23 January 2005

Craftsmen

Much of what lies ahead of us is undoing the mistakes of the last few centuries.

The last half of Chapter 19 in Adam Bede by George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans). (Divided into paragraphs for readability on the web.) http://www.online-literature.com/george_eliot/adam-bede/

As he made up his mind to this, he was coming very near to the end of his walk, within the sound of the hammers at work on the refitting of the old house.

The sound of tools to a clever workman who loves his work is like the tentative sounds of the orchestra to the violinist who has to bear his part in the overture: the strong fibres begin their accustomed thrill, and what was a moment before joy, vexation, or ambition, begins its change into energy.

All passion becomes strength when it has an outlet from the narrow limits of our personal lot in the labour of our right arm, the cunning of our right hand, or the still, creative activity of our thought.

Look at Adam through the rest of the day, as he stands on the scaffolding with the two-feet ruler in his hand, whistling low while he considers how a difficulty about a floor-joist or a window-frame is to be overcome; or as he pushes one of the younger workmen aside and takes his place in upheaving a weight of timber, saying, "Let alone, lad! Thee'st got too much gristle i' thy bones yet"; or as he fixes his keen black eyes on the motions of a workman on the other side of the room and warns him that his distances are not right.

Look at this broad-shouldered man with the bare muscular arms, and the thick, firm, black hair tossed about like trodden meadow-grass whenever he takes off his paper cap, and with the strong barytone voice bursting every now and then into loud and solemn psalm-tunes, as if seeking an outlet for superfluous strength, yet presently checking himself, apparently crossed by some thought which jars with the singing.

.... Adam, you perceive, was by no means a marvellous man, nor, properly speaking, a genius, yet I will not pretend that his was an ordinary character among workmen; and it would not be at all a safe conclusion that the next best man you may happen to see with a basket of tools over his shoulder and a paper cap on his head has the strong conscience and the strong sense, the blended susceptibility and self-command, of our friend Adam.

He was not an average man. Yet such men as he are reared here and there in every generation of our peasant artisans--with an inheritance of affections nurtured by a simple family life of common need and common industry, and an inheritance of faculties trained in skilful courageous labour: they make their way upwards, rarely as geniuses, most commonly as painstaking honest men, with the skill and conscience to do well the tasks that lie before them.

Their lives have no discernible echo beyond the neighbourhood where they dwelt, but you are almost sure to find there some good piece of road, some building, some application of mineral produce, some improvement in farming practice, some reform of parish abuses, with which their names are associated by one or two generations after them.

Their employers were the richer for them, the work of their hands has worn well, and the work of their brains has guided well the hands of other men.

They went about in their youth in flannel or paper caps, in coats black with coal-dust or streaked with lime and red paint; in old age their white hairs are seen in a place of honour at church and at market, and they tell their well-dressed sons and daughters, seated round the bright hearth on winter evenings, how pleased they were when they first earned their twopence a-day.

Others there are who die poor and never put off the workman's coal on weekdays. They have not had the art of getting rich, but they are men of trust, and when they die before the work is all out of them, it is as if some main screw had got loose in a machine; the master who employed them says, "Where shall I find their like?"

19 January 2005

Gardening is the Answer

The reality is that fossil fuels will no longer be available to power our civilization.We will have to go back to relying on the sun for energy. We can't be sure exactly when or how this inflection point will take place, but it will take place.

Energy becomes more expensive; conflicts over energy become the norm.

It's wishful thinking to imagine that photo-voltaic cells, hydrogen or any other technology can take the place of petroleum. Natural gas, coal, and uranium will make a dent in the downward curve, but but they are limited and there will be no going back to cheap energy.

(Nothing original here. The foregoing is the position of Richard Heinberg and his school of Peak Oil thinkers. The same ideas were circulating in the 70s. See Peak Oil Links for details on this argument. See especially the Die-Off site.)

If we are going back to solar energy, how do we do it? For the most part, through gardening. Gardening means harvesting the sun's power through vegetation to produce food, drink, medicines, fabrics, dyes, fuel (biomass), and building material. Gardening is intensive and intelligent, de-centralized and local.

But Gardening Needs a Culture

Eventually (after centuries), we will recover the knowledge and attitudes necessary for good gardening.

What a waste though. The technical knowledge is available now. Now, it would be easy to develop techniques and infrastructure to get us through the hard times to come.

What to do?

Here, now. Struggle to earn a living, meet family and other obligations. How to start the new culture? Well, be patient. // I want to get gardening away from the specialists. They keep the information alive, but as a special group, they have habits that make it difficult for everybody to join. And it's critical that it be open to everyone.

Trying to read 200 pages of dense text on fruit growing. (Calif MG Handbook). It's a good reference, but it is irrelevant to the job of creating a new culture. For that, need stories, meaning. How frivolous and superficial seem our gardening texts, compared to the central role gardening and farming had in previous centuries. Here we talk about the colors and textures of landscape plants. The Bible uses gardening imagery for the most profound of ideas.

Trees

I had a strange feeling reading about trees, fruit trees, and pruning. Trees are more imposing presences than herbs and vegetables. More of a personality. An imposing presence. A greater emotional relationship to them. Fig tree in our back yard. The cherry trees. Redwoods, eucalyptus. Tape on plant amnesty, crusading against bad pruning. // Trees are there... but do we write about them? Do we think about them? There are bureaucratic, technical, and legal approaches, but these aren't satisfying. They are just the silly response of an overly developed culture. // Walk among them. They are beings. Long-lived. // a sick, guilty, feeling... of my own superficiality and inconsequentiality. // remember trees wrapped up in my memories, relationships. took place. Quote from Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy. (online text of book Beginning of first chapter:

To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall. And winter, which modifies the note of such trees as shed their leaves, does not destroy its individuality.

Beginning of last chapter:

The point in Yalbury Wood which abutted on the end of Geoffrey Day's premises was closed with an ancient tree, horizontally of enormous extent, though having no great pretensions to height. Many hundreds of birds had been born amidst the boughs of this single tree; tribes of rabbits and hares had nibbled at its bark from year to year; quaint tufts of fungi had sprung from the cavities of its forks; and countless families of moles and earthworms had crept about its roots. Beneath and beyond its shade spread a carefully-tended grass-plot, its purpose being to supply a healthy exercise-ground for young chickens and pheasants; the hens, their mothers, being enclosed in coops placed upon the same green flooring.

