Design in Time

 It can be frustrating having all the tools for design, application and execution of permaculture, along with experience of growing food and getting it to where it needs to go, and seeing the waste of our food system and our culture of consumption. It is especially frustrating when you are a dreamer and ideas man as i am... mostly unpaid, living with no car, and dreaming of a piece of land/institute/artist hermitage to cultivate and create a space that will forever teach, sustain and provide to the possible and mostly distant next of kin, friends, family, and most of all strangers.

                      DON'T STOP, LIVE GENUINELY.

Through the RDNA year, a lot moved as an artist/gardener with very little drawing/drafting experience and a whole lot of dreams and ideas. the best way i found to cull the somewhat haunting dreams and ideas that flood my mind on a constant and hourly level, was in drawing out what i saw in my mind for designs. of course this is a good idea- any designer will tell you that. but i reached a second terrible space in looking at these finished drawings- damn i like that, and i want it to happen more then ever... 

I am 28 years old. I have no medical insurance. i have not much in savings. no college degree. I am unmarried, and mostly volunteering and unemployed, socially against most of the cultural norm in this country, and don't often relate to my own generation let alone the lower or above.
 I am a statistic that, in my mind, the US and most of western civilization sees as a drain on its resources (even though in reality i use very little), especially since i am technically not contributing to the GDP- the very heart of our destructive culture that puts value on the exploitation of people, resources, and creates all living things (and often non) into statistical commodities.

thus disconnecting everything from its natural relationship to everything else. we then devalue, and then revalue into false markets and ledger sheets. this locks our self and other into the new human drama- the seperation from what Humans are inextricably a part of- Nature and its natural order.
   
"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself the master of others, but remains more of a slave than they are."- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, opening from The Social Contract.


 i am a lackluster citizen NOT contributing to the consortium of american consumer culture. i am a Bum, lost soul, and all at once free... sort of.

                                       AND I AM ABSOLUTELY AT PEACE WITH IT.

These two drawings reflect some of those ideals that a growing number (thankfully) of like minded people are moving towards in terms of a self reliance against a hyper-consumer based culture of individualist. we are so driven, and blinded, that we are literally  killing our selves and working even harder to try and counter the very thing that is killing us...  (albeit slowly ill admit and mostly of the usual top 10 diseases related to the very problem i am referring to). 

Between house designs under 1000 square feet, gray water systems, ponds, food forests, passive solar design to heat the buildings, animal husbandry,  medicinal botany, native plant nursery, i have come to realize i have nothing but time on my side...

although most of my plans include succession plantings of some fine plants and animals, many of these reach maturity in 20 years... meaning all the hard labor and work i must accomplish with my own two hands is ticking down a little more every day. 

BUT as i have had in twisting conversations with fellow peers about time- time is a creation of our own existence and consciousness based on our own short life spans and past history (which on the great timeline of time is very very short compared to the rest of the species on this little blue dot).

                                                                           Time. 

Time used to be based on when the sun came up, the seasons changed, the ground could be worked, and the moon was in cycle; not a 9-5 day doing something you most likely don't even love.

 i see time a little differently, finally, in terms of the emphasis we put on how much has been accomplished by a certain age or time, and the expectations that come with it.

we have a life time to do, and not a whole lot of time to spend on thinking about how. application is the best way to spend this said "time". and don't forget to put some time  aside to learn, be in wonder, and share in the curiosity that flows with us in our NATURAL lives.

Where does this leave all of this in the rambling words of this post?

It leaves the fact of the matter that time is always on our side, that accomplishment and success is based on ones own happiness and not that of the status-quo of our toxic culture. its about what YOU want to accomplish, what your dreams are, and designs for a life you are hopefully wanting to be better, and leave behind something others can forever appreciate and wonder at. expectations should be and are only rooted with the self. and DON'T PANIC. living with as little as you need can put into perspective what some of the dreams are that you may want to ultimately leave behind after the short time we all spend on this little blue planet. If you dream and design for a better future, or a future in general, then you may have accomplished more then all the nay sayers of tradition. Permaculture is, after all, about healing what neglect and abuse has been done to both the human, the earth the human relies on indefinitely, and the community in which both (should) exist.  Happy dreaming.

bee swarm # 5?!

swarming bees

cutting branches out. im watching with curiosity about stings... 

the orchard looking west along the west ridge

final cut to the branch that held the swarm

box-o-bees (queen included) Liam and I moving the bees on up!

well another planned day at RDI was 

interrupted by our 7th(?) swarm of the season.

all three of us (Liam, Meghan and i) were in the kitchen garden getting ready to plant some veggies and herbs, when the hum of a swarm filled the air. 

