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2 Years at Kinsale FEC as a Permaculture Student

Calender

Community Garden

What Permie Did Next...

College Collages

Transition Town Kinsale - Related Videos and Regular Newsletters

Links

Permaculture at Kinsale

Wild Food and Seasonal Recipes

Open Space

This Permie Loves......

Book Worms

View the Green Building we built at college

TTK Transition Town Kinsale Spring Fair

This Permie Wonders ...

Shedding Some Light on Permaculture

Renewable Energy updated

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

The last of the tomatoes have been picked, the spuds dug up, the salads dressed and the garlics tied up. It’s winter in the community garden.

Our vegetable beds are largely empty now, apart from a few brave broccoli plants. All the berries have gone from our soft fruit trees. This is the time of the year where you get to reflect on the growing season just past, but it is also the time to have your beds mulched up so they can rest for the winter and be ready with a new lease of life for the spring. A layer of seaweed has already been laid on the beds but we plan to increase this with an extra layer of manure, more seaweed and straw on top.

November also saw the erection of our very own shed. In true sustainable fashion we salvaged an old shed from a garden that was waiting to be dumped. It only consisted of the walls, which them selves needed repair. And so we had to construct a new floor and roof. We also salvaged some palettes to use as the foundation. The shed is up now. It has helped greatly for storing tools, wellies and giving us shelter when the rains get heavy.

November has also consisted of plenty of weeding. There is a challenge with perennial weeds in the garden. Buttercups and helliborine are rampant. We have managed to keep the veg beds free of these. But a task for the future will be to further clear these weeds from the entire site and thus hold back their invasion. We are dealing with wet, acidic soil, which these weeds thrive in. It is also hoped that we can lay clearer paths and deal with the problem of drainage. The garden is sloped and so water and soil is moving down hill. We have also been doing a general tidy up, which is what this part of the year is for in the garden. All our pots and trays are washed and stored, the cold frame was cleaned out and the compost given a good look over.

Apart from that the garden is in great condition! It has been great to see new faces there from both Kinsale and outside. All are welcome, so hope to see you there soon.

For enquiries or to be put on the email list you can contact me on the address below.
dneavyn@yahoo.co.uk

Sorrel Pasties

How to Build a Truth Window

Build the Wave Challenge

We need a global treaty to solve the climate crisis

....Will the 400 experts who have contributed to the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, be able to make a difference to the way Food is produced on this planet.

Thanks go out to Klaus who supplied the photo.

Sargent addresses Terra Madre Ireland2008

By Andrew Morrison

They have recently recognized the oil crisis as having an effect on Food production as shown in the graph below.

EarthyToes — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:08:18 CDT

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EarthyToes — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:40:34 CDT

Updates

For all new Permies moving to Kinsale
If you're going to live in kinsale for the winter, it's is a good time to use your imagination, think outside the box and be creative.
In the last couple of years the Permie community has grown and quite a lot and a few have settled here.Even some who were taught by Rob Hopkins have come back.

So us permies have created craft clubs, shared sklls,taught each other stuff,such as tai chi,yoga ,wool crafts,belly dancing,food peserving and more ...how about these examples weaving,woodwork,chi gong,sculpture,our only limit is our imaginations.

Have regular pot lucks and social nights, it can get kinda quiet in the winter so have fun with it. There's lovely sessions in some of the pubs during the winter nights with by big cozy fires to sit by,nice beaches to get blown away on, woods to walk in.

Remember to let the wider Permie community know about these events, not just your classmates or those who attend college. If you only poster it at colege the rest of us don't get to hear about it.

Jeannie

Class of 2006-2008
In honour of my Permaculture class mates there's a link to the photos which capture the magic that from my perspective we created, we had a great community and we all supported each other and cooked wonderful feasts together and socialised together. These photos are mainly of us socialising and doing things together.They're not all college based.Graham said that sometimes a course like this brings together a special group of people like us. Not every group gels as we did. So it's an honour to have heard him describe us that way, I heard another teacher said something similar.

Some of my class mates have decided to stay here in Kinsale which is nice to see,some have even had babies since we finished college. But a few have gone in many directions such as my good friends Mikael who ended up in Sweden on a Permaculture Island ,and has since moved to Norway,(I'm hoping for updates from him for "What Permie Did Next page")Tara moved on to Holland and is going to Colarado soon, Louise took off for adventures in Australia and hopefully will do some permie stuff there, and then there's sweet Alec who moved back to Wicklow, meanwhile David is roaming around different Sustainabile communities in Europe,and you can read about his adventures in
What Permie Did Next
.
Klaus Harveys slide show captures the magic of our Permie Community

Transition Town Kinsale
Jan '08
As the Transition Town Phenomena has evolved from the Permaculture/Sustainaibility course, I just had to add a page especially for
Transition Town Kinsale
This page will be updated with newsletters and videos on a regular basis. The annual event Transition Town Kinsale host every year TTK Spring Fair is fast approaching ..(well it feels that way for the steering commitee who have so much to do). Remember help is always appreciated from locals and students too.So that page will get updated in the future.I visualise it being choka block with photos and newsy bits the Spring Fair events.Also Transition Town Committee which is made up of some concerned citizens and myself and Klaus are the only two Permies. are currently working on a new website so keep an eye on their home website
Transition Town Kinsale

Future Events
Please remember to update the calender if you have any up coming events you'd like to share, for convenience they can also be popped into the brand new 2009 calender for easy viewing.

Future Events
Calender

Again Happy New Year to all

Update September 2008

I've been looking for a new website to transfer Permies Portal to. If any one out there know of a good site, preferably a free site, that is easy for all to use please notify me.

I'm looking for a format that is uncomplicated and all Permies can use, so that if anyone wants to make additions to the site such as articles or adding events or Diarys for example David Neavyn had a Community Garden Diary here on Permies Portal, it has to be a site that is easily edited.

Update April 2008

Every journey starts with little steps and when I started on this path caring for Mother Earth, not many people were interested in the environment beyond what they could get out of it. Now people have begun to realise that keeping up with the Jones is not the only way forward and it won't make you happy.

I'd love to see even more people learn to live in harmony with the earth and each other and learn from nature along the way. We can create a stronger sense of community using meitheals (an old irish word for working together) where a community pulls together to help each other in the building of houses and working on the land etc.

I've been fortunate to attend college with a diverse bunch of people from all over this beautiful planet. Students have always come from far and wide to participate in this inspiring course that was originally set up by Rob Hopkins.

This site is dedicated to not just Rob Hopkins and all the past present and future students of kinsale Permaculture /Sustainability course but also to all those in the environmental sector in Ireland and beyond.

Getting Involved Is Easy

First you'll have to register and become a member.ill
If you just want to leave a comment under some one else's article, look at the top right hand corner and click leave your comments
If you want to add an article do so by either clicking Add a page and you'll get a whole new page with your content on it,
Or you can add to the bottom of an existing page by clicking edit content, for example just below this article I've added added a little video.
Keep an eye on the upper right section where all the recently added sections will be shown to alert us to new articles added
If you want to leave a note on the noticeboard it's now up and running and it's called "The Discussion Forum" it's to be found just up to the upper left of the page under the main menu.

Feedback
Remember to give plenty of feedback by getting involved (In Discussion Forum) as I need to know how you all feel in order to help the website evolve. Keep checking Permies Patch for updates and to see what events are happening and see what chats are going on there. You can also check the
Calender and scan the up and coming events there too.

The breath taking music in this video I created especially for Permies Portal is reminiscent of Davy Spillane

EarthyToes — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:21:14 CDT

2nd Year 2007 / 2008.........
Before you check out this page or consider doing this course please bear in mind that many people say that our group had a special community bond, many students have been attending since then and haven't had the same experience as we had.Consider that different personalities can come into the course and this can create different dynamics.Conditions can change within the course to change this dynamic also.

Also things have changed at Kinsale FEC.. This year for the first year, both first year and second year of the permaculture course run to 5 days a week. It was different when we did it, things were more relaxed and we only did 4 days a week.
"Everything changes , nothing remains without change"..Buddha

Here's the link to Klaus Harveys' slide show in honour of our Class of 2006-2008
Klaus slide show captures the magic

Life In a Permie Bubble

Taken from the top of round house we are currently building ,
photo by David Neavyn
from left to right
Klaus Harvey, Tara Kramer, and James Mc Barron
For more photos of the work we did on the Green Building creating a round house
see Klaus photos
http://permies.wetpaint.com/page/View+the+Green+Building+we+built+at+college
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23434820@N03/sets/72157603842982336/show/

Above is a photo of Davie Phillips giving a presentation on Powerdown in Kinsale

Jeannie Timony, Klaus Harvey and Mikael Jedharme (2nd yrs) and Caroline Levin (1st yr) were all honoured to be a member of the Powerdown Group here in Kinsale.
Cultivate are now working on a TV series to go with the course. Transition Town Kinsale are launching Kinsale & District Community Powerdown on saturday 29th at Spring Fair and
Mr Trevor Sargent TD, Minister of State for Food and Horticulture and Mayor Mary Evans will all be at the opening.
Powerdown at cultivate

ok so I got a sneaky shot of David Neavyn and Virginia Stearns
who work hard on the Community Gardens here in Kinsale

Lunch time in the colourful college kitchen Firstys and 2nd yrs hang out

First Year 2006 / 2007.......

Adventure

Here are some photos taken both around the college Kinsale FEC and out on field trips. One of the wonderful things about this course is the field trips, each one is an adventure, no matter what the weather.Above a photo taken at where we stayed while on a 2 day field trip in west cork.
Shiplake Mountain Hostel

Inspiration

We've seen some beautiful places and seen some inspirational sights thanks to our teacher Graham Strouts, whom I'm sure went to a lot of bother organising all these wonderful field trips.

The Hollies

What an Inspirational Place

The Hollies has always inspired me, right from the first time I visited there about 6 or 7 years ago when Rob Hopkins was starting to stir the imagination of the Irish people.He was teaching people how to build with Cob (I did one of his work shops) he was also introduce the people of Ireland to the concept ofPermaculture. Thomas & Ulrike Reidmuller lived there when Rob and Emma resided there and today they are making an impact with their "Living With One Planet" Education for Sustainable Development work shops for school children which I had fun working on this summer, and Thomas is also doing Mediation and Facilitation workshops, along withother members from the community such as Paul Flynn they are also introducing people to the world of cob building and their teaching of other sustainable living skills. In my eyes The Hollies will always be an inspiration to others.

We Learned a Lot at The Hollies

Hands On Learning
Above is a photo with my class mates Virginia from Texas and Gavin from UK working hard at creating an Earthen floor.It was useful to have hands on learning, where we actually got out and did the work rather than reading about it.

Thank You Graham

He has no idea how wonderful it is to be on the course and to anticipate the next adventure. Each new field trip enriches our experience of Permaculture and inspires us to want to live the life in balance with nature. Thank you Graham :)

Ecology Field Trips

A Hidden Haven

Here's a photo that was taken on an Ecology field trip to Oyster Haven.The photo shows where the last High King of Ireland was laid to rest. There was a really eerie / mystical light that day. I was awestruck at the magic of the place.

What a Way To End The Week

He always brings the class to beautiful places like this, every Friday I woke up with a smile wondering what we were going what were we going to learn that day .It was a great way to end every week. On a positive note.

Getting To Know Each Other

It was also a great day for us to get to know each other on a one to one basis, (as we tend to do a lot of group based activities as a team) and to socialise on our way to each destination, or as we stood taking in the beauty around us.We ended our week with a re-newed inspiration for the beauty of this earth we call our home.

Sandycove

What a Breath of Fresh Air

Here we are on a local field trip to a location that is quite close to college. Phillip loved to get us out walking, and walk we did... some times for hours on end. Phillip is a mine of information about our natural environment.

This photo shows some of the class that attended Ecology class.What a breath of fresh air!!

Killarney

What a Beautiful Place to Have Lunch

Towards the end of the year Phillip really walked the legs of us. When we went to Killarney we walked for I think it was something like 5 or 6 hours. Luckily through out the year we had all built up our stamina for long walks.
He brought us to have lunch at a beautiful spot along side one of the lakes.

Thank You Phillip

We all enjoyed Phillips classes immensely. I must have heard every body who attended his classes through out last year, say they will miss his informative and fun Ecology classes next year and we all wish we had him for our 2nd year also
.

Storys by the Fire Side

Here's a lovely photo of Phillip telling us a story by the fire side in The Burren research Centre and UCG Hostel on one of our last trips. The organization he put into the trips and all the driving he did was wonderful. We all appreciate everything he did for us. He has a big heart and a lot of knowledge to share.

EarthyToes — Sun, 24 May 2009 06:07:23 CDT

Have you a date you'd like to enter into the calender ?

Just press Easy Edit then click on the date and activate the cursor
then in order to enter yourdetails into the date box press Ctrl and V at the same time to paste text.

