A Promise to a Child... Human Permaculture.

We talk a lot about where plants should be placed so that they grow best and in unity with the world around it.  We talk a good talk about nutrition and sunlight for plants.  How often do we talk about sunlight and placement for our children and placing them in places where they are healthy and can grow strong roots?
I have always been a bit of a grammar nut and one of the phrases that I hear in the south, more often than I would like to, is "Where do you stay?"  People ask this instead of "Where do you live?" There was a time when I chalked this up to bad grammar, but in recent years, with the work that I do, I find it more accurate than ever.
We had been so focused on teaching children how to create plant and earth based environments that show how plants and earth should work together, that we often do not see that they themselves are in a transient state.  "Where do you stay?" is accurate because a large number of children do not live in the same place for very long.
It hit home this morning when we were working in the garden.  The children had an extra credit assignment to bring something in that they could grow.  They were provided with a number of examples of things they could find in the kitchen, that their parents may throw out when dinner is done.  Each of our students came to their teacher/advisor with something.  There were a lot of tomatoes and some potatoes and one of the things that we noticed was that it was almost as much of an assignment for their parents as it was for the student.
One young lady came to me with the top of a pineapple.  This is one of those projects that people often try, but we had intentionally steered clear of these because of the length of time it takes to grow an actual pineapple.  Yes, they will see growth throughout the year and they will come to understand root structure, but one of the reasons that we choose the plants that we have is so that students could at some point take a bite out of something they had grown.
The young lady was insistent on growing a pineapple, though.  I told her it was going to take a long time to grow.  She did not care.
I asked her if she would be able to lift it when it got REALLY big!?
She said she loves pineapple and wasn't going to take it home.  She was going to leave it at school.
I told her that she is going to go on to the fourth grade next year.
She said the next kids in my next class could have it.  She told me that I had to promise to take care of it when she was not around.
All sorts of things ran through my mind.  There were a number of things that could happen in a year. Still I promised and if not me, then someone else.
We only work with the students on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings they are allowed to come to help us in the garden.  Still the thing that we try to instill in the children is that this is where the plants live.  This is where their plants live until they take them home at the end of the school year.  I have known so many people, children especially, who do not have permanent homes.  Where they sleep and sometimes eat is not where they live, it is where they stay until they are moved on to the next place.
I was blessed when I was growing up with being able to live in the same house in the same town as I grew up.  Many are not so lucky.  The beauty that I see in them now is that through this program, they are thinking a little differently and that there are things here, parts of them, that will remain, and memories that they can take with them. It is a beautiful thing to see that a child wants to be a part of a place.
We have a number of big projects coming up, but few are as fulfilling as recording the growth of something that someone has invested in for the sake of making the world better.  So follow us on instagram at Thelifecooperative to see how these projects are progressing.  We will try to post pictures every day! #trinaspineapple

The New Permaculture: Solving The Problem With Plastic and Pollution

We have been talking for some time about the problems with plastic and other pollution and the solution for some has been to ignore it or to attempt to eradicate it.  This is something that we need to take a deeper look at as it applies to the world today.

We are working with thirty 3rd graders and 9 tenth graders on amazing and simple permaculture project.  The process is simple; under the supervision of our teachers and interns, they are finding creative and safe ways to use what can be construed as garbage.

In the past, the ideology has been to get children (everyone, for that matter) to take merely the cursory steps to address pollution and the problem of plastic.  We have taught kids to pick up trash and put it in the proper receptacles, telling them that it is going to go away to some big factory somewhere to be broken down and turned into something else.  Let's be honest, sometimes this does not happen but that is another story.  In any event, it we are making a dent.

Swiss Chard being grown by a 3rd grader.

The New Permaculture factors in plastic as, we hate to say it, a part of our environment and goes a step further and look at it not just as a nuisance, but possibly as a resource.  We have reached a stalemate and within a generation with the emergence of a larger Chinese middle class not to mention other countries.  Discounting waste as a wholly unusable byproduct of our society may not be the best course of action given the amount that accumulates.  Merely sequestering it is not an option anymore because landfills are rising.  Plastic is simple and abundant and it is only getting more and more abundant each day.

