Farming the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans

I've been living in New Orleans for the past month volunteering on and off, a blogpost on my time in the Lower Ninth is to come.

Check out this video really quick -- it gives you a quick idea of what things are like here in the Lower Ninth Ward and the role of urban farming in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Rocket Stoves and Biochar at the Florida Earthskills Gathering

Earthskills Gatherings are weekend long events consisting of workshops and discussions to do with primivate skills and permaculture.  They happen all over North America, usually on an annual basis and place a strong emphasis on regional ecologies and cultures.  At the Florida Earthskills gathering a few weeks back, there were workshops on anything from how to make rope from various regional grasses, how to build houses using cob construction, how to harvest and filter rainwater using materials found in the dumpster or how to slaughter a goat.

One awesome thing about the event was how sustainable everything was.  And by "sustainable" I don't mean that we bought fluorescent bulbs, rented low-water porto-potties or bought tofu rather than chicken.  I mean that food came from dumpsters behind Trader Joe's.  I mean that people collected and prepared fresh roadkill for dinner (the meat you pay for at the grocery store is much worse for you [seriously..]). Meals were prepared on high-efficiency stoves built from salvaged materials.  Composting toilets were built onsite and the humanure will later be used to fertilize garden beds.  This event was sustainable!

There were about 300 people at the event, all of whom had to be fed.  I helped out in the kitchen a bunch with maintaining the stoves and fires that the food was cooked over top of.  A couple guys, Joe and Conner, had been working on high-efficiency rocket stoves and bio-char ovens for a few years and, while volunteering in the kitchen, I was able to learn a thing or two about what it takes to build stoves similar to the ones we were using.

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Rocket Stoves

Conner setting up the rocket stove

The air flow allows for wood to burn hot.  Using long and thin pieces of wood allows for more area of a given unit of wood to burn.  The downside is you have to monitor closely and keep stocking.  Build it and give it a shot.

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Biochar Ovens

(10 minute video defining biochar, the process of creating it, and it's purpose)

Doug cookin' up a storm

There are two main outputs: 1) Biochar (used as wonder-fertilizer), and 2) heat.  The heat can be trapped and harnessed in whatever way you can image and could be used for many things (ie, heating a house).  The method that Joe and Conner use works really well for cooking food en masse. 

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All of the food for the gathering (300 people X 2 meals X 4 days) was cooked over a few different stoves.  There were also two fires that food was cooked on in addition to the two-burner rocket stove and the biochar.

Moral of the story: If you are paying for sustainability you are doing it wrong!

“Radical Resourcefulness” is old news (fortunately)

John and Sid planning the structure

In this post I talk about how the underlying ideas of A) “Recycle, Reduce, Reuse”, B) people who dumpster dive, and C) rows of broken down cars and junk on the properties of rednecks across the continent are the same.  I also mention how it is economically sensible and environmentally necessary for us to overcome our learned perceptions of A) “hippies trying to save the world”, B) “bums eating garbage from dumpsters” or C) “rednecks making a mess of property”.  Enjoy!

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I spent most of January working and living on a farm outside of Gainesville, Florida.  For anyone wanting to learn how to farm and travel at the same time, I encourage you to check out http://www.wwoof.org/.  For a small membership fee you are given access to the WWOOF database of farms by country.  From there you can pick and choose what you want.

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Greenhouse construction

While on the farm, I spent most of my volunteering time building a greenhouse which Sid (the father of the family who live on the farm) bought a number of years ago.  He bought it for next to nothin’ from a farmer who no longer had a use for it. Sid stored it on his property for a number of years until he was able to find the remaining resources needed to build and complete an entire greenhouse - plastic, mesh, fan and all.  While rummaging through a dumpster behind a tree nursery, Sid found enough UV plastic (in near-perfect condition) to cover the entire greenhouse.  Thus the greenhouse project was underway! 

Sid was able to acquire the necessary materials for the greenhouse for about 1/3 of it's total retail value.  There were no instructions nor labels on the pieces since it was used.  If any pieces didn’t seem to fit together, we would improvise, often using other salvaged or 'reclaimed' resources to put the greenhouse together.  It took a bit of patience, a bit of creativity, but we were able to finish the structure before I left the farm.

Ray and Panelopie

One recurring topic of conversation was the use of salvaged materials in building.  Apart from being aesthetically interesting, it's an extremely economical and environmentally-responsible way of building as your not using newly purchased or processed material to build.  Seems like there are a number of terms for this basic idea, some being more buzzy or trendy or recent than others.  "Resource reclamation" or "radical resourcefulness" were a few terms that I heard while being around Gainesville.  Though the terms do sound pretty cool, and many permies drool over the mere sound of them, their definitions are a bit redundant.  As far as I know, radical resourcefulness means (re)learning to (re)use material found right around us as resources that could be used in building.  It also has to do with being able to procure resources for free (i.e. dumpsters).