All these encumbrances were now removed, and as the afternoon advanced, the guests gathered on the spot, where music, dancing, and the singing of songs went forward with great spirit throughout the evening. [wedding takes place here]

17 January 2005

Master Gardeners and Learning to Garden

I'm enrolled in a Master Gardeners (MG) class, which should serve me as impetus to really learn the material. Over the years, I've read a lot and been exposed to gardeners and naturalists; in so doing I've accumulated a collection of ideas that now rattle around upstairs. But botany is a field I've only visited; I've never lived there.

I can see how my defenses go up as I read or listen to lectures. "Why didn't I know that? It's so basic!" I think. Or I realize past actions were futile or mistaken. One imagines the laughter or criticism of others, the stomach tightens, and one begins to spin a rigid web of excuses and rationalizations. Wasted effort. Better just to accept one's imperfections.

It helps to stay away from people who are competitive or fault-finding when you are learning. That's why classes and schools can be so destructive. A good teacher is a precious. Bad situations -- let them go, don't fight them, go elsewhere.

I appreciate the knowledge in the Master Gardener courses, but I inwardly bridle at the instrumentalist worldview: "Plants exist purely for our use and we are entitled to do anything we like to them. The purpose of gardening techniques is to maximize our pleasure/calories/profits from plants and minimize our work and trouble."

Fortunately, most plant people seem to have an innate sympathy for plants, a Deep Green consciousness.

A second criticism I have is that the horticulture field seems to be dominated by the engineering/business mindset: "Real gardening is done to maximize yield, in a scientific, methodical way." This model is totally inappropriate for home gardeners who garden to supply their families with food and for their own pleasure. Permaculturalist David Holmgren said something similar in his new book... I'd like to find the citation. Rather than proceeding from an engineering model, home horticulture should look to history and traditions for inspiration.

A third criticism is that the Master Gardeners material deals only minimally with the ecological or environmental aspects of gardening. OTOH, they apparently promote organic methods much more than in the past. I foresee that permaculture will come to be part of the Master Gardener curriculum just as organic gardening has.

As with the teaching of any craft, MG can degenerate into the memorization of procedures. The best teachers go beyond the basics, help you see the reasons for things, make you see connections you hadn't seen before.

Still and all, MG is a great experience, a wonderful program. I wish more things in life were organized the way MG is.

6 January 2005

Peak Oil: A Spike or an Epoch?

Discussion with a Peak Oil (PO) activist about whether drilling for oil in ANWR is relevant to Peak Oil. (See Conoco deals ANWR drilling a blow.)

B: ANWR is a key oil vs environment issue, one we'll see repeated again and again. Not just in the US, but worldwide.

L: Yes, which is why i feel need to focus on the donut not the hole, the disease not the symptoms.

B: Pressure on the oil companies seems to have paid off. Other groups may want to imitate these tactics

L: For how long tho, has ANWR been saved? Do you really think most ppl will give a stuff about beasties 100s of kms away when their heat goes off, or will they then say drill/dig/stripmine whereever the stuff is? Saving bits now, without stopping the culture of consumer capitalism, only means those bits will go last. Its like waking up to discover house is on fire, grabbing yr fav memento's & running upstairs - no point if the house is still on fire, got to put the fire out.

B: Would it be accurate to say that you see PO as a spike, a relatively sudden event that will cause panic and disruption? If so, it would make sense to focus on the underlying problem ("consumer capitalism") and fix it, presumably through small low-energy communities à la Ted Trainer.

I see PO instead as a set of interlocking crises ... environmental, political, economic, cultural... that will manifest themselves in different places and different times. The mindset and infrastructure have taken hundreds of years to build up; unwinding the fossil fuel society will be a long, bumpy, multi-faceted process. For me, the important things are to make connections and establish alliances.

Thus, ANWR is an opportunity to understand the inter-connection between consumerism, oil, and environmental destruction. I recently saw "Oil on Ice", a documentary that made these points. (Also see a page on the relationship of ANWR to energy). I talked to one of the filmmakers, who told me they were aware of PO and their next film would emphasize it. I said I would try to write a review of the film... maybe the discussion with you will prompt me into going ahead with it.

I don't necessarilly share the recommendations of the film -- for example in their emphasis on hybrid cars as a significant solution. But for me, the question is not whether I agree with them 100%, but are they going in the right direction and can we work together?

L is a smart guy with a gift for incisive criticism, so I await his next reply.

3 January 2005

REAL Writing

In a world of teenage bloggers, is there any room for REAL writers and REAL writing? How can you explain the difference between trash and quality?

All I know is that I feel nauseous and depressed after spending too much time reading blogs and discussion forums. Superficial opinions, insults, brash humor, vulgarity. It makes me want to throw myself into 19th century literature and never come back.

What prompts this curmudgeonly train of thought is that I just finished reading aloud to my wife the novel Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy. (We read to each other at bedtime.) Sheer delight. The story is simple. Fancy Day, a new school teacher comes to the small village of Mellstock. Three men fall in love with her: a rich farmer, the vicar, and Dick Dewy, the son of the trantor (hauler of goods). Over the course of a year, Dick Dewy courts Fancy Day and they marry. The end.

Obviously not enough action for modern tastes. Besides, the characters are strange and unkempt. They speak in dialect with queer turns of speech.

But for those of us who are out of love with Amercult, the pleasure of Hardy lies in immersing ourselves in the genial, slow-moving rural society of early 19th century England. Our blood pressures go down and we begin to notice small things, like the matted leaves on a path in the rain.

Maybe Peak Oil will force us to stay in one place and rediscover the quieter pleasures of earlier eras.

1 January 2005

New Beginnings

Jan 1 -- a good time to return to blogging. I doubt that anyone is interested in my obsessions. But to anyone who is, I make the commitment to write clearly and tell the truth.

I also resolve the clean up previous entries in this blog and post several articles I've been working on.

