New Culture Earthskills

2012!

2012-01-16T17:43:00.000-08:00

I'm renewing my commitment to rewild. I feel incomplete, unfinished. Paused on rewilding and explored modern emergency preparedness. Modern prep jazz is cool, but not the whole picture. "Naked into the wilderness." Yeah. Need to get back into rewilding for the health of my soul. Need to bloom where I am planted, follow heart, non-do. Can't focus on dominant culture. Makes my heart sick. Focus on a vision instead. Make the vision real in my own life. Meditate on the beauty of the vision for motivation. Mmm.

Beauty via love! Life Well Lived...

How I Deal With Our Converging Challenges.

2011-10-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

I can't (nor should I) hide it... Resource depletion, nuclear insanity, economic turbulence, natural disasters, political malfeasance, cosmic anomalies and other challenges have been really difficult for me to handle since about 2005. Sometimes it seems like everything is going nuts at once. Just when I thought I was on the right track with my response(s) to the world situation, I found more holes in my approach. The truth is that there will always be things that we cannot know or anticipate or prepare for or counteract.

What's a human to do? Here's my current take...

We are all part of the same whole. There aren't really any separate things, humans just tend to have inflated senses of self and like to come up with lots of names and distinctions. My personal human experience had a beginning and it will have an end. I think about a battery. You put a battery in a device. The battery has a life span. Batteries release their energy and allow work to be done, then they "die." Are humans really that much different? Doesn't seem like it to me. We do things over the course of our lives, then our individual human lives are done. It's not sad, it's not noble, it's just the way it is. If you look at yourself as a battery, what work will you put your energy into? It happens naturally, if you let it. Pay attention to the way your life flows, has flowed. Be able to quiet your individual mind and see your life as if it were a drop of water rolling down a parked car's windshield. It goes where gravity takes it. It encounters specks of dirt, bird droppings, whatever, merges with other drops, continues to flow downward, blah, blah, oozing off the car's wheel, eventually reaching the ground full of who knows what, evaporating, leaving what it accumulated during its life, merging with other vapors and coming back down again as a raindrop...

"I do my utmost to attain emptiness;I hold firmly to stillness.The myriad creatures all rise togetherAnd I watch their return.The teaming creaturesAll return to their separate roots.Returning to one's roots is known as stillness.This is what is meant by returning to one's destiny.Returning to one's destiny is known as the constant.Knowledge of the constant is known as discernment."

...I like the Tao Te Ching a lot. This verse above talks about various "manifestations" emerging and then returning to "the source." It sits really well with me. Another translation reads, "watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return." Looking at what we know of the universe, looking at Earth history, human history, I end up with the image of a bubbling, swirling mass. Lots of eddies, flares and other events, but ultimately it's the same, single everystuff.

I think that's all I have for now. Bear with me. I'm feeling wide. I hope this makes sense to someone. Take care and be who you are. Do what you naturally do. You'll know it's happening when you're not trying as hard as you were when you wanted to give up.

It truly is all good.

Seedbombing For The Afterculture.

2011-09-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

You can make seedballs packed with solid choices for no-maintenance, aftercultural perennial crops in your bioregion! As the established machine order becomes less and less reliable, these guerrilla-gardened "crops" can be harvested and enjoyed as they spread about the post-collapse landscape.

Primitive Innovation.

2011-08-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

I think we should avoid any sort of dogmatism in the world of wilderness living skills.

For example... One of my teachers frowns upon the use of two-stick hearthboards, but they work, and their use in a wilderness situation could mean the difference between life/death/thriving/having needs met, so it behooves us to know the technique, eh?

The basic principle in primitive fire-starting is usually to make a pile of hot, dry dust from natural materials, which becomes a coal, which you put into a tinder bundle to start a righteous fire. Hand drill, bow drill, fire plow, whatever.

It's ALL ABOUT having a grasp of the basic principles!!

I've talked about fire, but the same applies to other aspects of wilderness living, like shelter...

With shelter, you primarily want to shed water/moisture and retain body heat. If you're really awesome, you'll leave an open space up top to vent exhaust from an inside fire. WOOT!!! Take this understanding and use your own creativity! It's downright fun.

Learn WHY a certain method works and you're free to experiment and innovate!

Stick To Your Principles Despite Apparent Outcome.

2011-07-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Nobody knows EXACTLY what's gonna happen throughout The Unveiling. There will be surprises. Unexpected plot twists. Live according to your highest ideals as much as possible. I feel better when I do this. Much better! Don't grind your teeth because of how you think things will play out. Details will elude your ability to predict them. You just can't know. Unless you have a crystal ball or something. Simply do you. It's all cumulative. Play your part in the universal symphony. It adds richness. Thickens up the soup. Yum.

I would not have predicted that an Oak Park gardener would end up in Time Magazine and draw national attention to the right to garden on your front lawn free of interference from city regulations.

