celtic Festival spinning booth, and it was a good thing!  Just as we were settling in to enjoy a Mexican-themed potluck dinner (BJ's homemade goat cheese tamales were to die for!), we got rain and hail both!

It's a good thing we had more wool to wear!

Here's Sara, modeling a pile-woven bag that she uses as her spindling bag... it had been originally intended for a hat.

Note she is also wearing two hand-knit (and probably handspun as well) sweaters, while Barbara Sue, to the right, is wearing two handknit scarves around her neck.

Now, take a closer look at the next photo... in this case, Barbara Sue and her very thick braids are modeling the hat:) 

We stayed into the evening Friday night, as people from both guilds were arriving and all got busy spinning.  Most were choosing to use spindles, though wheels hadn't been banned outright, so a smattering of them snuck in.  Yep, that's the back of the infamous Wooly Daisy, busy at her Kromski wheel... no rickety spindles for her!  Note: hefty handknit sweater, handspun/handknit hat, and handspun/handknit mitts to keep hands working).  It really IS all about the wool!

Amy gave us a great talk about the variety of spindles and their uses.... featuring her ginormous collection.  She was one of our other experts, and has actually tried out every spindle, though she was quick to point out which ones were too thick, blunt, heavy, etc., to spin well and how to shop for a spindle.  Makes ya think she's had a lot of experience in the shopping part too.

Before Steph and I headed home, we wound round to Amy's campsite to admire her newly-refurbished trailer (this from a grrl with a personalized license plate on the truck that abbreviated "Purple Fuzzy Mittens" and another on the trailer that proclaimed "Folk Art").

Amy has had all the wood interior redone with new light birch, as well as a bed, kitchen counter and desks and cabinets to her specifications!  We love her painted details and the lighting she customized. 

I had such a great time on Friday evening that even though I woke up still sick with hay fever on Saturday morning, I decided to doctor myself up and go back for more!  I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn from some of the greats!

Tea, allergy meds, propolis/echinacea throat spray, eye drops and lots of layers of wool, and soon I was feeling well enough to crawl into the car with my spindles and drive back to camp.  I had to take Sunday to rest up, but heck, it's supposed to be a 'day of rest', right?

Anyway, I am really grateful for the time that Jan gave me in understanding how to match fiber to spindle (it's all in the staple length, which she taught me how to check), and for more fun and laughter with Sharon (old blog friend) and Heidi (new blog friend).  Also, for the grand campfire Sara had made at breakfast, which I kept going strong all afternoon, while still acknowledging that it was "her" fire, as the firemaker!

I did manage to fill up my Greensleeves Mjolinar spinning up one red roving dyed by Sue F from her flock's Sweetwater Farm flock, and my Bosworth Moosie (my two favorite spindles, though I only have four) with a lighter pink, also from Sue and plan to ply them together using my Lizzy Kate from Greensleeves.  I had a wonderful time and feel blessed to have such great fiber grrlfriends.

Sustainable Sunday: Second Principle - Catch and Store Energy

This second principle covers a wide range of strategies that are often thought of as separate fields.  What I love about permaculture is how holistic and integrated its outlook is... catching and storing energy is important no matter how you do it, and possible in one and many ways.  The 'and' in that last sentence is the most important word; start with one step you can make, then keep adding others and soon you will be catching and storing lots of energy.  This is such a big topic that I am only going to give you a small overview.  Over the next several months, I will be elaborating further on many of the sub-topics that this principle includes.  I hope you will be able to add other ways that YOU catch and store energy.

Sun

Solar Collectors are popping up on roofs everywhere, but  solar ovens (this link covers a wide range of cooking options) and solar clothes driers (which are catching flak in some neighborhoods... incredible!) are also very valuable ways to catch the sun's energy and put it to use.

Solar energy is also stored in every body of water and every speck of soil as well as the food we eat and the other vegetation around us... that solar energy feeds us and the oil we are burning today is solar energy captured and stored millenia ago.

