yes i have been writing

I have been branching out in my efforts to share about the changes I am making in anticipation of a global peak in oil production and the coming energy descent. This has included the lovely new online magazine Groovy Green. It also means a new project, an even more comprehensive work to document and catalog my experiences. That’s all I can say about it right now. Be intrigued and I’ll share more in the future. My reason for explaining all of this is because I am using this site in a slightly different way. It used to be my primary outlet for thoughts on energy and the environment. Now it is a bit more of a chalk board for jotting down ideas and framing problems and issues for further review. I hope this isn’t a disappointment for those of you who are kind enough to regularly stop by and read what I write. Sometimes looking at the raw input is better than examining the final output. I will however continue to make all of you aware of articles I write for other locations. I have two such items to report:

The first is a conversation I was lucky enough to have with Jules Dervaes of Path to Freedom.

Jules and his family stayed in their own neighborhood to make their change. They live in Pasadena, California on a small urban lot. Their path towards sustainability, the Path to Freedom as Jules likes to say, means making real change right at home. The family grows much of its own food on 1/10 of an acre of cultivated land- over 6,000lbs of produce! They sell what they don’t use and preserve much of the harvest for the off season. They raise urban chickens, ducks and goats. They brew their own bio-diesel, use solar energy to heat water and produce electricity and cook food in an outdoor oven made of straw and clay.

Our discussion was recorded and has been superbly edited by Chris Welch for your listening pleasure. You can read about Jules and his family and listen to our discussion by clicking here.

My second item to report is an article about how important autumn is in terms of home food production. There are advantages to spending serious time in your garden in the fall. Preparing new beds, stockpiling leaves, starting a compost pile, building and using cold frames, saving seeds, planting perennials and other useful gardening tasks can be accomplish in the fall. If you’re interested in growing some of what you eat you might want to check it out. To read it click here.

Thanks for following me around the web.