permaculture

[Sean Maley <semaley@yahoo.com>]

I may be missing something, but most of the buildings
in northern Manhattan are brick.  Even my building has
a stone foundation, not concrete.  It's interesting to
see the sagging of bricks settling in with the
foundation;  my apt is like a roller coaster.  The 350
year old trees in my back yard are amazing spectacles;
 still a sacred place to Native Americans, though they
no longer live here as they once did.  There is a
distinct bias towards rural lifestyle in the PC
community, as evidenced in the discourse of this topic
over the last week.  I think this will serve against
the PC cause.

Starting from the base of natural, social, and
economic equities, rural life is nature rich and
social poor, while urban life is nature poor and
social rich.  The suburban life is economically
wealthy, but typically naturally and socially poor. 
While we enjoy the silent night deep in the woods, we
easily misunderstand the silent terror of the city
dweller occasionally beside us.  Believe it or not,
the noise and bustle of the side walk below has a
peace of mind for those who have only known it.  An
army of gleefully screaming children might not be what
you a first hear when you slowly adjust to the
cacophony of an urban neighborhood, but that is the
life that most of the planet experiences.  The
furthering of PC depends deeply on these biases being
forgotten.  To do this, I suggest finding as many
different pairs of shoes to borrow as you can find;  6
billion other people depend on it.

There are nearly 10 million people in NYC alone, not
including the surrounding cities of NJ and suburban
jungles up the Hudson and out on Long Island.  With
much of the work force coming from outside of NYC,
there is a huge population engaged with NYC; somewhere
more than 3% of USA.  I prefer to think of NYC as the
ultimate in opportunities for PC with far more bent
noses wanting things righted and no space to get it
done.  A small town with 100% of 10,000 residents is
the same as 0.01% of the 10 million here.  I'll take
my chances to make a difference in the NYC brick
jungle (watch Sesame Street to see what everyday folk
here really live with; too bad Solari wasn't selected
for WTC reconstruction, as there were great ideas
embodied in his concept).

All I ask is for ideas from the PC community.  My zone
0 is low light or do it yourself grow lighting.  I am
looking for a niche to grow natural capital in a
social environment.  I am slowly constructing a
web-site to use these ideas, that you provide me, to
the urban realities faced here in the city.  Possibly
this will provide awareness to move 10 million people
across New England, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware
if that is the answer.  Maybe Living Machines will
become reality in replacement of Indian Point.  Maybe
wind power generation will begin to be allowed on the
roofs with edible gardens.  In the meantime, what
food/useful things can be done in a 1200 square foot
low light garden and still be a place for a family to
live.  I want pickle recipes, not pickle barrel
opinions.  The ideas have to be low key, as there is
already a barrier over eating the family pets (fish,
snails, rabbits, etc).

Thank you in advance for your help without
discouragement.


-Sean.

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