Harvest Day from Lasercave on Vimeo.

Duck Cam from Lasercave on Vimeo.

A thread has begun and there are 6 of us ‘brainstorming’. The timeline is set for an execution of 2012/13.

My first, and current, focus is to spread the word a bit; probe interest:
‘You’ -the lasercave community- came to my mind first; for obvious reasons.

So, say the word.

GREG

A lot of statistical yoga going on, but I imagine it reflects a bit of reality.

Here’s a little movie they put together.  Each green triangle is a new CSA.  I’m missing the big deal, what with the triangles being green and all.

Part 1

Part 2

I filmed this at the Beloved Presents… ART SPIRIT NOW event in May 2009, 2 evenings of deep beats, music, and talks concerning sacred art. Lakeman is a force. Or rather, he follows the force lines…All of this is very easy really, and I think one of the main points is that deep down, we humans have a natural intuition as to what feel good.  Nature has already given us the instructions, we have only to carry them out.

cityrepair.org
www.belovedpresents.com

Expect live music, film/video, tasty organic food, a farm, a river with swimming, camping with friends, and possibly a tame deer to hang out with.

Are you coming?

More info coming soon…

Not that surprised because the small-scale ag movement is exploding in a very good way. Surely there is some fad-ism to this, but even in the wake of a fad, there will be so many more gardeners/small farmers than there was before. It is a good thing. Everywhere I look in Portland, there is another do-gooder planting up their lawn, or working on a new community garden. In my experience with community garden activism, it’s a lot more exciting for most people to “make” a community garden than tend/plant it, but statistics are proving me wrong. There are over 1,000 people on the waiting list for community garden plots in the city of Portland. These are for people that want to grow food, not just paint some truck tires and throw in some soon-to-be-neglected and never-pruned strawberries. Impressive, but not that surprising, since there are only 32 community gardens across the city (actually more, but the waiting list is just for those 32). Two new farmers markets are starting up within 2 miles of our house.

This year at Pistils Nursery, we’ve seen a huge increase in interest across the spectrum of food production. I got hired to start and run a farm nearby while working there one day (simplified but still accurate). We’ve had several sold out workshops for chicken keeping, worm composting, beekeeping, and raising dairy goats in the city. The veggie gardening class I’m teaching will likely sell out too. Chickens. So much interest. We’ve sold over 100 chicks in a day (many times). There is a significant movement to extend the non-permitted holding of hens from three to six. We sell seeds so quickly. People pick up the Growing Awareness DVD’s more often (buy them just as often). At the Yard, Garden, and Patio show (sounds horrible, actually a pretty cool trade show), there was about twice as much emphasis on veggie cultivation as last year.

This isn’t happening at this rate/scale everywhere, but it is happening here in Portland. It’s wonderful. It’s heartening. It seems that urban-agriculture is more recession-proof than many industries, and I feel blessed to have two jobs I love with a feeling of ownership and security.

I am excited to see how the Obama’s garden turns out. Over 1,000 sq feet is huge. I bet it will be the most primped and pruned garden you’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to see how the attack dogs of the right assail this type of small-scale food production, finally given a properly visible target. Elitist Radicchio, Arugula, Chard, and heirloom Tomatoes will surely be castigated.

I have been thinking about making my car communal/cooperative/collaborative/collectivist. I know someone in town who does this with his housemates…don’t know much about the system he uses. If homies were into it, we could have a “use calendar”/sign-up sheet, and the policy would be that you’d pick up the car with a full tank of gas, and return it with a full tank of gas. Perhaps we could all chip in for maintenance/insurance costs if people do seem to be using it a lot…?

Just some thoughts. Holler if you’re interested. Holler if you can think of a better system for this project.

ps: it’s stick shift.