Expressing Yourself Online

I've been posting to the PeakOil.com website and contributing to the Energy Bulletin website. Plus, dipping my toe in the permaculture and SANET mail lists.

What's GOOD about discussion groups and mail lists:

What's BAD about discussion groups and mail lists:

I've enjoyed the time I've spent posting, and I've become more accustomed to writing in a personal voice for other people. But in 2005 it will be time to detach myself from the lists and put my energy into serious writing.

And yet posting is addictive. I'll need to rely on a Higher Power to help me keep this resolution!

Simple Living

I found a simple living site by philosophy professor Bob Corbett: http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/simple.html. A larger site is Unconventional Ideas by John Andersen (no relation).

It's hard to find anything wrong with simple living. Practicing it improves any situation.

A few years back I was involved with a Simple Living discussion group and I retain ambivalent feelings about it. It was nice to find other people with the same urge to simplify, yet I quickly discovered that I was on a different wavelength.

There were two points of contention. First, the members were middle American in outlook, politically unsophisticated and vulnerable to the crackerbarrel fascists. I realized how effectively a few vocal rightists can take over an online group, bringing up welfare fraud, Hilary Clinton, etc. (I wonder if there's a plot among pajama-clad right-wingers to disrupt liberal discussion groups?)

Secondly, I had a problem with the standard textbook for modern Simple Living, Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin. Basically it's a Ten-Step program for curing oneself of materialism and achieving financial independence. It's a tremendously effective strategy and a laudable one.

What drove me crazy was the chapter on investments, which said in effect: "Don't worry your pretty little heads about investments; they are too complicated and no one can win. Just put everything in long-term US bonds." Well, it's more complicated than that and I spent many hours trying to explain why.

I may have been right, I may have been wrong, but when the situation is not working it's better to be quiet or leave. Charging into battle again and again is not the only option; one would think I would have learned that by now!

Eco-Marxists

Speaking of "charging into battle again and again"... I've been reading the Marxism mailing list at http://www.marxmail.org/. Although I'm not an expert on Marxist sects, the list has a strong flavor of Trotskyism. Fierce, argumentative, dogmatic, intelligent, sectarian, critical of just about everything (but especially critical of potential allies). The target of the most venemous attacks is "ABB" -- those who wanted anybody but Bush. Ultra-left nonsense, in my opinion.

Nonetheless, marxmail moderator Louis Proyect tries to keep the sectarianism and ad hominem attacks to a minimum. (Proyect also writes essays and good movie reviews which he self-publishes on the web.)

I had wondered whether any Marxists had come to terms with environmental issues such as global warming and Peak Oil. Searching through the marxmail archives, I found a few Marxists who wrote interesting pieces (see Eco-marxist links). Not surprisingly, many of the pieces were published in Monthly Review, a non-sectarian socialist magazine, probably the finest publication that American Marxism has ever produced.

On the down side, even the best of the pieces don't have much new to say about the environment. It turns out that Marx incorporated insights from the chemist and soil scientist Liebig into his analysis of the contradiction between city and country. In brief, farmers deprive their land of the nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous contained in the produce they ship to the city. The nutrients are excreted by the city population and cause pollution. Somehow, the nutrients should be returned to the land in which the crops are grown. A very important insight, but one that subsequent Marxism did not develop.

Other articles, like those by Stan Goff, incorporate the ideas of entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Interesting, but no real advance over Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen who first introduced this line of thought.

A barrier to most people is the Marxist jargon in which the pieces are written. Terms like "means of production," "dialectic," "contradictions" mean nothing unless you've fallen under the spell of Das Kapital at some point in your life. I actually enjoy the jargon, just as I like using computer jargon, but I realize that it is a poor way to communicate to a large audience. Not to mention the fact that anything Marxist is taboo in American intellectual discourse, outside of a few inbred groups.

I accept the thesis of John Bellamy Foster that Marx and Engels had some thoughts relevant to environmentalism. But in general, if one wants to learn about ecology and the environment, one has to look elsewhere than Marxism.

If economic turmoil comes, Marxism will probably return to influence and the eco-Marxists may be seen as the beginnings of a red-green synthesis.

31 December 2004

All 2004 Entries are Raw Raw Raw

I was just getting underway with the blog in 2004, so the entries are rough and unfinished. They read more like notes than like finished pieces. I promise... I will clean them up! [January 12: I've cleaned up about half the entries.]

25 July 2004

Green vs Brown

I've been thinking about the difference between the Green and the Brown worldviews. I'm beginning to see a polarity, a conflict, that may be the big conflict of this century.

How could I describe the conflict concisely? Small, decentralized communities vs power and hierarchies.

Surprisingly, I don't think that nature is the key factor. Few people seriously argue against nature. We all love nature. The argument is always: "We are sorry, but we need to sacrifice nature for the benefit of humans."

I think the root motivation is social: to maintain one's place in the human hierarchy or to climb higher. Greed, for example, is not the physiological desire for more food (there is only so much you can eat), or for the pure pleasure of owning clothes, houses, and possessions. It is the social status that accrues.

13 July 2004

Recovering my enthusiasm

Slowly I seem to be recovering my enthusiasm for gardening and other projects. I'm not sure why I got burned out. Maybe because I always tackle too much at once. In any case, I've been reading about traditional gardening and Gertrude Jekyll.

Gertrude Jekyll, aka "Bump"

One problem with Gertrude Jekyll and the English landscape designers -- at least for me -- is that their history is intertwined with the rich and privileged. Even that would be okay, except for the tremendous snobbery and condescension. The lack of any awareness that there is a problem with living off a peasantry. As her biography admits, she was a great snob.

On the other hand, one cannot avoid admiring Gertrude's productivity and what she accomplished. Her taste is impeccable. Many of the values she held are good values (tradition, nature, etc.). Is this the Tory view of the countryside? I don't know English history and culture well enough -- thank God! My ignorance enables me to appreciate the good about Gertrude Jekyll without having the emotional reactions a native would.

Sometime I'd like to write about the way that Gertrude taught herself one craft after another. Amazing discipline and talent.