Everybody dies. It's the quality of living that matters. How will you live?

Long-Term Grid Kill (Solar Storm) + Nuclear Plants = 442 Meltdowns Worldwide?

2011-07-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

The Fukushima nuclear disaster has brought attention to the fact that nuclear power plants become ticking time bombs if the grid goes down for an extended period of time.

Do an internet search for "solar storm nuclear power plants." Sift through the results and ponder how we might avoid the premature end of planetary life if something like a solar storm were to take out the electrical grid. Many experts on space weather & whatnot say that another 1859-style solar storm (or greater) is a given. Not if, but when. Most likely in 2012 or 2013.

Is this something we should leave up to our leaders? Can we trust them to take care of this imminent problem? What should we do as conscious and compassionate humans?

I wish more people were willing to talk about this and work toward solutions together. Modern society has harnessed the energy of the Sun through nuclear power generation, and now the Sun is poised to eliminate the control we have over this energy.

I'll probably come back to this topic later.

Foraging On Organic Farms.

2011-06-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hot tip for foragers: Establish relationships with organic farmers and ask if it's okay to take some of their wild edibles. They'll love you. They pay their workers to remove these plants and consider them weeds. We know better than to dismiss them. We treasure them! Organic CSAs are especially friendly. They deal with the public a lot more than non-CSA farms. Good luck. I'm about to start doing this ASAP.

Just remember to have some empathy for the farmer. Remove entire plants, including roots. They don't want these plants to compete with their crops. You could either process harvested plants right away or save live plants in pots or planters and establish them in the area of your choosing. Transplant some to your yard to start your own wild foods garden.

I've become more familiar with many new wild edibles through my work on farms.

Taking Primitive Principles & Running With Them.

2011-05-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

The world of primitive skills is a freer world than we are used to. No zoning issues or neighborhood association troubles. No regulations or standardization. If it works and makes sense, do it. Pay attention to the principles behind your primitive projects. Once you learn the underlying principles of the projects you're working on, you can adapt them to the situation you're in and tailor them to your preferences.

Surviving or Wilderness Living?

2011-04-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

I don't always like the term "survival skills." My favorite term for what I practice and teach is "primitive wilderness living skills." When I hear the word "survival," I get an image of someone barely making through a rough situation and not enjoying life very much at all. When I hear "primitive wilderness living," I get an image of people being self-sufficient in amazing surroundings - with none of the excess complexity and soul-suffocating concerns of modern life.

What do you think when you hear these words?

Simply Being in Natural Areas.

2010-10-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

I have practiced a few primitive skills. Aspects of hide processing. Edible, medicinal & useful plants. Making thread/string/rope. Tracking animals. Building shelter. Starting fires. Blah, blah. Out of everything, it is being at peace in wilderness areas that I am most proud of.

Yep. Being in wild areas and being at peace. Not worried about that super-stupid horror movie you saw that had people getting murdered in the woods. (Everyone that I've met in the woods has been quite cool. I grew up in a city called Detroit and there was way more murder going on there than I ever experienced in the woods. If you're THAT worried, get a CCW.) Not worried about social stigmas. Seduced by the slow, seasonal changes of a given area. Green tones transition into citrus hues. Shoot, fruit & seed. Thick, verdant foliage to regal, woody frames...

Be with the natural world. As much as possible. Become addicted to it. At all times. Spend quiet time with it. Just you & your breath. Pay attention to your breath and the wind through the trees. It's related. You are alive on Earth. Love it.

Observations On The Inefficiencies Of Agriculture.

2010-07-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

I work on an organic farm. It's a great job for lots of reasons.

While weeding leeks, I paid attention to how many edible, medicinal or otherwise useful plants ("weeds") were ripped up and tossed into the space between rows to be walked on by farm workers and baked into oblivion by the hot sun.

What a waste.

I've been brainstorming of a way to avoid treating these plants so awfully. Plenty of hungry, poor people could use these plants.

Due to the diminishing returns of modern food production methods, I see these plants playing a larger role in people's diets as time goes on.

Collapse Does Not Happen Everywhere At Once.

2010-04-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

It happens one person at a time. When you can no longer maintain your status quo, it has happened to you.

It happens one neighborhood at a time. When streets are abandoned or bulldozed, it has happened in that neighborhood.

It happens one city/town/state at a time. When a city/town/state can no longer provide services for its citizens, it has happened in that city/town/state.

It happens one country at a time. When the people flatten the capitol gates and overwhelm the powers that be, it has happened in that country.

...We must carry the tragic story of industrial civilization into whatever future we find ourselves in together so that it is never repeated. We must hold the seeds of the afterculture in our deepest being. We must practice AND preach. We must not have our hearts hardened by the spirit of the passing age. We must keep our integrity and stay rooted in love. We must enjoy the beauty and unspoiled richness of the natural world together.

