Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Introduction - Stephen Figgins

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Stephen Figgins <fig@monitor.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Introduction - Stephen Figgins
  • Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 14:06:58 -0500

I joined the list a week ago or so. I have been aware of permaculture for about 10 years or so, and have occasionally read the archives of this group.. I haven't taken a Permaculture design course yet, but have read Mollison's books on the subject. As a renter in town, I feel somewhat limited in applying what I learn, but I am experimenting some. My wife is an avid gardener, and we have a small garden outside our current apartment and another one in the community garden. We gave up on them some in this summer heat however, and both are fairly well dried up.
We live in Eastern Kansas, not far from Kansas City, in Lawrence, between the Kaw and Wakarusa rivers in the lower Kansas watershed. We had a bad drought last year, and this recent spell of heat hasn't helped much this year, with temperatures for the last few weeks exceeding 100 degrees. We have had a little drizzle, but not much. I worry that it might be part of an overall shift in climate, and that the trend could continue in future years. That has me thinking about how best to capture and retain water. I have been examining natural swales to see what happens in them.
While my wife's passion is gardening, mine lies more in the outer zones. I am an amateur naturalist and I am learning tracking and wilderness survival skills. I am especially interested in wild foods and medicines. I am following a naturalist training program produced by the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington. This is giving me more insights into how things work together forests and prairies and even waste places and yards.

I am also interested in bioregionalism, and got to attend the bioregional congress last year in Kansas. It was nice to gather together with people that seemed to share my passion for the land. I long for a tribe, for closer community. Though as a parent I don't get out as much as I would like. I spend much of my spare time with my kids. My wife and I are unschooling the kids. While that lacks the structure of school, it still takes plenty of time helping them get the experiences they want to learn and grow.
I make my living as a writer on technical topics, and as a computer consultant. I would like to shift to more general science writing and nature writing. I haven't figured out how to make the same amount of money doing that though.
There is much more I am interested in. I am what you might call a glorious generalist. I know a little about a lot of things.

Think I'll leave it at that. Hi, y'all!

-Stephen




  • [permaculture] Introduction - Stephen Figgins, Stephen Figgins, 08/28/2003

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page