People frequently ask me what they can do in their organic garden about slugs and snails. In my garden, I use a multi-pronged approach. I use the following techniques in combination — I rarely use just one.
Last year, in connection with our “Water Wisdom” session at Environmental Change-Makers, I wrote a post which included a section about greywater (alternate spelling: graywater). If you don’t know the difference between potable water, greywater, and black water, please read that post first before you go on.
When I wrote last year, my family was just starting to experiment with greywater use at our home. We had acquired a new washing machine and plumbed it to water the peach trees. And we installed a new valve in the crawlspace beneath the shower which channeled shower and bathroom sink water to water the orange, pomegranate, apple, and strawberry guava trees. (Yes, we do grow all these things in the middle of the city! More about edible landscaping in Los Angeles). Last year, as we changed the “destination” of our water, I realized we must change our soaps.
Here are the notes from our “The Economy and the Environment” talk last Thursday at the Environmental Change-Makers.
First, we started with a review of where the economy is. We read an old Shoe cartoon (Jeff MacNelly) which proclaimed “the recession is over … let the depression begin!” We mentioned the recent international economic conference at Davos where they spoke of “Depression 2.0″ A look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average over time — the “max” option at Yahoo Finance (linear scale) — gives a remarkable and very realistic sense of where we are.
Biocapacity (ecological footprint) discussions bring the point home. We live in a “steady state” ecology: we have one single planet to support us all, and that planet isn’t gaining any additional matter from outer space. Everything we have must be generated here, from the physical matter that is already here, through cyclical earth systems.
We observed how the Dow Jones Industrial Average over time remarkably resembled the peak oil diagram (ASPO scenario). And it also resembles the CO2 emissions, and the population curve. In view of these remarkable parallels, it’s absolutely laughable to “blame the financial crisis” on 25 people who are alive today.
My comment on Transition Culture blog in response to PeakOilBlues’ critique of the Transition concept …
I see in this piece something I have been hearing from other sources regarding transition cities: the “this thing can’t possibly work” presumption. Here it shows up in “it’s a UK model so it won’t work in the US.” In the arguments I’ve received about big cities, it runs “it’s a model made for small towns so you can’t possibly use it in a city.” Either way, I’m now seeing it for what it is: justification for not beginning.
The Transition movement (”Transition Towns” movement) is a grassroots effort to prepare our local communities for the changes coming under climate change and peak oil.
This article captures the upbeat spirit of the movement, which Richard Heinberg described as “more like a party than a protest march.”
A Transition community is one that is consciously organizing to increase local resilience — our ability to flex and adapt in the face of sweeping change. Some of the things we do under the Transition approach include: raising awareness within our local communities of the problems and changes ahead; rebuilding local economies (”relocalizing”); building connections between local groups, and building relationships with local government; creating a positive visions for the future; and creating energy descent plans.
Transition resources include:
Here in Los Angeles, we are beginning to apply Transition ideas within our local communities. It’s an exciting journey, because it becomes an outstanding synthesis of so many environmental and sustainability solutions.
I was recently asked for my opinion on applying Rob Hopkins’ Transition concepts to a large city, since we’re currently working on a Transition initiative for Los Angeles. Here was my reply:
Q: Is the Transition model applicable to a place like [my large city]?
I think the Transition concept has much to offer L.A. or [your large city]. The thing about the Transition concept is, it’s not a one-size formula. It’s a very broad set of guidelines, and a vast network of people who are vitally eager to share what’s worked and not worked for them. So, yes, I believe there are TONS of bits of this that are useful.
Yesterday I gave another Organic Vegetable Gardening Class at the Community Garden. As we are beginning to transition the beds to the new growing season (cool season, in our year round growing rotation), the topic was “Soil Preparation.”
We began with a reminder of the adage:
Feed your soil. Your soil feeds your plants, and your plants feed you.
On Sept 14, the Environmental Change-Makers showed the movie “The End of Suburbia,” followed by a community discussion of the impacts of peak oil (the end of cheap oil) and what we can do about it.
We concluded our evening with the “post-it” exercise suggested by Rob Hopkins on p. 155 of his Transition Handbook. Participants in our evening discussion were given 3 Post-it notes, and instructed to write on these the answers to three questions.
On Sept 20, the Environmental Change-Makers held a full-day event in Los Angeles called “Life After Oil: Designing the Transition.” In this event, we explored the Transition concept originated by Rob Hopkins in response to the twin crises of peak oil and climate change. Read more about our “Life After Oil” series here.
The following is the “What worked, What didn’t work” analysis the group did at the end of the event.
This week it’s time for another garden class at the Community Garden at Holy Nativity. One of our regular participants requested the topic “seed saving.” I scheduled the topic for now, September, when some of the first seeds from summer vegetables are coming ripe in our Southern California gardens.