So, our thirty third graders are going to learn how to work and live with plastic while working to reduce their waste.  Our 10th graders are going to working on ways to create new things from recycled plastic.
We are not just talking about plastics though.  We are talking about food waste.  We are talking about paper.  We are talking about all the things that are headed to the landfill or the side of the road that can be used and re-used.
If you want to learn more about what we are doing subscribe to our mailing list!

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Donald Trump is the farmer's friend (maybe)!

Donald Trump could be the best thing that has happened to farming in a long long time.  We have to take a moment to look at what his presidency would mean and how that would relate to the farming community.
The U.S, economy is a complex machine and I do not pretend to know everything about it.  I do know that NAFTA, GATT, and other trade treaties that we have with the world.  The language in these treaties is long a hard to wrap my mind around, but for the most part it boils down to trade with the world is good and they have largely been positive.
What happens when Trump takes office?
When Trump takes office, he will bring those jobs which we are outsourcing to other countries, and those products that we are producing overseas back tot he U.S.  Great, right?  Well lets take a look at two things.
First we have to ask ourselves are we ready to take up the volume that the U.S. market would want versus what they are supplied. Would the current farming system be able to make up for the shortfalls in produce?
Second we have to ask if we are in a position to produce the diversity and the volume that we have gotten used to?  Would we be able to give up coconut milk or pay twice as much for a cup of coffee?
Third, assuming that farmers are able to make up for those shortfalls, those in conjunction with the decrease in labor that will no doubt be brought on by the crackdown on migrant labor similar to what happened in Georgia in 2011.
Let's look at the time frame.  Donald Trump says that within a day of taking office, he will work to repeal these measures that have been in place for 20 or more years. As I am writing this, it is the middle of summer and we are thinking about fall and the coming spring.  Would we do well to plant more in preparation for a scarcity?
The Floating Farm has to take it a step further.  A lot of what we are doing this year is centering on helping to get better food to more people.  Right now, that is an expensive proposition because good food is so expensive.  With the price of good food going up, where does that leave those in need?
Eventually, the market will adjust.  We will see a dip in produce that will likely last about 8 months or more before the demand levels off and other market forces come into play (small deals made, situational acceptance, etc.)
That is the economical.  What about the philosophical?  We have long lived without soy milk, coconut milk, and almond milk. We can stand to pay a little more for guacamole at Chipoltle.  What about everything else?  Are we ready to stop wasting food?  Are we ready to curb desire for things that we might not need?
As a grower are we prepared to turn away those in need who cannot afford the prices we are putting forward?
As growers, are we prepared to diversify our crops to account for a booming market?
For me, the answer to a lot of these questions is that," I don't know."  2017 is going to be an agile market if Trump is elected and he begins to work to repeal NAFTA and come down on undocumented workers.
The key to this post is to think about what this election means to you because your food and how it is produced is going to be a big very important!

3rd World in the 1st World.

We are surrounded by people who go out and buy things.  It is not that there is anything wrong with that, really.  I think that we live in a world where certain things are taken for granted.  The roots of the floating farm project go quite a ways back.  This project is the result of seeing how 90 percent of the world uses resources and the things that we take for granted here in the 1st world.

I will not go into a long discussion about what makes a region first world or what makes it third world. Let's just say that there are a lot of things lacking in the third world that we have an abundance of in the western or first world.  These are things that we throw out. These are the things that I find most fascinating.

We have all heard all of the statistics.  We throw away more than half of the food we produce in this country.  Sometimes it goes unsold because it has a blemish or a dent in it in the supermarket and sometimes it is thrown away after preparation because we simply do not eat it all when it hits our plate.  Why is this a problem in our culture?  Does it exist in other cultures?  The fast answer is that yes it does happen in other cultures among the affluent.  In many cultures it is the very sign of affluence to throw away food; to be so wealthy that you do not have to eat everything and the exhibition of power by throwing things away unecessarily.

The accompanying problems and situation are also signs of affluence.  We do not eat healthy to begin with, we eat what we want then, go to the gym or have surgery to fix food related health issues.

