Nathan

I've kept the promise, but...

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:09:53 GMT

I have kept the promise I made, but I've moved to my own URL. Please come visit and comment:

Real World Fantasy
www.nellsworth.com
Fantasy, Writing, Investing, Reviews, and the Environment

Rededication and editing

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 03:05:32 GMT

Its time for a rededication. I've been negligent, and that has to stop. I swear a post at least once a week about one of the three or all of the following topics: writing, agroforesstry/ecovillages, investing.

Tonight its about editing.

I just completed a short (short story) called it Cross-Trade, and its part of the Redwood Investigation detective series I have baning around my head. Its up at Baen's Bar for review (http://bar.baen.com/WB/default.asp?action=10&fid=65), wish me luck.

But self promotion aside, to all the writers out there: write. Everyone says it, but if you're going to get better you have to write every day. Then after that, edit. And finally get peer review.

One of the steps you can't overlook in the process is editing. If you want to be taken seriously, it has to be done. To me, its one of the biggest pains of the hobby/trade. My eyes get crossed and I end up reading a sentence 3 or 4 times, but I slog through it--page after page.

I've found that if you catch yourself reading it in your head one way--because it seems more natural--then go back and rewrite your work that way.

An example:
The first draft:
"And its a pity we couldn't have scooped Sid up though."
The second:
"And its a pity we couldn't have scooped up Sid though."

Just the minor change of putting "up" before Sid helps the flow. "Scooped up" becomes the verb with Sid as the object, instead of having the dangling "up" to break the cadence of the sentence.

So not only does editing help catch the glaring and nitpick mistakes, but with every small tweak a good edit helps tightens a story. I never catch all of it of course, but the point is the effort spent trying to improve.

But I didn't edit this, so feel free to point out where I've went completely astray.

Population

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:02:02 GMT

How many people does an ecovillage need? That begs so many questions.

Start with Ouroboros' goals: reforestation, community, education, relaxation. The goals define the skills that will have to be in the village to be successful, and create the minimum number of residents.

Reforestation:
Forester
Nursery Manager

Community:
Accountant
Doctor
Electrician
Farmer x 4
Handyperson
Lawyer
Mechanic
Utilities Manager
Vet

Education:
Agroforester
Alternative Energy Engineer
Permaculturalist x 2

Relaxation:
Hotelier
Restaurateur

Now if each role has two assistants (a safety factor for the busy times) the village has positions for 60 people. And if the 60 bring a significant other--the population doubles to 120. That's a decent sized ecovillage.

But supporting those households at an income that keeps them in one of the three country's legally ($24K):
60 @ $24K a year - $1.44 mil a year
Say the village gets half of that back in rent and dues that means it still has to come up with $720K.

That's a lot of money from education and relaxation.

Unity 2

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 22:46:09 GMT

I commented (http://czeree.livejournal.com/#item1675) that I thought an ecovillage should always have a cornerstone project. But then in my last entry/rant I lamented about the evils of money. I stand betwixt.

I think for Ouroboros the cornerstone of the ecovillage should be the idea of the ecovillage.

So education, self enrichment, and ecological relaxation.

Money = god of America = EVIL

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:09:45 GMT

I use little god to differentiate from the big G; I don't mean to offend. I used to be a deidacted Lutheran, and one day the Pastor did a sermon about the 10 Commandments. Specifically the first: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. The pastor asked the communion what we held in our hearts most of the day---what we spent most of our day obsessing over, our personal gods. If the answer wasn't God we were in violation of rule #1, and nothing else really mattered.

He went on to give advice about how to realign our priority with God, but his statement about personal gods has stuck with me. And I believe most of the US of A, heck most of the world, worships at the altar of the almighty dollar every day. Even the altruists and the dreamers, and the ecovillages and their members, they need and crave cheddar or their dreams never become more substantial than smoke. Money, the never ending need, and the destitution people face without it is evil.

The ecovillage connection is: how do the villages out there survive? From what I've read, most make people pay to join their community, but how do they sustain themselves after that? In the US there are property and income taxes to worry about (non-profits have some freedoms), and utilities and any other perks--Internet--must be paid for. How do they manage? Most have to have produce something unless they depend of donations, right?

The permaculture ideal behind ecovillages is that money within the village is cyclical. The ecovillage pays the residents to work, and the residents pay the village to live there. But its not a closed system; the people and the village will both have to spend money outside. So how do they make it sustainable? I see three options: investments, donations, and production.

Anyone living in an ecovillage--how is it sustained? I'm sure there are a lot of options out there.

As Corgan said: “Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage.” The world...Taker culture has destroyed all other possibilities but theirs.