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
				1 New Year's Day	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11 Winter bird identification.Meet at 11am outside Celtic Ross Hotel,Roscarberry. Gill 087 2...	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19 Transition Town Kinsale is privileged to be screening a couple of episodes of the brand new Irish produced Powerdown TV Show at the Carmelite Friary, Kinsale, on Monday 19th January at 7.30pm, followed by a Q & A session with producer Davie Philip fromCultivate, Dublin. The Powerdown TV Shows are a series of programmes which explore solutions to the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change	20	21 Open Evening 7pm - 9pm Kinsale Further Education College.Applications now being taken for 2009 / 2010 Also enrolment for nightclasses at Kinsale Community School are tonight. Classes such Eco saver Global Action Plan with Klaus Harvey and Permaculture with Virginia Stearn	22	23	24
25	26 Kinsale Community School:Start ting tonight Eco Saver Global Action Plan night class / Klaus Harvey and Permaculture / Virginia Stearns night classes. Enrolement wed 21st Jan	27	28	29 Bees,Bee eeping Biodiversity,crawfod gallery cafe/7.30pm Tim Rowe will talk about honeybees, their lives, importance, plight and the role of good beekeeping. Entrance 6 euro incl tea or coffee	30 Macroom District Environmental Group - 25 year Celebration Gig - Party - Dance with Cork group Hot Guitars at Lee Valley Hotel, Macroom 30th Jan 2009 at 9:30 admission €10	31

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
1	2	3 Climate Change and Development – Impacts, Responses and Policy Location:Kimmage Development Studies Centre, Dublin Duration: 3 days 3rd - 5th February(0)1 406 4307 . dtalk@kimmagedsc.ie	4	5	6	7
8 1st event of '09 Winter Bird ID day/Roscarberry/11am/car park Celtic Ross Hotel, Roscarberrry. Bring:warm clothes, waterproofs,binoculars/pack lunch/coffee in the Hotel after the event.Contact Gill 087 2282040 night before the event to check if it is still on. ************* Grow your own Vegetables A BEGINNERS WORKSHOP ************** Sunday 8th Feb or15th Feb/Cost; 30 /.021-733017	9	10	11	12	13	14 Valentine's day seed swap February 14, 2009 at 2pm/Blackrock castle observatory.Get together to meet each other face to face, exchange seeds, plants, food to share, information and the joy of the coming spring with focussed discussion and informal chat
15 2pm/Gobby Strand, Ringaskiddy. Straight through village to car park by left turn to haulbowline Organized By: John Baker Join us in Ringaskiddy planting trees! Bring picnic food, planting tools and appropriate clothing Link to previous events and info http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85317 Also info on anti-incinerator campaign www.chaseireland.org Grow your own Vegetables A BEGINNERS WORKSHOP" Sunday 8th Feb or 15th Feb Cost; 30 euro 021-733017	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
					1 GM conference by ACA,bus being organised see Future Events for more details	2
3 Open day/Manch Family activity - Pond Life - Meet at Edu Centre/11.30am Guided Walk Led by Dave McCormick (UCC) who will explain his ongoing research at Manch, examining the effect of tree cover on fish in the river Blackwater - Meet at Edu Centre 2pm ~Estate open from 11am to 6pm	4	5	6	7	8 Weekend in the Woods, 9th / 10th May, Bealkelly Wood, Tuamgraney, Co.Clare	9 Build a bike trailer One day course with Rob Ireson Saturday 9th May Cost: € 60 using simple techniques Rob will show you how to make a bike trailer out of old bicycles. If you bring your own old bike(s) the trailer will be yours to take home. No experience required.
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17 Biodiversity Event at Manch. Sunday 17th May will be a day of walks, talks, craft demonstrations, family fun, horse logging and music. Early birds can start at 4.30am with a “Dawn Chorus” walk, while insomniacs can finish with a bat walk, dusk ‘til late. For full details visit website or follow this link http://www.inff.ie/index.php?id=61	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31 Sun 31st May 3pm/farm walk at Brown Envelope Seeds / working horse demonstration/No fee/ Free Tea/ Plants available for sale http://brownenvelopeseeds. com/

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

EarthyToes — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:32:09 CDT

For current updates on the Community Garden see

http://www.transitiontownkinsale.org/projects/community-garden.html

DOWN AT THE COMMUNITY GARDEN/ November 2008

Work days have started once again with Aimi Pinder and Oliver Pugh taking over as co-ordinators. On 2nd November, the first Sunday back, we had a fantastic turn out and did lots of great work to clear the garden of weeds ready for winter mulching. We have also planted a beautiful new plum tree and our first crop of garlic. Over the winter we intend to improve the garden structure ready for spring sowing. There will be new paths and beds laid and a new sheltered seating area complete with chairs made from recycled pallets! Work days will be every Sunday 1-4pm (weather permitting) all are welcome to come and share the garden and pick up some useful tips. Come spring we hope to be able to run some short courses for those wishing to learn or be inspired about organic veg growing so, if this is you, it would be great to see you down there. Finally, a big thank you to Bandon coop for their kind donation of multi-purpose compost and to all the volunteers for their continued support.

2008
October Diary
Kinsale Community Garden
A new Begining.

We would like to invite you all to the clean up session at the gardens. come along for a chance to get your hands dirty and share

old ideas and new hopes. The session will be on Sunday 2nd November from 1pm 'till 4pm
We look forward to meeting everyone who has helped make the garden a reality and all those who will keep it moving forward.
See you there.

Olly and Aimi

There's a range of nice fresh veg ready for harvest, including new potatoes! Nobody goes home empty handed.

Hope to see you there
Best wishes

As many gardeners will attest one of the greatest pleasures of gardening and growing your own food is the feeling of anticipation it gives you. So much of the joy of growing is found in this gradual unfolding of life as seeds begin to germinate and plants show themselves for the first time above the soil. Before your eyes and indeed when you are not there your garden is changing and growing. Every morning brings a new set of discoveries and a new gift of anticipation for the coming day.

The coming weeks will be full of activities for preparing the garden for the coming spring. There will also be the chance to get advice on growing your own apple tree, as well as tips on using a coldframe for growing salads. See the schedule below for details. So this is a great time to get involved and learn a few things about growing your own food. As always all are welcome.

February 08

Febuary 3rd
– Get your hands dirty Day! A day for garden weeding and clean-up, and doing those little jobs that need doing.

Febuary 10th
– Fruit Day. A talk and demonstration on pruning and planting apple trees and soft fruit bushes. And laying a mulch for them.

Febuary 17th
- Coldframes and planting early salad plants. A demonstration of an ingenious system for making compost and providing heat to the plants at the same time.

Febuary 24th
-Stone Day. Using stone to build low retaining walls for flower and vegetable beds. We will also be planning ahead for the spring planting.

January 2008

Sunday 13th
– Re-laying paths using bark mulch.
Planning the construction of the main path running from the entrance.
We collected a van full of cypress mulch from the college and brought it to the garden. It’s amazing the difference it makes having a well defined path laid out. It also beats walking on mud which is very demoralising. Our soil is already quite acidic as seen by its compaction and the carpet of buttercdup ion various places. The bark mulch won’t help this so we plan to spread ground limestone on the paths too to try and neutralise the effects.

Sunday 20th –
The Great mulching Day. We will be doing a layered mulch on the raised beds.
We collected a trailer full of horse manure from close where I live. Unfortunately the manure was not of the best quality. It was uncovered and the brown pools of water showed that a lot of the nutrients were leaching out. At best I’d say this manure had 30% of fertilit y left. Still it’s better than nothing. We covered three beds in a newspaper-manure-straw layer.

Sunday 27th –
More mulching and hopefully laying of new path.
It was a beautiful day to be out in the garden today. We covered up more beds with a selection of mulches. It created a nice patterned effect. We also laid sone steps inside the square bed and gave the coldframe a bit attention.

November 2007 in the Garden.

EarthyToes — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 05:01:29 CDT

So much for my punctuality in getting my travel log off by the start of each month. Some of this is actually being typed and written for the third time! Thanks to several technological glitches, exploding cameras, faulty memory sticks and a severe lack of access to Microsoft word in the high mountains. For what it´s worth my phone has also died. But at last it is here! Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I have spent the last 5 weeks in Las Alpujarras, the mystic heart of Granada province. A beautiful mountain range with deep wide valleys sweeping south of the Sierra Nevada, whose peaks are still covered in snow, including Mulhacen, Spain’s highest mountain. But here in the valleys spring has arrived. The almond and cherry blossoms are out, ladybirds are creeping up the plant stems and the days are getting warmer and longer. If Almeria had a sad beauty, Las Alpujarras’s is mystical. The mountain air is wonderfully thin allowing sounds to travel far; the sound of flowing water is almost ever present. The mountainsides have little white villages hanging to the sides of them, each with its own fountain. Within the forests there are natural springs to drink from, including one, the only in Spain, which is naturally fizzy, infused with iron and other minerals. The beauty of this part of Spain owes much to the genius of the Moors. Water, as it was in their days, is still the local gold. It is argued over and discussed in some way every day. The very channels that were dug all those years ago are still in use and thanks to them it has transformed a potentially dry valley into one lush with growth and deciduous forest. They dug and directed an incredible series of irrigation routes bringing water from the high Sierras and thus making life as it is possible here.

It´s not hard to see why this part of Spain is so popular with alternative types looking for a piece of paradise. The landscape is beautiful, the pace easy and the weather sunny. Many foreigners have come over and bought their little piece of land, rebuilt a ruin, started a business, planted a seed. Some have done it along official lines and others not. I´ve chatted to several people around here about such topics as planning permission and land prices. As I´m sure many of you are aware, in Ireland you can build a ‘tool shed’ without permission on your land, which people then secretly live in. Well the same thing happens in Las Alpujarras, only here you can go to even greater extremes. I´ve been told that if you do build a house without permission and are caught all you get is a fine which may only be a few thousand euro. That´s pretty incredible. There´s laws in place but Spaniards after so many years under Franco don´t like being told what to do. Thus there is a refreshing approach from the authorities. They´ll ignore you for as long as possible and when you do have to visit them they will not only ask the questions but give you the right answers too. That said it is hard to get things done. If you are not ´plugged in´ called enchufe here you will wait some time to get the local digger truck driver to arrive. If you are building in anything other than the local style you won´t find much of a support network, nor materials. Thankfully the local style is for the most part aesthetically pleasing. Houses need to be clad in natural stone from the area, un-sawn timber is used in roofs and window lintels. All roofs have to be flat and packed with local clay on top of slate. This though is rather bizarre and causes consternation among many. These roofs need yearly maintenance involving the family jumping on it to repack it and close any gaps.

Now I must cast my mind back to the start of February...

My first week here was supposed to be spent at the local Steiner school in the town of Orgiva but that got cancelled at the last minute. I found out later that there is a lot internal strife going on at the moment within the school body. Pity for the kids really. All told the teachers just want to teach but raging arguments about what to teach and how has meant that nobody is getting taught anything at all. And so it continues. So instead I extended my stay in the city of Granada which was experiencing its wettest week in history. But unlike Santiago which relishes the rain, Granada starts to look like a wet dog after a few days of it. My brother was over from Ireland so I guess he brought the weather with him. I introduced him to the wonders of couch surfing but Rob is a different sort of traveller. After several cold nights wrapped in not much more than a tea towel and lying on a small couch he moved down the street to a 3 star hotel. Granada’s main attraction is of course the Alhambra. The small percent of the original Moorish structure that still remains is outstanding, and the views of the Alhambra from the Plaza San Nicholas are pure romance, but you can’t help wondering how it must have looked before so much was destroyed and built over by the Catholic monarchs. The Albaycin is the Moorish quarter of Granada, it’s a maze of little streets and is a designated UNESCO site. It’s hard to walk through it without stopping off in a tea house and smoking a hookah, or helping yourself to a cheap kebab. But it contains the living lanes of the city, away from the main thoroughfares with their chain stores and fashion outlets. Granada prides itself on its generosity with tapas, a free portion of food that comes with every drink you order. Still I find it is best not to go out with any empty stomach expecting to have your dinner that way. You´d keel over intoxicated before you had your fill. It didn’t take us long to find our way to Hannigans Irish bar. It was never planned, we just stumbled upon it, and sure enough a special Super bowl night with a three hour build up was under way. We were invited back for quiz night and open mic night, and we even got free drinks from the Irish owner, but I didn’t get over my hangover in time to return.

Tell any hippy or alternative type you are going to Las Alpujarras and they are sure to mention one place,

You know you are at an unusual party when a drunken guy wanders out the back to pee but refuses to do so until he finds the compost bin to do it in. Or when a friend turns to you to inquire if the person dancing beside you is a man or a woman. You know you are in an unusual town when you take a visit to the farmers market and find one stall consisting of 4 loaves of bread on a small table surrounded by 4 guys drinking beer, intermittently shouting ´Organic bread!´ All the hardcore hippies, crusties and wanderers of the world seemed to have converged on this town and have brought with them an immensity of dogs and years of experience of squatting, protesting, sitting on their asses and general dislike of a system they will never fit in to. It would be easy to judge but harder to ask why so many turn their back on society and whether maybe they have something to teach us. But that line of communication is never opened. The wanderers in Orgiva stay on their side and the locals stare and frown from the other. One thing I can say for certain is that money can distant you from people and when I visited those places where money was scarce, community spirit was strong.

This is a question that has interested me a lot recently. GEN stands for the Global Eco-village Network; it can be accessed at www.ecovillage.org, and has Jonathon Dawson of Findhorn at its helm. He has written a book as part of the Schumacher series on Eco-villages and he lists 5 fundamental attributes of an eco-village.

- That there is a primacy of community.
- That it is a citizens’ initiative.
- Motivated by the desire to rest back control of our own resources.
- There´s a strong body of shared values.
- They are centres of research, demonstration and training.

Just outside Orgiva there is a well-known community called Beneficio and some 40km east towards Almeria there is another called Valle de Sensaciones. I visited both of these recently and found that what defined them most were not their similarities but their differences. The greatest being how to deal with new people coming to stay and live.
Beneficio prides itself first and foremost on its level of freedom. There are no rules written down because there is no governing body to write them. Indeed there is little organisational structure at all. There is just an open door to arrive when you want and if there is space then you can stay. And so Beneficio attracts all types, it can thrill you with its diversity of people or torment you by its chaos. In one way many things are possible here but in another its refusal to self organise closes the door to its own growth. It´s a paradise to some who wouldn´t change a thing but for others the doors are too open.
Valle de Sensaciones seeks a different route. It wants a strong community and is structured around the preservation and protection of that community. The doors are closed in so much as you can´t just arrive. It doesn´t want to attract ‘all types’ but rather it seeks to grow by attracting the ‘right’ people. To make this distinction it is necessary that visitors and volunteers have to pay to be there. Its vision is very clear and its direction feels as solid as a well fired arrow.
My visit to Valle de Sensaciones was never planned. I had an afternoon free so I decided to hitch out to Beneficio again to visit the Skill surfers who are staying there. Soon enough they flew by in their buses and told me they had been invited out to Sensaciones for a full moon party so I came along. What ensued that evening was a clash of two visions regards what an eco-community is. The Skill surfers have found their feet in Beneficio, it is their type of community. They love its freedom and ease of integration. Sensaciones however only occasionally invites groups out like this and has a set way of welcoming and integrating them into their community. Our first mistake was arriving late in the dark. (I won´t go into the details of how a 40km journey took 4hrs, though it was funny at times..) Thus it was too late to do a proper go around of names and a tour of the site. The small party had already begun and our group were given instead a list of options for eating with them that night, involving making a food contribution or giving money. This was not what the Skill surfers expected at all. It was a strange night felt by each group and as the sun arose on the next day there was a whole range of opinions flying around amongst the Skill surfers. Some felt V de S were elitist and unwelcoming, others laid blame on the disorganisation of the skill surfers group. Either way it was unfortunate but also a great lesson for everyone. Eloy, the main man at Sensaciones, visited us at our vans that morning and we had a long discussion about why last night was the way it was. He respects how Beneficio works but in order to achieve the much clearer objectives of Sensaciones it is necessary that money is brought into the equation and that things are more structured.
It seems to be a fundamental choice in building an intentional community.

My god page 5 and I haven’t even started writing about my three Wwoof places! I´m spoiling you all.

