Coast Economic Localization Link (Mendocino County, CA)

U.S. politics, hemp, worms and oil

michaelkaer — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:29:51 -0800

What do these things have in common and how do they affect me? That is question you should ask yourself. For me, up here in Canada, the connection may not be obvious. U.S. politics and oil- everyone gets that connection and the fact that when big brother to the south tells us what to do, we usually do it. What has that got to do with hemp and worms? The worms are for composting waste veggie matter to be put back on the soil to grow good produce with little or no herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers(all oil products) and the hemp grows just fine with little or no herbicides,pesticides and fertilizers. The fact is, growing hemp can improve soil. The U.S. which makes a huge profits off of oil through pharmacies, agrabusiness,petrochemicals, and plastics do not want compitition, even to the point of ruining the environment for the last buck. Canada follows the lead of Big Brother(usually) but up here Hemp is legal to grow (after jumping through a redtape nightmare to get approval) and only if you have a large enough space and the money to get everything up and running. Organic farming is everywhere in small plots as well as worm composting. The government can't keep people from composting. They do not have the manpower, nor would they get enough money out of the deal if they did. The problems lie with labeling foods and products "organic", when sometimes they are are only partially organic. Will obama or mac take marijuana out of scheduale one status as a drug when they get into power?m ost likely not if they want to get a second term out of the deal. Ron Paul on the other hand would. That makes him dangerous to the people who wish to milk every last dollar from us. If that happened, Canada would trot along so fast it would make your head spin. That action would save both of our economies immediately overnight and it would give us a new source of renewable oil in one season. The chemical plants would not lose much and the plastics people would have new feedstocks, but the pharmacies would be crushed, police budgets would be slashed(yeh -lower taxes) and some drugdealers would be out of business (or would start up legit). Again all those things would instantly be great for the economy. No one except for Ron Paul has the guts to do that. We would have an explosion of real organic produce markets springing up everywhere. I do not see a downside to any of this except for a few super rich people and families and groups may lose a little bit in the short term. long term, everyone wins including the environment. Lets do it now while we still have time.

Michael J. Kaer

Chatham-Kent Oil Age Planning Group (CKOAP Group)

Waterbarrel

michaelkaer — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 11:02:37 -0700

Hi Folks.
Just a short update on my rain catcher. The tap I put on before was made of plastic and I sealed it with silicone. The seal did not last :( . I when to a second-hand store and bought a brass tap made for barrels that cost me $2.00 Canadian. I installed the new tap and the barrel does not leak anymore. We have many brown lawns around here due to the lack of rain. I have kept my herb garden and my veggie garden out back, doing ok. I watered the veggies long enough to get them started and then only disturbed everything by weeding right after every major rain. I have a clay soil, so my plants are doing fine. It looks like a jungle out there. You should see the sunflowers in my herb garden! HUGE!!! 2 years ago I grew one over 18 feet tall( it got up to the second story of my house). I hope everyone else's are doing fine.
Michael.

Coast Economic Localization Link (Mendocino County, CA)

A Proper Connection to Food

David Strongman — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:32:53 -0700

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Facebook, MySpace and others

michaelkaer — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:41:32 -0700

Hi folks.

I am winding down my day after getting a lot of work done in the garden and working on making a new rain barrel. I bought one of those industrial size food containers( I think it have olives in it) and put a tap at the bottom. I am waiting for the sealer to cure and then I am going to apply a weldbond wash over it to help seal it even better. I have a couple ideas in my head on how to filter the water through a screen that will be self-cleaning, mosquito proof and will keep leaves and other debris out of the water. It cost me $15.00 for the barrel( I had a friend deliver it to me for free),$.25 for the tap from a yardsale, normally costing about $8.00-$10.00 from a hardware store, I had some silicone leftover from another project as well as some weldbond. It would be pennies worth that I used. For a round figure I would say I paid $16.00 out of pocket for this project. If I had to pay for delivery and paid full price for the other items it would be closer to $35.00 (Canadian money). Lets even say $40.00 as the total cost( since I do not know exactly how much the filter will cost),that would still be a bargain if I have water to put on my plants at a time when water is rationed. That is about 1/2 or 1/3 the price for a store bought rainbarrel.