Secondary Education

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 01:02:46 GMT

I got a new book today:
Physiology of Woody Plants by Kozlowski and Pallardy
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/012424162X/sr=8-1/qid=1153960617/ref=sr_1_1/102-4256621-3026533?ie=UTF8

Not a bestseller or a page turner, in fact, it’s a "text book."

With this book I have officially set my foot on the path of studying forestry and horticulture in my free time. I know if I told most people that, they'd look at me funny and call me disparaging names. But honestly, its something I want to learn about.

I'm one of the unlucky ones who got their degree not really knowing what they wanted in life. So I chose engineering because of the money. I'll admit, the experience taught me a lot, but it's not what I want to do with my life. I'd rather spend my time with trees.

And I thought about going back to college, but I don't want to. The more I think about it, the more I dislike the structure and idea of US colleges. Plus, if I went back, they'd demand I take all the required classes, and IMO most of them have no merit.

So, I'm using the University of Florida's Forestry, Agroforesty, and Horticulture curricula to build my own "major," without all the fluff. Besides what I learned from engineering and my work experience, the knowledge I gain in forestry and horticulture is what I really want to contribute to Ouroboros.

And with more people--the Project's wealth of knowledge and expertise only grows. That is the true wealth and strength of an ecovillage.

Decision Making Process

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 23:09:15 GMT

My last comment in the previous post made me think about something I learned in college. Back in the day in engineering class, when they taught us how to make design decisions by weighing options: quality function deployment. By Ra I'm getting old…

I digress, you list the qualities common to every product, and then you rank each product in those qualities and see which comes out ahead.

For ex, say you're interested in mulch. Each bag has a weight and the mulch itself has a smell, to keep it simple.
Qualities: Weight & Smell
Product: Brand A (shredded wood) and Brand B (hay with chicken manure)

Brand A
Weight: 3
Smell: 4

Brand B
Weight: 5
Smell: 2

Its that simple, but wait, we have a tie! In this case it comes down to ranking the qualities in terms of importance, and that brings in more subjectivity. One person might care about weight or smell more than another, but the idea is there. In the end, you can make a design decision.

So for the ecovillage:
Country (Product): Belize, Brazil, and Costa Rica

Qualities:
Land Cost
Land Available
Cost of Living
Residency Requirements
Infrastructure
Weather
Language
Attitude (Laid back, on the go)
Outside Appeal (How will possible donors respond depending on our choice?)
Inside Appeal (How do the locals view conservation?)
Ecovillage Presence (Are there other ecovillages?)
Local Impact (Where could the project have the biggest positive local impact?)

I'm sure there could be more, what am I forgetting?

A reference for the concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_Function_Deployment

Scary isn't it?

Costa Rica

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:27:10 GMT

The last in the "Trinity" of possibilities--one of the jewels of Central America--Costa Rica.

Why Costa Rica?

Y1: Costa Rica has not set aside as much land for conservation as Belize. Thus there are more farms available for rehabilitation.

Y2: Residency requirements are less strict in Costa Rica:
http://www.costarica.com/Home/Travel/Things_to_Know/Relocation_Information/Permanent_Residency/Elegibility

Why Not?

N1: Hurricanes

N2: Spanish. Un the US this isn't as much of a problem as Portuguese, since Spanish is widely spoken.

There is a lot to consider when making a decision of this magnitude. That's why I'd love to find a core group of dedicated friends that believe in the idea, so we can hash it out together.

Brazil

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 23:46:31 GMT

I was asked for some thoughts-positive and negative-on Brazil.

Why Brazil

Y1 - There are two "hot spots" that a non-profit could appeal to in order to raise money.
A - The well known Amazon. Brazil and foreign countries are still cutting down an alarming number of acres of this rain forest per day.
B - The less known Atlantic Coastal Forest. Over 80% of this once rain forest has been destroyed by Brazilians, because that's where everyone wants to live. A great forest was destroyed for the sake of cities and giant mono-species farms to support the growing population.

Y2 - Its tropical without the threat of hurricanes.

Y3 - Much of it is more developed than Belize or Costa Rica. If we need supplies, and and any ecovillage definitely will in the beginning, having the infrastructure is good.

Y4 - Its huge. There is a lot of space in Brazil, and it'd be easy to fit a hundred or even a thousand acre ecovillage in there.

Y5 - There are plenty of ecovillages to partner with.

Why not Brazil

N1 - Its becoming more developed and its economy is growing at an alarming rate. By 2050 many economists believe it will be among the top 5 economic superpowers. While the infrastructure is good for a developing ecovillage, the rapid rise of another Taker culture is a hard environment to work amongst. As a group started by a bunch of "foreign tree huggers," I want to ensure the project is respected and approved of by Brazilians.

