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Welcome to my free Post Collections about 

Caring for Ourselves

as sustainable and ethically as we can

Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up." 

~ David Orr

INTRODUCTION

Everything is connected. In my opinion a truly “sustainable" way of living directly or indirectly benefits not only ourselves and our families, but also our communities and our soil, air, water, and all the Living things that share them with us. 

Because everything is so intricately interconnected, it doesn't matter where you start. When you tug on any one thread in the web of life, your choices and actions reverberate along that thread to touch another... and then another...

No action is too small to matter. Sometimes, apparently "small" actions can have a surprisingly large effect. And the smaller your actions are, the easier they will be to sustain. 

So take heart. You don't need to be a CEO or a billionaire to make a difference.  One small, heart-centered action at a time, beginning with how you care for your self and your family, is enough.

I'm grateful that you're here. Please enjoy browsing my free Collections of posts on caring for ourselves as sustainably and ethically as we can. (Note that many posts appear in more than one Collection.)

FEATURED posts

RECENT posts

Posts on HOME GROWN food

We focus on low-maintenance multi-functional plants that meet more than one need, and on perennials and self-seeders that producing ongoing small harvests and don't have to be re-planted every year.

We're inspired by Permaculture, Syntropics, and all  Regenerative Agriculture philosophies and techniques; our goal is home-grown food while building soil, capturing carbon, caring for ecology and water systems, and increasing biodiversity. 

We’re in a semi-tropical environment with warm-season storms, frequent cool-season rain, and dry periods - so we can grow a very wide range of plants.

one-small-serve-kate-martignier

One Small Serve - an ebook

Growing and processing your own food is a huge task. In One Small Serve, I show you a smaller, simpler approach. Learn how to grow and use 7 food plants that are

  • easy and very low-maintenance
  • productive for two or more years without replanting
  • deeply nutritious


Establish a "one-serve-at-a-time" home-grown food habit that's easy to maintain

Includes a series of FREE extra tips via email + free email support

Posts on REAL FOOD and NUTRITION*

Food was once something that people shared, locally. Everyone had food related skills and everyone worked together to insure that everyone was fed. The work of feeding ourselves and each other strengthened our relationships with each other and with the ecosystems that fed us. 

Industrialization has cut these ties between growers, processors, eaters, and ecosystems.

Food produced and sold in the industrial system is now a commodity, sold to the highest bidder, traded globally and anonymously.

Commoditized food erodes our health when we eat it, and its production erodes the health of the families, communities and ecosystems that produce it.

I do talk about healthy eating and nutrition here*, but I'm interested in more than just healthy eating for individuals and families. To me, "Real Food" does more than tick boxes in a "healthy eating" list. Real food does that, and it also repairs broken connections and rebuilds health on all levels.

To me, real food is healthy for the eater and also for the farmer and community that grow it and for the ecosystem it grows in.

And one last thing to note is that Real Food, for our family, includes "Happy Meat.

*Please note that I have no formal qualifications as a nutritionist.

Healthier SHOPPING HABITS

What we put in our shopping trolleys and baskets impacts our own health, obviously, but it goes way beyond that. Our shopping choices also directly effect the ecosystems and communities that produce our consumables and those that absorb the by-products and waste-products of what we eat and use.

Since we're making these choices every day anyway, paying more attention to them is a small but significant way to help - without adding anything extra to your to-do list.

BATHROOM and MEDICINE CABINET

In the bathroom aisle and at the pharmacy, you spend hard earned money on mostly unnecessary products, often full of toxins, that leave a trail of pollution and destruction in their wake. There are safer, cleaner, more ethical alternatives, and they can be economical, simple, and quick to make.

KEEPING CHICKENS

Anybody can stick a flock of chickens in the backyard. The result will be fresh eggs, plenty of entertainment, and a progressive and terminal de-greening of the backyard.

We're on a mission to move backyard chicken-keeping away from barren, bare ground with a pile of wilted greens in the middle of it,  and towards the model of a healthy ecosystem. To do that, we need to learn to manage the flock so that ALL of its functions—not just egg and meat production but also manure production, and garden and composting assistance—are put to use effectively.

Happy Backyard CHICKENS and the INTERCONECTEDNESS of Everything

This 3-part Series shares stories about the unique differences in the ways individual hens mother their chicks, how the chicks mature toward independence, and the fascinating ways that roosters care for their hens (it goes well beyond protecting them from danger).

It ends with the question, "Can good husbandry, regenerative agriculture, and morally right living, be defined in terms of happiness and connection?" (I believe the answer is "Yes.")

You may enjoy these posts if you like chickens for their own sake, if you like eating food that comes from happy sources, and/or if you care deeply about our living world but sometimes feel powerless to make a difference in caring for it.

Raising PIGS

Pigs, for us, have turned out to be very rewarding and also very challenging animals to keep.

Rewarding because they're charismatic, intelligent, sociable, and also because pork, ham and bacon are meats we refuse to buy -- so we're very fortunate to be able to raise them ourselves.

And challenging, because pigs have big needs for space, play, clean soil to dig in, and a diverse diet -- and providing those while keeping their environment alive and vibrant is a big challenge. We're far from feeling like we've got it sorted; these posts share what we're learning as we work toward it.

CATTLE and HOME DAIRYING

There are just a small handful of posts here, mostly farm updates that include pics and mentions of our home dairying adventures. 

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