Dreaming In the New Year

christmas-2009

We try to make Christmas a simple affair with just a few presents for the girls. This year we made our Christmas decorations from colored paper. It is wonderful to watch the tree change each year as the girls learn how to make different decorations.

New Year’s Day is a time to reflect on the past year and contemplate the future. Many people use this time as an opportunity to make New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, but I find myself thinking about what I would like for my future. I have only so much energy and resources, so I must carefully focus my intentions, so I may arrive at my destination.

In my last blog I shared my dreams. I sometimes feel I have taken the long road to my dreams. Obstacles get in the way, and I find myself going in directions that I never intended. I find these side trips to be incredible learning experiences. At the end, I find I better understand my underlying motivations and resolve.

There are many dreams that have been left at the side of the road. Below are a list of dreams from my past and present. They have been sustaining dreams. I wonder what miraculous forces will shape these dreams into my future.

1. Meditation, Mindfulness and Lovingkindness are three practices common in some form in all religions.
Mett? Meditation: The Practice of Lovingkindness
Birken Forest Monastery (Abbot: Ajahn Sona)

2. Autodidactic Learning is self-directed study. I can’t give any links to sources because there is no authority on this topic. Nor can there ever be. Autodidacticism is self-directed learning without an authority figure to direct the course of study. Along with the process of autodidactic learning is the process of “unlearning” lessons taught by authorities which may impede the ability to learn new ideas.

3. Nonviolent Communication is a method of communication where everyone gets their needs met. When everyone’s needs are met the world indeed becomes wonderful.
Marshall Rosenberg on Nonviolent Communication Part I
Marshall Rosenberg on Nonviolent Communication Part II
Marshall Rosenberg on Nonviolent Communication Part III

4. Financial Independence is having enough resources to live comfortably without having to work for the basic necessities of life. If a person has simple needs, this state will be achieved earlier than a person with complex needs. When this state is achieved it opens up time to “work for love not money”.
Vicki Robin on Your Money or Your Life

5. Permaculture is a system of designed human settlements that mimics the relationships found in natural ecosystems. It is based on perennial agricultural and integrated animal husbandry.
Behind Greening the Desert with Geoff Lawton
Bill Mollison on The Permaculture Concept Part I
Bill Mollison on The Permaculture Concept Part II
Bill Mollison on The Permaculture Concept Part III
Bill Mollison on The Permaculture Concept Part IV
Bill Mollison on The Permaculture Concept Part V
Bill Mollison on The Permaculture Concept Part VI

6. An Earthship is a home built with recycled materials and is completely energy self-sufficient.
Earthship 101 Part I
Earthship 101 Part II
Dennis Weaver Builds His Earthship

May all living beings be well, happy and peaceful. May no harm come to them. May no difficulties come to them. May they always meet with success. May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and determination to meet and overcome the inevitable obstacles in life.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow with IZ

Joel Salatin’s Vision of a Local Food System

dinner-in-yard

Joel Salatin believes that if we want to save the environment we need to rediscover our kitchens and learn how to cook. We will rediscover the joy of sharing meals with loved ones and value our world more. Photo courtesy of www.aholliday.com.

This last weekend I had the great pleasure of meeting Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. He was speaking to a sold-out crowd hosted by the Cowichan Agricultural Society in Duncan, BC. Joel Salatin speaks passionately about family run, grass-based farming. In his own words, he is “in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” The guiding principles behind “Polyface are:
TRANSPARENCY: Anyone is welcome to visit the farm anytime. No trade secrets, no locked doors, every corner is camera-accessible.
GRASS-BASED: Pastured livestock and poultry, moved frequently to new “salad bars,” offer landscape healing and nutritional superiority.
INDIVIDUALITY: Plants and animals should be provided a habitat that allows them to express their physiological distinctiveness.?Respecting and honoring the pigness of the pig is a foundation for societal health.
COMMUNITY: We do not ship food.?We should all seek food closer to home, in our foodshed, our own bioregion.?This means enjoying seasonality and reacquainting ourselves with our home kitchens.
NATURE’S TEMPLATE: Mimicking natural patterns on a commercial domestic scale insures moral and ethical boundaries to human cleverness.?Cows are herbivores, not omnivores;?that is why we’ve never fed them dead cows like the United States Department of Agriculture encouraged (the alleged cause of mad cows).
EARTHWORMS: We’re really in the earthworm enhancement business.?Stimulating soil biota is our first priority.?Soil health creates healthy food.”

My husband Shaen has read most of Joel Salatin’s books, so much of the information in the lecture wasn’t new to him. Near the end of the lecture, Shaen asked Joel Salatin if there was any big differences in his thinking now compared to when he wrote his books. Joel Salatin answered that in the past he believed thousands of farmers would communicate directly with customers. But most farmers find marketing and distribution very difficult and don’t like the work. Now he sees “clusters of farms” working with “local streams of marketing and distribution”. Joel talked about a six part system for a successful local food supply: producer, processor, accountant, marketer, distributor and customer. My husband and I looked at each other and wondered if there is a place for GO BOX Storage and eatkamloops.org in this new vision.

We realized we could become a local food distribution center for Kamloops. We could form a buyer’s group for Kamloops. We could increase the size of our orders and get better prices for everyone. We could run pocket markets or personal deliveries for a cost. If you do not know about pocket markets please read:?Pocket Market Toolkit.

It was exciting thinking that we could become part of a successful local food system which helps all of us get the best in local food at a reasonable price. If we could develop a successful local food system, Joel Salatin believes “we could give the big-box stores a run for their money.”

Update November 25, 2009: I contacted Sally Fallon and asked if she knew of anyone who could mentor me to start a buyer’s group for Kamloops. She suggested John Moody who started a buyer’s club called Whole Life Buying Club. Before a new member can join the Whole Life Buying Club, they recommend the new member watch The Story of Stuff. The Whole Life Buying Club follows a Food Philosophy which defines the type of products the buying club will bring in for members. John Moody has written an essay for the journal Wise Traditions called Building a Local Food Buying Club.

Updated December 23, 2009: I have just learned from Sandra Burkholder that Joel Salatin will be coming to Quesnel, BC on March 27, 2010. Joel Salatin will be speaking at the 2nd Annual Poultry and Rabbit Forum being put on by the Cariboo Central Interior Poultry Producers Association. Sandra Burkholder and her husband Chris Newton are building a earthship house in Darfield, BC. An earthship house is made from recycled materials and is designed to be completely self-sufficient housing system requiring no outside support. The earthship is the brain child of Mike Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture.

Updated February 28, 2010: I found a series about Polyface Farm on Watch.MeetTheFarmer.TV. You will get a personal tour of Polyface Farm with Joel Salatin. There is an incredible amount of information in this video series about his pasturing systems for the watchful viewer. He will go into the types of grasses and herbage plus the effect of mass group grazing and resting of the pasture. He goes in to some theory but most of the videos are very practice. If you are interested in the theory behind his practices please read his books for more information. Here is Part I, Part II and Part III.

[The road to] hell is paved with good intentions.
English Proverbs