N2 - Because of N1, land prices are growing in Brazil, especially in what used to be the Atlantic Coastal Forest. Even places in what used to be the Amazon are increasing in price. Acreage deep in the Amazon is still inexpensive, but its all about getting there.

N3 - Most of the core group I hope to find will probably be from the US, and probably won't speak Portuguese. It makes it tough to work with others, or partner with another ecovillage, when you can't communicate.

N4 - Staying in Brazil for more than 180 days takes some footwork:
http://www.escapeartist.com/OREQ10/Real_Estate_Brazil.html
http://www.liveabroad.com/articles/brazil.html

Sheet Mulch

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 22:37:04 GMT

Sheet mulching is fun and a great work out. I'm sure I spent more calories in the back yard over the last two days than I ever do in the gym. The fact I was out there for 8+ hours total in 90 F + heat and high humidity probably helped out too. A fine Georgia summer!

The general idea of sheet mulch is to totally eradicate grass from the area and improve the soil without tilling. This site says provides a good how to:
http://www.agroforestry.net/pubs/Sheet_Mulching.html

An outline is good, but someone may be interested in the specifics for my Atlanta Georgia garden. Maybe it will help when they try their hand at sheet mulching. At least the following will save them the 3 or 4 trips to Lowe's because they don't have enough of the right ingredients. Yes, all the ingredients below came from Lowe's, except the weed barrier.

Goal: keyhole bed with a tree at the center
Area: ~ 33 ft^2 or 10 m^2 (A circle with a radius of 3.25 ft ~ 1 m)

1 - Nutrients & Compost:
0.75 pound Lime
0.75 pound Ammonium Sulfate (for N)
0.75 pound "Triple Phosphate" (for P)
0.75 pound "Epsom Plus" (for K)
5 pounds Gypsum (Georgia doesn't have soil, all that's down there is red clay)
20 lbs "Black Cow" Compost (½ a 40 lb bag)
0.5 Large bag of peat moss

2 - Impenetrable Weed Barrier
Many, many cut up cardboard boxes from a Warehouse Club (BJ's, Sams, etc)

3 - Compost Layer
3.5 - 20 lb bags of Shredded Hardwood (didn't have leaves or sea weed, and I didn't want to use peat moss because its too dusty, but this stuff should do the job. It's got a good "mulch consistency.")

4 - Top Layer
1 bale pine straw
3.5 - 20 lb bags Large Pine Bark Chips

Doing one circle was so much fun, I decided to do a second, so now both of my fig trees are "protected." And even if I do say so myself, the beds look pretty good.

Also, I'm practicing with trying to find "grass barrier plants." I went to Lowe's and Pike's Nursurey and could only find 2 plants recommended by Mollison in his Permaculture books. Its tough to find Australia natives in Georgia. So I made a few educated guesses and bought plants "similar" to the ones that he will keep the grass at bay. I have my fingers crossed.

I picked up all the materials with my Toyata Yaris, and did all this work by myself-I learned a few lessons. Namely, when I go to tackle my 6 ft x 60 ft garden box, I'm going to "place an order" with Lowe's and just have them deliver the materials. That way I only have to transport it from my driveway to the backyard.

So good luck to anyone tackling sheet mulching. It takes some work, but its worth it. And if you need advice or a shoulder to cry on, drop me a line. I'm here for you.

Community Unity

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:24:23 GMT

Ouroboros Unity
Ouroboros should always have a cornerstone project for everyone in the ecovillage. Having a goal unites a community. There can be a myriad of sub-goals and other projects, but I believe an over-arching goal is necessary.

Short term project: Reforestation

Long term projects:

Service:
Resort
Eco-tourism
Teaching

Non Traditional Forest Product Eco-business
(US$ 1.1 billion per year market (1))

Handcrafts
Crafted by local artisans
Supplies for handcrafts
Hardwoods
Vegetable Ivory
Insects
Honey
Insect Dyes
Medicinal Plants
Organic Food Crops
Cacao
Coffee
Mushrooms
Nuts
Plant Oils/Extracts
Oils & Essential Oils
Dyes
Liquor
Soap
Perfume
Herbs & Spices

1. Pacific Island Agroforestry Guide
http://www.agroforestry.net/

Happy and sad

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 22:51:53 GMT

Woohoo, found a permaculture meet-up group in Atlanta:
http://permaculture.meetup.com/59/

They have a meeting while I’m out of town, but I’m definitely going to try and meet with them once I get back. Maybe that will help me carry on better until..until what?

On another, but similar note Swissmissally’s comment on the ecovillage journal got me thinking about living in cities:
http://community.livejournal.com/ecovillage/34717.html?thread=72093#t72093

Can a city ever be sustainable? I honestly don’t think so. Maybe that’s the pessimist in me, or my dislike of cities coming out. But just think about the problem of waste and distribution. A city could become less wasteful, but I don’t think it could become sustainable.

