Permaculture - hooray!!!

Permaculture – hooray!

Max & Maria the Permaculturists - visited the garden yesterday…and what a great inspiring download! He loves my metal roof, thinks I can get all the water I need for a whole dry season from it with t he right storage…and the west side of the house is perfect for one of those “water walls” made of 1500 gallon vertical rectangle storage tanks…this instead of creating a grey water system…so much cleaner and useable…although will require many expensive storage tanks…maybe we can do a combination of rainwater collection and greywater syatem…

Lots more opportunities for making this place into paradise…use pond liner instead of cardboard to lay down on top of the weeds in my walkways and open space areas…it will heat up to as much as 140 degrees and kill even the deeply rooted weeds in a few months, then we can go in and make a new garden area, waterways, whatever we want…

What else? Well – money was not object – we could create paradise right away…more realistically, we are going to take out some more trees that are keeping the sun out, make better shade areas in the right places…put the main garden areas into maximum cultivation by tending and soil cultivation, and more…

I have great confidence in Max and am excited that he wants to design this permaculture plan for me! I advise anyone who wants to get the maximum from their space to hire a specialist for advice and a consultation, even if you are intending to do the work yourselves.

Let’s Plant a Garden and Lose Weight

So - the last few years it has been hard to maintain my weight…anyone else got this problem? I drive to work, sit at a computer most of the day, then drive home - stopping at the store for a bag of lettuce and squash that came from…where?

Turns out - that instead of having others grow my food, doing the labor of love and magic with seeds and water…if I do it myself, it counts as a workout! How about receiving the multiple rewards of tighter abs, flexibility in thighs and shoulders, better nutrition with local, seasonal & organic food - and - a feeling of satisfaction at being involved with the miracle of life!

Regular garden chores can burn anywhere from 250 to 400 calories per hour. Stress relief is another bonus as we are also outside, touching earth, getting sunshine and fresh air - that age old health giving solar friend. This is Healthy Body Permaculture - getting benefits on many levels at once. To repeat - the food is also healthier for many reasons, including calorie count!

To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson - “When I go into my garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands.”

Bye for now - I am off to put on my hat and gloves…

Permaculture - I hope!

My lovely house needs a lot of garden work – the raised beds have little soil in them, the yard is filled with weedy grass and “stick tights” catch your shoes…

I am putting down cardboard on every place I can to kill the weeds – and since I just moved in – there are a lot of empty boxes to use…that is a good thing.

My little apple tree which has been in a pot for over a year is freaking out – and tho it is a lousy time of year to plant it - I dug a hole today – and filled it with water . Two hours later it was still half full…looks like my soil doesn’t drain….ok, lots of issues. The good news is that Max Meyers – of MELC & a famed local Permaculturist – is coming over tomorrow to take a look and give me some consultation service….can’t wait! What can be done over time to make this a food producing paradise? I will be finding out….

THE RAG BAG

Today I started a rag bag in my “old house)….yep – it was time…things were out of hand – pretty good dish towels were being used for painting rags, washing the floor – everyone – the cleaning lady, my fab guy, myself – were ignoring the rules for frugality and waste. This lack of rags was soon going to send me to the store to buy some decent looking dish towels!!!

It was a happy accident – I found an old vintage table cloth that had been chewed by a mouse. It looked good enough to make a dozen napkins from the good areas- so I started ripping….not into hemming, I frayed the edges - the first laundry will add to the effect…I recommend it to everyone – cloth napkins save paper, they save your pants from that uneasy swipe, they may even save your carpet if a glass goes over…So - lets do it! Make your own napkins! They can be made from new fabric that you just ca’t resist, or from old clothing that you love, or like me - a “saved” bit of vintage cloth.

Sure a bit of water and soap are used to clean them – but you can use them over a few times before they need a wash…esp if you use napkin rings for each person in the family…

Ok, anyway – I make napkins, rags, and a rag bag – all in less than an hour – and my wonderful vintage cloth has a second life!

As I cut and ripped, I pondered this old fabric – what stories could it tell? What has it seen? Did some woman proudly place a pitcher of freshly made lemonade in the center? Did children spill cherry pie – making those old stains?

CAR SHARE – YEAH BABY!!!

CAR SHARE – YEAH BABY!!!

Wow – a just in time response from my great friends – Lanny and Karina – got me into a working vehicle - an old Dodge Caravan - which just now carried me 80 miles so that I could play “Nana” tomorrow …

Ok, the full story – I spend every Monday with my grandson – Adrien – so his mom and dad can go to work, and we get to play together. It is important to the continuity of their lives that I make it when I promise - every time!

To my rescue was the loving generosity of my true friends – pure and simple. Now, this is not exactly car share officially – but isn’t it great that we can occasionally help each other out with an extra vehicle?

More on the embarrassing details…of…..BIODIESEL MAINTAINANCE

Despite the benefits of biodiesel- Yesterday I put some bad fuel into the tank of my Jetta, and now the filter is clogged, perhaps even the line – so, my car is out of order…no fuel is getting to the engine…it will cost me to make up for this simple mistake..

I knew better…that is the worst part…having not checked the bottom of my little storage tank in 2 years - not changing the pump filter also - always being in a rush!!!

Anyway, you know that sucking feeling when you suddenly realize that your fuel storage tank is emptying the dregs in the bottom into your car’s fuel tank? No? Well – learn from my story – if you are going to store and pump your own biodiesel, you gotta take charge of details like fuel quality and filtration! I won’t go into it here - click on that link for more…about algae, water, other  potential contaminants and how  to avoid them…

CAR SHARE

For several years in Willits we studied how to create an official “car share” in our small, rural town, and although we have not yet found how to do it economically (without simply creating a commercial rental business)…the unofficial sharing of vehicles is a family tradition that helps everyone get around.  Let’s face it- We have gotten used to the convenience of owning a separate vehicle, hopping in and going…………… wherever!

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

I could also go on a rant about the lack of convenient public transportation such that we could all find ways to get around without needing a personal vehicle. Multimodal transport – rail, bus, transportation hubs and small electric town cars in combination could free us from the burden of true personal vehicle cost. By the way, we are about ready to vote on 2 important propositions here in Calif & Northern Calif..I urge everyoe in Sonoma and Marin counties to vote YES on the SMART proposal this November! And - YES to High Speed Rail as well!

OWNERSHIP COST

Did you ever do the math on your car ownership costs? Try it! If you add up the various costs for registration, insurance, depreciation, maintenance and fuel, you find out that it costs about $7000-9000 per year to maintain a quality vehicle. How many days a year do you work to make up this expense? OR - how many bus tickets, rail trips and short rentals would it take to equal that amount? Think about it!!! I am sure that the recent increases in gas prices have put car trip costs on everyone’s radar, but most of us still have yet to appreciate the full story on the cost of car ownership. Only a few folks get it, although we are all riding more bikes, sharing rides, walking, making fewer unnecessary trips. By the way, my figure on the true cost of driving does not begin to include the subsidized cost of roads, the cost to the environment for cradle to cradle building and junking cars, sequestering carbon and cleanup of oil spills, and more…

So – although I am in total gratitude for the salvation of my schedule trip by my buddies with an extra car, I am still in a quandary about how to release myself from the ownership of this car!! Nearing retirement forces the question for many of us boomers who will not have the ongoing income to afford this luxury of a personal vehicle. What if I could work less, need less, rather than needing to earn more money to cover expanding expenses? Whew – the innovative possibilities in this answer…who will figure this out for the 78 million of us? Break the chain… Challenge. Change.