We started looking at this issue from another angle though. We may have gotten just a little too comfortable in our current society.  What if we attacked the problems that we have in the first world with a third world mentality.

Let's look at the story of William Kamkwamba.  William was 14 years old and lived in Malawi.  His problem was simple, he needed power.  His solution was simple, he built a windmill.  Third world mentality is based on the idea that neccesity is the mother of invention, but moreso on the notion that there are a series of technological advances that make things a lot more convenient.  William did not reinvent the wheel, or in this case the windmill.

There is an elegance and simplicity to the third world and that combined with an abundance of resources can create some amazing things.  There is a question of what we would consider an abundance and what we consider a resource.

As I am writing this, I am sitting outside of a Starbucks.  When I talk to the baristas, they tell me that they throw out an average of 25 to 50 pounds of coffee grounds each day.  Your local supermarket throws out hundreds of pounds of organic matter each day.  Numbers have gone up in the past few years, but very little of that organic matter gets recycled or composted.  It is, more often than not, wrapped in plastic and buried.

The River Lab is based on this principle.  It is based on a study to better utilize the resources that surround us and that are often thrown away.  Think about what is possible and what can be achieved from the waste that we create.

How we grow...
The vertical garden system is based on the concepts of maximizing space, and energy while simultaneously using things that were discarded.  We are diverting mass from the trash stream and putting it back to good use.

Our initial project is to reclaim as much organic matter as we can, compost it, and use it to grow as much food as we can.

Things are coming along rather nicely and the project is growing up.

Growing in this method allows for a lot of really interesting problems and opportunities for some great solutions.

Sunlight is a killer.
We are facing 12 to 14 hour days here. The temperature yesterday reached about 96 degrees and it is only July.  The hottest days are ahead of us.  On top of that, this are area is in technical drought   So, right off the bat, we have issues of heat and water and right off the bat, we have easier solutions than the average farmer.

We grow in discarded plastic crates that are used for carting produce all over.  Even the brands that produce these crates vary, they are incredibly similar and the sizes do not vary much, a centimeter here and there. but they are the same height and width and depth for the sake of uniformity in transportation.  So, for us, they are a lot like Legos.

As we grow up, we are able to utilize two surfaces at minimum.  This method of growing allows us to grow things that love sunlight on one side, while growing things that are shade tolerant on the other.

We are also able to manage the water content and usage better than a standard garden.  Watering from the top down we are able to put drought tolerant plants at the top and water needy plants and heavy feeders at the bottom.

We use wood chips and compost that keep just the right amount of moisture in the crates, keeping the plants watered.  We are able to control just about every aspect of growth AND keep our carbon footprint low, if not non-existent.

So, where to next?
The next goal is to get into the water.  The reason we are calling this the Floating Farm, is because we are taking to the water.  First because it is cool, but secondly, because there are a number of things that being on the water allows for especially as we get later into the year.

We will be able to move the vessel to face the sun and optimize sunlight as daylight hours get shorter.
Projects on the horizon...
Water purification
Solar Power
Mushroom growing
Aquaponics and the incorporation of catfish, bream, and trout into a grow system.
Black soldier fly composting and management

We have a lot coming up but we wanted to show people that the core of what we are doing centers on affordability and sustainability.

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If you would like to be a part of any of these projects or come to visit, please contact us at thelifecooperative@gmail.com

and if you would like to help support the work we do and other things, support us at https://www.patreon.com/epochconvergence

This Morning, We Made Paper...

This morning, we made paper.  The main reason that we are even engaging in this project is our love of the earth and our desire to do some very positive things.  So this morning, we made paper.  We made paper from recycled news papers that would have been thrown into landfill.  We made it mainly so that we could break that cycle.  We made it also because paper is considered one of the benchmarks of society.  We also made it because we could.
The main reason, though is so that we could say thank you.  We could not do the things that we do without those who support us.

In the course of The Floating Farm and our other projects, we are going to make some mistakes and there will be setbacks, but on our way to building this community and creating this thing, we are going to make a lot of really great things, but today we made paper.
We throw words around like sustainable, self sufficient, permaculture and more.  These are tick marks that take a while to get to on the time line and along the way come with accumulation of knowledge. but today we made paper.