Brock's voice about following the party ringed in our ears and we watched as the air filled with bees, eventually landing in a pear tree near the food forest just behind Penny and James house. 

(you can almost see the house roof in the picture at right.)

we proceeded to have the next top bar hive ready (these hives are one long hive with honey comb bars at the full length) and suited up for our adventure of cutting out all the bees amassed around the queen on the branches of the pear tree. 

its the pirate hives....

Liam dumping bees... in shorts... crazy man

the hive- that's a lot of bees

adding boards... in shorts...

after cutting out some branches we made the final cut (at left) and dropped all the bees and their hive mates into a box.

we moved amongst the swarming bees and their newly claimed branch in-a-box, very calmly mind you, up hill to the hives at the top of the food forest with no stings or anger from the bees at all.

Finally arrived up at their new home amongst our other hives- we are now up to 8 for the season, only starting with 3 out of 5 from last year... its been 4 weeks of constant new swarms. this means our current hives are busy at work expanding, or we are not doing enough to control the amount of queens that are being born. many bee keepers open and manage their hives choosing not to allow the the birth or creation of queen cells- the queen cells look a little bit like peanut shells worked into the side walls of the normal hive cells that birth drones and workers.





















if we find one without melting it down for bees wax i will post it... its been too exciting to save the cells and document.

Meghan took all the photos of Liam and i in our funny suits, and it was a job well done... and it was our first bee capture on our own for all of us- it being the first bee interaction for Meghan ever.

almost finished- some excited bees about their new home.

swarming a pear tree

we did have one closing thought- after checking on a previous swarm that happened a week ago, we noticed one of our newly swarmed boxes abandoned... the hive had comb and chambers, along with some unhatched bees, propolis, and filled honey comb... 

why was it empty? what happened to the unhatched bees? 

a few were still moving.

 we were curious and left with many more questions about exactly what we had seen today....

did this hive come from one of our previous swarms who didnt like their new home?

or was it a hive that out grew its space??

questions upon questions.

the universe is not personal.

Honey Harvest and FOXIE CUBS!

Honey! its good...

This week durring the PDC we captured a swarm as well as harvested some honey! in the late day when we culled the hive, we were processing the honey and we were silly drunk from all the honey we were eating, and covered in.. almost 3 pounds, and one of our first serious harvests from one of our 7 hives!

 this particular hive was not even a month old, and the Honey was several colours.  it also had some uncovered combs, meaning that the bees had not finished filling them and capped them off. this "uncapped" honey wont last as long, but is raw and fresh!!! the darker and lighter honey that we had was most likely the eucalyptus and the smorgasbord of flowers and plants on the farm respectively.  

PDC student Claire ready for the bees.

 The Hive that swarmed brought out some great fashion statements, as well as it being the second swarm of the year from our "kitchen hive." the kitchen hive has volunteered in a hole on the outside wall coverings of the kitchen. they are one of the strongest hives we have, and are constantly coming home with their little saddle bags filled with pollen.

Brock clad in bee protection

 and last but not least the adorable grey fox cubs for 2012.  these two buggers were causing a ruckus knocking over a bucket, and just being a bunch of misfits. they have been spotted under James' and Penny's houses. the mom has been seen more often then these two... we hope they are alright! 

grey fox cubs

OAEC and Venus Transit

main gardens we were drooling over!

