Eaarth

The title of Bill Mckibben's "Eaarth" is a powerful one. To me, putting the extra "a" in "eaarth" is a message saying that earth is not the same anymore. We as a human raced have changed it, mainly for the worse according to Bill. This book is a bash on the people who still think global warming isn't real. Bill gets a little sassy at times but it just goes to show how upset the author is at the world around us. Ignorance, is bliss until the world blows up. I would like to take a quote directly from the book saying, "My only real fear is that the reality described in this book, and increasingly evident in the world around us, will be for some an excuse to give up. We need just the opposite, increased engagement. Some of that engagement will be local: building the kind of communities and economies that can withstand what's coming. And some of it must be global: we must step up the fight to keep climate change from getting even more powerfully out of control, and to try to protect those people most at risk, who are almost always those who have done the least to cause the problem...It's true that we've lost that fight, insofar as our goal was to preserve the world we were born into. That's not the world we live on any longer, and there's no use pretending otherwise."

 It saddens me to believe this is true, but it would be blatant denial to say otherwise. Times they are a changin' and we have to start changing too. Ride a bike, take a bus, turn off your lights, buy energy star appliances, replace your light bulbs! It doesn't take 10,000 to make a difference. Start today.

The Harvest

At the end of every garden's life, there is a harvest. Dig it? So if we think of this blog as a garden, (work with me) then we know that it is nearing harvest time. I've never been much for blogging, so I know I'm doing no injustice when I say that this blog will not continue on after today. I have learned a lot while "planting" this "garden" and watching it "grow". However next year I hope for a more plentiful yield; a yield of vegetables from Trybal Revival Gardens that is, not a hypothetical yield of information from a blog. "Life's a Garden. Dig it." is not just a title, its a philosophy. Plants may die, but they are recycled. A drought may come, but it will rain. It's your garden, it's your life, and it's your choice to turn a dry cracked landscape into a fertile garden full of life. Dig it?

Eco-Garden Volunteer!

Hey readers, time for the final informational post of the semester, thank goodness!

As I have stated in a previous blog, I will be volunteering with Trybal Revival Gardens in spring of 2013. The project that I am most excited about working on with TRG, is by far their eco-garden. TRG stated that "In June of 2011 we partnered with the Kalamazoo County Land Bank by entering into an 'Adopt-a-Lot' program for several lots in the 1500 block of East Michigan Avenue with the intent of establishing a public permaculture garden on the site." With the "Adopt-a-Lot" program, and a generous grant from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, the eco-garden started to come together.

Eco-Garden land plot

The way this garden is set up is like no other garden I have ever heard of; although I am sure that they exist. The garden is planted in "guilds" or plant groups in which each plant has a beneficial and symbiotic relationship with the others.

The garden is set up as follows; in the back are the deciduous trees and several nut trees, (hickory, oak, chestnut) followed slightly further down the slope by fruit trees and berry bushes, creating a "small edible forest", towards the end of the slope near the road lie the vegetable beds, and my personal favorite part, the community gathering center located in the middle of this beautiful place.
Perhaps the best part of all about this eco-garden is that it is a public one. All you must do is simply contact TRG, all are welcome.

Hopefully I will see some of you readers at the 1500 block of E. Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI this spring 2013! Lets build a home for nature and friends. Until then, life's a garden, dig it.

http://trybalrevivalgarden.com/EcoGarden.html

Volunteer Work?

Anyone is able to volunteer to help make their community a better place; and community gardens are largely volunteer based. After some discussion with the managers of TRG, I plan on volunteering in the spring to help keep the garden up and running, as well as helping to build the additional permaculture area of the garden. Plants in the permaculture area of the garden are planted in guilds or groups, and each plant in the group has a substantial symbiotic relationship with the plants around it. I had never heard about this guild planting until looking up TRG.
Needless to say, TRG is a great place to get some experience gardening, which I have always wanted to do. I eagerly look forward to spring and some big tomatoes and potatoes! Until next time, life's a garden, dig it.

Carbon Footprint Comparison

 
     Hey everybody! So this week we had to compare our carbon footprint with that of a household of our choice! Naturally the battle of the sexes began between my girlfriend, her 2 female room mates, and my 4 male room mates and myself. I used a carbon footprint calculator located at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/ind-calculator.html#c=theBasics&p=reduceOnTheRoad&m=calc_currentEmissions to judge the competition. At the end of the month when we received our Consumers Energy bills, and with the help of the carbon footprint calculator, my house was victorious! Despite having 2 more humans in the house, the fact that we recycle everything gave us the edge. It really irks me to see my girlfriend and her room mates throwing away milk jugs, egg cartons, newspapers, and the like, when Kalamazoo is so adamant about its recycling program.

