Permaculture

What Permaculture Isn’t – and Is

Toby Hemenway, Guest Waking Times Permaculture is notoriously hard to define. A recent survey shows that people simultaneously believe it is a design approach, a philosophy, a movement, and a set of practices. This broad and contradiction-laden brush doesn’t just make permaculture hard to describe. It can be off-putting, too. Let’s say you first encounter permaculture as

How Organic Farming Could Release Us From the Curse of Fertilizer

Dr. Mercola Waking Times Environmental pollution is a significant problem. But while most of the focus is placed on polluting industries, toxins like mercury and small particle traffic pollution, a major source of environmental devastation is caused by modern food production. Far from being life sustaining, our modern chemical-dependent farming methods: Strip soil of nutrients

The Power of Subtlety

Deb Buck, Guest Waking Times Have you ever noticed how the power of burning a smudge stick can change the course of one day?  How deep breathing can guide a different response in the time of trauma? How remembering to sing a song when your sad or to drink a cup of Dandelion Root tea

The Russians Prove Small Scale Organic CAN Feed the World

Christina Sarich, Staff Writer Waking Times If you’ve already been through an economic collapse, you might know a thing or two about how to feed your family with little money. More importantly, you might know how to do it without pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and GMO seed. On a total of about 20 million acres managed

How I Fell for Farmers’ Markets

Jill Richardson, Guest Writer Waking Times I’ll never forget the first time I went to a farmers’ market. I hated it. Like many who buy food only from the grocery store, I didn’t realize that local farmers can’t produce every food all year round. I didn’t expect pineapples or anything, but the extremely limited selection

The “Long Emergency,” Permaculture, and Towns that Food Saved

Andrew Willner, Guest  Waking Times We live in dangerous times, when economic collapse, climate chaos, and peak oil threaten the foundations of society, abundance, and all we hold dear. “Business as usual” will no longer suffice, because that way leads to certain pain, peril and impoverishment. Unspeakable acts of violence like the slaughter at the Sandy

A Brief Introduction to Aquaponic Gardening

Jonathan Parker, Guest Waking Times Aquaponics is an amazing permaculture method that may have been practiced as far back in history as the Aztec civilization. There are records of the Aztec people raising fish alongside of crops that were alien to the growing environment, using the nitrite and ammonia rich water as a fertilizer base

How to Send Less Trash to the Landfill

Jill Richardson, Contributor Waking Times My new neighbor knocked on my door and introduced herself as the vice president of the local homeowner’s association. “How friendly!” I thought. “She’s welcoming me to the neighborhood.” Then she wrinkled her nose and motioned toward an enclosed bin on my porch, saying, “Your — what is it? Came-post?

33 Tips on Turning Your Boring Lawn Into a Permaculture Food Forest

Waking Times Does the idea of getting fresh, nutritious food right out in front of you kitchen door sound like a good idea in these turbulent times? A growing movement to reclaim, restore, and re-localize our relationship to food is happening all around us, and you can participate by re-thinking what you do with the

Lose Your Lawn

Jill Richardson, Guest Writer Waking Times  Turning your lawn into something more beautiful and useful would save time and money while curbing pollution and water usage. Have you taken your hounds fox hunting lately? You haven’t? Well, maybe you’ve gone to visit a friend’s estate in a horse and carriage? You haven’t done that either,

Lessons From Bamboo

Christina Sarich, Contributing Writer Waking Times  “Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe When one of the most intellectually resilient minds of our time tells you that change is inevitable, sometimes you listen. In a recent reading (Gino Serge’s Faust in Copenhagen) about the

Front Yard Food Gardens – Defying Conformity and Challenging Authority

Anna Hunt, Staff Writer Waking Times With urban farming becoming more popular and more common, people are starting to consider their front and back yards as a potential space for growing healthy, organic produce. Yet, front yards may actually be off limits if you’re thinking of starting a food garden. Various city ordinances and, in some

An Introduction to Permaculture

Staff Writer Waking Times “How can we maximize hammock time?” – Bill Mullison, author of Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual Permaculture affects every part of your life, from how you design your room, to how you design your life. It encompasses how people are able to get along and make living decisions that make sense for the long

Ordinary Warriors – The Revolution of the Incredible Edible Town

Chris Bourne, Openhand Contributor Waking Times The Spiritual Warrior blends many qualities There are many different qualities to the soul. The spiritual movement has tended to focus on gifts such as acceptance and unconditional love. But there’s also the other side of the coin. There’s the warrior inside each of us that yearns to change

Edible City: The Movie

Waking Times How do people disengage in the destruction taking place on planet earth and engage in something that helps to heal the earth and sets us free from the corporate systems that do us more harm than good? Edible City is a documentary film that addresses this timely question and demonstrates how local food

Hemp Habitats – Homes of the Future?

Becca Wolford, Contributing Writer Waking Times  Hemp homes, while not mainstream yet, are the cutting edge of green building and living. Hemp, one of the strongest and most durable fibers on the planet, is being used for foundations, walls, roofing, insulation, and indoor textiles and installations. Hemcrete is made with hemp hurds  and lime, and is

Drought, Fracking, Coal and Nukes Wreak Havoc on Fresh Water Supplies

Eco-Watch Waking Times On Aug. 12, Unit 2 of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Connecticut—which provides half of Connecticut’s power and 12 percent of New England’s—was shut down because the seawater used to cool the plant was too warm. For the last few months EcoWatch has been covering what’s become the worst drought in the U.S.

12 Innovations to Combat Drought, Improve Food Security and Stabilize Food Prices

Seyyada A. Burney, Nourishing the Planet Waking Times  Soaring temperatures and low precipitation could not occur at a worse time for many farmers in the U.S. Intensifying drought conditions are affecting corn and soybean crops throughout the Midwest, raising grain prices as well as concerns about future food prices. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that

Why You Should Plant More Trees – Research Shows Trees Grow Happier People

Elizabeth Renter Waking Times Trees and nature don’t only provide us with oxygen to breathe, they provide us with peace. According to a review of studies, the number of trees in your neighborhood, along with your proximity to a park, plays a significant role in your mental and physical wellbeing. So it may be time


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