Tag Archive | "gardening"
Mixed media
I delivered two TED-style talks at the 2011 International Conference on Sustainability, Transition and Culture Change in Bellaire, Michigan. The presentations embedded below were delivered to the few dozen people remaining at the conference on its fourth day, Sunday, 13 November. The first video clip describes my personal journey in the usual, self-indulgent manner, and [...]
Continue reading...Preparing in place (and speaking in other places)
Saturday, November 5, 2011
There are various ways to ready oneself for the trip down the peak-oil curve, as well as for climate chaos. Most importantly, as I’ve indicated many times, is psychological readiness. If you are mentally prepared for a future radically different from the past you’ve known, you’re well on your way to thriving in the years [...]
Continue reading...Couchsurfing with my soapbox
Thursday, September 29, 2011
My recent foray to Wisconsin and Michigan had me staying five different homes, hence sleeping in five different beds and eating at many different tables. It was quite an exciting adventure, spent with wide-awake people, and I hope to repeat the experience as many times as the industrial economy allows. I’ve embedded one of the [...]
Continue reading...Film series: food preparation
Saturday, September 3, 2011
This clip explains most of our food-preparation strategies. I’ve included neither the conventional electric oven in the mobile home nor the microwave oven in the outdoor kitchen (though you can see the latter at the 1:30 mark, to the right of the grinding mill). Acknowledgments: As regular readers can guess by now, Karen Sliwa performed [...]
Continue reading...Film series: food storage
Thursday, September 1, 2011
This clip explains strategies we use to store food at the mud hut. Acknowledgments: As usual, Karen Sliwa performed real work on the property while Mike Sliwa shot and edited these videos. You can follow the work of Mike and Karen here.
Continue reading...I don’t know shit
Saturday, July 30, 2011
I was in the garden last week, digging a new bed with the aid of the two WWOOFrs, Mike and Karen. We excavated to the usual depth — that is, until exhaustion stopped us — then installed a hardware-cloth “basket” before refilling the bed. When we amended the soil pile of rocks by adding horse [...]
Continue reading...Making connections as the world burns … unless 126 does the trick
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
I’ve managed to connect via email several people, most of whom I’ve not met. I have connected directly with many like-minded people using myriad outlets, including online fora, email, telephone, and live-and-in-person. The latter has proved most gratifying, particularly including the few hundred visitors to the mud hut. Online opportunities have been largely disappointing to [...]
Continue reading...Quickening
Thursday, April 7, 2011
In the United States, various states offer glimpses into the future of industrial economies. Wisconsin is filling the mainstream media outlets, but California really leads the way. In the latter state, the lights have gone out and the water has been turned off for a significant number of people. Those events are coming to the [...]
Continue reading...Starting over
Friday, February 18, 2011
Judging from my email in-box and the occasional comment in this space, my essays have taken a surprising turn. It seems my efforts are worth alerting the authorities, at least according to comments from anonymous cowards who hide behind online monikers. Unsurprisingly, the black helicopters haven’t arrived yet. Apparently the authorities are otherwise occupied. If [...]
Continue reading...Or die trying
Friday, February 11, 2011
I wrote an entire book on the life of the mind, if you can imagine that. A significant portion of the book was dedicated to the importance of a liberal education, and I’ve written about that topic in this space, too: Liberal teaching means putting everything I know, and everything I am, at risk in [...]
Continue reading...
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
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