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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Re: Agrarian suburbs - a good idea

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  • From: Steve Diver <steved@ncatark.uark.edu>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Re: Agrarian suburbs - a good idea
  • Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 23:05:24 -0500

Misha Gale-Sinex wrote:

> I think this feeds back into the discussion of a permaculture
> outreach project (I don't like to think about "organizations" these
> days). And the need for an ATTRA for noncommercial farmers. (I adore
> ATTRA by the way, and if Steve Diver went up on eBay, I'd break my
> boycott of that site, and bankrupt myself bidding. :^)

Now wouldn't that be something, a Harley-riding permaculture
babe bidding on me at auction, no doubt to put me to work in her
garden.... which I would certainly enjoy, the more variety of
plants and designs the better.

Hey Misha, you're support is dearly appreciated!!

[In case you didn't know, Misha is a longtime bike rider so
my imagery is not too far fetched.]

Those covenant-constricted neighborhoods you describe
in suburbia are surreal. Conformity by committee. Help!!


> Nevertheless, I'm keeping my faith, and my intuition that "when the
> big one hits," these parcels of land will be in the front ranks where
> food production is concerned.

You may not have too wait too long. Combine a stock market
crash with a fossil fuel crisis and a few other crisis factors, and
before you know it the U.S. may be following the lead of Cuba
in terms of sustainble food production by *necessity.*

This thread on agrarian suburbs actually has a lot of
substance. People are seeking productive green spaces
and sustainable living environments. Permaculture has
a lot to offer this whole approach. It offers a framework
and an educational platform to provide substance to
people's lives.

I work on campus in agriculture and live on a farm outside
of town. When I drive around the country and cities and
towns I'm always looking at the roadsides and churches
and schools and vacant lots while noticing which patches
of land can be planted into wildflowers, native plants,
and gardens. Colors and patterns and textures and
phenology and guilds swirl around in my mind.

I've also gotten into some guerilla gardening; planting
and sowing plants and vines in strategic locations. Seed
balls are another approach I'm looking into. I see a lot of
potential colorizing and beautifying urban surroundings,
especially vacant spots and strips and borders.

Churches are one of the places I see great opportunities
for urban agriculture. There is a lot of space around
churches and they sit vacant 5.5 to 6.5 days out of the week.

Church lots would make a perfect focus point for
community gardens.

I'm sure people have their favorite books and teachers on
ecologically-centered spirituality. It is not too far fetched to
imagine churches becoming the vangaurd of urban food
production systems and permaculture demonstration sites,
*because* the church itself adopts ecology as part of its
spiritual mission statement. Care of the Earth.

Russia had more serious food producing gardens than
any other place I've seen. They call them "dacha" gardens.
I should digitize my slides of dacha gardens and get them
on my web page; they were inspiring and beautiful. People
took great care to tend their dacha gardens, and even built
little one-room cottages to spend the night in the garden;
they are usually located on the edge of town; or even miles
out of town from huge cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg.
There was a saying in Russia, "if you don't grow your own
food, you don't eat." They had a two-person plow to
dig trenches for potatoes. One person pulled, the other
pushed. That seems intense for a developed country; after
all, Northwest Russia is part of Europe.

Agrarian suburbs has multiple meanings. On one hand
visionaries see green living spaces interspersed with food
production as a path towards a sustainable future. In reality,
it may not happen unless/until dire economic forces push people
in this direction. Russia and Cuba are facing this situation.

In the meantime, many of the world's inhabitants deal with
season-to-season food production as a way of life.

Best regards,
Steve Diver






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