Apparently, she was quite a formidable figure. What humanized her for me was her long relationship with the much younger Edwin Lutyens, the famous country architect. With Lutyens, she was able to unbend; he called her "Bump" and teased her playfully. At the same time, they collaborated on many projects and influenced each other's craft. It's the sort of relationship that is unfamiliar to us in our cynical, overt times.

Some interesting facts about Gertrude's family. Her brother Walter was a Church of England cleric who was unfrocked because of his radical views (I wonder what they were?). He moved to Jamaica, became a Buddhist, collected folklore, and served as mentor to Jamaican/American writer Claude McKay ("Jamica's poet laureate").

In England, he had been a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, and there is speculation that he lent the Jekyll name for Stevenson's classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Also, there was a nephew, Francis Jekyll (nickname Timmy), who was a figure in the first English folk music revival and wrote a biography of his famous aunt. His personal life, however, sounds sad -- dominated by severe depression.

Reculer pour mieux salter

Reading about Gertrude Jekyll makes me think about my direction. There's something in her life that is a bracing tonic for us moderns. Her "environmentalism," expressed as a love of traditional crafts and the countryside, came from within, from deep personal needs. It pushed her to productivity and creation. In contrast, the modern impulse might be to join a group, take a class, become an activist.

Is there anything wrong with the modern approaches? No, not in themselves. What's wrong is what is missing -- the personal, the family-ar, the unique point of view. One can't imagine Gertrude Jekyll taking her opinions from the Web, from environmental magazines, or from anywhere in the media. There is a strength that comes from standing on the earth, from being in touch with something deep.

How does this look in practice? Staying in one place. Attachment to people, places, and customs, especially to the homely and non-commercial. Attachment to land. Gardens. Landscapes. One's personal history.

Not being so quick to jump into group activities. Instead, commiting to a few connections of high quality. Not letting one's life fill up with trivia and detritus.

The distinction I'm making here does not correspond to the environmentalist/mainstream, left/right or urban/rural dichotomies.

It's an awareness of who one is, where one came from, what one's place on earth is. It's neither brash nor apologetic. As one begins to value tradition and nature, one becomes vulnerable, as so much in the modern world seeks to destroy or exploit these values.

Certain things kill these values: TV, modern movies, modern magazines,

Liquid Gold

This Saturday, I went to hear a talk in Berkeley on "Liquid Gold" by Carol Steinfeld. She's written a book on the subject ( Liquid Gold),

"Liquid Gold: How to Use Urine to Grow Plants (Safely!)"
...Every day, we urinate nutrients that can fertilize plants that could be used for beautiful landscapes, food, fuel, and fiber. Instead, these nutrients are flushed away, either to be treated at high cost or discharged to waters where they overfertilize and choke off aquatic life. Join us for a lighthearted but practical talk about how urine - which contains most of the nutrients in domestic wastewater and usually carries no disease risk - can be utilized as a resource. We'll discuss three ways to grow away urine - composting, urine-graywater system, and urine fertilizing - safely and without odors. We'll make a small urine-graywater planter and look at ways to make easy, inexpensive urine-diverting composting toilets.

I did more research and found some good resources on web. The idea of re-using urine and feces is compelling. See eco-san.

SF Bay talk

Recently, I went to hear local geologist/activist Ken Lajoie talk about the formation of the San Francisco Bay. He's a modern Jeremiah whose retirement from the US Geological Survey provably provoked a sigh of relief from the bureaucrats. He's worth listening to:

7 July 2004

Took a vacation

I took a vacation from blogging. Is this something I really want to do? Will I continue it? Do I have anything to say?

Visited family. Worked in garden. Read two old sf favorites: Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith and The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem. On the web, I read book and movie reviews by Louis Proyect, an independent socialist and Marxist.

Found a good video on Organizing (organizing one's possessions, that is, not the working class). Scroll about 40% down the page to the entry for REGINA LEEDS: “The Zen of Organizing: Creating Order and Peace in Your..."

Her key ideas for keeping yourself organized:

29 June 2004

"The Corporation" -- did I really see it here?

Saw "The Corporation" last night -- a 2-1/2 hour bottom-buster. Amazingly entertaining and informative for what basically is a leftist propaganda film. A fast-moving post-modern melange of commercials from the 50s, talking heads, and dramatic/funny bits.

I was amazed that I was able to see this film in an American theater. It's much further to the left than any of the other rebel documentaries, like Michael Moore or "Supersize Me." I guess Michael Moore is attracting all the fire of the right wing, so that movies like "The Corporation" and "The Control Room" can sneak by the censors.

I was very impressed. The level of analysis was much deeper than the popular leftist politics of the 30s and 60s. It covered all the bases: environment, Third World, over-consumption, and worker exploitation, tying them into the concept of "the corporation" (i.e., capitalism). And it did all this in an entertaining popular format!

The only weaknesses in the production came towards the end of the film (or perhaps I was getting restless). The level of leftist jargon went up ("imperialism", "power of the people") and there was a greater dependence on the leftist cliches of demonstrators, slogans, and martyrs. I guess the filmmakers wanted to end on a note of affirmation, of hope. Unfortunately right now there are no dependable models of the future, so we had to be contented with Bolivians shouting "El Pueblo, unido, jamas sera vencido!" ("The people united, shall never be defeated!").

The problem of a lack of models isn't due to the film; it's more a shortcoming of the current anti-capitalist movement. Granted that the criticism of the corporation is valid, what then? Old-style leftism like social democracy and capitalism had answers, whether or not one agreed with them. The new leftism is worryingly vague about what will replace capitalism. The mystical conception of "the people" is wrought with problems, as a short course in modern history demonstrates.

28 June 2004

Trying Mozilla 1.7

As part of my effort to get away from Microsoft, I have downloaded Mozilla and am trying the Web page creator. It's part of my effort to get my life and environment in order. To get my tools in order.

I have felt overwhelmed... just walking around the condominium can give me a headache, seeing all the things that are broken or need attention. What if I were to ease off gardening (theoretical gardening) and spend more time on actual cleanup and getting things in order?

Small steps in secret

An acronym -- SSS -- for Small Steps in Secret. I think this is the way for me to proceed:

Perhaps I can write a paper on this strategy.