Another one of Sid's projects which he was looking for additional materials for was this A-Frame that I stayed in for a little while.   The entire structure was built out of used material.  The wood of the frame once belonged to a barn (I think..) and the metal roofing had been sitting around on the property of the farm for a while.  With a little bit of labour, a few Wwoofers were able to build the simple structure.  The best part about it is that it was nearly free!




Used.  Recycled.  Reclaimed.  Radical Resourcefulness.  Sensible use of available materials.

In my view, all of these terms mean the same thing.  Whether we're talking about a couple of hip kids going through dumpers in the city to build raised garden beds or a few old time farmers looking at an aged car out in the bush to use in restoring an F-150, salvaging resources for alternative use is nothing new.

The necessity of community mobilizing and DIY EVERYTHING!: My time spent with Occupy Sandy Relief in New York City last month

Now and then, members of my family tell me I should write a book about the things I encounter while traveling.  Although this blog post may not be what they had in mind, it sure is a story worth sharing.

All videos were found on YouTube and were made by either television companies or volunteers working with various relief groups.

So.  This is a long post, but it's worth it.  Make the time to read the whole entry and follow all the links.  Here we go.
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Just a bit of a rundown for those of you who weren't watching the news post-Sandy:

1. Hurricane Sandy has been the 2nd costliest hurricane in North American history (the 1st being Katrina).  
2. New York City saw record storm surges of 14 feet during Sandy.

3. Sandy was the largest storm (by diameter) to ever hit the northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

4. Hurricane Sandy took 253 lives with her.  

5. Thousands of people are still without power and water (it's been a month and a half).. (and it's winter).

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Two important videos that will frame this blog post:

1. This video (recorded before Hurricane Sandy made landfall) forecasted how devastating Hurricane Sandy would be.

2. This video (also recorded before Sandy made landfall) shows how seriously Obama and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) were taking Hurricane Sandy.

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The story:

My friend Marina and I were in New York City one week after Hurricane Sandy left parts of the city flooded, ruined and without water or power.  While we were there, we volunteered our time to work with Occupy Sandy Relief in Brooklyn.

The two of us went down to St. Jacobi Church in Brooklyn (Occupy Sandy's headquarters) for 2 days.     This is where they organize most of their efforts, all of which seemed really well-organized and coordinated.  Whereas the first day was spent with Marina and I moving donated clothing from the Occupy Sandy headquarters to a local Salvation Army (people donated too much clothing and not enough time/love/labour), the second day looked a bit different than this.

During the second day,  I was sent out on a mission. Three volunteers and myself were sent to the Far Rockaway on the Rockaway Peninsula; an area of New York City which was hit hard by the storm(I can't stand the 'interviewer' in this one, but you get the idea).  We drove out from St. Jacobi Church in Brooklyn and it took us about 30 minutes to get there.  Our mission was to a) help with the movement of donations flooding into recently established 'community hubs', and to b) help our friend, a coordinator with Occupy Sandy, in completing 'Needs Assessments' on every community hub in the Rockaways.  We visited all of them (eight, I believe) and helped with the movement of anything from clothing, water, batteries, sanitation products, boots and cooked food while talking with victims alongside community hub organizers.  It had been seven days since Hurricane Sandy left the Rockaways.

When moving supplies from trucks into the most organized (by far) of community hubs,  it looked a bit like this.

The stories of residents and the scenes they were apart of appeared a bit like this (this video is of Day 14 without power nor water in the Far Rockaway).

National emergency relief organizations (American Red Cross, FEMA) had made it to the Rockaways only 2 or 3 days before we were there.  In other neighbourhoods where we were sent, there had been no aid nor relief given by any organized group from outside of the Rockaways.  Residents sat without power or water, waiting for relief which never came.  This was one week after Hurricane Sandy.

Picture not having power or water for a week.  Now picture not having power or water while you have a mix of sewage and salt water sitting in your basement from when the ocean was in your livingroom and when the sewage system began to backup.  Remember - one whole week.

Keep that all in mind, and ponder this.  And this.

It's complicated.

Have you ever thought of yourself to be a good problem solver?  Do you trust that the government or  an organized group will help you in an emergency situation or time of need?

Hmm.  To put it nicely, you may need to work on your problem solving skills.

In order to help complete the Needs Assessments for our coordinator friend with Occupy Sandy, one thing the four of us did at every community hub we went to in the Rockaways was talk to people.  We talked to people who brought supplies from small-scale relief groups, we talked to victims who waited outside of churches in long lines to get water, families who brought garbage bags of coats from out-of-town, volunteers who cooked food en mass, kids who sat patiently as their parents tried to talk to someone who knew what was going on, community organizers from various housing projects and residents who turned their homes into places of refuge for flood victims.  Based on the conversations the four of us had with these people it was clear:  Every national emergency relief organization failed at doing what they were suppose to do.

