permaculture — Transition Voice

The tomato incident

By Sherry Ackerman September 19, 2012

I was in my greenhouse the other day, watering some enormous tomato plants. These plants are massive — well over my head and still going strong. They're planted in a raised bed, with about thirty of them shoulder-to-shoulder in close quarters. It’s literally a tomato jungle. They're lush, full, heavy with tomatoes and the pride of any gardener. Enter my friend, who upon seeing this eye-candy, says “You can’t grow tomatoes like this. They will never survive.” After a pause to do a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gardening, Transition Tagged With: gardening, permaculture, Transition

Waste not, want not

By Melinda Cheel August 16, 2012

If you take a long hard look at a landfill you’ll see both tremendous need (where do we continue to put all this waste?) and undertapped opportunity (how can we redesign, reuse, and repurpose to avoid the landfill altogether?) We’ve been exploiting natural resources at an unsustainable level for nearly a century to create material goods for our well-being and pleasure. Over that time we’ve become a consumer society, increasing our demand for goods and pushing the limits of our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conservation, Economy Tagged With: clean energy, conservation, economy, local economy, permaculture, waste

The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country

By Vicki Lipski July 26, 2012

Peter Bane’s handbook, while not quite encyclopedic, is nothing if not authoritative. I can honestly say, without fear of exaggeration, that I hold my head a little higher as I stride about my miniscule fiefdom, now that I’ve read The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country. The stones Bane leaves unturned are few and far between. Once you’ve digested the author’s ruminations on mapping, patterns, and garden elements, perennials, water, soil, plants, crops, seeds, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: DIY, gardening, permaculture

The rise of re-use

By Ralph Nader May 25, 2012

Last week I read that the glitzy world of virtual reality created instant multi-millionaires and several billionaires when Facebook went public selling shares. Last week I also noted the important real world problem of some 250 million tons of solid waste a year in our country alone. Guess which “world” gets the most investment, status, fame, klieg lights, and attention of the skilled classes and the power structure? Guess which world is more important for our wellbeing and that of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: conservation, DIY, permaculture, Ralph Nader, recycling

What are you and your Transition group doing this May?

By Staff Reports March 23, 2012

From coast to coast, in urban and rural communities, abandoned lots are being converted into green oases and school children are pulling weeds and planting tomato starts. Whole communities are signing up to pick up shovels and tools to help install rainwater harvesting systems, improve insulation, install solar panels, and bring homegrown produce to their friends and neighbors. How it all began On May 14 & 15 last year, during the first Transition US Home & Garden Challenge, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition, Transition US Tagged With: community organizing, DIY, food, homesteading, permaculture, relocalization

Cold comfort. Review: The Winter Harvest Handbook

By Lindsay Curren February 27, 2012

Every gardener knows the thrill of gardening season coming upon them. Nigh about January, when those seed catalogs start rolling in, the imagination lets loose its longings, dreaming of the joy of watching the garden take shape, of favorite vegetables growing and the recipes they inspire, and of new plantings, experiments with life's mystery and bounty. The season, feeling too short in most places, becomes a condensed element of time in the year. It's the window where a relationship to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: cooking, DIY, farming, food, gardening, homesteading, local food, permaculture

Towards ecological literacy: A Permaculture approach for junior secondary science

By Nelson Lebo III December 1, 2011

The profound lack of sustainable systems on our planet is of great concern to environmentalists, some of who are educators and some of who are permaculturists. Many of the problems facing Earth and its inhabitants are caused by a lack of ecological literacy among much of the human population. Ecological literacy includes an understanding of the scientific principles of ecology, including the recognition of limits and possibilities. It also includes an attitude of care toward the environment … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Permaculture, Transition Tagged With: gardening, local food, permaculture, relocalization, science

The importance of domestic animal diversity

By Steven French October 10, 2011

For century upon century domestic animals have been bred with specialized traits suited to particular tasks or to live and prosper in specific climates or regions. Arguably these domesticated breeds are of significance equal to their brethren who live in the wild and just like their wild counterparts, many of the breeds are in danger of extinction. Indeed some breeds have already been lost. To illustrate my point, I'll focus on the type of domestic livestock I'm most familiar with: sheep. Or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: DIY, farming, homesteading, permaculture

Seeking solutions through social enterprise

By Ted Levinson September 13, 2011

For more than thirty years prior to 2007, Americans consistently identified nuclear war as their biggest fear. However, since then, North Americans have increasingly singled out the degradation of our environment as their biggest worry. It's a sad irony that the threat from our foreign enemies has been displaced by fear of our own destructive powers. Much of this concern is valid; our communal future is at risk less from a single, cataclysmic event than from the steady ruining of our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: biodynamic gardening, clean energy, economy, nuclear power, peak oil, permaculture, social enterprise

Organic matters

By Vicki Lipski September 12, 2011

My mother-in-law’s philosophy can be summarized this way: if a little is good, more is better. In fact, my husband’s mother ardently believes that a little is always bad, and that a LOT is always good. Big is better than small, too. This is a profoundly patriotic, American attitude. Say what you like, we’re all about more, bigger, faster, better. Take agriculture, for instance. When Earl Butz called upon American farmers to plant “fence row to fence row,” it was entirely in keeping … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: activism, farming, food, gardening, homesteading, organic, permaculture

Readers and authors talk

Elisabeth J. Potts on Climate collision course: CO2 levels about to hit 400 ppm » As of this week, we have already reached the 400ppm milestone. Here's the thing: We all need some sp...
Ed Johnson on Roundup of distressing climate news » Thank you all for your comments and commitments. I too sense this with out all the research backgrou...
Lee Samelson on The climate change mountaintop » It seems like the stages occur in reverse order for climate hawks Climate hawks or climate activists...
Steve on For sale, habitable planet, too late » Doug, I am in a similar place to you, I think. I have probably never really faced up to the reality ...