It’s not about “dropping out” of the system or removing yourself in any way. While that’s the end goal we actually need to “drop into” something first. What we need to do is create the things that will replace the system by meet our needs, from the place where we live. Only then will we […]
Author Archives: Milton
Thanksgiving Synchronicity
I had a small synchronicity leading up to and over the Thanksgiving holiday… First, I showed up to harvest microgreens Tuesday before Thanksgiving and ended up listening to J. H. Kunstler interview Chris Martenson. Kunstler is a bit of a cranky but eloquent old man, Chris Martenson is behind the Crash Course and has sort of […]
Frost as an Indicator of Microclimate
How would you change where you plant things if you knew the places that escape the first or second frost of the season? Little things can add up to make a big difference!
Step Forward, Into the Future
Are you just holding on till tomorrow? Or, are you taking a step, no matter how small, forward. The more steps we take the further we go. It’s a long journey ahead but we’ve committed to it, there’s no going back.
Leveraging a Job
“…Although people deeply involved in a system often know intuitively where to find leverage points, more often than not they push the change in the wrong direction.” – Donella Meadows This morning I had a realization that having a job is a very important leverage point; there is so much effect that we can create by how we work […]
Design Intention
Permaculture seeks to impose thoughtful changes on both us and the land. Often these changes can require continual upkeep and burden us with chores. Perhaps that’s the lure of modern life, trading many little chores for a job and shopping. Creating systems that work on their own or very easily cuts down on the to […]
Iterative Design Process
Simple in it’s form, complex in it’s function. The iterative design process (IDP) works recursively and is best used fractally. Fundamentally it is observation of all interacting parties to find leverage points that move us in the direction of goals, the greater the depth of the observation the more accurate the design. Goals & Ethics […]
The Permaculture Flower I
So I’ve been working with the GLPDC to create lectures for our ongoing PDC. We’ve adopted using the permaculture flower, by David Holmgren, as a landmark for each topic but I’m thinking it works differently than we initially understood. Before we thought that a topic, say water, would manifest certain petals of the flower. Now I think […]
Permaculture is Best when it is Creative Commons
A friend of mine got a DCMA takedown notice on his website. This is my respose: …If you need pictures in the future use the search tools in google image search. We could talk about the licensing or you could read up on creative commons if you need to. For optimum permaculture I’m recommending that […]
Permaculture Design as Meditation
There are many different takes on what real “permaculture design” is. Maps and surveys, hours spent fussing over the contours and placement. Charettes, meetings, and design methods with silly acronyms like O’BREDIMET give us a form and a process to follow. What actually happens through that process? What do the circumstances tell us is most […]