Sustainable Food Production

I recently applied to the new program in Sustainable Food Production at M State Fergus Falls. I also made an appointment to meet with the program director, Dr. Sue Wika, in early July. It's a year-long, 30-credit program that combines practical farming knowledge with insights from the social and natural sciences.

What got me interested in this program? Well, I've always had fantasies of becoming a farmer. I looked into the Land Stewardship Project's Farm Beginnings program, but it's not offered close to where I live, so it wouldn't be practical. Also, I miss school. I miss taking classes, interacting with professors, having discussions with students excited about the same concepts and ideas I am. And, the Fergus Falls program integrates sociology... one of my main academic interests. I love the way social scientists look at the world. Learning how to farm while also being with students and professors who analyze things through sociological perspectives sounds really great right about now.

Classes start August 26th, 2010... two months from now!

Homemade Deodorant

This week I decided to experiment with ways to make my use of deodorant more eco-friendly. It all started with this online class I am taking from MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) on "Elements of Sustainability." Our assignment for this week is to come up with an eco-friendly product or package.

So I started thinking about deodorant -- particularly, how many sticks of it I use up and throw away each year. I decided to do some research.

I found a lot of information from people talking about the carcinogenic ingredients in deodorant, the ostensible connection between aluminum and Alzheimer's, etc. But what I was most interested in was the packaging. Is there a way to improve on it?

Well, yes there is. Eliminate it.

I found some recipes for homemade deodorant, and I cooked one up. It calls for 1/4 cup corn starch, 1/4 cup baking soda, 2 T coconut oil, and essential oils "to taste." I personally dumped a lot of essential oils in my batch.

I poured my concoction into muffin wrappers and stored them in the freezer. I've been using my own deodorant product for two days now, and so far it works.

I also purchased one of those deodorant crystals online... It should arrive tomorrow. I've tried the crystal in the past and it didn't work, but I'm willing to try again.

So much for designing a better deodorant package, when getting rid of packaging is a viable option (at least for me).

My Garden

I love my garden. I'm not the greatest gardener, though -- I tend not to read the instructions on seed packets or pay attention to when, or where, I am planting seeds.

I have had success in the past growing sweet peppers, and so I'm looking forward to watching the peppers develop on my four pepper plants this year. I have fond memories from last summer, going out into the garden in the morning to pick some fresh peppers to add to the salads I was making for my brown-bag lunch. (I didn't use brown bags, though -- I used cooler lunch bags.)

This summer, my garden has peas, beans, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, and a cauliflower. Last summer I tried growing a cauliflower and got nothing but a sad, small, brown lump of veggie mass.

I am determined to become better at growing my own food -- a must as we face the "long emergency" and energy descent. I guess I might have to start reading instructions on seed packets one of these days.

Chris Martenson in Austin, MN

I just found out that Chris Martenson is going to be giving a Crash Course presentation in Austin, MN on Monday, June 28.

I saw Chris Martenson speak the Minnesota Historical Society on June 2, 2010. I had never heard of him before, and I'm so glad I found out about him. His presentation was amazing. It was a whittled down version of his 3 hour Crash Course video, which is available for viewing on his website. The event was an open meeting of the Minnesota Legislative Energy Commission (LEC), but not many elected officials showed up. The politicians were vastly outnumbered by community members -- including people in the Transition Towns movement, local authors, and non-profit leaders (including David Paxson of World Population Balance).

Chris was introduced by Dick Hemmingsen, Director of the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment at the University of Minnesota. By the way, Dick Hemmingsen is truly a nice guy -- he helped me out with a former research project of mine on wind energy in Minnesota.

DPTL: A low-impact, woodland home

DPTL = Dream Place to Live. This is similar to my DPTW -- Dream Place to Work -- series of posts.

Today my friend Paul sent me a link to a beautiful website with a picture what has since become my ideal vision of a home. It was built in 4 months with a lot of man-hours and surprisingly little money. It was built with locally-sourced materials and "green" architectural design.