Wind

Those who have seen the giant wind farm on Altamont Pass in California may question the beauty of this arrangement, but wind energy is becoming increasingly important.  It is now realistically possible to have much smaller wind turbines powering small neighborhoods, and delivering electricity through shorter transmission routes.  Not that it is all that new... windmills have been used for centuries.

Water

I will have to give water an in-depth treatment in the weeks to come... so much of what we do with water allows it to become more polluted as it passes through our lives.  One of the biggest issues in the coming decades will be having enough clean water for all and another will be avoiding the desertification of more lands.  Learning how to slow water as it moves across the land and sink it into our aquifers for use later is a very important water conservation tool.

Nutrients

Gardening in an appropriate manner, i.e., working with the soil rather than against it, allows more nutrients to be retained and transferred to the food crops that we grow.  The nutrients are safely stored in the earth until they are needed.

"By developing systems that collect resources when they are abundant, we can use them in times of need" - Permaculture Principles.com

I know this is only a very brief overview of an important permaculture principle... please visit the above link for some photo examples, and return every Sunday to follow me on a deeper journey into ways we can apply this principle in daily life.

Sustainable Sunday: First Principle - Observe and Assess

The first principle of Permaculture is to "Observe and Assess".  While some might say that just walking around and looking at things is worthless, a waste of time and money, I will counter that often times if this first step is overlooked, the client (or you, the householder) will waste time and money creating features that don't work for your real and daily needs.

What does that gibberish mean, you say?  Some of my long-time readers will recall that DH and I reside in a 150-year old house that needed a lot of restoration in order to make it really livable.  In fact, it will probably benefit from TLC on an ongoing basis.  The house sat empty for approximately 15 years before we came along and decided to purchase it.  We had some funds, but put the biggest down payment out that we could afford, so that our offer would be accepted and our mortgage payment within reason.  That left us with funds to purchase materials, but not enough... we would need to stage our efforts (repair as funds and time became available).  We slept on a futon couch in the living room the first few years, after painting several rooms, including those for the two children still living at home (aged 12 and 15 at the time), and then managed to finish up a room that served as bedroom/office for us (shared with those now-teenagers).  Finally, about 6 years into owning the place, we got our 'own room' finished off and that office became a combined office/library/guest room, favored by visiting family for its close proximity to the main heat source and its access to the Internet into the wee hours of the morning. 

Along the way, we also got to try out three different locations in the house and learned a lot about how we were living in it.  Where did we all want to hang out? How hard or easy was it to stay warm in winter? cool in summer?  A few years into the remodel, we turned to each other and said how grateful we were that we hadn't had lots of cash to dump... we would have made a lot of mistakes!  We needed to observe how we lived in the house to determine the best uses for each area.

The same is true about land, though there are some general categories that you can readily observe, and quickly size up your options.  This is particularly important for those trying to decide whether to purchase a property, and include sun/weather exposure, where the sun travels across the landscape (which will determine much about heating and cooling needs as well as where you will be able to grow things), and where water enters and exits your portion of the landscape.  For example, living on the top of a hill might give you a killer view, but you will also get baked by the sun in summer (increased air conditioning costs) and your house will be knocked harder by storms.  You could even be at greater risk for fire or landslide in the California landscape!

Many will think I am talking about big pieces of land here, and others will shrug their shoulders, saying "I'm stuck with what I've got", but that is not how permaculturalists look at it... there are often solutions to challenges, that make live much more liveable.  I will be gradually delving into many of these solutions over the next several Sundays, but to give you an idea what I mean...if you have a lot of sun in the late afternoon, planting deciduous shrubs to shade your windows can decrease the interior temperature by 10-15 degrees; using a screen can have a similar effect.  Either way, you can create a remedy for the problem.  If wind is a big feature, your local Ag Extension office will be able to suggest which trees make the best windbreak for your region of the country.  I am encouraging planting, and there's that famous old Chinese proverb that says "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now” but once again, "observe and assess".  If you hurry to plant and haven't done your homework on sun angle throughout the year and water availability for your new plantings, you might be increasing your problem by shading the best place on the property to construct your kitchen garden or worse, having the plants die because you can't get water to them!