We installed a store bought rainbarrel at my girlfriend's place and we have been using it alot since we put it in last year. I am not sure if it has paid for it's self yet, but it certainly cuts down on the water bill and hauling water long disances. Maybe just the chiropractor fees saved paid for it.

On a closely related topic, I got a small child's bathtub to put inside my tub. I used to run in several times a day and take a shower, now I just do a quick clean of my legs, feet and arms in the smaller tub and I use less water. If I am just rinsing my self off, I even take that little amount of water to the front herb garden and water the plants there or dump it in my open( with a screen) water barrel. The screen is not on tight enough to keep out mosquitoes, so that is why I am creating the new rainbarrel and using the old one as a produce holder( I have pear and cherry trees out back).

I look foreward to any energy and water saving hints anyone else has out there. I will let you know how it turns out and take a few pictures of the finished product.

Michael J. Kaer
Author of "What Money Can't Buy"

Chatham-Kent Oil Age Planning Group (CKOAP Group)

Californian contemplating relocation to BC

711shamn — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:03:16 -0800

Hi,
I am currently living near Ukiah, CA, and am thinking about moving to BC. I am worried about the current regime in our executive branch of government turning into an Orwellian nightmare. I would assume that Canadians are further away from being dominated by Big Brother than we Americans, but you have recently elected some right-wingish conservatives. I simply wish to live sustainably off the grid and grow all of my own food. The US has a law stating it can confiscate agricultural land and equipment during times of "emergency". I would hate to have my years of hard work taken away. How many of you think I'd be better off in BC? Thanks for your input.

Namaste,
Shawn

Greater Ukiah Localization Project (GULP)

Award winning author Richard Heinberg speaking at the Henry Miller Library on Tuesday August 8th 6:PM

Linda Parker — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:36:25 -0700

Start: 2006-08-08 12:08

Teaser:

Peak Oil: The Challenge and Opportunity of Petroleum's Waning Days

Contact email:
surite@sbcglobal.net

Los Angeles Post Carbon (CA)

CELL Mission Statement

Lenora Shepard — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:24:26 -0800

Climate Change and the decline of a cheap and abundant petroleum resource make it necessary for our coastal community to begin the transition to a post-carbon society immediately to assure future quality of life for all. It is CELL's mission to localize our economy and life on the Coast to realize a self-reliant, safe and healthful community in perpetuity.

Our goals are:

- Joining people from all walks of life to work on projects in the areas of water, energy, transportation, food, shelter, health and medicine, and social organization.

Coast Economic Localization Link (Mendocino County, CA)

An Evening with John Jeavons

Lenora Shepard — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:02:24 -0800

Start: 2006-03-06 10:14

End: 2006-03-18 10:14

CELL is inviting you to come and spend an evening with John Jeavons on March 11.

Jeavons, who inspired many in 1974 when his first book was published “How to Grow More Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains and Other Crops“, is coming to Mendocino for two events. He will present a workshop on double digging and soil preparation in the afternoon and give a talk in the evening.

“An Evening with John Jeavons” will take place at the Mendocino Community School on Covelo Street from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Jeavons will speak on “Grow Biointensive Sustainable Mini-Farming: A biologically-Intensive Way to a Local Food System. He will give an overview of the world soil, food and people situation and bring it “down to Earth” locally, including how-to tips to make things easier and more effective. There will be appetizers and desserts prior to the public talk. There is no fee for this event, but donations are appreciated.

Coast Economic Localization Link (Mendocino County, CA)

Coast Economic Localization Link (Mendocino County, CA)

Lenora Shepard — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 11:11:35 -0800