permaculture

[kevin s <k.skvorak@verizon.net>]

so,

i have been thinking a lot about  how sustainability relates to the 
invisible structure part of the permaculture canon, and am looking 
for some advice.

first, i want to describe a bit of how we are thinking about our 
little project, and then relate that to other alternatives

we are sitting on a secure landbase of 37 acres that has 5 or 6 good 
growing acres, 3 barns, and the rest is wetland.  this is 'secure' 
because it is being gifted by the current owner to our newly forming 
CLT.

the house we live in, (an adjacent property, held by the same owner ) 
and another 150 acres of woodland is not secure, because it is loaded 
with half a million $ in debt that he can't pay and neither can we. 
we are developing a plan that hopefully will attract some local 
individuals and groups concerned about conservation to transfer 
ownership and hopefully still protect the land somewhat

we are using a CLT model because we believe that community held land 
is the best way to build a truly sustainable  project protected as 
much as possible from the pressures of the unsustainable (and 
destructive) speculative real estate 'market'

an example of an 'invisible' structure. a CLT grounded in the local 
community , in partnership with those who are working the land. 
seems like a good idea anyway.

so my question is;  how important is this type of issue to those 
involved in permaculture design?  is land tenure an important design 
criteria?  how do we measure sustainability in this area?

another goal we have is to share our limited skills and  experiences 
with others.  in this regard we are -another - permaculture 
demonstration site.  we are organizing workshops, skillshares and the 
like.  but we are trying to think and act as conscientiously as 
possible around this, and our first priority here is to create a 
sustainable economic model with our CSA, and other products from the 
farm and land.  educational service here is important to us, but it 
cannot be, we believe, the economic driver of the community if we are 
honestly going to be a real demonstration of anything sustainable.

we are trying to measure all of our inputs here, and how can we be a 
model of sustainability if the input we are most dependent on is 
other peoples money?  do other permaculture communities try to 
consider factors like this in measuring their dependency on 
workshops, certification courses and the like?

we have been offering our workshops on a donation basis, and people 
are responding well and we feel the exchange we recieve both in labor 
around the farm, and in donations is pretty fair.  a simple 
relationship of mutual aid.   part of the reason some respond well to 
this is because some people (rightly or wrongly) feel that 
permaculture education and workshops are too often too much about the 
money.

now, in fairness i know that there are few permaculture educators 
getting rich off of the profession, and it is a perfectly noble one. 
so i am not sure what my point is here, so it is more an open 
question than anything, and one that i am certain we are all aware of.

 i know we all need that which money buys, but money is nothing in 
itself, it is only an exchange mechanism.

there are other communities that have ways of talking about 
alternative invisible structures (mutual aid , egalitarianism etc) in 
ways that i don't  always hear from all permaculture identified 
communities.

what it might all boil down to in a nutshell is fundamentally whether 
people feel that permaculture is reconcilable with capitalism.

is doing a greywater design in a gated cohousing community doing 
permaculture?  how about a green rooftop on a corporate headquarters 
involved in what is pretty clearly an act of greenwashing by the 
corporate PR dept?  should we all applaud the design of a forest 
garden on GW's Whitehouse grounds?

ok, i'm done.  thanks for the time if you have read this far.  my 
apologies for the rant.

you know i really only wanted to ask if anyone out there had any 
advice to give about  starting a community land trust, because we 
could  benefit from others experience in this.  anyone have any ideas 
on this?

is anyone itching to be on the board of directors of a newly forming 
Community Land Trust?

best,
kevin
dutchess co ny
rattlesnakemountainfarm.org