Bill McKibben strikes back

On the Orion website I found a hard-hitting video talk by Bill McKibben. On the same site was a piece by James Howard Kunstler, a rant about the Cargo Cult mentality of modern America. The pieces encouraged me -- made me feel my path was not so isolated.

27 June 2004

Shifting sands underfoot

Still wondering, what to do about gardening? The present approach is not right. Let me back off from studying gardening. It has been good and I will continue, but not at the same degree of intensity. The gardening world is not the world for me, not entirely. Besides I want to relax from my "mission," enjoy life, clean things up.

I actually don't want to change my life that much. I just want to slow down, make sure that I get things done. Take it easy. Establish routines and work at things regularly. As opposed to the intense efforts I have been making to establish a new direction.

25 June 2004

Doubts

I'm feeling down about gardening. I wonder why? For one thing, there is the frustration of having a large garden, falling behind in the work. The yield from the garden is large and continuous, and that is a strain on Ms P and me. P is overwhelmed by the cycle of produce (lots all at once), plus the challenge of learning how to make use of new vegetables.

In addition, it is hard swimming against the cultural current. Gardening with nature is definitely a minority viewpoint. Why not buy your food at the supermarket? Why not spray? Why not use chemical/organic fertilizers? Why not plant in rows?

For that reason, it is wonderful to find other people who share my values about this. At least we can talk.

But as I get further into this field, I see all the characteristics of a field which is not valued or rewarded by society. Systems and beliefs spring up which are superficial and opinionated. There is a lack of solid and continuous effort, e.g. scientific or professional. There is a split between jaded professionals and enthusiastic and idealistic amateurs.

And I am frustrated by my own lack of knowledge, lack of ability.

More Mel Bartholomew

Another system! People love it, I love it. Its limitation is that it only addresses the problem of Middle Americans who want simple reliable answers "Simple, easy, can't fail" (like Your Money or Your Life, 12-Step programs, etc.).

To my eye, the square foot grids are as inspiring as a parking lot, as cubicles in a corporation, as prison cells. Uniform, efficient and sterile, though the plants -- like children -- can't be totally stopped from their tendency to anarchy and freedom. The plan allows no surprises. Nothing unusual or unpredictable.

The downside is lack of curiosity, of deep knowledge. Complete control over nature.

Similar uniform systems are chemical row gardening, raised beds and corporate monoculture. In contrast, there are the organic forms of cottage gardening and forest gardens, and Fukuoka and Emilia Hazelip. The contrast is between the engineering mindset and nature/history.

The pluses of Mel Bartholomew's system:

I think gardening lends itself to these Systems. Nature is very forgiving and will produce yields even with mistakes and strange inputs. On the other hand, it is complex and unpredictable.

24 June 2004

Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening

Three videos, about 50 minutes apiece, 1985. I got awfully tired of 4x4 foot square boxes, with plants being spaced 1, 4, 9, or 16 to a square foot. BUT. It's a wonderful concept. A simplified sure-fire method with ready-made ingredients. Helps lots of people get started, who otherwise would not feel confident enough to garden.

Sophisticated landscape gardeners will be put off by the rigid planting grid.

Bartholomew is a retired civil engineer and efficiency expert, and the modular systematic approach of the technique reflects his background.

Problems with the method:

It's just a proprietary technology and it's not deeply interesting to me.

Later...reading Bartholomew's website (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/), I feel more positive about the method. On the website (as vs the videos), he takes a more organic position and has eliminated the need for inorganic fertilizer. He explains what's in his recommended mixture.

The site says his book is "the largest selling garden book in history. Over one million copies [have been] sold worldwide. "

There seems to be something about gardening that brings out the messianic in people. John Jeavons and double-digging. Bill Mollison and permaculture. Dr. Jacob R. Mittleider's modified hydroponic method ("The Mittleider Method combines the best features of soil gardening and hydroponic gardening, but without hydroponic expense! ")

Bartholomew's method is impressive. A simplified method, it pays attention to critical factors like ease, simplicity, and constant harvesting of multiple crops. I like his build-it-yourself attitude. He de-mystifies and simplifies a process which is perceived to be overwhelming and compicated.

On the other hand, it would bore me. Too middle American -- like shopping in Thrifty drug store. Right angles and under control.

23 June 2004

Getting serious about the garden

It's productive, but overcrowded, overgrown. I don't plant things on time. I don't watch over the little fellows, and lose a few, others are stunted. I identify with the jungle gardening: lush, abundant. But I do want to do a better job on it. I will describe my thinking and struggles here on this blog. It may give me more motivation and help me clarify my thinking.

Strategy:

Bioneers for 2004

Went to first Bioneers conference in San Rafael last year, and had just about decided it would be my last. It was inspiring, enlightening, etc. But rather rich fare, and I didn't feel that I would need another dose again soon. But the brochure for the 2004 Bioneers conference came today in the mail, and darned if I'm not tempted. There are the big names like Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, Amy Goodman, and Terry Tempest Williams. But what interests me most are the lesser known people in my particular areas of interest: local food production and indigenous traditions. (Detailed schedule and speakers)

The ambience is a combination of a rock-concert for aging hippies and of an evangelistic religious rally (the religion in this case being environmentalism and social justice). Speaking more seriously, the conference is well run, very sincere and conscientious. It features scores of speakers who would interest anybody located in the intersection of environmentalism and social justice. Bioneers is a real upper, even if one is not inclined towards group activities. In our grim times, it's refreshing that the speakers get a chance to be in the spotlight, to receive fulsome praise from Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, and to receive standing ovations.

It's local and I would like to support it. There are regional conferences in 15 more locations, from Washington DC, to Houston, to Eugene, Oregon. They receive the video live via satellite.

Holmgren again

A posting on the Energy Bulletin site has the text of a long June 8 interview with David Holmgren, speaking about permaculture's role in a world of scarce energy. Good stuff. He has some fresh new thinking, along the lines in his recent book, plus some surprises.

Articulating goals

Perhaps the way to use the blog now is to write ideas down quickly. Then later go back and refine them, either as blog entries or as separate essays. Eventually, the material will end up as essays.