The bus to Pitres takes you to the far east of the valley, past all the picturesque touristy villages to an area that is less visited but equally beautiful. There is a wonderful group of authentic villages here called together La Taha, an original Arab term. My 3km walk to the farm I would stay at for the first week was a perfect introduction to the landscape here. I walked a little out of town then descended down a forest path, winding around some valleys and hopping over streams on the way. The views are far reaching all the way, taking in the opposite mountains and distant snowy peaks.
My hosts were Andrew and Claire, a young English couple, who bought the place 3 years ago after wwoofing themselves before falling in love with the area and buying a little plot for themselves. They win hands down so far for location. They like the remote feeling of their spot, and it certainly feels like you are the last little house at the end of the entire valley. The choice to live here also keeps them away from the eyes of the authorities. I had my own little cabin for my stay there with incredible views. On the first night a storm picked up and raged through the valley. Winds rushed up and slammed against the house, shaking the windows, and causing me to dive onto my bed on one occasion. We woke the next morning to solid rain and to find that one large tree had fallen taking a large chunk of sloping land with it. The very slope where Andrews horse fell and broke its neck some months before. They’ve had some bad luck with animals. Their goat was a terrible nuisance so they sent it back and thus plan to try sheep next. They’ve currently got a donkey, two rabbits, four dogs and six cats. When I arrived there were only four cats. There are probably ten by now.

The picture above shows the fruit of my one weeks labour. It is of course a chicken shed. They wanted a rustic looking thing (my favorite design method). I´ve patented the design, being particularly impressed with my Picassoesque oblique angled chicken run. It also features a removable roof, door with open and close function, many ventilation holes and outside nest box access, although in its current location it would involve falling off the terrace to get at the eggs. You may be wondering how it could have taken me all week to build it. Well Claire and Andrew’s house has no road access and the getting of materials means a strenuous walk uphill to retrieve palettes and the like. After that you had to tie the palettes to a wheelbarrow and then let gravity race you into several ditches on the way down. I´d have an easier time trying to direct a bull backwards down that track. A beautiful location comes with a price when there is no easy access to your house. Everything in their house has a number attached to it.

Couch – 2 men/1hrs to get it to the house
Table – 4 men/1.5hrs
Masonry stove – Don´t even ask.

Well that’s why they bought the horse, to transport things to the house. But now they are training in their donkey Morris for that job.

Unlike in Ireland where you have corner boys hanging around and gangs forming, in Spain the equivalent is old ladies and they own the streets. Not happy to stay behind doors and rearrange teacups they march down the streets, arm in arm, six deep, and shoot you stares and disapproving looks that would have Jesus himself shaking at the knees. They storm out of bakeries holding baguettes like baseball bats. They order brandy in their coffee and eat meat lie grown men. But their greatest weapon is the word. They are fountains of knowledge and tradition ever ready to argue a point, roar opinions and plunder conversations. Theirs are the loudest voices in the square. They lecture in the supermarket ques treating the purchase of vegetables like a religious act. But family is their greatest treasure. Tighter than an atom, you wouldn´t want to try split them.

Torviscon is a small village on the south side of the valley. An area where the irrigation channels never reached. Thus it is a drier landscape and is taken over by large plantings of hardy trees such as almond (above) and olives. I spent two weeks here working with Lizzie Wynn, the Straw bale builder of Las Alpujarras. She has a small eco construction business called Eco-casa giving advice and offering practical skills to self-builders. She is also currently building her own 153m/sq straw bale house. Any land bought with a ruin on it here gets instant building permission, so Lizzie is fine in that case. Building with straw is a trickier question. Lizzie´s approach, as seen a lot around here, is to just build the thing and plaster it. As she says ‘Nobody will know what the walls are made of!’

So I spent a very pleasant two weeks breaking the law at Lizzie’s place. It has been some of the most pleasant and rewarding work I have done so far on my travels. I love to work with stone more than any other material. There is something so pure and natural to the work. I once heard this attraction of stonework being explained by how it exercises both mind and body and this is certainly true. After a days’ work you feel invigorated in the mind and a lovely sense of tiredness in your well worked muscles. I´ve mostly done dry stone walling but at Lizzie´s I got to practice mortar work using lime. Lizzie is also a fan of the earth ship building technique and is using recycled car tires packed with gravel in her walls too.

Before…

And after

The work, in a nutshell, involved first choosing the window lintels, getting the correct height and then building them in with stone and mortar. Each line of tires needs to be level, the top level being flush with the roof plate which you can see resting on the straw bale wall on the bottom picture. When building with straw you have a choice between load bearing walls in which the straw bales hold the weight of the roof themselves or you can build a frame to hold the roof and then fill in the walls spaces after. Straw bales are well able to hold the weight of a roof but it does raise the challenge of different compression levels along the walls. Also a soon as the roof goes on you need to wait a month before plastering to allow the walls to compress fully. This is not necessary if you’ve built a frame. The beauty of straw bale building is the all inclusive nature of the work. People that would usually be excluded from the building process such as children and old people can get involved. Lizzie and a few wwoofers with no experience built a very nice straw bale tool shed in just three weeks with tire foundation and bamboo roof for very low cost. The speed of the build can be amazing and is sometimes referred to as ‘bale frenzy’ the excitement that takes over a group as the walls fly up.
So for Lizzie I built up one side of the original wall from the ruin to hold the roof veegers. It was lovely work, wandering in to the fields in the morning to collect stones, making up a big batch of lime mortar mix and then working away in the sun, absorbed in the stones having lost sense of time. Suddenly it would be tea break, lunch and then the day was done.

I got on very well with Lizzie. She clearly loves the company of wwoofers and each evening we headed into Torviscon for a few drinks and tapas. Torviscon though is not the liveliest of towns, a one horse town in which the horse has left. There is one hotel serving amazingly bad food. The bar in town is owned by a fusball fanatic, as in the table version. He appears to have bought a fusball table and built his bar around it. You have to wait between games to get a drink and during games the thing is so loud you can´t even speak. Time to move on.

After my two weeks I returned to the area of La Taha where I had been previously for another two weeks wwoofing at Cortijo Opazo. It was nice to be back in the part of the valley where water is abundant and the growth lusher and greener.
Robert and William were my hosts here. An English couple who have set up a very well run rural accommodation business, offering also guided walks of the area. William is also a landscape designer and both have them have done a great job transforming the bare terraces into an extensive garden of ornamentals, fruit trees and veggie a garden. They aim to have it as a nursery in the future selling native plants. Myself and my fellow wwoofer Dan from Australia were very well looked after at Cortijo Opazo. Actually it was like 5 star wwoofing. We had an en-suite room with under floor heating. Both William and Robert are great chefs so lunch and dinner was an event every day. Breakfast was a very English affair with BBC world service on the radio, homemade marmalade and muesli on the table. I loved it.

Of course you don´t get this well treated without having to work for it. The work was certainly hard, especially being at 1250m above sea level. But after the two weeks I felt a strong as on ox. Robert and William are also good in that they worked alongside us in all the tasks.

We built a filtration system for their water storage tank as seen above. This involved using a lot of cement and breeze blocks. Not my favorite materials but undoubtedly quick and useful. I guess it doesn’t hurt to use it in small amounts. During its construction I secretly placed some natural stone within the wall to reduce the amount of cement required. I also vouched for the use of natural stone in some places. Well Robert and William got the idea so they gave me and Dan a pretty enjoyable task of building a paving area in the secret garden, as seen below. We really enjoyed this. We were left to our own devices and added a few designs of our own.

Well that was Las Alpujarras, a great cradle of natural beauty. Some days ago I took a hike high into the Sierras. I´ll never forget the feeling of lying in the grass in a valley having just hiked up for two hours from Spain’s highest village. On that grass with the lovely sound of melt water all around, crystal streams, butterflies and birds and little wisps of cloud in the blue sky above it felt like the door to spring had just been opened. Indeed it felt like the entire world was being given a second chance. It will be a sad day indeed if we are ever denied the chance to relax and soak in the natural balm of silence that only nature can provide.

Right now I´ve returned to Granada city and so has the sun. Everybody is in the streets and there is festival atmosphere all around. It´s such a beautiful place when the sun is shining. I spent 4 pleasant hours writing this this morning, then took an afternoon stroll and have now returned to make the finishing touches. Next stop is Malaga province, back to the mountains and valleys and more volunteering. More tales of that in about one month…

Happy spring 09 everyone.

Lotsa love

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Tis now one month that I have been in Spain and so I write you with some reflections of my travels so far. It´s Stephans Day as I write this
on a laptop in a small village north of Madrid, so I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Mine was spent around the table of a good Spanish
friend of mine and her family. The rythmns of Xmas are a little different here, I was amazed to see nobody crash out on the couch after
dinner to watch some old movie. In fact everyone went to bed for a few hours and woke up later like it was a whole new day. Here they sing at the table, speak like everyone is deaf…i.e. very load, when it´s time to clear the table everyone joins in and starts doing it while shouting ´let me, let me´ but of course in the end everyone does it. So 7 people pile into a small kitchen to clear the plates and I think to myself ´Well surely that´s enough people´ until my friend pops her head around the door and says ´Well, I´m glad to are enjoying your free time!¨and me just having ate a sack of potatoes. When dinner is served everyone explodes into applause, the chef takes a bow, plates fly, conversation erupts and I commence helping Monolo (my friends father) to drink the wine, as we are the only two that do so.

So back to the reflections and to what I call the rythmns of travel. I´m sure you are all aware of this, that sense of travel having its peaks and troughs, the high points and the times when you wanna curl up and take a break from it all. Thankfully my travels have been full of peaks to the point where I start to feel overwhelmed by all the experiences and new people I´m meeting. Within hours you are thrown into a whole new situation and have to start adjusting again. Well that´s the attraction I guess and makes people like us who get restless so easily want to keep moving…

On the first of December I arrived into Spain and the city of Santander, which is situated in the province of Cantabria. It´s a hook of land with long beaches and views south to the beautiful and inviting Picos de Europa mountain range. Unfortunately they were far too covered in snow and wild at this time of year so I resigned myself to some city living. I organised a couch through Couch surfing and a house of three students took me in. My host was Ana a sixth year medical student. Being monday and tuesday that I was there I figured it would be a quiet few days of sight seeing, far from it. So now I ask you to spare a thought for this poor Irishman who is used to Irish times when it comes to going out. Ana was a fantasticly nice and cool person who also happened to be party mad, how she made it to sixth year of medical studies I´ll never know. When she asked would I like to go for a drink and meet her mates I figured why not, we´ll be home by 11 and I´ll be right as rain tomorrow to see all those touristy things I don´t particulary want to see. Well we didn´t even leave the house till 11pm, imagine on a Monday night! 5 hours later we are wandering the streets looking for somewhere open before Ana and her friends resign to going home like they are being lightweights. Needless to say I didn´t do much sight seeing in Santander as the same operation was undertaken the next night and I started to realise the immense importance of taking siestas in Spain. I have since mastered this art, for the sake of my own survival.

And so I continued west along the north of Spain and made my way to Escanda, a collective of some 20 people living communally on a mountainside in Asturius.
When I arrived they were all dancing naked around a fire and chanting… .oh wait there that didn´t happen. In fact Escanda offers a great mix of people from Spain, England, Palestine, Portugal, and Greece, a mixture of hippies, punks, ´normal´ folk and the like but all dedicated to the project and hard working (even the hippies), out on the land, constructing a new house, organising community events, recording music, performing plays, writing articles for internet. And basically promoting small scale community solutions to these global issues we are all concerned about.

After my course in Community leadership and Conflict resolution at Kinsale College of Further Educations' Permaculture course, it was particularly interesting to observe how they organise themselves. On Monday mornings a ´the week ahead´ meeting is held around the breakfast table with one person taking responsibility to write up tasks on the big board. In fact monday is the general meeting/clean-up day, and quickly the board fills with other meetings to be held that day. A page of daily tasks is passed around and everyone signs up for a particular part of the house to clean etc. The house is a hive of activities soon after with everyone cleaning and people shouting that a particular meeting is about start.

All meals are communal in the house and so everyone takes turns cooking. On my day I made pizza, including a rather disastrous corn flour pizza base for a non wheat eater. Apart from that it was good. There´s different groups in the community, for ´construction´, ´the garden´, ´pr´ and energy amongst others. I got invited into the garden meeting at 12pm sharp and we start discussing what needs to done about such things as the whitefly problem and the small river flowing through the veg beds. It turns out I have the most experience regards soft fruits and so I am called for another separate meeting to walk the site and choose the most suitable area for the new fruit area.

All meeting are of course consensus based, with a facilitator and someone taking minutes if required. It seems everyone here is experienced in this and so the meetings flow nicely, everyone speaks and all ideas are discussed. But as ever the common problems of these methods arise, during a house meeting a rather long discussion ensues regards how to organise the purchase and finances of milk seeing as only half the house drinks it. After 20 minutes and still discussing this with the solutions getting more and more complicated I start to wish I was living in a dictatorship.

Escanda is beautifully located in a valley and surrounded by high mountains and many options for long hikes. Unfortunately the new high speed Galicia/Madrid train is passing underground right beside them and so there is major construction going on. Each night and day the house literally shakes as more rock is exploded in the tunnels below. Escanda and locals have being fighting to make sure the work is at least done with care, some houses nearby have already had their foundations badly damaged and there is a risk of collapse. But Escanda ploughs on and they are currently building a new house for themselves. One day was dedicated completely to deciding the room arrangement. Tensions were high that day. But some skillfull facilitation got them through it and on construction day it was great to see each person working with care and dedication in building their new room.

Another nice experience of people working together was on the party night when sacks of grain that needed separating were laid on the ground for people to dance on.There are many positive experiences and lessons to be learned from this type of living. There was a lovely sense of community, acceptance and inequality amonst the group. You have no choice but to learn to speak your mind and to work through problems when required. (Two people who weren´t getting on were given certain hours to work together and a mediator was assigned to help them). When you live so close to people all the time there is no choice but for this. I can´t say myself how long I could live like that. I only stayed a week. Having your space would be essential and everyone had their own room. I felt a little claustrophobic after 5 days but with a hike into the mountains that soon passes.

Escanda came about because the old woman who used to own the land and house wanted it well looked after and used for something ´different´ when she died. The local town council decides this and the Escanda group put in a successful application. The future is uncertain though and nobody is certain the council won´t just kick them out some year soon, hence all the community work they do with passion.Fingers crossed it will long continue, it´s a fantastic place still with great potential to grow further

Ah Santiago, anyone who says this place is ´disappointing´ has the imagination of a newt. First the facts,
I spent 4 nights here couch surfing (of course) with another medical student! go figure. right in the middle of the old town, met her lovely friends, socialised lots and loved it.
At this point I can´t help but come over all poetic and wax lyrical cos that´s the effect Santiago had on me.

The old town is like a playground of stone and alleyways, tiny streets opening into open spaces or new hidden corners. One moment you are on a busy street the next a secluded path as though in the countryside. The site of the cathedral at these times is the only reminder of where you are. They say you have to see Santiago after rain and this is true. The stones seem to relish being wet. One morning we ran out of the house to get to the cathedral on time to see the lighting of the huge incense burner. It had just finished raining, the granite streets were glistening, around one corner the low sun exploded in my eyes and you run through orange light barely seeing ahead of you.