      Our carbon footprint came in at 19,039 lbs of CO2 per year, while the challengers came in at 25,269 lbs of CO2 per year. Both of these were well below the suggested average of the calculator, at a whopping 100,000 lbs per year with a household of 5. This data seems quite perplexing to me due to the fact that both of our houses do little to be green oriented. However I intend to do more research on the national average CO2 emissions per year. 'Till then, life's a garden, dig it.



http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/ind-calculator.html#c=theBasics&p=reduceOnTheRoad&m=calc_currentEmissions

Trybal Revival Gardens

     Hello readers! So, I have been doing loads of research on community gardens over the past week or so. I was so excited to learn that there are tens of community gardens in the Kalamazoo area alone! It is time to get involved!

     One community garden I found is particularly close to where I live in the student ghetto here in Kalamazoo. Trybal Revival Gardens (TRG) is a community garden located on the 1400 and 1500 block of E. Michigan ave. just past downtown. TRG is an on going project started in 2010 that is still partaking in projects to help grow and expand its borders. The reason I chose TRG above other local gardens is that they have a large focus on sustainability and living a sustainable lifestyle. TRG demonstrates and teaches displays of permaculture during their everyday gardening. Permaculture is a method of designing ways in which we as humans can all live abundantly well on our planet while also leaving it in better condition then when we arrived on it. TRG is immensely impressive in their commitment to permaculture, with its main plant-water supply gathered from rain water, the city water is only used in extreme cases.

      I have spoken to TRG on their facebook as well as e-mailed the owners of the land. Seeing as how the garden is mainly their yard, they must be quite busy with the fall harvest and winter preparation. I am eagerly awaiting a response from TRG. Hopefully I will be able to volunteer before spring. I can't wait to get my hands dirty.

Until then, life's a garden, dig it.

If you want to know more about permaculture, this a free 18 part series by Midwest Permaculture:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8A13FE6DAED398CB&feature=plcp

http://midwestpermaculture.com/

http://trybalrevivalgarden.com/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trybal-Revival-Gardens/146418742131036

 

Hope, lead by following.

Hello readers! I just finished chapter 3 of Bill McKibben's book Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth entitled "Kerala." Kerala is a small country on the tip of India, but Kerala does not fit in with the rest of India, not in the slightest. Kerala is a remarkable example of living lightly on the earth, and the power of a community. 

Starting in 1957 Kerala democratically elected a communist government and would periodically turn back to communism throughout its political lifespan. One main thing communism did for Kerala was to distribute the land amongst the people, giving the average family one acre of land to farm and live on. This land was formerly owned by the richer percentage of Kerala's population. Many families lived on this land and worked for the owners as near slaves; and gave the landowners 60 to 80 percent of their earnings. A small city in Kerala called Nadur was studied, and it was found that many families do not own beds. Most families had only cooking utensils, a bench and some stools as their only possessions. But despite their incredibly poor life style, Kerala has a 100% literacy rate. With a population twice that of India as a whole, Kerala still manages unbelievably cheap healthcare for adults and free healthcare for children. To put into perspective, the average life span of a North American male is 72 years, compared to India's 57 years. Kerala stands well above all of india with a life expectancy of 70 years. Needless to say Kerala is a unique example in this time of famine and over population. Sometimes the best way to lead is to follow, and there are many lessons to learn from Kerala.

Sources for this post come from the book Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth 

Community Gardening

Original Post 11/12/12Life's a garden, dig it? All of our lives are intertwined, whether we know it or not, but people who are part of a community garden willingly allows others to dig their garden. For this blog, our definition of a community garden will be; any piece of land gardened by a group of people. Being part of a community garden has many benefits. It is shown to improve the overall quality of life for participants as well as encouraging neighborhood/community growth and development. In today's day and age, community gardens are becoming ever more prominent. There are even different categories of garden including urban, suburban, and rural community gardens. As we progress further into what this activity really means, we will venture into these different types of gardens. Being naturally curious, I plan to go around town and find some community gardens and hopefully interview some of the owners, maybe I'll find some dirt on these folks.
Until then, life's a garden, dig it.


http://www.communitygarden.org/

http://newarkstcommunitygarden.org/