I'm reluctant to expose my thoughts on the web by posting this blog. I think it would be best to continue to write in it as I am, but be very selective about what I post. Maybe turn things into essays first.

High IQs and green computing

Read last night the web pages of one Toomas (Tom) Karmo, "a single-person Toronto-based enterprise embracing spiritual poverty and scientific service in imitation of Benedict, of Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day, and of Catherine de Hueck Doherty". Deep, wonderful, and strange site. My immediate impression: another high IQ person who has been frustrated fitting into society. Fortunately for the rest of us, he has channeled some of his energy and obsessions into written form.

Karmo who shares my commitment to minimal computing -- "Green Computing". However he is much more deeply involved in the technology than I am. He wrote a long meandering essay on the subject. The meat is in the middle three sections:

I should go into more detail about Karmo's ideas, and I should develop my own. But at least this blog entry can serve as a marker.

His essay inspired me to upgrade my pages from "Transitional XHTML" to "Strict XHTML." It was fairly painless since I use little presentation markup, such as the FONT tag.

In the long-term, I would like to move to Linux and other open source software. I think I would like to move to the Opera or Mozilla browser.

Expressing yourself / regular people

Karmo inspired me in another way. Because I am accustomed to being around "regular" people, I often tend to write in a non-threatening, fairly low technical level. I wrestle with the decision whether or not to say things that will hurt people or make them uncomfortable (and make ME rejected!). Reading the works of a high IQ person, I see how unnecessary that conflict is. In fact, it probably is better to go ahead and develop your trains of thought. You never will fit in anyway; regular people have their own defense mechanisms and are hardier than you imagine. Go ahead and see where your ideas lead you. In the long-run, that's what matters. Not whether there were a few emotional upsets along the way.

One caveat. If one goes this direction, towards expressing oneself in a way that ruffles the feathers of the majority (or "Amercult" as I call it), it is wise to take certain common sense precautions. Avoid jobs or living situations in which you are dependent on regular people for approval. Stay away from groups and communities which are violently ignorant and conformist. Find venues in which your abilities are rewarded, not ostracized or punished. For me, science and technology are such fields.

Living green

I want to think through what it means to live green on a personal basis and go beyond the usual nostrums to recycle, eat locally and watch less TV. Instead, let me work through the implications of the more complete philosophies of simple living (including the religious traditions), permaculture, self-sufficiency, etc. I want to pay attention to practicalities, such as economics, efficiency, feelings, relationships to others, cultural acceptance and conflicts. How it really works.

This much I know. The green life means:

So far, this is what I've discovered:

22 June 2004

More on Bush

Problem with Bush regime. Even from a Machiavellian point of view, it is problematic. Impulsive, wasteful, turns allies and neutral parties into enemies (either active or passive). Spend a great deal of their energy on propaganda, publicity ploys, and going after enemies. Most important, they cut themselves off from reality. Reality is that which, if you ignore it too long, it bites back. Bush, etc. have a lot of money, a lot of toys, a wide margin for error. But reality is coming back.

If I were a US nationalist and imperialist, I would abandon Bush in a heart-beat, and go for Kerry. If I were a diehard capitalist, I would go for Kerry. Far-right militarism is not good for business. As far as I can see, Kerry has the usual aims of the US elite, but he has the great advantage that he is in touch with reality. From what one can tell, there are furious battles among the defense and business elite about Bush. Well, good luck, realists. In this, at list, I am with you!

Re-alignment of the political landscape after Bush. Either Bush will stay in power for four more years (looking less and less likely, but in this phase of history, it's up for grabs). Or he will be out. After he is out, the sordid secrets will gradually be revealed : torture, corruption, targeting of political enemies. I suspect that the neo-conservatives will be discredited, although they will soldier on with their true believers. However, I think that elite (if they are smart) will wash their hands, and follow the path of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, perhaps Reagan. On the left, the liberal hawks (New Republic, Thomas Friedman, etc.) will have their position severely weakened. May go further to the left. On the far left (or what passes for the far left in current America), those Greens and the left-wing that fielded a separate candidate (as Nader) will be discredited. Their poor judgment, when faced like a problem as severe as Bush. Instead, they too went for fantasy land, with a third party, ultra-leftism, sectarianism. I can agree with Nader's analysis of U.S. capitalism. But when it comes to practical politics-- wow, forget it.

Idealism vs political talent

Need to distinguish between analysis/direction and political talent. Regardless of one's political philosophy, one has to admire the political genius of Clinton, Blair, Reagan. Bush, too, has a knack for appealing to his core supporters (middle America in appearances, far right in reality).

In terms of organization, the current conservatives have a propaganda apparatus of daunting proportion. Unmatched in power and political sophistication. Communist activism and propaganda was sophisticated for its time, even if it appeared later as clunky and ignorant. It was particularly good at snaring intellectuals, and using an organized core to influence much larger organizations (both for good ends and bad). Fascist propaganda, especially of the Nazi variety, has a vulgar style that captures those who are angry, fearful, and susceptible to the appeal of power.

Perhaps a good model for liberal/left is the New Deal. (The 60s/70s model left the majority behind -- not a great model.)

21 June 2004

Getting off the Kerry mailing list

Wrote a letter to a good friend involved in the Kerry campaign, asking to be taken off the mailing list. Didn't like to disappoint her, and I will still vote for Kerry and maybe give him money. But he just doesn't excite, the way that Dean and Kucinich do. I see him as basically a Republican-light, but so what? Republican-light is miles ahead of Bush and the neo-conservatives.

Another four years of Bush would be very very scary. Not just to the liberal/left, but to Republicans and conservatives as well. This is an administration that is out of control. As several bloggers say, they will welcome the time when the grown-ups are back in charge. I think that many in the CIA and defense establishment think so too. I wonder if Bush and company will secretly be glad when the whole mess is taken out of their hands. It reminds me of kids who have gotten out of their depth when the adults are away, and things are going sickeningly wrong. Lord of the Flies?

Oak woodlands in the Bay Area

Sean Anderson of the Center for Conservation Biology (Paul Ehrlich's group at Stanford). Spoke about oak woodlands.

Intelligent take on the mountain lion incident. I won't go into it -- too heated about a relatively small incident. The big take-away lesson: we're all ignorant.

