permaculture

[jamesdavid Sneed <harvestcircle@hotmail.com>]

My skills in simple technology came from living with my grandparents as a 
young person, and then exploring on my own. John Seymour's early works were a 
great influence. I have roamed the north pacific coastline extensively, and 
find it the easiest place for me to live simply.
I took a several year break to travel again, to learn more skills and to 
share what I have learned. I specialize in growing, gathering, storing and 
sharing seeds, bulbs and tubers that enable simple-lifers to live joyfully in 
remote places, areas often shunned by those who seem to need extreme comforts.

> From: fdnokes@hotmail.com
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 10:21:43 -0700
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Overstep the bounds? was: From TruthOut
> 
> The darkness in winter is an interesting challenge, too.
> In Winnipeg, it is not unusual to have weeks with highs of -20 F.
> The winds blow strong, too, and the place is inland with lots of snow and 
> ice.
> Looks like a moonscape in winter...
> It has great aspects too like a livable city in size, friendliness, 
> culture, 
> lack of freeways, and affordable real estate.
> There has been talk of growing things underground.
> 
> Sounds like you have an interesting background, James. Where did you learn 
> your skills?  Would be interesting to hear a bit more of your story!
> 
> My personal strengths lie elsewhere.  At this time, I continue to share the 
> gifts I have in a world which does, as yet, support diversity of lifestyle.
> For my part, I have stopped traveling, and maintain a reasonably small 
> footprint in this and some other ways...
> I love a simple life, though obviously, that simple life includes a 
> computer.  and a few other accoutrements available in this day and in this 
> age.
> 
> sincerely,
> frances
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "jamesdavid Sneed" <harvestcircle@hotmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 10:06 AM
> To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Overstep the bounds? was: From TruthOut
> 
> >
> > My coldest winter in Alasak saw forty days in which the temperature never 
> > rose above minus ten degrees fahrenheit, and I hand-cut all my firewood 
> > for heating and cooking. A person doesn't have to be of the 
> > pre-euro-conquest indigenous group for an area in order to survive in 
> > harmony with Nature, just willing to learn from Nature and our ancestors 
> > (geographical or otherwise) and be content with simple entertainments, 
> > and 
> > willing to spend a lot of contemplative time. Eat what is local, use what 
> > is local, all in moderation. If you find that you have more neighbors 
> > than 
> > a local ecosystem can sustain, then either move or get some of them to 
> > move, in order to lower everyone's demands on that area's resources.
> >
> >> From: fdnokes@hotmail.com
> >> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> >> Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 09:45:05 -0700
> >> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Overstep the bounds? was: From TruthOut
> >>
> >> two comments:
> >> *the question does not suggest that the pop. excess is in the 3rd world
> >> *the way of life you describe is, unfortunately, become less available
> >> within the 3rd world.
> >>
> >> ALL these comments are very interesting to read, and glean references 
> >> from.
> >> For sake of clarity wish to reveal where the question came from.
> >> I used to live in Winnipeg, affectionately known as Winterpeg.
> >> One fall, I suddenly became shockingly conscious of how dependent on 
> >> fuel 
> >> we
> >> were to survive. The winter temps are extremely cold.  It just suddenly 
> >> hit
> >> me how short our time line was without the fuel to heat our homes. There 
> >> are
> >> many days when frostbite occurs within minutes and less of exposure to 
> >> the
> >> windchill.
> >> As it happened, that was the year that the ice storms occurred, thrusting
> >> Quebec and other neighbouring regions into crisis.
> >> So, the question could also be approached from this angle.
> >> Yes, the Inuit have developed an amazing lifestyle to cope with the 
> >> Arctic,
> >> and yes, that way of life is fast fading, bringing with its fade, huge
> >> addiction issues...
> >> I am the creature that I am. Brought up amidst the culture I was brought 
> >> up
> >> in.
> >>
> >> So, my question was not coming from a need to discuss consumption, which 
> >> has
> >> been 'done' quite a bit lately everywhere we look. But, to introduce a
> >> different topic: that of suitability of varying geographies for different
> >> human life forms.
> >> Where I come from, people did not used to stay in one place. When the
> >> weather changed, they moved.
> >>
> >> hope this helps,
> >> frances
