“Richard Heinberg- whose latest book describes The End of Growth- isn’t looking for when the recession will end and we’ll get back to “normal”. He believes our decades-long era of growth was based on aberrant set of conditions- namely cheap oil, but also cheap minerals, cheap food, etc- and that looking ahead, we need to prepare for a “new normal”.
gardening
Drummondville’s front yard vegetable garden
“As they’re about to turn 50, and wanting to adopt a more healthy lifestyle, Josée and Michel decide to plant a vegetable garden outside their home in the suburbs of Drummondville, Quebec. Their backyard had little sun exposure, so they decide to set up the garden in the front yard. Once the garden beds are in place and the vegetables have started growing, the city asks them to remove their garden to put lawn back, but the couple decides to fight.”
Farm and Homestead Resiliency Principles in Practice
“Ben Falk’s talk in Ithaca on March 4, 2013 at the Ithaca public library on permaculture approaches to homestead and farm resiliency.
Love for Life: From Bare Earth to Abundance
Must see video of a super productive, suburban backyard vertical garden made with salvaged materials. Enlarge video to full screen. Get a pen and paper handy to take notes. Pause occasionally to catch details. As you’re watching with gaping mouth, keep in mind the plants are only ten weeks old. Love for Life is trying to encourage people to work together to create similar gardens and unplug from the system. Be sure to catch the song at the end near 46:35.
Free Food Forever
Learn how to grow your own food forever at little or no expense once established. The solution is forest gardening.
Self-reliance in LA
“Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne have been farming their yard in Los Angeles for over a decade. In addition to a mini orchard and extensive veggie garden, they have all the instruments of an urban homestead: chickens, bees, rainwater capture, DIY greywater, solar fruit preserver, humanure toilet, rocket stove, adobe oven. But they don’t like to talk about sustainability of self-sufficiency, instead they prefer the term self-reliance.