Speaking of kitchen gardens, the name obviously suggests something planted close to the kitchen, once again for ease of regular use.  Planting salad greens down in that rocky part of the yard, where it is baking-hot at about 5 in the evening when you are beginning to think about preparing dinner not only will be hard on getting them to grow, but will also make harvesting less-than-inviting... those plants simply won't get as much attention as ones placed in an inviting location near the kitchen, or even on the path you take from the car to the door on the way in from work, where you can easily harvest what you need for supper.

Now that we have established some of the 'whys' behind this principle, let me move on to the 'how' part.  We live in a fast-paced and media-driven world, where information is often brought to us, to the point of overwhelm.  I am recommending you make quiet time to go out and observe nature.  Several times a week, if not daily.  I was lucky to be drawn towards that passion through my father, who helped me build up a large botany specimen collection when I was taking high school biology, at the same time teaching me to key out plants to identify them.  You can sign up for a community college class if you want to learn those skills, or simply search out nature hikes given in your area by local land trusts, the Sierra Club, etc. 

As you look at plants and animals out in nature, you will begin to see patterns... some plants grow where it's wet, and some where it's dry, etc. Plants in their natural habitats often grow much more rapidly and vigorously than those in our gardens, and of course the 'weeds' (i.e., plants we didn't want) are so well adapted to the locations they choose that they are way ahead of us most years!

This particular cluster of pale pink, five-petaled flowers was growing almost right in the water of Cherokee Creek when we went hiking there last Friday... on a narrow spit of silty soil surrounded by boulders.  It obviously has a very thick stem, but from past years of observations in the area, I can tell that the whole plant sprung from the ground in the past few weeks!  Although it isn't visible in my picture, down at the bottom of that three foot stem is a rosette of leaves, and a few tiny new leaves are getting ready to sprout out mid-stem.  If I go back in a month, this plant will look significantly different; the power of its growth spurt is now, in spring, when it can depend upon being well-watered by snow runoff.  I searched out the name (Peltiphyllum peltatum, or Indian Rhubarb, Umbrella Plant), but I don't actually need to know it in order to learn a lot about its plant nature.

Soon, if you return to the same types of environments regularly, you will begin to know which plants grow in groups together, and to notice that they don't grow in straight row, more more often in wave shapes or ovals... and with their leaves touching their neighbors.  This understanding is the beginning of your appreciation of plant guilds, groups that flourish together, sharing both horizontal and vertical space!

You can stop with a hand lens and examine the soil, and then will notice that it is usually full of very small life, of more kinds that I can name.  I just read in Teaming with Microbes that one acre of good garden soil contains several pounds of small mammals; 133 pounds of protozoa; 900 pounds each of earthworms, arthropods, and algae; 2000 pounds of bacteria; and 2400 pounds of fungi.  That's a lot of life going on under our feet!

Observation will help you become more aware of weather patterns too.  You could sit in an armchair on your porch, in the same spot at the same time every day all year (for instance, drinking a mojito at 5 PM!), and chart where the sun was in the horizon (helps if you face west if you decide to do this at 5 PM).  This small alteration of your lifestyle would give you powerful information about how the sun moves over your house.  You would have a record of sunny days, rainy days, cold days, and hot ones... even without getting up to read the thermometer.  You can easily see ways to add to that simple observation step; keeping track of the birds you see each day, looking at some of your favorite plants or a tree in view.  All of these simple tools are free... we just have to start using our observation skills.

The more information you gather, the better you will be able to assess your needs.  This practice can work well indoors, in the kitchen or office, to help you re-arrange the tools in a more efficient manner based upon your regular use.  What are you going to observe and assess first?