On my first night there we walked through the streets with a full moon above in the clear sky and I made my way to the famous cathedral. Its presence is huge, like the sight of a huge wall inside a deep underground cave. It drips wet, the walls moist and indeed it has green moss growing along it. It looks like it was constructed by nature rather than man. My friend assures me it changes colour almost every night, and I confirm this while there. In the main square I marvel at the full moon illuminating the sky behind the cathedral. As I move to walk I catch sight of the moon shining through the topmost statue of Saint Santiago himself, it´s a dance between the moon and architecture.
Throughout my four days there the cathedral always seemed secretive and elusive. Every view is very partial, either hidden behind buildings, trees or its own great size. Inside I get the chance to witness the famous incense burner being lit. Picture a huge chalice shaped burner hanging from a thick hemp rope and suspended from the top of the copula. Eight men in red robes then take up position, the burner is lit, and they start to swing it till it reaching the very height of the church, stops, and swings down again in a powerful arc right over the church-goers.

There was a lot of music in the street when I was there and a great sense of fun and spontaneity. Turn right or left and you find people gathered and absorbing the life of the city in its myriad of ways. In a white tent a traditional Galegan scene is played out, people swinging glasses, dancing and singing to the sound of bagpipes. Further along the street a marching band starts playing and people are dancing again. In the archway by the cathedral a lone piper plays and the meditative drone behind the melody follows you as you walk away.
At night you step into the streets and join in with the moving people, flowing along like streams down the narrow streets and in and out of bars and cafes. Many bars you would barely notice, one we find only because someone stepped out as we passed by. Many are simple affairs, a few stools and tables and an old woman or man behind the bar, quite often drunk, and selling there own homemade wine or cider. In one they sell little bowls of wine for 40c. It is in Santiago too that I get acquinted with Liquor de Café; it keeps you awake they say. In Café Casino, the oldest in Santiago, all ages mix and I sit back trying to decipher the passionate argument had by 6 old ladies, who nearly kill themselves then get up and are all smiles and kisses as they depart, I think they were discussing poodles…

On the morning I left Santiago the sun was again in the sky with not a cloud to be seen. The kind of morning that lends itself well to thoughts of new adventures. Four days passed like a moment there. Needless to say I recommend it. No doubt it would be even more special if you walked many miles to get there. Otherwise, don´t worry, there´s buses.

EarthyToes — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:03:33 CDT

A Collection of my photos from through out my first year in Permaculture / Sustainability course.
Jeannie

Here is a collage I created using a selection of photos belonging to Klaus and a beautiful quote chosen by him also. The photos were taken during our first year on the Permaculture / Sustainability course.

Below is a link to my photos at Flickr in a slideshow format, A lot of them are photos taken on field trips from college, but some of them are of my home Donegal and from an ecology workshop myself and Senan from Eco Unesco Coastal Ecology workshop I helped with in County Kerry.So feel free to take a peek.
Jeannie :)

EarthyToes — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:05:51 CST

Transition Times
February '09

NETWORK NEWS
~ Transition Conference 2009: Dates and Venue Announced
~ Who We Are and What We Do
~ Desperately Seeking Presenters
~ Had your 15 minutes of fame yet?
~ Dissertation Compilation
~ Transition Googlemaps
BOOKS:
~ The Transition Timeline
FILMS:
~ A Farm for the Future
~ Age of Stupid - film release
~ Eat The Suburbs’
~ Peak Transition Moment
~ The Big Squeeze - Film review

2009 CONFERENCE
Transition Conference 2009: Dates and Venue Announced
We are delighted to announce the details of the 2009 Transition Network conference. It will be held between lunchtime on Friday 22nd and lunchtime on Sunday 24th May 2009 at the Battersea Arts Centre in south London.

NETWORK NEWS
Who We Are and What We Do
It has been along time in gestation, and the text version was posted a while ago, but we are delighted to present, in pdf. format, Version 1.0 of the Transition Network’s ‘Who We Are and What We Do’ document.
Desperately Seeking Presenters
Transition Initiatives frequently ask for presenters who can do a reasonable job of explaining peak oil, climate change and Transition at one of their community meetings. We have a hunch that there must be loads of transitioners out there who’d be willing to step up for this.
Had your 15 minutes of fame yet?
We'd like to compile a list of transition groups that have interesting projects and would be happy to receive a film/radio crew.
Dissertation Compilation
Now that the world of academia is turning its bespectacled eye towards all things transition, we’re seeing an increasing number of dissertations and papers, both proposed and completed, associated with this subject. To help signpost and coordinate these efforts, we’re planning to put up an on-line reference.
Transition Googlemaps
If you haven’t already done it, Please update your contact details.

BOOKS
The Transition Timeline
Originally conceived for EDAP teams in Transition communities, Shaun Chamberlin’s new book The Transition Timeline: for a local resilient future will be published at the end of March.

LOCAL
Transition Chepstow - The Big Launch
Welsh market town Chepstow unleashed last week. Marcus Perrin tells us how it went.

FILMS
A Farm for the Future
This powerful and moving film shown on BBC last week explores the state of farming in the UK in the context of Peak Oil. Wildlife film maker Rebecca Hosking, who turned Modbury against plastic bags, investigated how to transform her family’s farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future.
Age of Stupid - film release
The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future, which will have its world premiere in London on March 15th 2009 and then be released in UK cinemas on March 20th 2009, followed by other countries.
Eat The Suburbs’
This short film follows Melbourne’s “permablitzers” as they prepare for the end of the oil age… one garden at a time.
Peak Transition Moment
Jennifer Gray of Transition US was interviewed by Peak Moment TV called “The Transition Movement comes to America.”
The Big Squeeze - Film review
Subtitled ‘Surviving the Human Project’, this new film from the producers of Energy Crossroads covers not just the impact Peak Oil will have but looks at how the coming together of wider resource depletion, climate change, water systems and the impact on the whole of our interdependent civilisation. Quote of the Month
"You Are What You Love

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Transition Times
Jan '09

TURN YOUR WASTE INTO MONEY? WHAT A GAS!
Vicky Heslop, the president of the Irish Bio-Energy Association was the guest at a January meeting in the Trident Hotel, to help us understand if Kinsale is a viable town in which to establish a community anaerobic digester, turning waste into fertiliser and gas/electricity. The resulting energy could be used to power a leisure centre, a hospital, or school; and residents and farmers would have access to high quality fertiliser. All of which is done with huge reductions in transport and waste management costs.

The conclusion that emerged is ‘Yes’. Kinsale is an ideal place to do this, and Vicky explained schemes in Europe and elsewhere in Ireland where digesters are already doing good things. It could even make the town smell nicer!

What is required now is a site, a group of local farmers and businesses who want to save, and possibly even make some money, a town and county council prepared to support such a voluntary initiative, and some professional project management skills.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the local farming community, the Chamber of Tourism, Town Council, potential site owners, independent business folk and residents.

The recommended next step is to apply for funding for a feasibility study, so now is the time to register your own suggestions, and to tell others you think may be interested. A copy of the presentation made at the meeting is available free. Apply to info@transitiontownkinsale.org.

A big smiley award goes to those who attended.

OPPORTUNITY TO GET INVOLVED IN TTK
What is your vision for a sustainable Kinsale in 2020? Here is an ideal opportunity to have your say. A number of people in Kinsale have expressed interest in becoming more involved in TTK and its projects but aren’t sure how to go about it. On 7th March next, TTK are hosting a special daytime event at the Carmelite Friary, open to members of the public to discuss such matters.

Here are some possible outcomes:

Producing a list of practical projects for the community
Finding people who would like to help run those projects
Setting up small working groups to take on the projects
Eventually rewriting the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan – the document that kick-started the whole Transition process in Kinsale in 2005.

Watch this space for more details.

SPRING FAIR 2009
Another date for your diaries is Saturday 25th April when we will be hosting the annual Spring Fair. Last year’s event proved highly successful so this year we hope to be even more entertaining, exciting, informative and fun.

The first planning meeting was held on Tuesday 27th January when a number of volunteers formed working groups to run a market, children’s events, competitions for primary school children and the evening concert. The next meeting will be on Tuesday 24th February in Hamlet’s VIP Lounge, so if you’d like to get involved or just volunteer for an hour or two on the day, come along and join in the fun.

It is hoped to have a Community Powerdown Exhibition at the Fair, where you can share your Powerdown story – let us know how you have saved on your energy bill in your home or business. Have you or your business made any new year’s resolution to save energy?
Email: info@transitiontownkinsale.org to share your stories, pictures and ideas.

TRANSITION UNITED STATES
In a hugely important and exciting development in the ongoing story and expansion of the Transition Movement, Transition has been welcomed with open arms in the USA. Transition has been called a huge social experiment, and with their love of adventure and willingness to embrace change, Americans in almost all 50 States are flocking to Transition Training seminars in order to learn how to rebuild community resilience and self-reliance. Knowing how Americans like to take initiative, we believe it will be a great success.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
‘I think we may be on the cusp of the most surprising social change in our lifetimes: a rediscovery of the pleasures to be had in thrift, in simplicity and in parochialism.
We've had decades of the reverse - spending money we don't have; over-complicating everything from high finance to how food reaches our plates; and meekly allowing global conglomerates to trample local interests almost everywhere you look. Where has it got us? We're broke, and so are our communities. It's time to try something different.
My parents' generation darned their socks, patched their jackets, walked or cycled to work with a lunchbox of Spam sandwiches and a flask of tea, and scrimped and saved so that they could pay for the occasional luxury with cash on the nail. It was called “living within your means”. Readers under 40 may not have heard that phrase before. I wouldn't wish the return of Spam on anyone. But the rest? A new Age of Austerity might be quite refreshing. And bustling, vibrant market halls, cheap and cheerful on every high street, could be part of the fun.’
Richard Morrison, The Times, 20th January.

TIP OF THE MONTH – GIVE ‘EM ENOUGH SOAP
When did we all stop using soap and start using shower gel? Does anyone use a simple bar of soap anymore? Clearly they do or the shops wouldn’t stock them. But the shelves seem to be weighted in favour of countless plastic bottles of expensive and artificially coloured gloop to smother all over our hair and bodies. As far as sustainability goes, bar soap wins hands down. A bar of soap will not only last longer than an equivalent quantity of gel and therefore save money in these hard times, but it doesn’t come in a plastic bottle that is made from oil and will need to be shipped to China for recycling. You can also buy natural, locally produced, environmentally friendly bars of soap which are kinder to your skin and the environment after the suds have been washed down the drain.

The Community Garden page will be updated shortly for more Diary updates check back soon
Community Garden

Transition Town Kinsale is always looking for ideas and suggestions so if you have anything you’d like to offer or contribute you can contact us at 087 7839446, info@transitiontownkinsale.org
Website: www.transitiontownkinsale.org

_____________________________________________________________________________

This is a Newsletter that keeps us in touch with the happenings within
the Global Transition Network

Transition Network Newsletter
January 2009
Monthly Newsletter January 2009 Volume 2 Issue #1View this newsletter online:
http://transitionnetworknews.wordpress.com/january-09-newsletter/

CONTENTS

USA NEWS
Post Carbon Backs Transition US
All 50 US States Start Transitioning
LOCAL NEWS
From a duckling to a Swan
North Cornwall Online
TRAINING
Transforming Conflict Training
MEDIA
Transition Movie News
Audio Calling
Fourth World Review: a Transition Journal
AND ALSO..
Play Oiligarchy
Declaration of Interdependence
Refugees in Transition
LocalEyes Gets A Voice

~*~*~ USA NEWS

Post Carbon Backs Transition US
The Post Carbon Institute has announced a partnership with Transition US to inspire and support communities across the United States to shift quickly away from dependence on fossil fuels.
Read the article post-carbon-backs-transition-us

All 50 US States Start Transitioning
'It may come as no surprise that Transition has been welcomed with open arms in the United States'. Carolyne Stayton reports that after a number of years of pessimism, the optimism of the Transition model is being embraced with great relief.
Read the article all-50-us-states-start-transitioning
~*~ LOCAL NEWS

From a duckling to a Swan
Tonya Stewart writes about the newly formed Transition Godalming: from a duckling to a Swan.
Read the article Godalming

North Cornwall Online
A new website aims to encourage and facilitate community groups across North Cornwall.
Read the article transition-north-cornwall
~*~ TRAINING

Transforming Conflict Training
A training day for people in the Transition movement hosted by Transition Bristol
A group can have high aspirations, and yet suffer from internal dynamics that hold it back. We know we need diversity and inclusion, but we can still fall into issues of power and helplessness. Conflicts may float around unresolved in the background and continue to affect the life of the group, and are sometimes only resolved by withdrawal or exclusion. Unresolved conflicts can bring overwhelm and burn-out.
This one day course will adress these issues.
Saturday January 24th
Read the article transforming-conflict-training
~*~ MEDIA

Transition Movie News
It is coming to the end of the filming side of the production. Most of the filming should be completed by the end of January. So get your footage in by then if you're planning to.
Emma Goude reports on progress with the Transition movie:
Read the article transition-movie-news

Audio Calling

Traydio is a sort of audio YouTube, where people can post interesting audio files and it has a monthly Transition podcast. In the the December edition, Totnes-based performance poet Matt Harvey shares his understanding of all things Transitionary. Now over his initial concerns that world supplies of olive oil were running low, Matt talks about – among other things – his recent meetings with Stroud basket-weavers and the raised beds in Brixton.
Read the article audio-calling

Fourth World Review: a Transition Journal
Founded 40 years ago, John Papworth's journal Fourth World Review (4WR) has recently undergone a shift in emphasis, and finds itself under new management and dedicating its focus to Transition.
Read the article fourth-world-review-a-transition-journal
~*~ AND ALSO ...