So where does that leave the world? It seems counterintuitive: to be more efficient we have to spread out--decentralize our population and support ourselves locally. I hurts my mind to think about the effort to try and bring about such a change.

Belize, Brazil, or Costa Rica?

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 22:56:51 GMT

I can’t decide where I’d best like to establish an ecovillage. I’m torn between Belize, Brazil, or Costa Rica.

Where did this come from?
I despise the cold. I lived in the Midwest until I graduated college, then I moved to south California, and finally to Atlanta, GA, and even GA gets to cold for me. I’d rather brave hurricanes and tropical disease instead of cold weather. I know that seems extreme, but I also know I’m not alone.

Honestly, why “south of the border?”
1. Land and provisions are not expensive--at least the basics a person needs to survive
2. Weather
3. A greater chance to preserve diverse “untouched wilderness”
4. Help a developing people and country
5. Teach the local people an alternative to monospecies agriculture

Why Belize, Brazil, or Costa Rica?
Primarily their governments are stable and not too corrupt. You don’t want to establish and ecovillage on reserved land, and then have the next power group rescind your land title.

Right now I’m edging towards Belize because it is a former British Colony and therefore an English speaking country with an English law system. From what I’ve read, its “attitude” is also more laid back--like the Caribbean islands. And Belize is very eco-friendly, a lot of their land is already protected.

However it also has some strikes against it. Among the Central and South American countries it is one of the most expensive to “retire to.” They seem to like to get their money from tourists and foreigners.
http://www.belizefirst.com/QRPUpdate.htm

Also Belize requires certain steps in order to employ a foreigner.
http://www.ambergriscaye.com/economics/entryreq.html

This last bit could be a problem for foreigners looking to simply “work on the land” to live in an ecovillage. No matter where the ecovillage is founded, it will seek out local people to join, but I want the community to be a truly international community.

I’m still scratching my head.

So what should it be: Belize, Brazil, or Costa Rica?

Ouroboros Model

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 00:20:05 GMT

There are three components to Ouroboros: the Project, the Ecovillage, and the People. The first two are the application of Bill Mollison’s model (1) and the people are necessary to make it all work.

Ouroboros Project
Ouroboros Project is a non-profit community trust that purchases misused land for rehabilitation and preservation. Its goals are intangible: reforestation, and land and species protection. It exclusively owns all the land and resources, but it uses its funds to hire the Ecovillage, and it gives the Ecovillage rights to the land to accomplish the Project’s goals.

Ouroboros Ecovillage
Ouroboros Ecovillage is a for-profit corporation “hired” to accomplish Project goals. Concurrently, it accomplishes its own tangible goals: supporting the community and providing income by establishing a sustainable eco-business on Project lands. The Ecovillage accomplishes its goals by finding Families to build and live in the Ecovillage and run the eco-business on leased Project lands.

People
Ouroboros needs individuals and families that want a different way life. The Ecovillage needs people to work, but they could also live through their own means. They lease Project lands through the Village to live in the community and preserve the rehabilitated land.

The Ouroboros Project needs a core group of people to build the non-profit. The core needs to lead the way so the Ecovillage can grow and prosper.

1. Mollison, Bill. Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual

Project Ouroboros

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 21:22:21 GMT

The Ouroboros Project: it sounds like some secret military project. But it’s far more important than that, and military and government projects shouldn’t be the only one with cool names. Ouroboros will save part of the earth and be a place where people can escape Mother Culture.

Ouroboros is an ecovillage. Oroborous is a dream.

But Ouroboros doesn’t exist yet. It is my dream, but I want to share with others. In doing so, the dream--Ouroboros--will change and grow for the better. Oroborous needs people to make it a reality.

The Mission Statement:
Purchase and rehabilitate eroded, salted, deforested, or misused land for preservation through development of an energy-efficient and sustainable village.

The Decision

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 19:20:24 GMT

This is dedicated to the future of everyone and I want to thank Meg for introducing me to Daniel Quinn and of course Mr. Quinn himself.

I no longer want to live in the arms of Mother Culture. I don’t want to be a Taker. I don’t want my 0630 to 1530 job of making a better widget; no matter how secure and how good the money is.

Our Culture, the one based on mass agriculture, is fundamentally wrong. We waste so much energy to achieve so little--all for the sake of control and “free time.” But there are other options.

The core problem: we aren’t given a choice
The secondary problem: once in, there’s “no way out”

I am dedicating my life to finding a way of “getting out,” and it’s going to form the basis of a road map for anyone else that wants to follow.

Ouroboros