I love what the home-owner says about this project on his website: "These sort of low cost, natural buildings have a place not only in their own sustainability, but also in their potential to provide affordable housing which allows people access to land and the opportunity to lead more simple, sustainable lives."

That's a worthy vision: beautiful, low-cost, low-impact housing for humanity.

On a side note, I also have signed up to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. I went to their volunteer orientation session -- now I just have to actually go one of these days to help with a project. Habitat for Humanity is based on the idea that decent, affordable housing is a human right. I agree. But wouldn't it be wonderful if the affordable housing could be sustainably-built?

DPTW: Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary

DPTW = Dream Place to Work.

This is the first installment of what I hope will be a series on places I'd love to work. It's about Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. They house a variety of rescued animals who were abandoned, abused or neglected. People can visit WFAS, located two hours out of New York City, and meet the animals.

As a city girl, I don't know much about farm animals but have always been curious about them. My interaction with farm animals has been limited to short trips to the barns during the Minnesota State Fair. What I remember from the State Fair is the animal barns being smelly, and the pigs being really huge.

I know that pigs are supposed to be really smart and make great pets. Once when I was in elementary school, we had a pig and its trainer come to an assembly. The pig did all sorts of tricks, and the trainer explained that pigs are smarter than dogs and cats.

Much later, I learned that pigs produce about 10 times the amount of feces as humans, and that pollution from industrial pig farms is a horrible problem in states like Iowa and North Carolina.

All this to say, I'm glad there is a place like WFAS where city folk can get to know farm animals in a compassionate, farm setting.

"WFAS is driven by the simple philosophy that kindness and respect to animals is our moral duty and that all the creatures that share this earth are here with us and not for us."

Beginnings - Part II

The Twin Cities Neighborhood Sustainability Conference, described in my post Beginnings Part I, was a feast of information and inspiration that spawned several courses of action.

First, I started attending the neighborhood gatherings of Transition Towns Twin Cities at the Blue Moon cafe in South Minneapolis. It was amazing to have found this group of people interested in transitioning to a more sustainable way of living. I purchased the Transition Towns handbook by Rob Hopkins, learned about the Transition Towns training programs (although I haven't attended one yet), and met someone who had recently quit her lucrative job to follow her heart (or soul), becoming a volunteer Awakening the Dreamer facilitator.

Second, I decided to learn more about permaculture, a term mentioned in one of the conference's break-out sessions. I signed up for a one-day permaculture workshop at the University of Minnesota Duluth, organized by PRI Cold Climate. (More on the permaculture workshop later.)

Third, I decided to get involved with the Animal Rights Coalition. I haven't been as successful in following-up on this goal. However, I did sign-up to volunteer at the ARC table during the Pride Festival in Loring Park at the end of June. I will be working with someone named Dallas Rising, ARC's Program Director. Someone with that unique of a name I am very curious to meet.

Beginnings - Part I

In February 2010, I lost my job. Not a job that was terribly fulfilling, but not something that was totally empty either. I didn't see it coming and was plunged into a turmoil of anxiety.

Floundering around, trying to find inspiration, I attended a conference on sustainability in downtown Minneapolis. It was called: "2010 Sustainable Communities Conference." And it was inspiring indeed!

I met a lot of interesting people and learned about a lot of inspiring initiatives promoting urban sustainability. I was particularly impressed by Mark Lakeman from the City Repair Project in Portland, OR. He talked about bad city planned based on the Roman grid, and how communities ideally should be designed with many "commons" areas around which homes are fanned in expanding, circular orbits. He told us about the grass-roots efforts to transform intersections into commons in Portland, which initially were illegal, and now are mandated and fund, at least in part, by the city.

At the neighborhood sustainability conference, I also learned about Transition Towns, signed up to volunteer for the Animal Rights Coalition (ARC), attended a session on Dual Currency with Joel Hodroff, and participated in a "green careers" workshop with green career counselor Barbara Parks.