permaculture

["rafter t. sass" <rafter@liberationecology.org>]

Multifunctional edible landscapes are appearing in the most unlikely  
places - like the National Mall (see below). Things are changing  
faster than we could have anticipated. Let's not wait for permaculture  
to rise like cream to the top of the sustainability discussion - let's  
get better at growing our movement NOW.

Some watchwords for this and coming years...

TRACK: Watch the biophysical and social trends, and how they relate to  
each other. Break out of our familiar and favorite sources of  
doomcasting. Look to fresh and unexpected sources of information and  
change.

ANTICIPATE: Know the opportunities - not only the problems - that are  
coming, while they are still on the horizon.

LEVERAGE: Draw on (or invade!) existing networks that will potentially  
be fast to mobilize as demand for information and training spikes -  
like the county extension system.

PARTICIPATE: Meet us, the people, where we are at. Pay respectful  
attention to the expressed problems. Systematically seek out  
leadership from grassroots community projects.

One more time: Systematically seek out leadership from grassroots  
community projects.


Godspeed,
Rafter





> USDA: 'People's Garden' starts taking shape on National Mall   
> (Wednesday, April 22, 2009)
>
> Allison Winter, E&E reporter
>
> Showcasing sustainable farming, the Agriculture Department  
> celebrated Earth Day by starting to turn USDA's 6-acre tract on the  
> National Mall into an organic garden.
>
> USDA plans to turn grass, ornamental trees and flowers into an  
> expansive "People's Garden" to demonstrate conservation and growing  
> techniques. There will be a 1,300-square-foot vegetable plot,  
> pollinator gardens, mini-wetlands, green roofs and demonstrations of  
> planting techniques that can reduce stormwater runoff.
>
> Saying USDA plans to be a "center of sustainability," Deputy  
> Secretary Kathleen Merrigan led children of department employees and  
> other visitors in planting corn, squash and beans for a traditional  
> Sioux "three sisters" garden. She also urged USDA offices across the  
> country to start their own gardens.
>
> "It's my first public event at USDA, and it's about community  
> gardening -- isn't that great?" said Merrigan, a longtime organic  
> farming advocate.
>
> image removed
> USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and Cheyenne River Sioux  
> Tribe Chairman Brings Plenty help children plant seeds at the  
> department's expanded garden site on the National Mall. Photo by  
> Allison Winter.
> But she was careful to say the garden does not represent a new  
> direction for USDA, which is usually seen as a promoter of large- 
> scale agriculture production. Rather, she said, the garden would  
> restore some of the original intent of the grounds around USDA  
> headquarters -- an area set aside for research a century ago. USDA  
> now manages thousands of acres of research plots at its facility in  
> Beltsville, Md.
>
> "It's USDA, it's where we started and where we are coming back,"  
> Merrigan said. "This is where America sees the government, in  
> Washington, D.C. They should be able to see some agriculture in  
> action."
>
> The garden will include organic greens, herbs and vegetables and a  
> section that will demonstrate how to convert conventional crops into  
> organics. The department is taking steps now to have the plot  
> certified as organic in three years. Merrigan told reporters the  
> decision to devote the garden to organic crops was intended to  
> educate the public about organic food.
>
> "A lot of people are still trying to figure out what 'organic'  
> means," she said. "Here's the front lawn we can use to talk about  
> what the standard is and how they can follow through."
>
> USDA employees will be asked to volunteer in the garden, according  
> to the department. It also will be maintained by the department's  
> landscape contractor, the Melwood organization. The agency plans to  
> donate vegetables grown there to a food bank.
>
> The garden expands on initial plans that Agriculture Secretary Tom  
> Vilsack announced in February when he broke ground for a small  
> "People's Garden" outside USDA headquarters. Vilsack had envisioned  
> a vegetable garden only half the size of the new plot.
>
> "The garden will help explain to the public how small things they  
> can do at home, at their business or on their farm or ranch, can  
> promote sustainability, conserve the nation's natural resources, and  
> make America a leader in combating climate change," Vilsack said in  
> a statement.
rafter t. sass
The Liberation Ecology Project
liberationecology.org
518-567-7407
skype: raughter