I leave you with this photo of one part of my natural classroom.. the North Yuba River.

How to Knit A Stockinette Sweater

I will readily admit that miles and miles of stockinette knitting could just bore me to tears, even though I love to knit.  I think I would prefer miles and miles of garter stitch even....

However, the knits I love to wear are often solid-colored, rather plain and fading into the background in their character.... I can't quite reconcile this.  I am attracted to wild and crazy yarns, but solid t-shirts and jeans, and seem to only wear skirts in summer these days.

I was looking ahead last month, to all of the knitting time I would have while listening to lectures during my permaculture design course, and also looking at my stash, since the budget was pretty much depleted.  What did I have and what should I make.  I had stashed some wonderful bright teal green Cascade Sierra a few years ago, purchasing all we had in stock at Fibers back when I attended Bonnie's Color Harmonies workshop.  This was MY green, vibrant and full of life, and someday I would figure out what to make with it.  Then, when the winter edition of Interweave Knits came out, I thought about using the yarn for an updated Icelandic sweater (called Icelandic Star - Ravelry link) featured in the issue.  I had picked up three contrasting colors, also from my personal palette, so that I could make the pattern... sage green, dark brown and pink (the pink is fudging a bit, since the one I need is much more deep blush pink than the one Cascade makes, but close enough!).  I even started swatching up some of the green, knowing I had about one extra skein's worth if I were to make a colored yoke.... and then I discovered this pattern on Ravelry, from the Winter 2009 Knitty.  It spoke to me, both as a sweater I would love to wear and as one that I could probably make while concentrating on serious and studious matters....

So, here's my version of how to knit a stockinette sweater...

Start with yarn and a pattern you love and BE SURE to swatch.

I couldn't get the gauge I wanted but was good enough on the calculator to figure out which one of the sizes in the pattern matched the gauge I was getting, and then marked the directions throughout before starting.

Knit and knit for miles while listening to fascinating lectures for 12 days, stopping periodically to take notes.

When you catch a mistake, rip out immediately, and dive in and re-knit without regret... I was so interested in what I was learning that I sailed six inches past where a buttonhole should have gone on the body.... not to worry, this is fast and easy stockinette.  I ripped back that evening and was all caught back up by the end of the next day of lectures.

Carry along stitch markers, extra needles, stitch holders, etc., so that you can move smoothly to the next step, no matter what it might be.... one day, we had to shift our course timetable around to avoid being pelted by ice and hail, and I was able to knit a whole sleeve up to the point where I would join together for the yoke.  Sleeve #2 took two half-days of lectures.... you see the pattern here.

Be willing to improvise here and there.  The colored yoke of this pattern was originally designed to show off flashy bits of handspun, and I had three colors from the same line of yarn instead.  I chose an order for them, but when I accidentally left part of the yarn at home one day, quickly made a decision to switch orders so that I could use what I had with me... after all, I had already carefully chosen four colors that I loved and that I loved together, right!?

Can you tell?  Maybe, if you look closely, or have a more distinct sense of order than me, or than the designer.... however, there is still symmetry and balance here.  And, all of the parts are assembled! Now, try to concentrate on the more challenging part of the pattern, while listening and taking notes... isn't this fun?

Bask for a few moments in the glory when your fellow students notice you will likely have a sweater completed by the time the course is finished... ah, the joys of being a knitter!

Keep close track, by checking off the colored rows on the pattern (that's why you printed it out!)

Whoops, too much basking!  Go back three inches to pick up the spot where (yet, again!) you whizzed right on past where the seventh buttonhole was supposed to go, and were binding off when you noticed.  Oh, well, no big deal really when you love to knit, right?!

Keep on knitting... the rows are getting shorter!

I did finish the class almost a week ago, and if it weren't for those pesky buttonholes, would have bound off the sweater yesterday afternoon.

However, I ended the night with only about 15 rows to go to finish, which I might do tonight, after sharing my story with all of you.