Play Oiligarchy
Part strategy game, part political statement, part chilling near-future narrative, Oiligarchy is an attempt to spread understanding of Peak Oil and to highlight the intricate relations between war, politics, and energy corporations as a way to understand present and future crisis.
Read the article play-oiligarchy

Declaration of Interdependence
Brought up to date for a generation facing peak oil, climate change and economic contraction, the Representatives of the Transition Committee of Oamaru (in New Zealand) have updated the US Declaration of Independence.
Read the article declaration-of-interdependence

Refugees in Transition
At the Transition Cities conference in Nottingham recently, some participants were doubtful about the relevance of refugees to the Transition movement. Craig Barnett, Transition Sheffield, believes that the participation of refugees is crucial to shaping the kind of communities that we and our children will live in over coming years.
Read the article refugees-in-transition

LocalEyes Gets A Voice
Community Building tool LocalEyes is being trialed by several Transition groups. Peter Anderson from LocalEyes gives an insight into what it is all about.
Read the article localeyes-gets-a-voice
~*~*~ Quote of the Month
"Peak Oil. I thought to begin with that the world's supplies of olive oil were running dangerously low, I thought it's the end of salad dressing as we know it. But it's not, it's OK. It's bad, but it's not as bad as that..."
Matt Harvey

~*~*~
No news here means you havn't sent any in so tap tap tap and write something to share ...
~*~*~
Next Edition 28th February 2009
Content Submission Deadline Thursday 26th February

~*~*~

Not a subscriber? Click Here To SUBSCRIBE to the monthly Transition Network Newsletter

Newletter Editor: Mike Grenville
Contact: transitionnews@there.is
01342 825169

http://transitionnetworknews.org

Transition Network: 43 Fore Street, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 5HN.
Email: info@transitionnetwork.org
Tel: 05601 531882
www.transitionnetwork.org

__________________________________________________________________________

EarthyToes — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:25:43 CST

IRISH ENVRONMENTAL RELATED LINKS

The Powerdown Community Project
Powerdown Community

ASPO
http://www.aspo-ireland.org/

Race against Waste
http://www.raceagainstwaste.com/

Freecycle Ireland, you can sign up for Freecycle Cork or to one near you
http://www.freecycle.org/search

Cultivate
http://www.cultivate.ie/

Irish Wildflowers
http://www.wildflowers.ie/

CORK LINKS

Kinsale Fec
Kinsale Further Education College

Cork Environmental Forum

Grahams Strouts website Zone 5
Zone 5

Add your signature to help Free the Old Head of Kinsale
Petition to Owners Old Head Golflinks
Free the Old Head of Kinsale

Our friends at The Hollies
The Hollies Centre for Practical Sustainability

TRANSITION LINKS

Rob Hopkins' Website
Transition Culture

Transition Town which all began at Kinsale FEC
Transition Town

Transition Town Kinsale is run by a voluntary Committee which has input from local people and
still has some inspiration from Permaculture people too
Transition Town Kinsale

COOL LINKS

Wise Earth

Above is a video introduction to Wise Earth

http://www.permacultureactivist.net

Albert Bates of "The Farm"
came to visit us along with Rob Hopkins, Greg from FIndhorn and Davie from Cultivate
http://www.thefarm.org/lifestyle/albertbates/akb.html

What a fun way to introduce people to green issues and Permaculture
It's Not Easy Being Green

Wisdom of the Elders
http://www.mountainman.com.au/w_elders.html

The Fukuoka Farming Website
Fukuoka wrote One Straw Revolution
http://fukuokafarmingol.info/index.html

EarthyToes — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:47:56 CST

An episode of a national TV programme called Nationwide in which one of the focus' of the episode is Kinsale and our Permaculture course

Below is a video called "Kinsale, Ireland: A Sustainable Community" It shows one of the past students Louise Rooney talking about the Energy Descent Plan that she iniated along with the help of Rob and the other students of that year.In the video are photos taken in and around the college in 2005 and also in 2007 (these recent ones were taken by Graham ,watch out for the class sitting on the steps holding their certs ..thats us 2nd years at the end of our first year) also there's a photo of us on our first week back at college in the gardens something like 60 of us Permies all sat in a circle getting acquainted, first years and second years all together. Another photo of us all when some of the ASPO speakers visited college.. Rob Hopkins, Albert Bates of the Farm Tennesee,Jonathon Dawson of Findhorn and Davie Phillips of Cultivate Ireland.
Here's a link to a photo of them outside the straw bale house on the college grounds (from Grahams site)

ASPO speakers

Permaculture at Kinsale
by Klaus Harvey

This following article was taken fromSustainability Magazine March 2007

When I first contacted Kinsale Further Education College about their Permaculture course, I was told that due to the demand, I should apply before Christmas 2005 to be sure of a place starting in September 2006. I applied in November, was offered a place, took a career break from my teaching job and moved to county Cork in the hot summer of last year. By the end of my first week on the course I had played some ice-breaking games with my classmates, discussed green ethics, planted herbs in a mulched bed, cooked pizzas in an outdoor cob oven, made compost, learned the details of peak oil and been given an assignment to research the life strategy and culinary and medicinal uses of sea beet. I was part of a group of smart, radical, funny, environmentally clu ed-in students, aged 16-44, from all over the country and beyond. This was the best mid-life crisis I’d ever had.

Kinsale College is home to the first two-year full-time Permaculture course in the world. It was set up by Rob Hopkins in 2001 and for me it was the chance to put into practice my ever-evolving green principles, to equip myself with the skills needed for a low energy future and to explore the possibility of a career change. Permaculture is about learning from nature and designing systems that are sustainable, be they your home, garden, farm or community. It is about creating a life that is fulfilling and abundant. Its ethics are summed up as: earth care, people care, fair shares.

The course has an excellent combination of theory, practice and plain get-your-hands-dirty enjoyment. There is always something new and fascinating to be learnt. We have been on numerous field trips to observe and participate in the practice of sustainability as realised through activities such as organic growing or building with cob. We have had visiting speakers to talk about green architecture, renewable energy and wastewater systems. Every week we go on an ecology field trip to look at flora and fauna, and there is always some planting, pruning or other gardening activity taking place in the college grounds. For one of my projects I’m part of a group growing garlic. We have our winter crop well established, and I now know that it’s hardy, easy to grow and useful for keeping pests away from other plants.

After a few months I realised just how many important life skills I had been lacking. Here I was learning how to build using sustainable materials, how to grow some of my own food, how to build an efficient wood burning ‘rocket’ stove, how to charge a battery using a solar panel, how to coppice hazel and willow, how to identify different plants and trees and know what their culinary, medicinal and other uses are. I found myself asking ‘What have I been doing all these years?’ This is the kind of information everyone should know. It also raises the question: why aren’t there more courses like this all over the country?

The first year comprises modules in Permaculture Design, Organic Production Principles, Sustainable Woodland Management and Field Ecology. In second year there are modules in Conflict Resolution, Community Leadership and Start your own business. The tutors are all extremely knowledgeable and experienced, the atmosphere is relaxed and the work is highly enjoyable. It’s exciting and inspiring, and there is a sense that what we are doing might actually make a difference. Permaculture design is a design for a more sustainable future and with the impending challenges of climate change and peak
oil, it is to be embraced as an important part of the solution.
Klaus's article at sustainability.ie

EarthyToes — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:32:58 CDT

I thought this page would be a delightful addition to this site as many of us are interested in foraging for wild, free and tasty food, from apples, berries, sea spinach to Allium ursinum also called Ransomes or Wild Garlic. My favourite books on the subject are by Richard Maybeys' "Food For Free" and Denis Cotters' "Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me".

Transition Town Kinsale (T.T.K.) are doing a "wild food walk" once a month.My interest was really piqued when Phillp took us on Ecology field trips last year to wild and wonderful places, he used to point out the wild food edibles...and say "ach but would you want to ??" with a bemused look upon his face. It became like a mantra for Phillip as we used to bombard him with questions about the wild food. Phillip I'm missing your wonderful classes and your great sense of humour and inspiration. :)

Wild Beauty on Summer Solstice

The first time I ever used Ramson or Wild Garlic / Allium ursinum, was at my fav ourite place near my home in Donegal. The ramson could be found near by in a little wood along side a river and i swear to this day, it smelt like some one was cooking with them.The summer heat was warming them and the gentle breeze carried the scent which teased us no end, so it was the natural accompaniment to our simple feast after our long trek up the mountain.

Myself and a friend were out camping on Summer solstice and pitched our tent under a tree laden with flowers,on a peninsula beside a lake . At the tip of the peninsula was a wee spot where we made our camp fire, in which we roasted our spuds in foil and we put our wine chilling in the lake by the raft. When the spuds were ready we topped them with butter,(which melted beautifully) some black pepper and loads of wild ramson. Simple and delicious out in the fresh air and wild beauty. We ate and drank with our feet dangling off the raft …oooh bliss..one of my favourite memories of being out in nature.

Ingredients

Sorrel

1 onion

Fat

4oz plain flour

Wash leaves. Chopped, mix with onion Mix flour and fat to make dough Add cold water. Roll out thickly Cut into rounds Spoon into centre Drop into hot oil and fry

Nettle Balls
by Lea Miklody

Last autumn a few of us spent a day near Glengeriff with a lovely english woman, collecting various wild foods and cooking them into tasty dishes... This was one of my favourites :) highly recommended!!!!

Enough nettles (washed)
Grated raw onions
1oz butter
1 egg
Oil
Bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese or Feta Cheese

Cook nettles in water.
Chop finely and return to pan with butter, grated onions and cheese.
Put (breadcrumbs) in oven at low heat. (I guess you can do it on the hob as well)
Blend in bread crumbs. Remove from heat and leave to stand for 15 mins allowing breadcrumbs to absorb moisture.
(Put mixture onto a wooden board.)
Form into dumpling size balls, and roll into breadcrumbs.
Beat the egg and dip balls and roll into breadcrumbs.
Fry until golden.

EarthyToes — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:31:11 CDT

Hi lads..when entering text press control v,or paste from edit toolbar above (sometimes it doesn't show so this way you have a choice of ways to paste), it works better than right click paste ...

Please sign your names at the bottom and take credit for your work.
Give me a shout if theres any problems
Good on ya all !!
Permies Rock...Jeannie
;)

This page is being developed by the first years and second years who all came together in an Open Space day on the 26th February 2008. Open Space Technology is a revolutionary method of formulating decisions in larger groups of people and it also has the aim of gathering information in a fun dynamic way. Harrison Owen facilitated many group meetings, and found that the most effective work was done and more decisions made during coffee breaks, when people were more at ease.

Photos will be put up of the process and many more contributions are being put up shortly. see open space technology site http://www.openspaceworld.com/

The above video is of Open Space from a Transition Town Lewes event and it features Rob Hopkins presenting the Open Space and an unknown gentleman explaining about Open Space.Richard Heinberg participated also.

Open Space
By Thomas Reidmuller

The facilitator begins with an invitation to do what you've already been doing, looking around the room, seeing who's here, signalling good morning to the people you know and taking notice of any faces new to you. The theme is restated and briefly explained, perhaps a short story of how we got here, with the reminder that everyone you now see in the circle is here because they care about some aspect of this theme -- and have chosen to be here, to learn from and contribute to the work at hand. The facilitator also explains that the big empty wall is, in fact, our agenda. He acknowledges that it is a giant empty space, but reassures us that it will, within the hour, be filled with discussion topics related to the theme. He makes it very clear that all of these breakout session topics will be proposed by us, the people now sitting in the circle. The logistics of this are equally clear.

Four Principles

While the reality of this responsibility sinks in, the Four Principles are explained. What seemed strange when you read the posters earlier, now seems to make a lot of sense. "Whoever comes is the right people" acknowledges that the only people really qualified or able to do great work on any issue are those who really care, and freely choose to be involved. "Whenever it starts is the right time" recognizes that spirit and creativity don't run on the clock, so while we're here, we'll all keep a vigilant watch for great ideas and new insights, which can happen at anytime. "Whatever happens is the only thing that could have" allows everyone to let go of the could haves, would haves and should haves, so that we can give our full attention to the reality of what is happening, is working, and is possible right now. And finally, "When it's over, it's over" acknowledges that you never know just how long it'll take to deal with a given issue, and reminds us that getting the work done is more important than sticking to an arbitrary schedule. Taken together, these principles say "work hard, pay attention, but be prepared to be surprised!"

The Law of Two Feet

The one law is The Law of Two Feet, or in some cases, The Law of Personal Mobility. It says simply that you, and only you, know where you can learn and contribute the most to the work that must take place today. It demands that you use your two feet to go where you need to go and do what you need to do. If at any time today, you find that you are not learning or contributing, you have the right and the responsibility to move... find another breakout session, visit the food table, take a walk in the sunshine, make a phone call -- but DO NOT waste time.

Bumble Bees and Butterflies

This simple rule makes everyone fully responsible for the quality of their own work and work experience. It creates bumblebees who buzz from session to session, cross-pollinating and connecting pieces of the work. It creates butterflies who may not join any formal sessions, choosing instead to float at the edges. They create the space for everyone to appreciate the energies and synergies unfolding in the work of the conference. Sometimes the most amazing solutions seem to come out of nowhere -- so that's where butterflies tend to look for them.

Offerings

After a quick logistical review, the facilitator invites anyone who's ready to come to the centre of the circle, grab a marker and a sheet of paper, and write down their burning question, passionate issue, or great idea. To the surprise of many, a number of people spring from their chairs and are quickly on all fours in the centre of the circle, scribbling their offerings. As each one finishes, they read their issue(s) out loud. These aren't speeches; just simple announcements. "My name is _____, my issue is ______," and we're on to the next one, while they tape their sheet to the wall and assign it a place and a time (from a pre-arranged set of space/time choices). This is how even very large groups can create two or three days of agenda in just one hour. As the wall fills, those who were at first surprised, find words for their issue and grab a marker. And then, as fast as it started, it's done.

Breakout Spaces

Having done the impossible in the first hour, the energy level is pretty high now. The facilitator gives a few more instructions and the whole group moves to the wall and signs up for the sessions they want to attend. Minutes later, the first sessions start without any announcement or instructions, because everybody knows where they need to be. Suddenly the large circle is many small circles, in the corners of the room or in separate breakout spaces, each working on some important part of the main theme. Every session has been proposed by someone who really cares about that item and has taken responsibility for making sure it gets addressed. In longer meetings, the convener is also responsible for recording the main points and conclusions reached in his or her session.

Ebb and flow

As the first sessions finish, at roughly the scheduled time, the second sessions begin. If the work isn't finished, it continues or a sequel is scheduled. Some people have spent the entire 1 1/2-hour session on one topic; others have bumblebeed or butterflied around, connecting different issues. Everything is moving -- people, ideas, resources, beliefs, relationships -- but it all revolves and relates to the intention stated in the invitation. This motion ebbs and flows, but the work continues, session after session. In multi-day meetings, everyone also assembles in the morning and evening for short "news" sessions, where things like new sessions, major breakthroughs, and dinner plans can be announced easily.

Rule of Thumb

In some events, especially longer events, the proceedings are captured by computer. The person who convenes a session also takes responsibility for capturing the notes and typing them into the computer. The rule-of-thumb is that one day in Open Space will get you a lot of great discussion, two days will give you time to capture what happens in a typed proceedings document, and a third day (usually a half-day) will allow a more formal convergence to specific plans for immediate action.

From website www.openspacetechnology.com

Topic 1

The "pressure" of responsibility as a Permaculturalist

1. How to use/relieve “pressure” to become positive actions
2. What areas are feeling the pressure specifically
3. Where does the “pressure” come from?
4. What is our RESPONSIBILITY?

