Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
There’s nothing much we can do about this world-as-it-might-be symbolic capacity we have, simultaneously humanity’s blessing or genius and also our curse. Writing, farming and so on were not the cause of our malaise but the result of it.
As long as water is treated as a problem to be drained rather than an ally to be welcomed, it will abandon us when we need it most and strike when we are least prepared.
Almost one hundred years later, Smith’s original ideas for planting a two story agriculture remain inspired—planting crop trees on challenging and depleted land. Trees can do most of the heavy work when it comes to feeding the inhabitants of our planet and repairing our land.
In arid and semi-arid regions, retaining rainfall where it falls is not an ecological luxury. It is a prerequisite for long-term water security, climate stability, and social resilience.
Farmers, following a bodhrán deftly drummed by Talamh Beo’s Fergal Anderson, brought themselves and their produce from their farms, telling a little of their stories of who they are, what they do, and how they do it. They stood front and centre, and it centred us too.
The garden is a profoundly simple setting for reconnecting with the earth, with one another, and with ourselves.
What if, in Algeria, water were no longer seen solely as a scarce resource to exploit or a threat to control, but as an ecological and economic capital to preserve and develop?
Ah well, the urgency of staving off as best I can the disaster capitalism that Philip Loring mentions keeps me going, even if it feels like a dispiriting and unequal battle sometimes. Cheers!
Climate abandonment can be avoided, or put off, in only so many cases. The culprits of this crisis may be water barons, but it is just one early punctuation point on a much longer, much steeper trendline.
The day after the solstice we gain a few more minutes of sunlight. Every new year, every season, every cycle, every brand new twenty four hours is a new beginning. Seize the day.
Janet, Racheal, and Joyce illustrate how knowledge, community support, and financial literacy can transform lives. They are building houses, saving money, improving their families’ health, and educating their children.
In the territory of Vojvodina, Serbia, farmers and young people are stepping up to care for the soil. “Guardians of Soil Health” is a citizen science project that teaches participants how to monitor key indicators of soil health, such as organic matter decomposition, pH value, moisture, structure, texture, and microbial activity.
