permaculture

Anita Otilia Rodriguez * Amazing Artist * Adobe Contractor * Community Leader

My daughter, Shemai, and I have been on perhaps a thousand construction sites between us as professional contractors. Back in those days two beautiful women in coveralls, tape on hips, knee pads and sassy attitudes was way against the rules in a super-macho trade. Simply to make a living in an extremely competitive business we learned to “read” construction sites with psychic accuracy.

Working with this crew was a first for both of us.

We are more than impressed, we are honored to know Vets Off Grid and the volunteers who supported their leadership. Vets off Grid are deep, beautiful, humble, authentic, thoughtful, highly skilled people. I VOTE THEM THE BEST NON-PROFIT IN TAOS, and if I were not 83 none of them would be safe.

What they did was like a choreographed homage to team work, to community in action – making art, sanctifying the revolutionary and primordial process of building together. A dance, a prayer.
Watching them I realized that the present construction industry conquered and colonized the natural, organic RIGHT to build as a united community. We have been robbed of the natural process of creating architecture according to one’s culture, ecosystem, and locally available materials.


Like the deadly touch of Midas, the profit motive permeates our entire system, and vernacular building (building by the people, for the people) has become a for-profit industry that is responsible for 37% of global pollution, and holds us hostage as captive consumers.


Everyone in this group picture understands that building together is a deeply revolutionary act of spiritual de-colonization on the most practical and essential of levels. More than a right – building together is part of surviving in the biosphere – even oysters, bees, bears and moles have housing!


But there is more, a backstory behind this work of art still in process. I am the alleged leader, it was my idea. On June 25 I got up to pee, passed out and woke up in a puddle of blood. ER, then 10 days in intensive care at Holy Cross, then to Odelia re-hab in Burque, while the foundations, Hyper-adobe and counter pouring are going on at the STAKEOUT, I have been moved to 8 beds in less than a month.
From the frying pan to the fire and back to the pan, 8 times, from one hospital unit to another, never, ever coming home to roost with what I longed for more than anything else – peace and quiet in my own space.

After the accident, family and friends undertook to remodel my house, replace the beautiful sunken tub with a safer shower, put in ramps, and is still in process. The pinche insurance company kicked me out of Odelia for being too healthy but before the remodeling is finished! Thanks too for the titanic efforts of my son-in-law from heaven, John Fernandez. It has taken a team of about 7 family and friends to keep me alive, organized by my daughter who is ALSO running the CASA construction site, AND taking care of me – 24/7.

https://www.veteransoffgrid.org – Veterans Off-grid

https://www.facebook.com/VeteransOffgrid.org

Permaculture found to be a sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture

RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau has shown for the first time, in a joint study with BOKU University, that permaculture brings about a significant improvement in biodiversity, soil quality and carbon storage.

In view of the challenges of climate change and species extinction, this type of agriculture proved to be a real alternative to conventional cultivation—and reconcile environmental protection and high yields.

Permaculture uses natural cycles and ecosystems as blueprint. Food is produced in an agricultural ecosystem that is as self-regulating, natural and diverse as possible. For example, livestock farming is integrated into the cultivation of crops or the diversity of beneficial organisms is promoted in order to avoid the use of mineral fertilizers or pesticides.

(https://phys.org/news/2024-07-permaculture-sustainable-alternative-conventional-agriculture.html)

Permaculture Design for International Development

Here is the announcement for Quail Springs permaculture design certification (PDC). course for International Development at Quail Springs this May.

We just heard there is a chance that Steve Gliessman, the grandfather of Agroecology, may be able to teach. We will get confirmation in April as to whether he will be able teach here this year.

www.quailsprings.org

Permaculture Design Course for International Development

Quail Springs Permaculture

Southern California, USA

May 9-22, 2016

For More Information

Turning Yards into Gardens & Neighborhoods into Communities by Food Not Lawns & Heather Jo Flores

Bring the author & founder of Food Not Lawns to your town to teach workshops, plant gardens & build community.

Lawns are the Worst!