· People expect you to be out educating others, feeling judgement from people thinking it’s your duty to go out and spread the word
· Concept of personal responsibility – one person should only be responsible for themselves, empower others to be responsible for themselves –

YOU CAN’T CHANGE OR BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHERS

Firstly use the course to skill up for life
positive options are plentiful.
Beginning on the ground with projects and skills
Sharing using your duty as a positive opportunity

· Without realising it you are automatically being a positive influence, even if it is not always obvious

-LIVING BY EXAMPLE

· TEACHERS TO EXPLAIN-SOMETIMES LIVING IT IS ENOUGH

Different ways of dealing with “pressure”:
Go all out and canvas it or LIVE IT – this is me
Teachers with agenda to recruit you for the front line?
Permaculture-a new topic,
Relatively unknown
Few people educated in, everybody needed to spread this information
Duty to educate.

· “EVOLUTION TAKES THE PATH OF LEAST EFFORT”

Nothing works if you have to force it from yourself, you can’t try to be something you’re not
It’s hard to define “what is permaculture?” when people ask you,
Suggest a half day media brainstorm with Graham on “what is Permaculture to me?”
The strength of permaculture is it’s flexibility, as a concept is open to any individual’s interpretation
Give people an opportunity to talk through what it means to them
Skills for positive interaction with public.
Under the torch feeling being put on the spot,
Expected to have something to say…emotional maturity,
Being able to name/acknowledge your feelings, makes you closer to understanding, compassion, closer to moving mental blocks
Somehow gaining the emotional/confidence skills to be able to deal with expectations
Your own and others.
Thomas’s class helps with these issues as you have the opportunity to get used to public speaking and other useful related skills

· GIVING YOURSELF TIME TO DIGEST PERMACULTURE

It’s not an immediate thing
Not expected to have a vast knowledge but a deep relationship with principles of permaculture and using them in your life
There is a tension between doing whatever suits you and a sense of urgency based in reality/fact that you need to act, but if you’re not comfortable in your role you may do more harm
People creating examples by living and other more dynamic people out there on front line
David Holmgren-

PERMACULTURE FOR A BETTER WAY OF LIFE

NOT TO CHANGE THE WORLD –
People are naturally empowered into change
EACH ONE TEACH ONE
GUILT/BLAME/FEAR from culture and mainstream in reaction to Permaculture and environmental concerns
FEAR as an evolutionary motivator?
Climate change asking people to change for the good of the planet, altruistic reasons for Peakoil applying to peoples selfish needs
Is FEAR the most useful/positive motivator/key to necessary changes?

Emma Burgess

Topic 2

Setting up a Sustainability Resource Centre

As Davie Philip from Cultivate recently said, 'Every town should have one', and at Transition Town Kinsale, we have been discussing this topic for over a year now. It is a key point in the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan, so for these reasons I suggested it for the Open Space day.

Potential uses:

Transition Town Kinsale
Other community groups e.g. Youth café, Active Retirement group, Arts Week etc.
Meetings
Film screenings
Coop
Shop – books, organic/health/Fair Trade food
Sustainable/environmentally sensitive produce
Rehearsal/gig space
Coffee mornings
Community gardens
Fundraising
Information hub
Courses
Training
Workshops
Professional development
Cyber café

Venue/location:

Need to research old and new properties in Kinsale
Old Mill, Kinsale

Possibly rename: Kinsale Community Resource Centre:

To connect with other community groups
To be more inclusive

Funding:

Department of Environment – John Gormley
West Cork Leader
FAS
Community Employment Scheme
ENFO
Local Agenda 21

Next Steps:

Create vision documents
Business plan
Conduct a survey locally – what do other groups want?

After the discussion when we all came to the feedback session, I said I was keen to see the practical application of some of these ideas. Two of us will take the discussion further and talk with Thomas Riedmuller who has recently been working with a community resource center in Dunmanway, West Cork.

Klaus Harvey

FEEDBACK FROM THE DAY

The following are bullet points from the students and teachers after the Open Space day.

- There was a great sense of purpose to every group. Every participant in each group was there for a definite reason and felt well listened to and actively listened themselves.
- Great way to generate many ideas.
- People enjoyed the freedom of choice, you can walk away at any time or sit outside by yourself.
- Everybody had input. With smaller groups everyone gets heard.
- Time went by fast. No boredom arose as can happen in many meetings. The process would ideally run for a full day.
- It was possible to make different connections with a greater number of people.
- Great that notes were taken so that people joining in at different times could get up to date quickly on what had been said previously.
- Graham noted that he really enjoyed the conversations which he thought were great. He also enjoyed speaking to us outside of the teacher role.
- People felt that the individual discussions should lead to further research and action.
-It was noted how fun and rewarding it was to have this integration between first and second years. Some people would like to see more of that. Thomas pointed out that this is an objective of the course but tat there are limits to the amount of activities we can do together as time is a restraint.
-Graham would like to continue the discussion of the ‘pressure’ of responsibility felt by permaculture students, which he said brought up many interesting issues. This could happen in school or as an evening after college. Other topics that generated a desire for further discussion were;
- Alternative government
- Community resource centre. People discussed what resources were already there and how we could make links with those groups. Maybe we could have another open space in which they are invited. Thomas pointed out that government funding overlaps between sustainability and environment so there is potential for funding. It was noted that the first step is to write a vision plan for the Sustainability Centre and to do a survey within the community as to what their needs are. Jeannie spoke of how much she enjoyed the discussion about cultural and racial integration within the community. There is potential to have events together such as music or food nights. Overall the feedback was very positive.

A great day so well done to everyone involved.
David Neavyn

Open Space Day @ KFEC Permaculture and Community
– Opportunities for graduates after the course
Work group: Strategies for working with mainstream groups
– Bringing in PC under the radar.

Problems for Permaculturists include:

- our own jargon (words like peak oil, permaculture, sustainability etc. don’t have the same or any meaning for many mainstream people)
- if we preach (anything) we get branded – it is then easy for other people
not to listen to us
- we are way ahead in our type of awareness about sustainability and related problems (whilst possibly being far back in other topics without knowing it)…other people need to get to insights in their own time (much against our own urges and impatience); people in general tend to resist change; each soul wants to be recognised in its independence and freedom, therefore preachers of anything are viewed with suspicion. People often defend their beliefs, habits or life-style by saying things like “but if everybody …it wouldn’t work”

Promising strategies the workgroup discussed included:

- avoid preaching, instead: invite someone to give a talk or workshop
- telling people a personal story about a relevant incident or problem and as others for their opinion or advice
- try to pull people into sympathising over a shared problem
- practice translating our jargon into everyday language
- sample explanations of PC: - ‘a simpler way of life where all needs are met closer to home’
- ‘a method of designing systems that can be
- applied to all walks of life to increase efficiency and save resources.
- Tell the story of one example you are using, for instance about mulching.
- ask particularly older people for advice and possibly remind them of the merits of older methods (say of farming, transport, etc.)
- follow trends (of what is happening anyway in the group or in society at large, for example growing awareness around food, organics, energy etc.) and link into that.
- Present people with “a problem” and trust that their own thinking will lead to useful solutions
- Let them discover new insights and make it look like it’s their own ideas
- Don’t force anything down ‘their’ throats
- Listen carefully to people’s stories, concerns, frustrations and only after that offer what has worked for you in connection with a similar problem
- Help to make ideas reality
- Try to get results with people, something doable, small projects to get a sense of achievement, confidence and for building community
- Break big plans down into small steps
- Start with ourselves, walk our talk
- Look for allies
- Work with mainstream media, write articles, offer to be PR officer of local development groups and promote their work
- Use common aims such as health, saving money, having more fun, higher quality of life, services, products etc.
- Keep linking up
- Wait for the right moment to talk about Permaculture ideas

Thanks to Thomas Reidmuller our Community skills Teacher (Conflict Resolution and Consensus Decision Makiing & Facillitation) for helping us put out this information

Hierarchy and Permaculture and Alternative Government/Alternatives to Government

-Anarchy: without authority, with personal responsibility to your community. -Peak Oil means end to big systems so also end to big government.
-Do things have to reach crisis point before we do anything. -Democracy has to localise. Decisions should be made from the ground up.
-Community can't be too exclusive v community has to be somewhat exclusive.
-Feelings of lack of control over the decisions that effect our lives.
-Noam Chomsky is an Anarchist.
-Anarchist usually not violent but media portrays them so.
-We're used to blaming institutions.
-Rotating positions of leadership or authority.
-Examples of Anarchy: Mandragon Co-ops in North Spain, (most co-op are an example of anarchy); the Zapatista autonomous zones in Chiapas, Mexico; civil war Spain; Argentina's occupied factories, 700 still up an running, see film "The Take".
-Permaculture pioneer David Holgram refers to Anarchists in his writings.
-Radical co-ops can often become money focused.
-Can't have anarchy in an oil rich society?
-How do you deal with crime.
-"Anarchist" word sounds scary, "libertarian socialist" similar meaning.
-Western society numbed by TV.
-Will anarchism deliver soap operas and cheap energy.
-It'll start small.
-Conspicuous consumption is a hungry monster.
-"The left hand of darkness", sci-fi book about anarchism.

Cathal Larkin

EarthyToes — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:40:18 CDT

Thought I'd have fun with this page..
if you want to check out what Bob Dylan has to say
and get this playing you
might have to right click and press play.. ;)

This Permie
was excited to read about Trevor Sargents recent speech at Terra Madre ..where he supported a Green non GMO Ireland

Minister Trevor Sargent addressed the special food conference held in Waterford. Below is the transcript of his talk:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be here with you today and to share in this vitally important discussion about the future of small scale agriculture and of artisan food producers. It is great to see an all-island participation at this event and I extend a warm welcome to Michelle Gildernew, The Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs. I would also like to welcome Dr. Carlo Petrini who I enjoyed meeting at the IFOAM World Organic Congress in Italy earlier this year and indeed all our overseas visitors, I hope you all enjoy your experience of “Ireland the Food Island” and that you obtain a deeper knowledge of the exciting and professional Irish speciality sector. Bord Bia research has shown that consumers accept and favour the contribution speciality foods make to sustainable regional economies. Demand is driven by issues of freshness, small-scale production, taste, quality and shorter supply chains and most importantly, consumers are willing to pay a premium for products that get it right. And I believe that many are getting it right. These indigenous producers are located throughout every corner of Ireland, supporting local, and often rural economies. They bring production back to its source and raise the bar for food production in the regions. That being said, I am aware we in Ireland have a long way to go to emulate the diversity of unique local food producers in Italy or France, for example. The events this weekend will rekindle appreciation of good food and what it represents, not least in terms of nutrition but also culture, landscape and sustainability. Buyers need every help to appreciate the potential that exists for good local food and fresh produce.
Ireland also has a way to go before we reach the EU average for organic farming which is about 4% of E.U. farmland. I am determined to grow our percentage of organic production from 1% to 5% of Irish farmland by 2012 as agreed in the Programme for Government. However, to paraphrase the man known as the uncrowned King of Ireland, Charles Stewart Parnell, I will not be saying thus far and no further. In the face of a growing demand for organic food nationally and internationally and in the face of rising energy costs and unpredictable rainfall patterns, organic farms have a growing market while being more energy efficient and more tolerant of drought. You sometimes hear a view that humanity needs more oil, or GM or some other so called “silver bullet” to feed our growing population. A University of Michigan study says otherwise. Researchers there say that organic farming can yield up to three times as much food on individual farms in developing countries as the current low-intensive methods on the same land. Remember it is in these poor countries where population growth is greatest. Indeed both rich and poor countries are in need of development as all countries need to develop ways to produce more healthy food using less energy.”

In a section of his speech which drew rousing applause from the audience, Minister
Trevor Sargent went on to say

“The whole GM debate is for me, like for many people here, at the heart of sustainability and the empowerment of people to grow food. If that power is taken away - and the corporate spin is certainly very strong in the direction of some kind of silver bullet being available through GM - we’ll have gone beyond the point from which it’s very difficult to come back. So we are in this generation, I believe, holding a very important responsibility. And when we look at the experience of farmers - and I think it’s important to talk to farmers rather than to their corporate masters and their professionally-paid spin doctors - the farmers are saying GM is not the panacea for them. Whether you go to the universities which have been carrying out these studies - in Nebraska and Kansas, from Iowa to India - they tell you that farmers have been experiencing not greater but less yield, losing money, and losing market share. The exact opposite of the spin that is being put out there. And that’s before we talk about the health risks (and they do have to be talked about), the superweeds, the fossil fuel dependency (which Colin Sage eloquently pointed out here we cannot continue with - we have to move on from our short-term flirtation with fossil fuels, they are not going to be around to get us out of this particular hole that we have dug for ourselves). So I do feel that the GM debate is, in that context, a dangerous distraction from the fundamental challenges that have to be faced up to. And the option for us in Ireland is very clear: Ireland - the food island: we can sell that! The green clean food island - they really want that in Germany, as we heard from Professor Ham last night at the organic conference. Anywhere you go where our main markets are, they want that green clean food island. How about if Bord Bía tries to sell Ireland - the GM laboratory? I wonder how that would go down. Well let me tell you, that would be the end!

He continued…

This weekend is also a great opportunity for discovering new treasures and rediscovering old forgotten tastes. In fact it is an ideal opportunity for those who appreciate good food and convivial company to treat themselves in any one of the many participating local bars and restaurants. It is very heartening to see that the county’s food producers and restaurateurs have designed special festival menus to celebrate local produce and highlight the talents of local chefs. Another great event taking place this weekend is the farmers market in Jenkins Lane on Sunday at 12 noon. One of the Governments commitments under the Programme for Government is to encourage more direct selling between farmers and consumers by restoring and promoting farm shops and a national network of farmers’ markets. Earlier this week, I visited Castlefarm, near Athy, an excellent farm shop. I have recently established a Group to formulate best practice guidelines for Farmers’ Markets. As part of this process I am seeking submissions from interested parties as to the content of the guidelines. More details of this process can be obtained from the Food Division at my Department. Finally, I would like to congratulate the organisers of this event for their imagination and commitment, and to the participants of the workshops who have provided much food for thought. Bainigí taitneamh as an deireadh seachtaine/I hope you all enjoy the weekend.

This Permie Loves
the increasing interest in
growing local food and allotment
schemes in Ireland ...
Think Global - Eat Local part 1

Think Global - Eat Local part 2

This Permie Loves..
Kinsale Further Education College
....and the work John Thuillier did in creating a wonderful creative college

John Thuillier recently retired after many years as the driving force in this creative college.Behind every great man is a great woman and Johnswife Margaret was a great help in the college,we'll miss your smiling face around Margaret.

Not only is there the worlds only 2 yr Permaculture course , but also a wonderful art course, Multimedia course, Outdoor education and also Drama course. All of these are so creative and the college brims over with positivity. It’s a wonderful place to attend college, with lovely views of the town and it's harbour from high up on the hill.

