Part 2 of ​2; Part 1 is ​here | ​Approximately a 6 ​minute read | Originally published ​5th February, 2019, on PermacultureNews.org

​Part 1 of 2 ​​| ​Approximately a 6 ​minute read | ​​Original version published ​30/1/19, on PermacultureNews.org

​​​​​Our culture loves the quick fix. 

​The quicker it works and the less effort we have to put into it, the better we like it. We have fast food, fast internet, fast aps, and... ​pharmaceutical ​medicine. 

​​Pharmaceutical medicine is ​the medical equivalent of fast food ​– its fast, its convenient, and it erodes our health over time​. 

​In contrast, at-home healthcare and natural remedies are like home-cooked, real food​ ​– they take more time and effort and they ​work more slowly​.

​​​​​Over time, ​at-home healthcare ​and natural ​remedies build robust ​health on many levels, individual and collective.

​Approximately a ​4 minute read
Originally published Nov 6th, 2018, at PermacultureNews.org

Chokos, plentifully displayed in baskets and crates at farmers markets in our area throughout the summer months, are boring, bland, and not very useful. 

That's what I used to think, but I've changed my mind.

This short article shares 7 of the ways I use chokos and choko vines since I gained a better appreciation for them.

​Approximately a 6 ​minute read | Originally published July 1st, 2018, at PermacultureNews.Org

I imagine that when our grandchildren and great grandchildren read in history books about the supermarkets we relied ​on for food, they’ll wonder what we were thinking.  

My goal is to get to where our family can live without the supermarket entirely. There are many things we have yet to learn on this path; one of our major areas of focus right now is learning to grow more of our own vegies. ​

Recently, we ate our first ever homegrown cauliflower. This post shares how I got from "I don't think I could grow brassicas," to "Ooh look – a cauliflower!"  By the end of the article you’ll appreciate that if we can do it, anyone can.

​This article is Part 2 of a Series that is mostly about chickens – not how to care for them, but how to appreciate them as being more complex and interesting than most of us give them credit for.

If you are interested only in chickens, and especially mother hens and chicks, this article will be fine to read by itself. But if you want to know more about where interconnectedness comes into the story, and why it’s important, you’ll need to go back and read the beginning of Part 1.

​Part 1 of a Series | Approximately a ​5 minute read.
​Originally published Oct 3rd, 2018, at PermacultureNews.org​.

This 3-Part Series ​starts off with our cultural lack of understanding about our place in the web of life, which is at the root of why our efforts to address ecological destruction aren’t working yet.

If you were mainly interested in chickens, stay with me – I’ll get onto backyard chickens in the second part of Part 1, and then I’ll stick almost entirely to chickens for the rest of the Series.

Please note, though, that this is not a “how to take care of chickens” Series (you can find those everywhere).

​This is about how to appreciate chickens as more than just egg-layers and garden-scratchers. And, by extension, how to appreciate any living thing beyond just its immediately apparent functions.

(Approximately a 6 ​minute read)

Growing our own milk, eggs, and / or meat is a step in the right direction, but relying on the feed ​store to help us do it means we’re still relying on fossil fuel-based agriculture and supply systems.

Since our goal is to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, at the time of writing this article I was growing an increasing amount of our own goat feed, for our two milking goats.

To make it onto the list ​that you’re about to read, these plants had to be great for goat fodder, AND serve a variety of other functions as well.

(Please note that some of the plants listed here were also listed in “8 Abundant Fodder Forest Plants, and How to Use Them.”)

(Approximately a ​4 minute read)

​Up until around the time ​we became parents, ​Alain ​and I ​never questioned our assumptions about freedom. ​​

​​The story of our time says ​this is ​normal:

• to ​be chained to debt and to schedules, 
• to have ​little or no control over where our food originates, 
• to be walled off from nature, 
• and to be more connected to ​each other via screens than in person.  

​This post describes how we began to question that story, and to re-examine ​what freedom means to us. 

​(This is Part 3 in a Series about our family's journey towards real and green.)

​(Approximately a ​5 minute read)

​This morning when I went to feed the animals, I thought I’d start with collecting some pigeon pea for ​the horses, and see what I could find for the pigs​ in the fodder forest while I was there.

​Our fodder forest is a small beginning in my long-term goal to ​eliminate our dependence on fossil fuel-based agriculture.

This article lists 8 of my favorite multi-purpose fodder-and-food plants, and some of the ways I use them.

​Originally published June 14, 2018 ​at PermacultureNews.org.