permaculture

["Forest Garden" <forestgarden@gvtc.com>]

Hi Sean,

Well that was quite a response.  Thank you.  We have such a different
situation here.  This is a rural community with the smallest lot being 2
acres.  Most of us own our land outright.  There is esentially no locally
grown food - anywhere around here, although there are a few organic farms
and other start-ups when looked at from a county perspective.  The main
motivation of this group is the vision of life without fossil feuls -
perhaps in the extremely near future.  Quite a few of us need to get
something up and going right away to pay for the taxes, the groceries, etc.
and we see that continuing to commute is only a very short term transitional
strategy.  Many of us are just now trying to figure out how to feed
ourselves (gardening, orchards, poultry).  Most of us come from urban or
suburban backgrounds with little rural experience.  We realize how difficult
self-sufficiency is and we are hoping to make a business out of some aspect
of growing food so we can develop a business as we develop self-reliance.  I
think that most of us see the need for food production as primary.  Again,
the motivation amoung many of us is that we see the fragility of the
existing agricultural supply system, the horror of what a collapse in that
system will lead to, and the inevitability of the collapse of that system.
This viewpoint is not shared by many people, and we understand how difficult
the topic is, so if this is not your world-view, please don't be offended.

Once the deer are killed off, there will be very little forage potential
here - not for the population we hope to be able to sustain.

We don't really have the luxary of audits.  We are interested in the more
basic question of 'what CAN be done right now by a community made of small
family units with limited resources and limited experience'.   Finding out
what has been done berfore, and who did it would be inspiring and helpful.

I cannot imagine being in NYC right now.

Good luck with your projects.  Wow, 36 CSA's.  That is progress.

Sincerely,

Marjory



----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean Maley" <semaley@yahoo.com>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] examples of sustainable businesses


> --- Forest Garden <forestgarden@gvtc.com> wrote:
> > Hello Everyone,
> >
> > We are organizing a group of neighbors who are interested in creating
local
> > businesses.  We plan on having a brainstorming session, networking for
> > additional resources, and creating an action list for community support.
> >
> > We were wondering if there was a speaker or video available that had a
> > presentation on examples of what has been done in other areas.
Something
> > inspiring, and showcasing businesses that can exist after fossil feuls.
An
> > emphasis on human-scale agriculture would be ideal....
> >
> > Please let me know if you are aware of such a resource.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Marjory
>
> I saw the Ishmael email on the To: list and thought you may be attempting
the same thing as us
> here in NYC.  You may have seen some of my prior posts to the permaculture
community regarding
> this.  Here in NYC, I'm pushing for doing audits of what a given group
eats and uses, then
> creating businesses that addresses these major needs.  I suspect that real
estate and taxes will
> comprise the majority of expenses.  Taxes can be reduced by creating
businesses, as you are doing.
>  However, be careful to not underestimate real estate and subsequent
banking.  Even businesses go
> under keeping up with "lease" and "rent" payments that always trend up
(See "Progress and Poverty"
> by Henry George for how this happens).
>
> Therefore, businesses focusing on keeping the home green when renovating,
cleaning, and dealing
> with "pest" issues should be able to leverage real estate opportunities
and lead to a more stable
> tribe (more stable, due to owning their own land and homes, which weren't
constructed to require
> high maintenance).  Also, the things that make having a business doable
would make sense.
> Services for taxes, accounting, and marketing will help launch successful
businesses.  Beyond
> business and real estate, a CSA can be extended to include things like
resources for making
> clothes, shoes, transporting members between the city/"farm", and other
major items in our daily
> lives.  We have more than 36 CSAs in NYC alone (not sure of the tally this
year).
>
> Some things like wine and vinegar production are so simple, that these
things may be easier to
> keep "do-it-yourself".  The CO2 generated would be better left indoors for
house plants to take
> up.  However, things like aquaponics would take up too much space in a
city apartment, so alcohol
> production/microbrewery business could stack well with fish and herb
production.  Like the CSA,
> this may only be possible for urban dwellers when they partner with rural
groups.  What rural
> groups get out of a partnership is the simple fact that there would be too
much work on their own.
>  Even if foraging became the norm, there would still be a need for
culture, durable goods,
> protection, etc.
>
> So far, what we are doing here in NYC would be teaching each other
foraging skills (good foraging
> in the mega-city, believe it or not), identifying the best neighborhoods
to infiltrate, and
> starting our own businesses at the individual level.  When facing
$8k/month rent for a tiny 2BR
> apartment, the idea of leaving the day job becomes a threat at the family
level.  In response to
> the nightmarish real estate pyramid, we have started a charity to help
people make the transition
> (Green Phoenix Permaculture, which is Ishmael inspired).  I imagine many
Ishmael groups are having
> the same discussions.
>
> The NYC_Ishmael yahoo group is most recently discussing the formation of a
church.  Although
> jarring at first, we have come to realize that corporations, churches, and
other business
> constructs have been created to maintain an unfair advantage over any
competing culture, as well
> as the people these constructs purport to serve.  Therefore, we need to
consider the creation of a
> church to protect our efforts to form tribes and create the tribal land
trusts which make rhizome
> (anti-hierarchy) living possible.  We are also discussing a play based
upon having a "B" contest
> with a staged assassination of the winning "B" at the end.  We would
market this idea by taking a
> page from "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, using a whisper campaign of the
phrase "Who is 'B'?"
> Being the home of Broadway, we figure this to be appropriate to our
location.
>
> Any way, hope there is something useful here.  Feel free to invite people
into your discussion
> from NYC_Ishmael or GreenPhoenixPermaculture yahoo groups.  The best track
record for me so far
> has been Ishmael groups and PDC courses with folks like Geoff Lawton.
>
>
> -Sean.
>
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