This Permie Loves
The Idea of...
Off Grid Communities

Hugh Piggott is a pioneering creator of recycled wind turbines. He has managed to power and maintain an entire community on Scotland's north-west coast where he runs courses teaching wind turbine construction to students from all over the world.

This Permie Loves
Transition Town Kinsale
and its
"Spring Fair"

The spring fair took place on the 29th March this year. It took months of planning and brainstorming and many phone calls. Well done to all of the TTK Spring Fair
committee (myself included).

This year some of us 2nd yr Permies started up a Co-op. Well done to all 12 of us.
Tara, Naomi, Diane and Michelle ..you were brilliant ..you guys never stopped smiling all day.Thanks for doing a great job at the stall.What a fantastic bunch ..Well Done :)

Kinsale Food Co-op

Below Klaus introduces ( from left to right ) the Lord Mayor Mary Evans, Trevor Seargeant (Green Party), and Kathy Sinnot MEP in Temperance Hall.

Below Trevor Seargeant gives a talk,
The clips above and below came from short videos myself and Mikael Jedharme took on the day, if anyone knows how I could load those videos and more on wetpaint please let me know how.I've tried joining Youtube but the website wouldn't let me join ??
More photos and info to come as soon as I get time.

This Permie Loves
Truth Windows

A truth window is a location in a straw bale home where people can view what is behind the plaster, Very often, they inspire conversations with curious visitors. Most, if not all, straw bale homes have one. Some are simple and others elaborate. The style of the window is often a reflection of the owners. Most of the truth windows I have seen or created are simple and humble. Often, the window is no more than an 8″ x 8″ hole in the plaster. I have also seen and created truth windows that are akin to true windows, with working shutters and glass. Below is a description of how to create a simple, bull nose plaster truth window. The first decision with any truth window is where to place it. Would you rather display it in a more public setting or private location within your home? Once you have a sense of where it will be located, consider what you will see in the window. Position the opening so that the different components that make up the wall are displayed. Show the straw, wire mesh, bamboo and whatever other materials were used. Directions

For a simple, bull nose plaster window, use the plaster itself to frame the opening. Follow the directions below to accomplish this:
Place 2 inch masking tape on the bales in the shape of the opening you want.
Use the scratch coat of plaster to rough in the shape of the window.
Land the plaster about 1″ on the tape.
Allow the plaster to dry after you scratch it like the rest of the base coat.
When applying the brown coat, use a margin trowel to form a bull nose with the plaster as you round into the opening.
Once again, land the bull nose on the masking tape, keeping the straw clean.
Wait to float this area until the brown coat has set up quite a bit.
If you float it too soon, it will be difficult to maintain the shape of the bull nose.
Use a damp sponge float instead of a neoprene float to finish the bull nose. We are trying to find a good online supplier of these plastering tools. Until then please visit your local plaster store to purchase these.
After the brown coat has dried, use a razor knife to cut the tape back to the face of the plaster.
Use the final coat of plaster to touch up the bull nose.
Dive the plaster into the straw with a margin trowel to create a sharp, clean edge.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrew Morrison is the founder and owner of A. C. Morrison Construction, LLC, a company specializing in straw bale construction. Andrew has a passion for straw bale construction that is matched only by his desire to teach his knowledge to others. Andrew is the creator and builder of the Straw Bale Village, a community of 15 straw bale homes in the National Historic Landmark City of Jacksonville, Oregon. He is a skilled, licensed General Contractor (CCB License #161204) with experience in designing and building both conventional and straw bale homes. Andrew has owned A. C. Morrison Construction, LLC, since 1996. Andrew received a BA degree from Hampshire College in 1995 for Glacial Geology. He also has a degree in construction technology. Please visit his professional web site at:www.StrawBaleConstruction.net

This Permie Loves
Permaculture Magazine

I've subscribed to this magazine. It's packed full of a wide variety of diverse topics from renewable energy, sustainable dwellings,climate change,peak oil, eco-villages and more.Its jam packed with information that I just love to devour about a way of life that, thankfully, many people are finally embracing.
www.permaculture.co.uk

This Permie Loves
One of the Runner Up entrants in the Ecospot Competition

"The Little Things"

This Permie Loves
Eco- Villages

I'm all in favour of Eco -villages so much so that I used to be a member of "The Village" (Cloughjordan) see http//www.thevillage.ie
You can view a video about the project on this next u-tube stream below

I've wanted to live in a community that cares for the environment for most of my life. I still look forward to doing so one day.

Tinkers Bubble

I visited a great place called "Tinkers Bubble" where one of my best friends Caroline resided. Further below past the videos are some of my own photo from there.This next video is of an interview with Mary of Tinkers Bubble who lives there with her 2 children and is one of the long term residents of the Bubble, whom I met when I was there, she's bubbly and vibrant and is one of the wise women that live there, her kids go to a local school so that helps to integrate them into society. Her son Joe is such an intelligent and fun kid.

So here's a video with Mary and some other info about this community (who as I gather would prefer not to have too much attention) chatting about Tinkers Bubble

Now check out Matreya Village in Eugene Oregan U.S. below

Next some of my photos from Tinkers Bubble.

To the right is a photo I took of the community house in the Bubble where everyone cooks and Woofers sleep. There's a camp fire just outside this building where I had the pleasure of helping to cook and make cheese.

On one occasion I was sitting chatting on this spot and the top of a very high hill and heard a weird noise and looked up to see a rainbow coloured balloon skimming the trees just above us. What a beautiful memory of a beautiful place.

To the left and above is a photo of my friend Caroline, I gave her a daft nick name "Waggell" (because of her waggly butt) and beside her is Sam the Shire Horse at Tinkers Bubble, taken just below the wood where theBubblers reside. Sam hauled logs and generally did a lot of hard work for the Bubblers. In the next field there was an adorable moo (cow) named Daisy that supplied them with their daily milk which they made cheese with on a daily basis. Caroline started a seed bank sourcing seeds from the wonderful
forest they lived in, while she lived there.

Above is the Apple Press for
cidermaking. I had some of the cider and..phew it knocked me socks off !! ...this was located beside the beautiful old apple orchard at the bottom of the wood covered hill.

One day we went to collect seeds around the forest the Bubblers live in. On our walk we met some of the locals who shied away from myself and Caroline, and they looked on us with wary eyes. She then told me that the Bubblers weren't widely accepted by the community. Locals were inclined to mistrust them and this did not encourage much integration.

In recent years the Bubblers have had some media coverage such as.. articles in The Times (UK) and interviews with BBC radio (during my visit I listened to one such interview on BBC radio) and on-line interviews see link above to this interview, maybe this attitude has now softened. I am certainly hoping that these gentle people have been more accepted into the community they live closest to.

Above is a photo I took of the stain glass insert
on the community building at the Bubble

This Permie Loves
It's Not Easy Being Green

You could've fooled me.. they made it look so easy.

Remember that programme that was aired on BBC recently ? Well it's not an aptly named programme because this family were such a strong and happy unit that they just buzzed with energy and their positivity surely helped them create this inspiring television programme. The programme in question showed them having such a great laugh pretty much all of the time.They covered topics such as wind turbines and ...YES permaculture ...on mainstream TV ;)....it's a miracle WOW ! ! ! ! ! We need more programmes like it.

Above and left pictures show the Strawbridge family from
"It's Not Easy Being Green"

Maybe they got inspired by Kermit the Frog ??? ;)

EarthyToes — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:45:49 CDT

When we first started our course, we were saddened to see that all the books that were acquired for our use had been nicked. This book worm wonders how previous Permies could stoop so low as to steal or lose all those inspiring books.

So Peter Bourke got to thinking that we should start our own library, and buy all the books ourselves, that way hey.. we would own the books, and would have key keepers mind the keys therefore we are naturally not going to be sloppy with them or lose them.

So we filled the shelves full of excellent books to read (finding time to peruse them all was a challenge though) We were fortunate to have some donations by Phillip Ward our Ecology teacher.Also a book was introduced for us to enter all relevant information such as who has a particular book and what date it will be back on. We usually borrow a book for 1 week.

The Transition Handbook has three sections to explore..
The Head , you can read about the issues of peak oil and climate change, and how when looked at together, we need to be focusing on the rebuilding of resilience as well as cutting carbon emissions.

It would be great If some one would write a review of this book. Email me at my_angel_toes@yahoo.co.uk or send it to me via a message on this site.

Jeannie

One of our latest editions "Our Farm" by Rosie Boycott was donated by me. I read it and found it an inspiring and engaging read. It's part biography and part account of how they set up a small holding. Rosie was involved in a car crash and found the joys of the farm helped her on her healing journey.I enjoyed Rosie's spirit, she is an activist who helped her community thrive the onslaught of the huge chain stores, which can destroy the spirit of local business. She brings awareness to the necessity of supporting the local small business and keeping food local.
http://www.boycottfarm.co.uk/index.php

Past Permie (He finished last year 2007)
Oven Craftsman Hendrik Leppel
features in the latest edition of

"Build Your Own Oven"
see Future Events
for his poster advertisement
for his workshops
http://permies.wetpaint.com/page/Future+Events

One of the other books we acquired was The Humanure Handbook,
if you want to read Editions 1 and 2 of this book you can down load them
from the links that are shown below.

Download them here

The Humanure Handbook Edition 1 free download

The Humanure Handbook Edition 2 read online

Instruction manual for Humanure Compost Toilet System

Compost toilets properly managed, uses almost no water and creates no environmental pollution, while recovering soil nutrients to enrich plant growth.The Humanure Handbook is written by Joseph Jenkins a humanure composting practitioner and organic gardener with over 30 years
experience,his third edition provides detailed scientific information on how humanure can be hygienically recycled, without fancy technological do-dads, a large bank account, toxic chemicals, or environmental pollution.This unique handbook provides information on composting, soil fertility and microorganisms, alternative gray water systems and much more. It also gives detailed instructions on how you can build or buy your own sawdust toilet and compost bins for only a few dollars.
Defecating in our drinking water is perhaps one of our culture's most curious, but least talked about, habits. This book gives compelling and detailed testimony as to why humanure should be constructively recycled:

Joseph Jenkins, Inc., 143 Forest lane, Grove City, PA 16127 USA; www.josephjenkins.com.

Messageboard and photos and books to download here
Humanure Headquarters

The Loveable Loo

The Cob Builders Handbook
You Can Hand Sculpt Your Own Home
by Becky Bee

Here's a great wee book I bought about 5-6 years ago when i was a member of "The Village / Cloughjordan", I subsequently met Rob Hopkins and did a cob workshop with him in Mallow building a garden shelter, which i found out people now nick name "the Bus Shelter" ...well hmph we thought we did quite a good job of it ;) !!!

I found this wee book great for instructions and helping you to visualise creating a cozy cob house, with all the nooks and crannys and maybe even a cob window seat...ah manys a lovely day dream I've had of building such a wee house.

Cobbing's great craic if you get a team of people together to throw cob to each other from the mixing area to the building site. Getting a team in a line and the rhythm gets going from person to person.Tossing it from person to person this way helps to shape the cob and create a nice moulded sod ready for the walls.And sure if during you happen to miss and the sod lands on someone it's all part of the fun ;) Our class is going cobbing on wedensday, should be fun.

If you want a peek at the book, follow this link.I heartily recommend buying this wee gem. Enjoy !!
Thanks for the link Graham :)
Becky Bees The Cob Builders Hand Book

Permaculture Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability

Here's a book we'll be acquiring for our library. You can find some of the book at the following link

The Essence of Permaculture

and if you want to
be a real worm in get stuck into learning about Permaculture have a look at Wikipedia's extensive information on the subject

Permaculture on wikepedia

I'd like to dedicate this section to books I'd like to see in the library

Callum Coates Living Energies an exposition of Concepts Victor Shauberger

I own this book, and the library has some of Shaubergers books such Living Water and Fertile Earth. I haven't read them yet, but having perused Living Energies I'm impressed by his empathy and understanding of nature. This book is all about Victor Schauberger and his exploration of Natures energy. I hope to donate this book to the library before I finish the course next year.Here's my review of Living Energies.

Victor used to meditate in nature as a child and found his consciousness merged with that of nature in a way that helped him understand how nature creates energy. He got many such insights and went on to create great techniques to harness natures energy.

Schauberger's insights into Nature's ways pivoted around the essential characteristics of water as a living substance that energises all life, both organic and inorganic. He frequently asserted "water is a living organism" - an idea to which poets and philosophers have subscribed, but which has escaped conventional science.

He was passionate about trees, and natural forests as the cradle of water. He warned how deforestation would deplete the world of water and destroy fertility, causing deserts and climatic chaos. He argued that when the natural eco-systems are in balance and diversity rules, there is great creativity and the evolution of higher and more complex life forms, but there is also order and stability.

When humanity walked lightly on the Earth, we cooperated with Nature. Although we are still part of Nature, we behave as though we are not, but above it, dominating and exploiting it. Viktor warned that the more we continued to go against Nature, the whole eco-system would become sick, the climate destructive, and human society would break down, with extreme violence, greed and pandemic illnesses.

Hitler came to hear of his great inventions and drafted him against his will into the S.S. in his very 'persuasive manner' to create machines that would help him in his war. This greatly pained Victor as he was a peaceful man, not a destructive man of war like Hitler.

In later years he developed methods to increase soil fertility. His many ideas fascinated man but challenged many theories that had been researched by others.

I found this book a fascinating read,even though I am not a technology minded person, but found it was the kind of book I could occasionally dip in and out of rather than read steadily.

The World Without Us
Alan Weisman

In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity's impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.

From places already devoid of humans (a last fragment of primeval European forest; the Korean DMZ; Chernobyl), Weisman reveals Earth's tremendous capacity for self-healing. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman's narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that doesn't depend on our demise. It is narrative nonfiction at its finest, and in posing an irresistible concept with both gravity and a highly-readable touch, it looks deeply at our effects on the planet in a way that no other book has.

Here's an excerpt from the book

University of Plymouth marine biologist Richard Thompson spends a lot of time pacing Plymouth’s historic edge. He especially goes in winter, when the beaches along the harbor’s estuaries are empty—a tall man in jeans, boots, blue windbreaker, and zippered fleece sweater, his bald pate hatless, his long fingers gloveless as he bends to probe the sand. Thompson’s doctoral study was on slimy stuff that mollusks such as limpets and winkles like to eat: diatoms, cyanobacteria, algae, and tiny plants that cling to seaweed. What he’s now known for, however, has less to do with marine life than with the growing presence of things in the ocean that have never been alive at all.