Americans spend over $30 billion every year to maintain over 40 million acres of lawn. Yet over 40 million people live below the poverty level. Even if only ⅓ of every lawn was converted to a food-producing garden, we could eliminate hunger in this country.

Lawns use more equipment, labor, fuel, and agricultural chemicals than industrial farming, making lawns the largest (and most toxic) agricultural sector in the United States. Lawnmowers burn more fuel every year than all industrial oils spills of the last twenty years, combined. Growing Food Not Lawns is a beautiful, responsible and empowering step towards finding real solutions to the major problems we face as a global society.

Grow Food, Not Lawns!

When the original chapter of Food Not Lawns started in 1999, in a tiny space behind a park in Eugene, Oregon, our vision was to share seeds and plants with our neighborhood, to promote local awareness about food security, and to learn about permaculture, sustainability and organic gardening.

Our project blossomed. We received a Neighborhood Improvement Grant from the City of Eugene, and conducted a low-cost permaculture design course for the neighborhood. We transformed most of the neighborhood lawns into lush organic gardens. We hosted annual seed swaps. Soon, we started to get mail from people around the country who were starting up local Food Not Lawns chapters of their own, and a movement had been born.

In 2006, co-founder Heather Flores published Food Not Lawns, How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community (Chelsea Green.) The first half of the book is about gardening in the city, with no budget and on shared land. The second half is about working with people to build community around shared food and resources.

The book sold over 25,000 copies, and now there are more than 50 affiliated Food Not Lawns groups in the United States, Canada, and the U.K.. The original Food Not Lawns collective just hosted its 16th annual seed swap, and the meme, “Food Not Lawns,” has taken root in the mainstreamconsciousness.

We need your Support!

Stickers, T-shirts and Yard Signs help spread the message

This campaign is a tool to raise funds for outreach and education, and every donation comes with a Reward that helps everyone.

Starter kits help you establish and expand your local Food Not Lawns project.

Website sponsorships connect people to your work (we place your logo on our website) and support the expansion of the long-standing website, www.foodnotlawns.org, into a user-generated network for sharing skills, knowledge, photos, events and other resources.

Consultations with Heather Flores help you get creative with your garden design and/or community project.

“50 ways to Grow Food Not Lawns,” a new audio handbook from Heather Flores, gives a fun overview of urban permaculture and lawn-transformation techniques.

Workshops in your community will help jump-start new gardens and strengthen local networks by bringing people together to share seeds, resources, tools and knowledge about permaculture, sustainability and organic food.

Food Not Lawns Workshop Tour

This is the main focus of this campaign, and if funding is successful, Heather Jo Flores will travel all over, teaching workshops and helping people turn lawns into gardens and neighborhoods into communities. Please note that all events on this tour will be booked through this Kickstarter campaign, as premium rewards. If you want your town to be on the tour, pledge $500 or more. You can sponsor the event yourself, collaborate with a local nonprofit or university, or sell advance tickets to workshop participants. Funding deadline is March 21 and at that time tour schedule will be confirmed and announced.

Hosting Heather Jo Flores in your community means so much more than just hearing her talk. Heather literally wrote the book on Food Not Lawns, and as one of the founding members, she has had her thumb on the pulse of this movement since the beginning. She emphasizes friendship-based learning, and her events always incorporate a heavy dose of community interaction and team-building play. Specific curriculum will be tailored to meet the needs of your community.To learn more about workshop details, visit foodnotlawns.org/events.html.

It’s Not Just About Gardening!

Food not Lawns is not just about gardening. It’s not just about food. And it is certainly not just about social media. We are about building neighborhood-based, friendship-driven communities, on the ground, in person, and for real.

FNL has always maintained a very simple approachWe help each other turn yards into gardens;

We host events to share seeds, plants, skills, tools, land and information;

And we educate and advocate for communities that want to take back control of their food from the corporate profiteers.

These actions, when combined, build empowered local networks, and help foster a strong sense of community-wide security, stability and sustainability.

Remember, if we don’t reach our goal of $10,000 by March 21, we don’t get any of the funding!

This means no tour, no t-shirts and no audiobook! We really want to share all of this with you, so please help us make it happen.

We Love you! See You Soon! More