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --------------------------------------------------
> >> From: "Tripp Tibbetts" <slowfoodguy@yahoo.com>
> >> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 9:33 AM
> >> To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> >> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Overstep the bounds? was: From TruthOut
> >>
> >> > I'm going to add my name to this bandwagon.  Not that I specifically
> >> > disagree with Toby's numbers, but I do agree that the real rhino in the
> >> > playpen is first world consumption, not third world population.  A 
> >> > wealthy
> >> > elite on a yacht in the Med burns more energy in an hour than whole
> >> > villages do in a year.  Besides, "third world" numbers have only grown 
> >> > as
> >> > a response to "first world" subsidies.  A woman in Lesotho could 
> >> > probably
> >> > turn an extra pound of rice and a chicken per week into another child.
> >> > Her counterpart in Portland, OR, would scrape it off her plate into the
> >> > garbage, or feed it to a Schnauzer we probably don't need to be 
> >> > supporting
> >> > either.
> >> >
> >> > I foraged half a peck of mulberries this morning around town, which is
> >> > obviously more sustainable than buying them from a grocer, but I did 
> >> > it 
> >> > in
> >> > my Camry, then washed them in a nice cast-iron enamel sink with
> >> > pressurized city water with an electric fan blowing cool air through my
> >> > 1000 s.f. house.  The same woman in Lesotho would just walk to the tree
> >> > and eat the berries, and bring some home to her mud and thatch house 
> >> > in 
> >> > a
> >> > cloth for her children.
> >> >
> >> > It's really not the same thing at all, is it?
> >> >
> >> > Tripp
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow.
> >> > -Chinese proverb
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --- On Fri, 5/7/10, jamesdavid Sneed <harvestcircle@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > From: jamesdavid Sneed <harvestcircle@hotmail.com>
> >> > Subject: Re: [permaculture] Overstep the bounds? was: From TruthOut
> >> > To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> >> > Date: Friday, May 7, 2010, 4:07 PM
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Is it that there are too many, or that those in "developed" countries 
> >> > take
> >> > such a huge portion of the resources per capita. Until recently, third
> >> > worlders, where population is so often cited (by privileged people of
> >> > european descent) as a problem, were content and effective at feeding
> >> > themselves with simple tools and technologies. The real change came 
> >> > when
> >> > the privileged classes colonized (enslaved) the third world to use 
> >> > their
> >> > resources and labor to support their own creature comforts and inflated
> >> > lifestyles. We're still doing it, and have tantalized the third world 
> >> > with
> >> > enough of our toxic toys that some are willing to participate in or are
> >> > entrapped in a desperate attempt to gain material goods.
> >> > Yet, the privileged classes still jet around the world, buy new 
> >> > computers,
> >> > eat food grown far away, and sit atop their tractors while pretending 
> >> > to
> >> > do good for the third world. Reminds me of the missionaries.
> >> >> From: toby@patternliteracy.com
> >> >> Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 05:50:18 -0700
> >> >> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> >> >> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Overstep the bounds? was: From TruthOut
> >> >>
> >> >> On May 6, 2010, at 11:54 AM, <fdnokes@hotmail.com> 
> >> >> <fdnokes@hotmail.com>
> >> >> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Do you think we have overstepped the bounds of what is habitable 
> >> >> > space
> >> >> > on
> >> >> > earth?
> >> >> > Are we trying to live in too many places that are not supportive 
> >> >> > enough
> >> >> > of
> >> >> > life?
> >> >>
> >> >> No. But the question doesn't get to the real issue. 10,000 years ago
> >> >> there were humans in nearly all of the places that we inhabit now
> >> >> (Antarctica being the main exception). Some of the most fragile 
> >> >> places 
> >> >> on
> >> >> the planet--the Oz bush, the Kalahari--have had humans in them for 
> >> >> 40,000
> >> >> years or more.
> >> >>
> >> >> The problem is not where we are, it's how many. There are just far, 
> >> >> far
> >> >> too many of us in all of those places. Following William Catton in the
> >> >> 1980s classic "Overshoot," I'd say the human carrying capacity of the
> >> >> planet is 500 million people living carelessly (so to speak) or 1-2
> >> >> billion living very carefully. Since I don't think we are capable of
> >> >> living carefully, at some point we'll reach the lower number.
> >> >>
> >> >> Toby
> >> >> http://patternliteracy.com
> >> >>
> >> >>
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