Although he didn’t realize it at the time, what has dominated his life’s workbegan when he was still an undergraduate in the 1980s, spending autumn weekends organizing the Liverpool contingent of Great Britain’s national beach cleanup. In his final year, he had 170 teammates amassing metric tons of rubbish along 85 miles of shoreline. Apart from items that apparently had dropped from boats, such as Greek salt boxes and Italian oil cruets, from the labels he could see that most of the debris was blowing east from Ireland. In turn, Sweden’s shores were the receptacles for trash from England. Any packaging that trapped enough air to protrude from the water seemed to obey the wind currents, which in these latitudes are easterly.

If you want to read more here's a link that will bring you directly to a chapter from this book
Read Chapter 9: Polymers are Forever

Alan Weismans website
Link to ALan Weismans website

Has anybody got any further information on the books we bought ? Please join in and add some further information here.
Jeannie

EarthyToes — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:05:33 CDT

MORE TO COME.................

Clearing The Base	The Building Commences
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Wood Henge	Gullivers Toothpicks
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EarthyToes — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:21:36 CDT

Alan & Liz at the Fair Trade Cafe Temperance Hall	Maria marvelling at Funky TTV also in Temperance Hall
.Funky Transition TV	Clara Mc Carthy winner of TTK Spring Fair Poster Competition gets congratulated by Mayor Mary Evans, Trevor Sargent and Kathy Sinnot
Here's the exhibiton of the kids posters entered into thecompetition.to be on the Spring Fair Poster	Tada .... and the winner is Clara Mc Carthy, she won a prize presented to her by the Mayor, got congratulated by MEP Cathy Sinnot and Trevor Sergent, and got to have her winning poster on this years Poster for TTK Spring Fair ....Well Done Clara !!
This guy's having great fun peddliing himself a delicious smoothy at the Eco Market at the Spring Fair :)	Tara O'Donohue one of the members of the newly formed "Kinsale Food Co-op" manning the stall , at the Eco Market at the Spring Fair.

Nice photo of Cathy singing on Ampitheatre stage	Will, Klaus & Lea (yep it's Lea who is welcomes every one on Discusion board) make up the Amber Cord Collective
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Add photo caption or credit here.	Add photo caption or credit here.

Working today for a sustainable tomorrow

Kinsale Spring Fair
On Saturday 29th March Transition Town Kinsale and Kinsale Tidy Towns joined forces and held TTK’s second Spring Fair. Whereas last year’s event was located at the College of Further Education, it was decided that this year the fun should be shared with everyone in the town, so public liability insurance obtained, we moved the bulk of the Fair to Short Quay, the Temperance Hall with some events still taking place at the College. The day began with heavy clouds and hard rain, but by the time the first stalls were being set up for the market, the sun had broken through and spirits were lifted.

Spring and sustainability were the main themes, so the eco-market offered a range of stalls selling seeds, books, hemp products, organic and local produce, a bicycle powered smoothie maker and a bicycle powered juke box. At one point during the day a group of people appeared to suddenly start cleaning Short Quay, using dusters, cloths and sweeping brushes. This was a Spring Clean ‘flash mob’, an entertaining way of raising awareness of the themes of the day as well as raising a few eyebrows in the process.

Inside the Temperance Hall was a Fair Trade café, a Powerdown exhibition of posters displaying images and messages about key topics such as transport, food, energy, housing, climate change and peak oil. Transition TV showed film clips about the same issues, with experts giving good advice and words of wisdom on the subjects. Display boards were covered in wonderful posters by the children from St. John’s and St. Joseph’s Primary Schools illustrating the importance of looking after our environment and not throwing our rubbish where it doesn’t belong.

The main event at this venue was the launch of Kinsale & DistrictCommunity Powerdown by Trevor Sargent, Minister for Food and Horticulture, aided and abetted by the Mayor, Mary Evans and Kathy Sinnott MEP. This TTK initiative is about engaging the community in energy reduction in their homes and businesses over a year. A set of targets will be outlined which the community can undertake, or participants can choose to measure the reduction in their carbon footprint over a year. TTK hope that each participant will actively encourage others to get involved so that the Powerdown will become a community effort. Workshops will be run throughout the year so that the community can learn more about saving energy and reducing emissions that bring about global warming. Watch this space and see Above Klaus Introduces the Speakers
below for more information.

A packed Temperance Hall listened to Minister Sargent say how happy he was to be in Kinsale and how he often speaks both nationally and internationally of Kinsale being a forerunner of the Transition process. He went on to praise many of the TTK initiatives, particularly the importance of developing local food production. He gave an interesting statistic that for every 10 units of energy that go into food production we only get 1 unit I return, this being due to fertiliser and pesticide dependent agriculture, transport, processing, packaging, refrigeration etc. Now there’s food for thought (ouch!).

Kathy Sinnott also praised the group’s work and its involvement in trying to find community solutions to the global issues of climate change
Trevor Sargent TD, Mayor Mary Evans, Kathy Sinnott MEP
were presented with Rob Hopkins new book
"Transition Handbook"

and energy uncertainty and said that if there was any way she could help, not to hesitate to get in touch. Don’t worry, we will.

The Mayor then presented a book token to Clara McCarthy, whose picture showed how different people dispose of their waste and which had been judged to be the most suitable for the poster for the whole event. Finally, the guest speakers were presented with copies of ‘The Transition Handbook’ by Rob Hopkins and thanked for their time and contribution to the event.

Other events of the day included the Tidy Town’s Car Boot Sale at the College carpark which was a huge success. A number of workshops took place on seed sowing, building with hemp, cob and cordwood building and there was a talk by Tricia Kenny from Carbon Action Ireland on ‘How to measure your carbon footprint’. Later in the evening, a concert was held at the magical amphitheatre at the College with a host of local talent playing music and doing comedy improvisations.

The inevitable raffle resulted in prizes galore and the following must be thanked for their generosity in contribution of prizes and support: Bandon and Mahon Tae Kwon-Do Schools of Excellence, Acton’s Leisure Centre, The Hemp Shop, C&C, Kinsale Bookshop, Franceen's Antiques, Muddy Mahers, Fishy Fishy, Dragon Lin, Armada Bar, Thai Cottage, Kinsale Crystal, Barrett's Butchers, Kist, Nouvelle, Kinsale Sports Shop, Shop of Linen, Marina Gallery, Granny’s Bottom Drawer, Pretty Things, Linda's Antiques, Cooleez, All Day Dog Grooming, Heather Mountain, Salvi's Den, Paperworks, Computer Services, Fintan Lynch Salon, New Image, Satin and Lace, Marion's Beauty Salon, House Of Hair, Moloney's Pharmacy, Cobra Tandoori, John Cohalane, Kinsale Lock and Key Services, Foley's, Dal Germeney, Mikeo and the Guy, Hamish and Crawford, Giles Norman, Cork Community Bikes.

A large number of people spent many weeks organising this event, too many to list here (and there’s always that risk of leaving someone out), but we’d like to thank all of you, you know who you are. Roll on next year.

EarthyToes — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:15:35 CDT

...Can we Rise to the

People are talking about climate change in lunchrooms, in classrooms and in the halls of Congress -- and we need you to keep the conversation going. When we bring people into the conversation about the climate crisis, we build a powerful movement for solutions. If each of us gets 5 more friends to stand up for an end to global warming, we’ll be a powerful voice for solutions that will be impossible to ignore. You can helpby taking part in the We Campaign Challenge.

The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gave the strongest evidence yet that we must take urgent international action in order to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. We need an international agreement on the climate crisis that is consistent with the IPCC's findings. It must cut global warming pollution sufficiently to ensure our children and their children inherit a healthy planet–not one severely damaged by the effects of climate change. Please consider adding your name to the petition today.more than a quarter of a million people have already signed
but the more signatures the better.click here to sign the global treaty to solve the climate crisis

....About the Affect We
Have On Our Home ...

As Caretakers OF The Earth
We Leave a Footprint

EarthyToes — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:56:33 CDT

Care For The Earth
Care For The People
Fair Share
(see e-book attachment at bottom of page)

Permaculture is a design system that works towards harmonious integration of landscape and people to provide food, shelter, energy and other needs in a sustainable way. It takes into account
food production, structures, technologies, energy, natural resources, landscape, animal systems, plant systems, and social and economic structures. It is applicable to urban and rural
conditions and any scale of design. The 10 basic principles of Permculture design are guidelines that you can apply to any project.

1. The Principle of Diversity - Aims to integrate a variety of beneficial species of food, plants and animals into design. This builds a stable interactive polycultural system which provides for human needs and also for the needs of other speices

n2. The Principle of Edge Effect - In general, there is more energy and more diversity of life on the edge where two types of natural systems overlap. On these borders one can access the resources of both sides. Using the edge effect, and other natural patterns that you observe, creates the best effect.

3. The Principle of Energy Planning - Placing the elements of your design in such a way as to minimize the use of energy(including fossil fuels& human labor). Utilizing the energy and resources that you have, first on-site and then from outside the system, as effectively as possible. Onsite energy resources include natural forces such as gravity, windpower , waterpower. This saves time,energy and money.

4. The Principle of Energy Cycling - In a natural system there is no waste or pollution. The output from one natural process becomes the resource for another. Recycle and reuse all of resources as many times as possible.

5. The Principle of Scale - Creating “human-scale” systems.
Choose simple, appropriate technologies for use in designs. Only create systems that are manageable. Start small and take achievable steps towards an ideal goal.

6. The Principle of Biological Resources- Using natural methods and processes to achieve tasks. Find things in nature(plants, animals, microbes)that are supportive of the system design and minimize outside energy input.

7. The Principle of Multiple Elements -Support each vital need and essential function in more than one way, so that a temporary failure in one element will not stop the functioning of others. Also, recognize that there is almost always more than one way to achieve any task.

8. The Principle of Multiple Functions -Most things can be used in a variety of ways and for a variety of functions. One rule of thumb in Permaculture is to try to design three uses for every element of the system. This can save space, time and complication in any particular project.

9. The Principle of Natural Succession -Work with nature and the processes of natural systems. Anticipate future developments through research and observation when necessary.

10. The Principle of Relative Location -Place every element of your design in relationship to others so that they benefit from each other. For example, store tools near where they will be used.

Here's Some Interesting Videos on the subject

Here's a video showing how Permaculture can make an impact even in a desert. These people had never seen mushrooms before,they didn't know what they were, they only survive in moist environments! Watch this video and see what you can do with Permaculture..
hey like I keep saying...
Permaculture rocks ;)

As the course profile from the college website so beautifully puts it

“This innovative and pioneering full time course is about practical sustainability, ideas and skills to enable us to make our lives and our communities more abundant and harmonious with the environment.”

Permaculture Design
Permaculture is the design of sustainable human settlements, covering all aspects of sustainable living, from natural building and gardening to waste water treatment and renewable energy. Practiced around the world, it gives you a tool kit for implementing a more sustainable future.

Sustainable Woodland Management: How can we design woodlands to be productive as well as pleasant places to be, good for wildlife and hosts to a diverse range of livelihoods and activities? This course will transform your ideas about what woodlands can be.

Natural Building
Can we create beautiful homes from natural materials, designed to be energy efficient and in harmony with the landscape? We can, and this practical course will look at why and how you can build with a range of natural materials, as well as looking at building design.

Organic Production Principles & Food Production
These modules compliment permaculture design, offering a very practical approach to organic gardening. These combined modules will deal with: organic standards, soils and fertility, pests and diseases, the organic market, cultivating and manuring, weed control, health and safety, growing vegetables, herbs and fruit.
Natural Nutrition: is designed to provide the learner with knowledge of the composition of food and an understanding of how food affects an individual’s personal well-being. We’ll look at the nutrition we need for health and vitality and we’ll discuss the various options for obtaining this nutrition, while maintaining permaculture ideals.

Start your own business
is designed to provide the skills required to start a business and the knowledge to understand the issues involved in doing so. It will provide the learner with real life experience of investigating and evaluating a business idea.

Community Leadership
is about learning how to be confident in front of other people, as a team member, team leader or group facilitator. This approach to leadership means that it is a role that everybody can temporarily take on, rather than a person in a position of authority. The emphasis is on participatory group processes and decision making. This module leads to a skills demonstration in group facilitation.

Conflict Resolution
raises awareness of how conflicts unfold, how they can escalate and strategies to de-escalate them. Topics include Active Listening, Basic Agreements, Effective Feedback, ‘I’ Statements, Rank Awareness, Non-Violent Communication and Mediation – the art of helping others managing their conflicts. This module leads to a mediation skills demonstration.
These two modules cover the people’s aspect of sustainability. The skills of non-violent conflict resolution, negotiation, team-working and participatory group facilitation are important in every area of life. Sustainability activists need to be particularly well versed in these skills if they want to be agents of positive change in the current times of transition.

This is a link to some photos on the Kinsale FEC website of the various courses including the Permaculture/Sustainability course

The Permaculture Concept
Bill Mollisons Film in 6 easy to watch parts
Bill Mollison explains the history and make up of his way of living for the future; Permaculture.Permaculture is a way of living that can be applied to many different aspects of living from how you grow your veg to how you build your house, it's a natural way of living, that ensures we humans learn to live and learn from nature and in balance with nature.

Part 1

1
GM conference by ACA,bus being organised see
Future Events for more details

28
Join us from 8pm to 9pm
in turning your lights off,whilst Nasa/Esa record the event.Transition Town Kinsale

EarthyToes — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:45:01 CST

Many people talk about renewable energies like they are a new fad.
The truth of the matter that only in the last 150 years has mankind
moved a way from renewable energies. Up until then our mills were
moved with the power of water or the wind, and the soil was turned
by the sweat of mans brow with aid of plough horse or bull.

If you look at the history of
Ireland
you can see one thing very clearly,
that up until the 1930's cottage industries flourished the farmer markets were in full flow and the local shops took their stock in trade from the local community. I was reading a book recently where somebody summed up the point like this,

“When a customer from out of town asked what time did the milk delivery arrive the reply, was whenever john gets here with the milk churn”

as most staples like milk , spuds and bread were sourced local in small communities and traded for what they didn’t have themselves.

I'm not advocating that we go back to all living on absolutely local produce, and reading by candle light, but what we have to do is get a synergy going between what is naturally healthy from the past and what modern practises we can use today.

The one thing I have absolute faith in is people ingenuity when faced with a problem to come up with a solution. With the passion that so many creative people have towards making the world a better place and using energy more efficiently, we'll soon be showing future generations our antiqued petrol engine car, and they will look at us like we looked at past generations using the horse and cart.

Jimmy G

A look at Renewable Fuel Sources

Freedom Fuels, takes an in-depth look at renewable fuel sources,

such as bio-diesel, ethanol and vegetable oil. It explores the interaction

of the petroleum industry and alternative fuels over the last 150 years,
and examines the global impact that bio-fuels can have on our future.
Appearances by Daryl Hannah & Willie Nelson Produced &
Directed by 0Martin O'Brien Co Produced by Robbie Proctor Edited by
Robbie Proctor

Winner of the Enviromental Preservation Award, 2006
Activist Film Festival.