Or, I might just go and take a bath.  I do want to thank Ruinwin for the wonderful post about staying focused.  There are UFOs to address, and new items clamoring, but I really AM going to finish this lovely sweater before anything else gets picked up!

Sustainable Sunday: Designing a Self-Sustaining Yoga Retreat Community

Yay!  With all of your help, and lots of long days, effort and teamwork, I did it - I am now a Certified Permaculture Designer!!  Whoo, hoo!

This post will be more picture and less content, as I want to give you a bit of the flavor of the course.  I will start working my way through the twelve principles of permaculture next week, so stick with me!

The course was sponsored by the Urban Alliance for Sustainability and cooperatively taught at Ananda Dhiira, a yoga retreat adjacent to the South Yuba River State Park.

This photo was taken on one of the park trails, early in the morning of the first of twelve days of classes... and shows how verdant and green the oak woodland of the Sierra Nevada foothills is in early spring.  Those attending from out of state simply couldn't believe us locals when we tried to explain that the greens would be turning to brown before May ended and that summer-to-fall fire danger ranges from high to extreme.

It was lovely to be on the land of Ananda Dhiira at its spring best, though we got the entire range of Sierra spring weather, from hot afternoons in the 80s all the way through two full days of rain and a terrific hailstorm, lasting over a half hour one afternoon, and covering the ground in white (also damaging my lilacs at home, but that's another story, a sad one).

The community there is very small, with only two full-time residents, tiny yogic nuns who manage the place and open up their facility several times a year for retreats and events.  There is a planning committee and one part-time resident, who was also one of the cooperative teachers for the class.

Over the twelve days of the class, we had lectures each morning and hands-on work almost each afternoon, trying to combine what we needed to learn and know with projects that would help out the community at the same time.

The first weekend, which was also attended as a free-standing "intro" class by two participants, we learned a very fast way to make compost for the garden, callled the Berkeley method.  This method relies on having ALL of the needed brown (carbon) and green (nitrogen) materials ready at once, stacking them like a big layer cake, assuring that the pile is very large and damp (though not soaking), then turning almost daily for 18 days.  The pile in this picture is being contained by pallets, which make a great framework for compost bins.  They are still often available for free to cheap, can be wired together with anything from hay string (the nylon rope that has replaced the old-fashioned baling wire) to zip ties, and then dissassembled to move, get to your compost, etc.  We started in one bin (the pile is about half-built here, then moved to the other, and back and forth it went.  Unfortunately, and most likely because of the cold weather and heavy storms, the pile wasn't keeping warm enough.  My donkeys even contributed extra manure.... however, this pile won't be ready in the usual time; I have provided a link for those wanting to try this method and get a big load of compost to use THIS gardening season.  Let me know if you do, and how it goes!

We were also able to sheet mulch about five of the 28 fruit trees and dig a swale to divert water that was creating an erosion problem. I will be showing you how to sheet mulch, and will also be discussing swales in much greater detail later in this series of posts... they help to dramatically slow down the flow of water over the land, and sink it so that it goes into recharging the groundwater rather than causing erosion or heading downstream.  They are very important for our Mediterranean climate and also useful elsewhere.

We probably had the most fun making a cob bench to enhance the property, taking two afternoons to first lay the foundation and mix the cob (a combo of clay, sand and straw in proportions determined by the clay available to you), and then a second afternoon to apply the cob and sculpt the bench.  Cob building has grown in popularity and is very accessible.  Children can lend a hand, as can those with no building experience or limited strength.  I am not going to try to teach you the process in written posts, as I truly believe this is one area where hands-on is essential to learning.... however, if you are interested in learning more, there is a two-day workshop in my area in late June.  You can probably search up something close to you as well. 

A bench is a nice, small, forgiving place to start.

This first picture shows how to stomp together the cob.

The second photo shows the foundation laid, with rock gathered on the land.