Grasslands from annual to perennial. THIS is the news. Other big stories. The catastrophe of hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush. The disappearance of ecosystems. Give chart. His metaphor about a drinking vessel that formerly held water. Now broken, but can enjoy and honor the remaining fragments.

Robert Waldrop's blog on local food

Gettin' the Right Eats by the indefatigable Robert Waldrop of Oklahoma City. He has what seems to be 100s of pages about community, self-sufficiency, local food. Plus a big gardening project at his co-housing house. I've read dozens of his pages, but haven't exactly figured out what the situation is -- could he be a lay brother with the Catholic Worker group? In any case, it's refreshing to see his activity and energy. He's just starting the blog, so there isn't much there yet. Best of luck to him.

Walking the talk

Let me talk about some of the problems with living sustainably. There are many wonderful books, brochures, speakers, etc. who extol the green path of recycling and avoiding cars. They rather gloss over the awkwardnesses and problems. As a result, people tend go from being starry-eyed and sentimental, to being cynical.

Why not be more realistic about what the green path entails? That way, people are prepared.

Examples. Bicycles and traffic. Sore muscles. Difficult to get around in a landscape that is built for cars. Dangerous -- you need to know what you are doing, need to be aware of the dangers, and be cautious. I've given up suggesting that people ride their bikes. Two friends were hit by cars (it was the drivers' fault.) Then two others were very seriously injured. I've asked my wife not to ride her bike.

Things could be worse. In our part of the SF Bay Area, the motorists are aware of bicyclists and many are sympathetic. Even many rednecks -- since they or their kids got mountain bikes. Bike paths, bike lanes. Bike maps put out by local cities.

Things could be much better. Need to learn how to ride in traffic. More awareness of bicycles, more paths, etc. If motorists weren't in such a hurry, so preoccupied. Greater numbers. Even now, one is in a small minority.

Other examples: doing without a car. Social stigma. Often very inconvenient. Public transportation is spotty and undependable. Planning a trip requires a research project to find times, routes, etc. (I remember arriving at the airport on a Sunday, only to find out that the regular bus connection didn't run, and the train came in two hours on a commuter line.)

Composting. Worm composting - wasps. Have to keep it under wraps from unsympathetic neighbors. Have to learn how to do it. Yes, it is worthwhile, but it requires an investment. And it's the same with most of the green things. It requires an investment.

Eating local foods, more vegetables, fewer processed. Well it takes longer and you do have to learn the skills. Probably the most frustrating is cooking for other people who have a palates that crave sweet, over-salted, fatty foods common to the American diet. Who are suspicious and unadventurous.

Gardening. Overwhelming. New skills. Frustrations. Hard to get information. And when the garden does produced, what do you do with it all? We're not used to eating vegetables in such quantity!

Trying to get things done with other people. Trying to learn new skills. Trying to get approval from the authorities for green construction or projects.

Bottom line: go easy on yourself. keep at it. find people and environments that support your environments. expect to be in the misunderstood minority. don't make a fetish of purity - do what you can and keep trying. Find ways to enjoy yourself.

20 June 2004

Revving my engine

I'm getting used to the idea of writing, expressing myself. It will take a while to become accustomed to it.

For decades I've been writing "objectively" for other people -- journalism, computer manuals, corporate memos. Writing what one really thinks is like exercising muscles that have atrophied.

No feedback please!

When groups too big (more than 3-4 people, in my opinion), the IQ of the discussion begins going down.

Tremendous pressures in the media, picked up by individuals.

Need for people to be apart from globalizing, from the media. From groups, from society. For religious reasons, for truth telling.

Problems with permaculture

Is permaculture a proprietary "system", like Scientology or bio-dynamics or HRM? Or is it a movement?

Bill Mollison goes both directions. Plea for idealism and then demands copyright and trademarks.

Perm came from Australia/Tasmania and seems to have Australian cultural patterns built in. Telling stories. Mates.

Prisoner of its own culture. Counter-culture, I guess.

Being fair to the right

Treat as people with a mass neurosis, or increasingly in America, a mass psychosis. Look at the history and analysis of movements in the 30s and 40s, of fascism and Stalinism.

Why is it different, when the right wing asks for "fair treatment"? Right now, it is extremely powerful, in government, the media, loosely organized groups of right wing individuals, tightly organized groups. Their goal is to promote a certain point of view, and to hell with anything or anyone in the way.

What about the billions on the earth who don't have access to newspapers, computers, billboards, slush funds, etc.?

How do you deal with a bully? An addict?

Prevent them from doing harm to you and those near you. Don't waste time on idle conflict with them. If conflict is unavoidable, okay. But otherwise focus on your own goals. Arrange your life, so that they don't impact you.

Web design and sustainability

Quickly looked at an interesting CD by Maia B. Amazing amount of material. But the navigation and organization are awkward. Wrote a letter making some suggestions. The topic that I've been thinking about for a while. If people are interested in sustainability, shouldn't their Web pages reflect this? And what does this mean?

The problem with doing anything in a high-oil, high-energy, centralized culture. Even if you have different values, when you are unfamiliar with the technology, you are pushed into wasteful anti-human ways of design. For ex, building a house -- hard to get away from the wasteful way of construction. Stores, training, laws, customs.

Low energy consumption. The page should be compatible with older equipment, slower lines, older software. As much as possible. In web terms, this means the pages should be readable for everyone. That fancy graphics and design should not get in the way of communication. Also, so it is accessible to everyone. People in 3rd world and many of the rest of us do not live on fast networks. Some of our networks are not dependable.

Avoid proprietary technology as much as possible. Hard to get completely away from Microsoft. Stay away from consumerist, overly complex software and pages.

How much can you do with human ingenuity as opposed to money and energy?

Rich in content, depth. Versus flash, consumerism, superficial values.

Gift economy. Encourage information.

Encourage self-reliance, independence, control over one's life and environment. (as vs dependence on centralized authority.

Purely technical things. How to make the pages accessible, loadable quickly. Easy to navigate.