 This week with the June PDC here at RDI, we got to travel up to occidental CA, in Sonoma. There we got to Visit the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, or OAEC. Previously the Farallons Institute, it was founded by a core of people who call them selves the sowing circle,  who took the 82 acres and turned it into a permaculture, sustainable farming, water shed restoration, and all around garden paradise. complete with nurseries, guest houses, several amazing examples of earth buildings, wild lands tended, and spectacular gardens and orchards. IF you haven't heard of OAEC before, check them out. web site below as well as some words from their own website.  doing some great stuff in conjunction with the whole Northern California Permie scene.

near the residents houses, a herb and mixed perennial garden up a path

lots of cutting flowers and poppies, some beautiful plants

food production and mixed nursery beds for test plants, herbs and flowers.

From the OAEC web site-  "OAEC is a nonprofit organizing and education center and organic farm in Northern California’s Sonoma County. OAEC was founded in 1994 by a group of biologists, horticulturists, educators, activists, and artists seeking innovative and practical approaches to the pressing environmental and economic crises of our day. Much of the Center’s work addresses the challenges of creating democratic communities that are ecologically, economically and culturally sustainable in an increasingly privatized and corporatized economy and culture. OAEC's programs combine research, demonstration, education, and organizing to develop collaborative, community-based strategies for positive social change and effective environmental stewardship.





OAEC is located in western Sonoma County, 65 miles north of San Francisco, on 80 acres that encompass wildlands of meadows and mixed oak, fir and redwood forests. The Center’s bio-intensive organic gardens and orchards have been a source of inspiration and training for thousands of gardeners, farmers and landscapers for over 35 years, first as the Farallones Institute (1974-1990), then as the Center for Seven Generations (1990-1993), and since 1994 as OAEC. In a typical year, the Center receives over 3,000 visitors. Many attend one of our courses, others come to site tours or to volunteer in the garden. Bay Area social justice and environmental organizations use the OAEC facility for strategy retreats and workshops for their staff and boards. Many thousands more benefit from our organizing campaigns, public presentations, heirloom seed swaps, and consulting services." http://www.oaec.org/

more of the food and mixed gardens.

What a place! Brock Dolman was our tour guide as well as the Director of OAEC's water institute www.oaecwater.org
Brock has been the Co- instructor with Penny here at RDI for the June PDC. Big thanks to him and all of OAEC for showing us around, and being so awesome.

on a Final note, yesterday we all witnessed the Venus transit across the sun... a very surreal site of a small dot drifting across the sun... just another planet. thanks mayans for knowing what you did... what a year.  

The Solar Showers

 In these photos there is the ultimate enclave for the bathing experience:
the Regenerative Design Institute solar showers.

Since moving in to RDI, i have only been taking solar showers in the late afternoon in the shadow of the west ridge. luckily the past few weeks since iv been here have been beautiful, and the water is HOT. surrounding the showers are wild climbing cucumbers, and the soft gurgling and echo of the water pipe for the spring overflow rain garden, and robins in song with the jays and house finch.

 These showers use copper tubing that run through a black painted box with a glass top. the water is heated and stored in a run of the mill house hold water heater. the thermal flow of cold and hot water- cold sinks and heat rises up through the pipes as the cold water finds lower ground through the copper piping to reheat. simple, yet really wonderfully crafted.
even a partially sunny day will give you some warm water.

looking out through the reed screens you can see south down the property and a little of the coast and ocean on a real fog-less day. Bolinas and this sea shore is truly beautiful along with this sacred land that has been created here at RDI. nothing better then the water from the land that you live heated by the sun, and poured over flesh to be clean. wonderful.

Swedish Candle!

To our right-
The amazing center burning upturned log... no fire pit? no need... this is called a Swedish Candle; by cutting a X down the center of the log, you can start a small twiggy fire at the apex of the X, and it will burn down as far as you made the cut, and put its self out.



Below-
not the most prime example of chainsaw safety protocol, but at least he is wearing glasses right? cut the log, start a small fire, and you have a wonderful instant outdoor fire! you could even bury the log slightly in a pit, combine a few others cut the same, and make a larger or smaller candle!

when we lit it, it was a really nice self controled little fire, and if you cut an X on both bottom and top its a super efficient way to have a small and safe fire, and be efficient with the wood you have.

the X cut in the log allows air to flow through and heat the fire from below with updraft, and when it hits bottom, it smolders out. really cleaver fire making.

i wonder how many other ways you could cut a log, make art, or use this process of burning?