[Scpg] smells like local self reliance...

[eric werbalowsky]

dear suburbanites and others:

here is a missive from a prominent SB-based innovative
practioner and teacher that emphasizes some of the
ideas Dr. Sprinkel outlined last week at his
standing-room-only presentation at ojai retreat, "an
island called ojai." A core idea he refers to is how
to ween ourselves to a system of producing (and
obtaining) food without dinosaur juice.

ew

ps i have avos dropping, lemons shining, and hens
laying - anybody got the agave and recipes for our
local version of Patron?

From:	"Owen E. Dell" <odell at silcom.com> 
Subject:	 A vision of suburban sustainability
To: Fossil-Free Landscaping Working Group (for want of
a better name)

Hi fossil free spirits (and a few guest readers),

I'd like to bend your ear about something.

More and more it seems to me that a core component of
the fossil-free 
strategy has to be the development of a system for
producing food on 
the immense amount of land taken up by single family
residences and 
other urban and suburban open land. By helping
property owners to 
increase food production on their land, we  could
re-localize 
agriculture, create or enhance community, save fossil
fuels, improve 
diet, conquer obesity, teach kids (and adults)
valuable survival 
skills, save money, stabilize the food chain, reduce
pressure on wild 
lands, and perhaps forestall the much-predicted end of
suburbia.

It's not easy to grow food in high density
communities, but suburbia 
offers a nearly ideal setting for close-to-home
farming that will 
quickly reward the effort expended to implement it.
Although I have 
always hated the suburbs as much as anyone, having
grown up smugly in 
a "real" city with not a lawn ornament or
shake-shingle roof within 
miles, I find myself more and more optimistic about
their potential. 
Yes, the suburbs have to be changed, and I think that
change is not 
only possible but rich with un-imagined potential not
found in any 
other type of land use.

Suppose we were to develop a coordinated program for
helping blocks 
or small neighborhood areas begin to plan for an
efficient, 
locally-tuned small scale permaculture, free of money,
independent of 
outside forces, that would produce a significant
percentage of the 
food needs of the inhabitants, grown by those
inhabitants, traded at 
weekend food swaps/block parties, and supported by
community experts who would be on hand for technical
advice and problem solving. 
Suppose I were to never write another incredibly long
run-on sentence 
like that again.

Seriously, what if we got neighbors to become a
finely-tuned team of 
small-time farmers, each growing something that the
group needs. We 
could start with an inventory of the existing
resources - a large 
avocado tree in one yard, a couple of citrus in
another, somebody 
with some chickens. Then augment it with good edible
landscape 
design, help people plant, and teach them how to care
for the plants. 
The more ambitious could grow vegetables or raise
tilapia or other 
high-maintenance crops; the less ambitious or capable
could just have 
some fruit trees (which might be cared for by more
active neighbors). 
How much more valuable would a property be if it
produced food in 
unstable times? How much happier would residents be if
they enjoyed a deep connection to their
suddenly-meaningful land and to their 
neighbors?

Only two percent of the population of the United
States is engaged in 
the occupation of agriculture. What percentage of
Americans live in 
the suburbs? Lots more than 2 percent. It's clear to
me that a secure 
future must include many more people involved in food
production. 
This is a way to accomplish that, and I believe it's
within our scope 
as advocates of fossil-free gardens. Shall we tackle
this issue, with 
a vision that includes reaching out beyond our
community with an idea 
that could become a blueprint for communities
everywhere?

Feedback is welcome, and we can talk about this at the
November 4 
meeting.


Dirt First and Power to the Pickles,
Owen



-- 
-
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"All the ants on the planet, taken together, have a
biomass
greater than that of humans. Ants have been incredibly
industrious for millions of years, yet their
productiveness
nourishes plants, animals, and soil. Human industry
has
been in full swing for little over a century, yet it
has
brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on
the
planet. Nature doesn't have a design problem. People
do."
                                William McDonough
                                architect & visionary
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                    OWEN E. DELL, RLA
P.O. Box 30433.................Santa Barbara, CA
93130-0433
COUNTY LANDSCAPE & DESIGN......................805
962-3253
FAX............................................805
962-6603
E-MAIL.....................................odell at silcom.com
WEBSITE............................
http://www.owendell.com
LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR 354451  *  LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT LA
3618
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++