As least it was getting a bit of news coverage.

No one was prepared for Hurricane Sandy.  Not the residents, the federal government, FEMA, the NYC Subway System, Wall St., Occupy Sandy Relief, myself, other volunteers, Food Banks, media sources, shelters, insurance companies, Mitt Romney... no one.  

Time goes on.  One month after Hurricane Sandy, thousands are still without power or water.  The basements which had sewage and salt water in them are now growing mold.  Also, the "Rockaway Cough" is actually a new term used to describe a new localized sickness caused by the lack of relief.

Also, for those who do have water, issues of water contamination have surfaced.  Note that in the last two videos the issues being raised were not caused by Hurricane Sandy.  Rather, the more recent issues that residents of the Rockaways have been subjected to have been caused by the lack of accountability and relief.

Had national emergency relief organizations been more able to service vulnerable populations in preparation and response to Sandy, Rockaway residents would have been able to avoid being affected by the ongoing disaster; Hurricane Sandy and the lack of organized aid.

Apart from being the warmest and fuzziest (and definitely the most American...) video in this blog post, this video shows the difficulties associated with organizing, coordinating and logistics planning in a disaster environment.  When you have so many people informally working in one of the most unpredictable work environments you could possibly imagine, coupled with the lack of communication and power to help you accomplish a task, what do you do?  Really, all you can do is keep going and hope for the best.

So with all of this said, why am I writing about a Hurricane on a blog which is usually about growing kale and riding bikes?

Well!

The wind and water of Hurricane Sandy had as much to do with climate change and food security as  the mold currently growing in the basements of flood victims on Coney Island or the generators still powering housing projects in the Far Rockaway.

This story about Hurricane Sandy relief in New York City is merely an illustration, an example of what the future may look like for us and how we will have to adapt to it if we want any sort of change:

1. Must it take one of the largest hurricanes in recorded history to hit North America to get people talking about climate change and how it may be responsible for the destruction seen in the largest city on the continent?

2. In the future, how many environmental and social struggles are we going to be forced to endure to convince people that we may have to radically change the way we live?

3. Based on the response of relief groups in the Rockaways and the lesson and warning Sandy has given us, we can't depend on national emergency relief organizations to help with disaster recovery.

4. What I had learned (not the first time..) while volunteering with Occupy Sandy was this:  As in most socio-political dialogues where either political reform or a change to cultural attitudes is necessary to solve a problem which many feel is intrinsically necessary to be solved (i.e., climate change), don't wait.  

Don't wait for your municipal government to say it's legal for you to build a chicken coop in your backyard.  

Don't wait for the province / territory / state to allocate resources to food banks.  

And don't wait for federal agencies to say they're 'on it'.  They likely aren't, and there is too much at stake while we're waiting.


Find a way, and do it yourself.

"I'm afraid if we don't really get this situation under control, 
who knows what we are going to start finding when we knock
 on doors." 

- Shlomo, one of the many unpaid Occupy Sandy Relief Coordinators

Frozen ground in Halifax, Nova Scotia -- 'tis the season for indoor herb gardens

I've been on the east coast in Halifax since November 12th and have been staying at a really sweet house with awesome roommates since then (huge shout out to Dano, Skye and Hemish, here) so I figured that I'd help out around the property.  Last week I put the raised beds to sleep for the winter and cleared out a few small planters to use them for growing indoors while it's too cold outside.

I figured it would be easy enough to keep the Chard (planted in the planters earlier in the fall) to keep growing inside.  Also, it's easy enough to use your living room window as a greenhouse for herbs and microgreens.  So the other day Skye and I went down to Halifax Seed in the North End to see what they have.

Although it may be tricky to grow somethings indoors through the winter, herbs and particularly (so we were told) microgreens don't require too much soil nor very much sunlight.  Planters that are often used for ornamental plants outside during the summer can easily be brought indoors, extending the season of anything still growing and giving the opportunity for a small winter harvest of whatever you plant.

And it's super easy -- if you live in a house, there are probably a few small planters hiding around somewhere.  Whether you live in a rental property, at your parents house or your own home, odds are that somebody (previous tenant, parents, or yourself) at some point used a few of these and hid them in the shed or basement, or beneath the deck.

Ya might as well go find 'em, scrounge up some soil or potting mix, buy some seeds and go to town.    You'll have fresh herbs / microgreens while it's freezing outside.  Do it.

The bounties of the rainforest, North Vancouver

Autumn in Vancouver means mushroom season.

While passing through the city, a few of us spent the afternoon in Lynn Canyon on a pouring wet October day.  We came out of the canyon with 5 - 7 lbs. of Oyster mushrooms.  Ahh, the bounties of the rainforest...

First Snowfall in Beaver Creek, Yukon - Sept. 8

 Made for a good morning bike ride.  Peas don't like it, but kale doesn't mind.