The third picture shows some of my fellow students shaping the cob surface of the bench.

The last picture shows the almost-final bench.

However, probably the biggest contribution we made to Ananda Dhiira's evolution as a self-sustaining community was that of dividing into two design teams who cooperatively worked on ideas for small guest cottages and a bath house for guests, allowing them to expand to the camp status they hope to attain this decade.  Each team learned how to work as a team and employ the large array of resources available from our lessons, our instructors, the permaculture library jointly assembled for the course, and the Internet.  Our final project was to present an hour-long oral report of our findings and designs to the instructors, our fellow students and the owners of the land.

We were all on edge the last morning, excited about what we had accomplished, nervous about giving oral presentations and anxious that we had run out of time and not assembled enough materials.  We all passed, and the two reports were awesome, detailed and insightful.  We ended our twelve days together with a certificate ceremony (our graduation!) and a Cinco de Mayo vegetarian fiesta!

Now, to being saving the planet....

Sustainable Sunday: Does Local Really Matter?

There's been so much talk lately about local food and buying local that I have spent a lot of time pondering what that really means.  How much does local matter?  Is this just another ploy to continue to promote conspicuous consumption?  What if the choice is between buying a high-quality, long-lasting item from an Internet source hundreds of miles away, or junky, trendy items that won't last more than a season, but are at a local shop?  I am not going to address sources overseas in this short post, but as most of you who even peek into a shop only once a year already know, much of the consumer goods here in the U.S. are NOT manufactured around the corner, or even around the country, but overseas or south of the border, where labor costs are lower.  These practices allow us to enjoy an affluent lifestyle at someone else's expense... not really paying the human costs of our consumerism.  May 1st is International Workers' Day, a major holiday in other parts of the globe that originated in the US, though now mostly overlooked here; I want to pause for a moment and honor those who make our lives better through growing food, creating goods and offering services.

Now, back to the subject of shopping local.  I completely believe in eating foods that were grown close to me, thereby reducing the huge environmental costs of cross-country, out-of-season transport.  Food is a subject all its own.  We need to eat it each and every day.  Moving on to clothing, shoes, books, tools, electronics, vehicles of transport and yarn (well, at least that last part is important to me).  While we need these other items in varying amounts, how much of our shopping patterns are need and how much are want?  Would we do better to car-share, tool-share, and shop second-hand?  Craigslist is a pretty good local idea!

Here in my region, the Think Local First Nevada County Foothills group surfaced about a year ago, with one of its strongest goals being to help promote shopping locally and getting our local businesses to survive the Great Recession.  This is an admirable goal.  I want there to be something left here when the dust settles.  I want good restaurants and a strong cultural life.  I want there to be good schools and parks.  I want my friends and family to make adequate livings here, and I don't want any more of them to lose their homes!

I value many of the businesses in my community that have signed up to support this program, particularly my local food co-op, which has an ethically-based purchasing policy that helps me live my values.  I am not so sure all those other businesses, local or non-local have the same ethics... some just want me to spend my money with them.  I don't want to spend it on junk, and I am tired of watching others being pushed by society in general into over-consuming.

The Think Local First website has published this Andersonville Pie Chart, showing where money spent through local businesses flows through the community and comparing it to where money flows through (and out) when spent at non-local businesses.  Those dollars are critical parts of paying for services that our counties and school districts provide to us, and that is an important consideration as well. 

The real question is how to build a community culture that honors the work done by everyone, allows for a living wage and adequate food, shelter and care for everyone, while protecting the earth.  While supporting my local businesses is one part of that picture, I have to say that so far the input has been in the direction of businesses asking for our support but not much is happening in my region in the other direction - that of businesses expanding and providing more opportunities for gainful employment, or production of those things needed for a higher quality of life.  We're not there yet.  We may have to all agree to live in a smaller, but intrinsically richer way to get there, and it certainly will involve exchanges of energy beyond spending money at local businesses.  I am eager to hear what you think!