We decided on how the crates would stack up on the platform. We pulled more seed potatoes and started a new crate for more potatoes. We cloned tomatoes, sifted compost, watered plants and did inspections all before 9 a.m. and today we also made paper.

In a couple of days, our supporters are going to get the paper that we made this morning, with special notes and thank yous on them.  They have the option of looking at them and putting them on their mantle or in a book as a keepsake.  Or, they can chuck them out in the yard or into their own compost pile so that they break down and make their soil better.  They can do a lot of things, but today WE made paper.
Tomorrow means doing a lot of the same things as we prepare to put the floating farm into the water.  It means a lot of waiting and adjusting to changing plans and changing tides.  This morning we made paper.
Soon, again, we will be doing community clean ups and dinners and talks, but today we wanted to say thank you.  Today, we made paper.

If you would like to support us with as little as a dollar and help The Floating Farm grow great food, clean up the rivers and lakes, provide a platform for artists and more.  We are proud o be a part of the Epoch Convergence group so please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter!
https://www.patreon.com/epochconvergence

Help get us started and we will send you a card.  We will also keep you up to date on all the things that we are doing in your area and send you all sorts of little gifts and goodies for your support!

Digging In...In Praise of Litter! (kinda)

The Seedlings Week 1

We have begun digging in and growing up on the farm.  For the amount of projected volume we would like to do to start off, we have realized that we have to up instead of out.  The Floating Farm will initially be just a large platform with a lot of things going on on it.  The primary goal will be to grow as much as we can and learn some lessons.

This allows us to bypass a lot of challenges that a lot of other farms have to deal with.  First, we are instantly organic.  We do not have the worries about soil contamination because we have imported all of the soil and growing media that we need.

Potatoes coming up

We do not have to battle with the sunlight issues.  This summer is already shaping up to hit the 90's and only get HOTTER! The Floating Farm allows us to explore methods of dealing with sun and shade by changing the positions of everything. sot that the heat of the sun is not frying the plants or animals.

Still, first things first.  We had to examine what we had an abundance of and thanks to a very dirty world, we had PLENTY of resources but not a lot of money.  This means lots of bottles to build with and though labor intensive, it is satisfying.

We are cleaning up little pieces of the world and using what we find to grow things!  Simple enough, right?

We need your skill, your will, your creativity to help us keep building this thing.  We need your support and your thoughts on how take this thing of ours to the next level.  Yes, we are building from waste, taking things that others have tossed, but we need help on every level!

Want to help?  Donate!

Or Spend a two weeks as an intern on our floating farm in Clemson, in Augusta, and in Savannah!


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Seedlings, week 2 

repurposed cooking oil containers and Coke bottles

Non-gmo corn drying

The start of the vertical garden and the walls of River Lab

Soon to be covered with organic soil and used to water the vert. garden

chard, spinach growing in the improvised earth boxes.

Harvesting non-gmo corn seeds and ready to save for  The River Lab

Is Boaty McBoatface taken?

NERC got some great suggestions...can we?

The River Lab goes into the water on June 20th and though it we think the name,  The Floating Farm says it all, we were thinking that we should have something a bit more catchy.  The platform is a pretty simple thing.  It is really just a flat platform, supported by 55 gallon plastic drums.  We are going to use it to grow food.  We are going to use it to host events.  We are going use it to display art.  We are going to use it to do research.  We are going to use it help clean up the Lake Hartwell and the Savannah river this year with plans next year to work on the Chattahoochie  and in year three we take to the sea along the South Carolina coast.  Think about it as something like The Enterprise for the river.

We are reaching out for a little help in naming her.  What do you think?  Boaty McBoatface?  The Enterprise?  Should we stick with The Floating Farm?

We are always welcoming suggestions and we will be posting them here on the blog and offering you a chance to vote!  Send us your suggestions at grow@thelifecooperative.org . If your choice is chosen, you win a t-shirt with the name on it.

or

Just vote and be entered to win a chance to win a t-shirt and other prizes.