Year: 2015
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How to Save Money on Hair Care Products
What if I told you you don’t have to wash your hair? By the end of this article, you’ll believe me. You know, sometimes when you think about things, like really think about them, they start to make no sense. Well, about a year or two ago, I started really thinking about the current norm for hair…
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Full-Time Parents Accomplishing Goals: A Solution
EDIT: This group is now in operation. Please visit the Parents Accomplishing Goals (PAG) Cooperative website to learn more. I am in the process of creating a group that will allow full-time parents to accomplish other goals. These goals could be things like professional work, volunteering, studying, and starting a business. I am a full time mother. I…
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Whole Systems Design Permaculture Design Course Review
This summer I attended a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at Whole Systems Design in Richmond, Vermont, from July 10, though July 19, 2015. The PDC was tought by a team of permaculture professionals including Ben Falk of Whole Systems Design, Mark Krawczyk of Keyline Vermont, Sean Dembrosky of Edible Acres, and Mark Angelini of Roots to Fruits. Upon…
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The “Weeds” in My Yard – A Response to Questions
A great benefit of transforming my suburban-type yard from an unsustainable lawn to a sustainable ecosystem is setting an example. I can use the process of transformation to inform neighbors, who undoubtedly have many opinions and questions. I’ve been getting a few general questions since I started the process, but yesterday I got some of the…
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Why Are Humans Here?
I’m one of those people who tends to think everything happens for a reason. I’m also one of those people that thinks that what we like to call “Mother Nature” has got it all figured out. After billions of years of evolution from a probably lifeless planet to a complex web of life that humans…
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Making Sustainability Cool
I tend go back and forth between wanting to fit in and wanting to not fit in. At first, it may sound odd that someone would want to be a misfit, but hear me out. You see, humans have always wanted to find a common bond with one another. We’re social creatures; it’s natural. But at some…
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A School Food Forest
I have a crazy idea. It would be a ton of work and require a ton of collaboration and generosity from others. It would be a lifetime commitment and beyond. It would also provide extensive benefits to thousands of local children and even help to save the planet. There is a piece of land next…
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The Uncouth Truth: Poop and Peace
Growing up, I never thought twice about the sustainability of our bathroom habits. Why should I have? Everyone else did the same thing. I mean, we all do it this way because the best way has evolved out of hundreds of years of trial and error, right? Not necessarily. In fact, our modern bathroom practices could…
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Skills We Really Need
Not too long ago, my son’s school sent us a survey. One question asked how well we feel the school is preparing the children for the future. This is a difficult question. At first glance, we see the future as a more technologically advanced version of today with not much changing besides lots and lots…
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Sustainable Eating
If you want to make a huge difference in your environmental impact, a good place to start is being responsible for what goes in your mouth. I don’t have all the scary facts, and I don’t intend to include much of them here, but I do encourage you to research more. Here I will simply…
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Plant List for a Beautiful Apple Tree Guild
As stated in the post introducing the design of my front yard guilds, I had very specific requirements when choosing a plant list. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out here. So here’s my plant list along with the traits and uses that I personally found to be beneficial to our family. Purple…
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My Front Yard Apple Guilds
While I have been reading since my last post, the bulk of that passed time was spent researching and organizing plants and designing the apple guilds I’ll be planting this spring. Permaculture design requires a lot of forethought and planning. Designing my guilds involved only a small portion of what is required in the holistic…