Nourish The Spirit » permaculture

Win 2 tickets to “2012:Time for a Change” film

Vera — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 23:47:59 +0000

If you missed the film “2012: Time for a Change” at its first San Francisco screening, come check it out this year at the Lumiere Theatre either on Saturday or Sunday! Scroll to the end of this post to win two tickets!

A collaboration between Brazilian director-animator João Amorim, author Daniel Pinchbeck, with Mangusta Productions, “Time for Change” is not your typical documentary. Featuring eclectic music, engaging animation, and interesting interviews with prominent “luminaries,” it’s more a whole sensory experience. Luminaries include celebrities from Sting, Ellen Page, and David Lynch who delve into permaculture and meditation, to mycologist Paul Stamets and Penny Livingston-Stark, in search of a higher consciousness in the midst of our global crisis.

Inspired by Daniel’s book titled, “2012: Return to Quetzalcoatl,” the movie shows practical solutions that could prevent the 2012 Mayan prophesy from coming true through both personal and social transformation. The range of interviews along with João’s colorful, animated sequences bring its message to life. The soundtrack features Thievery Corporation, Beats Antique, Alex Theory, and other talented, visionary musicians.

“We made 2012: Time for Change to inspire people to think differently about the crises faced by our society,” says Daniel. “Although we propose a number of tangible solutions in the film in different areas like economics and agriculture, the film is also about adopting a different mindset and methodology that can be applied in many different fields. We are truly gratified by the response so far, and hope the film contributes to the positive transformation we believe is possible.”

Enter to win tickets or support Mangusta Productions and get yourself a ticket. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it like I did, check out the preview.

Visit the Community calendar for free organic gardening classes and other stuff going on this weekend, including our green smoothie workshop at 18 reasons that’s quickly filling up. Voice what interests you in the homepage poll.

Enter to win 2 tickets for Friday or Saturday

Answer below and enter to win two tickets: What steps are you taking for either your own growth or the community at large?

I’ll pick a winner from the comments by Thursday night. Bonus points if you introduce others to NTS and they subscribe to the site : )

“Green foodie” events this January

Vera — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:43:17 +0000

The remainder of this month has a couple of great conscious foodie events close to my home for those of us who lean towards a plant-based diet. One is this Tuesday, January 19th when Kitchen Table Talks kicks off the new year with a gathering on urban homesteading. Though food justice guru Will Allen, Oakland writer Novella Carpenter or the back-to-the-land Dervaes family from Los Angeles won’t be there, bay area folks who are managing to raise their own food, keeping bees, or just living a low-carbon lifestyle will be speaking.

The event is now at capacity and I’m hoping they’ll let me squeeze in. Though I don’t expect to be raising a goat, chickens, or even veggies at my flat anytime soon, reading Novella’s “Farm City” has been fun and educational. I hope to one day at least have a great garden. Slaughtering my own pig or turkey? Unlikely, that’s why I just choose to avoid eating mammals.

—–

Dine About Town 2010 just started and goes til the end of the month. Urban Tavern, Hyde Street Bistro, Fish and Farm, and The Plant look like some of the more locavore-friendly participants. I enjoyed great Spanish food at B44 the other night. I’d love to go to Waterbar now. The menu gives good detail on how its fish is caught and where it’s from. While I’m still allowing myself to eat fish, I might have to go there next weekend.

—–

Speaking of which, End of the Line is playing throughout the country at select restaurants that will feature “sustainable seafood.” I wrote about my mixed feelings on this term here a while back and am curious how other green foodies make peace with eating fish.

—–

Michael Pollan just released a handy pocket guide on what to eat, and he’ll be speaking about it book at the Ferry Building next Saturday. Too bad the event costs $20 for those who are unemployed or tight in funds. I look forward to checking out what he’s put together; I’m sure it’s great.

——

Ridesharing on a permaculture tour

Vera — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:47:31 +0000

Once in a while when I go on a small adventure, I post an ad to rideshare on Craigslist, and hope someone interesting will come my way to share gas and make the trip more bearable.

I’ve shared rides with men and women, mostly up and down I-5 in California, but also across the state of Massachussetts on I-90 from Boston to Northampton. Only one time out of a dozen or so did I feel unsafe, but I walked away unharmed, and I learned a lesson for the next time. I’m curious how others’ experiences are.

This time on my way to Santa Barbara from San Francisco, I got really lucky. On the way down I shared rides with two women from Vermont, one of which had spent many years growing up in the cute town I visited called San Miguel de Allende. Then on the way back I a gave a ride to a lovely couple on a permaculture tour of California.

Ethan and his girlfriend told me a bit about their experience starting with Quail Springs near Ojai, a “learning oasis and farm,” where they were impressed with the sense of community. They taught me a thing or two about the landscape off 101 as we made our way north. Turns out they know friends of mine from Omega Institute in NY, and were heading to the Harmony Festival, where Ethan would be speaking on permaculture, and my friend Hannah from Santa Barbara would be capturing him on video. The two are crossing paths again at the training in Laytonville Ecovillage and both mentioned the Regenerative Design Institute to me as a great learning center. Small world! I look forward to spending time at one of these in the future.

The sense Ethan gave me is that permaculture is much more than making environments around us sustainable, but also about making communities sustainable using concepts like Slow Money.

As local as food gets

Vera — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:26:15 +0000

This morning I learned about My Farm, a group of folks that build edible gardens in one’s own backyard. I’d read about the trend going on in NY, but these guys seems to be doing great work in the bay area. They not only offer a CSA box in two sizes, but will convert backyard lawns into gardens and do all the maintenance. The staff seems like a fun bunch too. Many of the them come from a theater/circus background and developed their permaculture skills volunteering in farms around the world. In my quest to get gardening experience, I filled out their volunteer application.

Botanical art with a modern twist

Vera — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:24:54 +0000

I recently ran into these gorgeous, small handblown-glass orb planters and had to treat myself to one. I haven’t seen anything like these before and I love all nature-inspired art.

The artist who makes them is Britton Neubacher. She brings her love for nature from her native Hawaii and combines it with a fascination for miniature dollhouses and Japanese design.

Britton considers herself part of a growing artist community in San Diego and is being compared to the local food movement. A friend introduced her to the glass pieces and she instantly felt a mini-landscape belonged inside of them. Her idea led to the Eco Orb, working in partnership with two local glass artists, Buzz Blodgett and Lea de Witt.

Each Eco Orb integrates permaculture design principles, creating a habitat with native Socal plants like succulents, cacti, and air plants that are low maintenance and hardly need water.

The pieces add life to boring corners inside any space. When hanging mine from a corner in my living room, I intuitively went by a Feng Shui principle that’s explained well here:

“Corners are an often overlooked place in the home where Chi is incorrectly channeled or missing all together. With Feng Shui design though, you can prevent Chi from missing corners. A suitable object placed in the corner can attract beneficial energy–a plant perhaps. Lamps, either a standing tabletop, are also excellent for this purpose. Using different Feng Shui design ideas one can transform a dark, dreary corner to a well-lit corner that is full of life and vitality.”

You can get yourself an Eco Orb at Grounded in Encinitas or Kate Ross Shoes in North Park. I think West Elm and more stores should carry them! They make great gifts and can be customized, but shipping seems like a really bad idea! Pieces range from $45 up to over $200. Britton also makes pretty porcelain pieces as well as designs interiors using “permaculture art.”

Learn more at Tendliving.