Practical Action + Liaising With The Local Community = Creating Long Term Sustainable Projects And Ultimately

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Solarpunk winters

As we observe the winter solstice, my thoughts have turned to how solarpunks approach winter. As the days turn dark and cold, how does a society dependent on the sun continue to prosper? Finland If…

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As we observe the winter solstice, my thoughts have turned to how solarpunks approach winter. As the days turn dark and cold, how does a society dependent on the sun continue to prosper?

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I keep thinking about an article I read several years ago about how activists got a coal plant shut down when the corporation wanted it to have its license extended for another 20 years. No-one knew who should take credit for the win - the lawyers suing for health reasons, the lawyers suing for worker protections, the activists protesting politicians and corporate offices, the activists who chained themselves to the plant gates, the group who pressured banks to refuse loans for the plant, etc. A while later someone read the company’s annual report and it more or less said they’d cancelled the plant, not because of any single reason, but because all the difficulties across so many aspects of the project made it more trouble than it was worth. They could win on one or two problems, but not a dozen attacks at once, especially when they were all weary from fighting the last battle. I wish I could find the article again, it was much more interesting than I make it sound! But in the same way that people here keep reminding us all that this is a marathon and not a sprint, I think it’s important to attack Trump and the Republicans on all fronts rather than try to find the one perfect sniper shot to take them down. There should not be a single aspect of their working life where they can escape protests and delays and being overruled by courts and new lawsuits and bad publicity and stupid jokes about them and investigations into their affairs. Washington? Investigators and lawsuits. Home town on recess? Angry locals. Media? Questions about what they knew and when. Internet? Demands for healthcare and video compilations of them saying daft things. It’s not that one of those tactics is a silver bullet, it’s that this is a war of attrition and every little bit of hassle is worth it. Every individual Republican congressperson should be dreading the sound of a phone or notification because it will be yet another fire they have to put out. They shouldn’t have time to provide assistance to their colleagues or cover for Trump, or time out to refresh and regroup. There are more citizens than there are politicians - tag team until they break ranks.

This Metafilter comment is good and smart and makes me feel better about the work ahead of us.

Today I divided up the hardy kiwis I had layered in the fall.

I made four new 1 gallon kiwi plants.

Source

an adorable sign i saw on my morning walk !! 🍅

Not Herbalism but Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds just put out their 2019 Catalog. It’s time to plan gardens now, so that when spring comes, you can execute that plan. I have lived in apartments with very little space for the past 7 years, so I thought I’d share my “grows well in containers list” with you guys.

Greens: Most greens, spinach, arugula, lettuces, some cabbages, etc. will grow in a container quite well.

Herbs: Similar to above, you can get your typical herbs to grow in pots quite well, usually. The yield with herbs is always very good too.

Anything with “Tom Thumb” or “Dwarf” in front of it: These are varieties made for containers, basically. They’re very, very small. There’s peas, corn (as in pop corn), tomatoes. Lots of stuff. Even flowers.

Cheery Tomatoes: In general, with any “regular” veg, you’ll probably need a larger pot (Think like 1 gal). If you’re willing to go the distance, though, cherry tomatoes are a great container plant, in my opinion.

Alpine Strawberries: Again, somewhat larger (though not as large as above) is recommended to get more berries. These guys are tiny strawberries. Like one bite berries. 

Banana Peppers: I had two plants. They went wild. I ended up with several fresh peppers mixed into stir fry all summer and then two large canned jars of them, which I munched on through fall to the very very beginning of winter.

Carrots: Actually, if you’ve got a tall enough pot, you can grow regular carrots. But I like the Parisienne or other little round globe varieties. 

Radishes: Similar concept to the carrots. Small, round. Remember to eat your radish and carrot greens as well. 

Green onions: Either a chive situation or, some companies do actually have very small, like golf ball sized onions.

Look for “container mixes” on seed sites: Quite a few seed sights often put together container seed mixes. They’re usually the varieties recommended by the company. 

So that’s my list. Remember, grow what you want to eat. Also, a good plan is grow what is hard for you to buy. That way you aren’t doubling down on what you can easily find in town. 

Humans are a communal species that have banded together and cared for their sick, disabled, and elderly since before we were ever modern man. Resources were shared even as skills specialized. 

Capitalism isn’t natural. A community should not have members dying of starvation or exposure while there is an abundance of resources. That isn’t how it works. That isn’t how it’s supposed to work.