Archive for the 'Food' Category

Brad Lancaster, Part Two

Brad Lancaster, Part Two
by: vPIP
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Here’s a note from Brad:

“In an average year with 12 inches of rainfall, we harvest over 100,000 gallons of rain a year within the soils of our 1/8-acre site and the surrounding public right-of-way. Yet we (household of 3 people, plus many more using our neighborhood laundromat) use less than 20,000 gallons of municipal/well water a year. This way we give back or infiltrate more water into the community watershed than we take/pump out. That’s key to water sustainability. Give back more than you take.”

Some words to ponder:

Heat Island Effect: is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surroundings.
Bioremediation: any process that uses microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.

Brad’s website: harvestingrainwater.com

desertharvesters.org

Brad Lancaster, Part One

Brad Lancaster, Part One
by: vPIP
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Brad is like the Willy Wonka of the desert! In Tucson he transformed his urban land into a food producing, wildlife attracting, Sonoran desert island. He has also working to plant over a thousand trees in his neighborhood which act as natural air conditioners (very important in the desert). I’m posting a few videos with brad because I’m fascinated by rainwater harvesting and I’m hoping you are too!

In this video he explains how they harvest rainwater off of their own street.

Way more info on Brad’s Site:

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

Andrew Millison

Andrew Millison
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I first met Andrew when I attended Ecosa back in 2005. That was my first exposure to permaculture and rainwater harvesting. Andrew has been living in, and working on, a project in Prescott called the Eco Hood. He also has been working with Dharma Dog Pictures to produce videoblogs about sustainability (which you can get to via andrew’s site: http://www.millisonecological.com/).

Here are some resources for some words in the post:

Watershed: is a region of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, dam, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drainage_basin

Permaculture: is both a lifestyle ethic as well as a design system which utilizes a systems thinking approach to create sustainable human habitats by analyzing and duplicating nature’s patterns (ecology).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/resources/permaculture-general-works/

Grey Water: Wash water from showers and sinks, excluding toilet and kitchen sink water which is black water.

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/resources/greywater-resources/

Bioremediation:any process that uses microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioremediation

Dynamic Water Harvesting: Water Harvesting+ Permaculture

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

sustainable, sustainable route, road trip, roadtrip, green, rain water, rainwater harvest, desert, rain, andrew millison, ecohood, prescott, arizona, alternative, energy, building, permaculture, perma culture, agriculture, drylands

Replant New Orleans

Replant New Orleans
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When we hit up N.O. we stayed with Hillary Strobel of Replant New Orleans.

Words-of-Use (as defined by wikipedia):

Bioremediation: any process that uses microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.

Mycoremediation: coined by Paul Stamets and refers specifically to the use of fungal mycelia in bioremediation.

Daryl Hannah did a great video with Paul Stamets about mycoremediation, totally worth a watch: http://www.dhlovelife.com/v2/show/archive/index24.html

Compost Tea: made by steeping compost in water, puts necessary microbes back into the soil

Food Security: a situation in which people do not live in hunger or fear of starvation.

We did anther video about food security if you haven’t seen it already: Food Share

Merck Forest

Merck Forest
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I’ve taken many-a-hike at Merk Forest and also stayed in their cabins for a few Vermont winter nights. They are a fun place to visit with kids because of all the farm animals and also a well managed forest and trail system. We spoke with Ken Smith about what they do there and what sustainability means. He talks about sustainability being unrealistic unless it’s reachable by more people. How are these concepts or ideals made ‘attainable’ by a wider population? What do you all think?

Food Share

Food Share
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Food Share is an organization in Toronto, Ontario. On their website they explain wonderfully:

At FoodShare we work on food issues “from field to table” - meaning that we focus on the entire system that puts food on our tables: from the growing, processing and distribution of food to its purchasing, cooking and consumption.

We spoke with Rene Biberstein who works directly with the Food Link Hotline, which connects people to their neighborhood food resources.

They also have all sorts of food related info, including how-to’s for things like rooftop gardening and a month-by-month plan to starting your own community garden.

The General’s Daughter

The General's Daughter
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My friend Andrea Davis is working as a “forager” for the General’s Daughter, a restaurant in Sonoma, California. She grows herbs and tomatoes for the restaurant’s use, as well as “forages” for specialty foods at the farmer’s market in town.

We also spoke with the Chef, Preston Dishman, who illustrated the benefits of cooking and eating local food.

Here is an article on another California “forager”:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0503/p20s01-lifo.html

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Common Ground Fair

Common Ground Fair
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This is where we started out our trip, in Unity, ME.

It rained non-stop (except at night) for both days we attended. But during a brief sunny moment we took a tour of the MOFGA Homstead and spoke with one of the farmers in residence.

We’re in Chicago right now! Niether of us have been here before so we’re excited to explore a little.

Video-Road Love

A + M

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Community Intervale, VT

Community Intervale, VT
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We’re up in Burlington, Vermont!

The Common Ground Fair was a rainy, muddy ordeal and I’ll post that video next. It’s been a challenge finding enough time to edit the 12+ hours of footage we’ve accumulated and continue to add to as we go. Everyday we find new things and meet with great people, I can’t even believe how lucky we are.

This video is about the Community Intervale in Burlington. We met with Lindsay Ketchel, who is the Director of Agricultural Programs, she gave us a whirlwind tour! It only just touches on all the things they do, it’s tough turning an hour of footage into 3 minutes!

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