Examples: The page for Permaculture Activist magazine. Takes forever to load, even with a fast 56Kbyte modem. http://www.permacultureactivist.net/ http://www.permacultureactivist.net/booksvid/BooksnVid.htm After several minutes, the books page still hasn't completely loaded on my computer. Therefore, I'm hesitant to explore the site. Don't want to be bogged down.

For one thing, too many large graphics on the initial pages.

Solution would be to see how people would use the page, and break up the information accordingly.

Keep the first page small, with only a few graphics. Perhaps thumbnails with a small size. Then break them up into pages with only a few pages apiece.

19 June 2004

Female energy

Went to talks. three women speakers, a landscaping place run by a woman. Female energy! A feminist dream come true. // For me, nice. They were gracious and friendly. Hard to tell whether the content is different than if men. Women seemed especially interest in an environment, a place, a situation. Men seemed more interested in the mission, the project, the task. Complicated socializing which I don't understand. Man can: serve as a neutral party, sympathetic, one who is not so demanding as the complex social relationships which are beyond our small male brains. Let P handle the relationships, I'll go out and prune the raspberries. Or try to learn genetics, something easy that I can handle.

My solution: don't interfere, respect, appreciate what is done, help with some physical things that may be difficult (opening stuck jar tops comes to mind). Another rule: don't interfere, don't throw your weight around. Stay in the background and perhaps help if asked. Don't try to take over! Then you'll really see female energy.

Interesting that several of my former girlfriends were fascinated by the role of the witch. (Only one was interested in hardcore witchcraft, of the Alfred ? Crawley variety. The others just seemed to like the idea of an independent woman with secret knowledge and powers, that was helpful to others, but not in the domain of men.

Perhaps because I was exposed to traditional women in my mother and grandmother. Who very definitely identified with the role of woman - lady - whatever. Believed that they could find fulfillment in the female area of life. Probably more traditional than feminist. Both gardeners. Feminism to them was a rumbling far off, but no doubt it would have opened more space for them. (Mother died in '75, RMA was 80 in 75.) So it was an eruption that they missed. They tended to lead their own lives, immersed in family, books, friends, garden, not caught up in social movements. But not to be trifled with!

It's been more difficult for me to deal with modern women. I don't quite understand them. Why would you want to work in a corporation? Why would anyone want to work in a corporation? Intellectually, accepted the tenets of middle-of-the-road feminism. Know that the obvious/overt/etc. political, legal and economic worlds are rigged against women. Not sure that the solution was for women to be able to have greater chances in the "man's world." Seemed to me it would be better to value the traditional female world -- children, garden, family, food, home. to valorize it, to go in that direction for everybody, rather than to reject that in favor of the so-called male areas of business, law, crafts, etc. the problem, of course, is that the low status of women was due to their exclusion from those areas, from lack of $ independence, for example.

I think I will leave this problem to the younger generation. I don't understand the pressures they are under, nor am I able to communicate with them very well. (Nor my own generation, for that matter!)

Eating prickly pears

Some reporting on what was said. Nancy Garrison -- how lucky we are in the Santa Clara Valley, can grow things 12 months out of the year. Even our adobe clay soil is a blessing in disguise, just need to add compost. Link to Master Gardener.

Second woman. Hippie-like interviewing Indian women in Arizona and New Mexico.

Third woman. A plant fanatic. Trying one thing after another. // working w plants seems to make people better people. it is beyond oneself, not under human control. they have a mind of their own. complexity, locality. The mark of a plant person seems to be a non-dogmatic point of view... listen, then say, "Well, it depends."

18 June 2004

Germaine Greer: We can dream too

"The day white Australians can look in the mirror and say 'I am Aboriginal' is the day their tormented country will start to heal."

So argues Germaine Greer in the UK Guardian today (an edited extract from her book Whitefella Jump Up: The Shortest Way To Nationhood to be published by Profile Books.)

What are interesting ideas? // That more aborigines than ever. That aborigines have been trying to civilize the whitefellas ever since their arrival. The unique contribution of aborigines to the Australian personality (this I find hard to believe, but may be true). It would seem that the unique circumstances of the settlement and way of life. Otoh, the logic of the land gets to you, influences you -- to survive in the land, one would have to turn to the masters. //

Probably true for Americans as well. They are the masters as far as living here in coastal California.

The other idea is that whitefella Australians can become Aborigines. This is a fine line. There is the problem of an aggressive modern culture appropriating traditional ways, with arrogance and capitalist zeal. Otoh, somehow the wisdom of indigenous people has got to be promulgated. One of best parts of American history is of Europeans and Native Americans getting along, learning from each other, forming bonds of friendship, mutual respect and love. Those Europeans who stood up for N tive Americans, respect them and learned their ways.

I think what one can do is "become native to this place," where one is, "Bone country," a Gary-Snyderesque phrase. Growing things, learning the weather, the plants, the rivers, the trees, the beasts and insects, what works, what doesn't. As you learn, becoming attached. And feeling bad when the natural things are killed or attacked. It automatically makes you vulnerable. It automatically makes you an enemy of ignorant "civilization."

Holmgren's new writings...

Found two new documents on David Holmgren's permaculture site:

Do We Need Nature, an entry in the Shell Economist future thinking competition.
Slides for a talk to the 2004 Ecoshow in New Zealand (Apr 2004).

Both pieces seem to be recapitulations of his current book, Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. He cites The Party Is Over by Richard Heinberg on Peak Oil and H.T. Odum's Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making. Both books are worth looking into.

One gets the feeling that Holmgren is alone, probably needs feedback and support from others on the same wavelength. Big problem.

I wish we had 1000 David Holmgrens!

17 June 2004

Old Masters: John Seymour

Periodically, I search the web for my old masters. Tonight I looked up the self-sufficiency writer, John Seymour and found two good pieces:

Interview
A Dream

I love this stuff, but I was also trained as a journalist and worked in an engineering environment, so I am skeptical As I get into it, I still believe in it, but I see the realities aren't exactly what the simplicity and homestezding books would have you believe

Don't be in such a hurry.
Don't feel impelled to reply.
Don't rush things.
Don't talk so much.

Have more time to think.

Stay away from people who talk a lot about very little, with ready-made outlooks and opinions.

If someone comes at you with marketing crap, run the other way.

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