Post-Peak Movements and Long-Term Sustainability.

2009-10-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

When one seriously meditates on the process of industrial collapse, they can see that after a post-collapse age of scrap runs its course and all plastics, above-ground metals and such have deteriorated beyond usefulness, the only sort of lifestyle that's sustainable in the long term is one that does not depend on ANY industrially-derived materials. That basically leaves us with materials like stone, bone, wood, hide, leaves, stems, fur, sinew, crude glass, relatively minute quantities of bog iron, bark, etc. This is something that should always be kept in mind by people in movements like Transition Towns or any other post-peak groups. All of these post-peak movements should take this information seriously and respond accordingly. Time to build our skills.

Contact Jason at 313-258-1401 or newcultureearthskills (at) gmail (dot) com for more info or to make plans.

Gift Economy & Bartering.

2009-10-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

What is the gift economy? Wikipedia says:

In the social sciences, a gift economy (or gift culture) is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards (i.e. no formal quid pro quo exists). Ideally, simultaneous or recurring giving serves to circulate and redistribute valuables within the community. The organization of a gift economy stands in contrast to a barter economy or a market economy. Informal custom governs exchanges, rather than an explicit exchange of goods or services for money or some other commodity.

What is barter? Wikipedia says:

Bartering is a medium in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services without a common unit of exchange (without the use of money). It can be bilateral or multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a very limited extent. Barter usually replaces money as the method of exchange in times of monetary crisis, when the currency is unstable and devalued by hyperinflation. Bartering is still common in the present, usually used within the Internet on sites like Craigslist.

I really like the idea of offering my services in both ways, especially in times like these.

Contact Jason at 313-258-1401 or newcultureearthskills (at) gmail (dot) com for more info or to make plans.

Sour Dock Cordage.

2009-08-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sour dock. Curly dock. Same plant. Good for eating. Seeds, leaves.

I have done some experiments with dried stem fibers and found that it makes pretty good cordage!

I can walk you through it if you like.

Contact Jason at 313-258-1401 or newcultureearthskills (at) gmail (dot) com for more info or to make plans.

Apocalypse.

2009-08-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

It means "unveiling."

The collapse of industrial civilization will bring out the worst in some and the best in others.

Remember that this collapse is to be encouraged for the sake of the living natural world, which happens to include us humans.

Are you serious about building new culture?

Think again about the importance of being able to thrive without the assistance of industrial civilization as it becomes progressively dysfunctional and eventually ceases to be.

Be encouraged and go get 'em.

Contact Jason at 313-258-1401 or newcultureearthskills (at) gmail (dot) com for more info or to make plans.

Keeping a Wild Plant Area in Your Yard.

2009-07-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

We have a wild plant area in the space where the garden used to be. It started a couple of years ago when my interest in wild edible, medicinal & useful plants outgrew my interest in domestic horticulture. It's still fenced off, but I just let it go. I was more excited to see what undomesticated species would naturally spring up than I was to re-plant and maintain a garden. A few things have stuck around from garden days. Raspberries, a couple of peas, oregano, dill.

So, what wild plants have shown up?

Burdock, wild lettuce(s), wild carrot, daisy fleabane, chicory, curly dock, dandelions, spearmint, peppermint, ground ivy, peppergrass, violets, yellow sweet clover, red clover, wintercress, prunella, lady's thumb, plantain, bladder campion, goldenrod, bull thistle, some other stuff I don't know about yet...

All these plants are great for food, drink, maintaining good health, improving bad health, fiber/cordage, shelter & more.

What else does my wild patch do?

It provides habitat for birds, bees and other critters (such wonderful company). It lets me see how different plants develop and interact thoughout their life cycles. It makes it easy for me learn new wild plants and become more familiar with old ones right here at home. It gives me lots of good stuff with no investment on my part!

Try it. Pull up some of that grass and let the land go nuts, or let a portion of your garden go wild. Fence it off if you like. A makeshift fence like mine will do. Introduce plants from other wild areas by transplanting them directly, collecting seeds & cuttings or by adding a mess of soil from some other wild area which is bound to have some interesting seed in it. Get a wild plant guide, find some pages online to help you identify your plants or hire me.

You'll begin to look at landscapes in a whole different way as you become more familiar with the plants in your patch. Fun times.

Contact Jason at 313-258-1401 or newcultureearthskills (at) gmail (dot) com for more info or to make plans.

Prunella Tea.

2009-07-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

I cut it and hung it upside down to dry in the sun for two days. I cut the dried plants directly over my press pot, poured in boiling water, steeped for a few minutes, added honey and enjoyed!

Prunella is good for lots of things.

Contact Jason at 313-258-1401 or newcultureearthskills (at) gmail (dot) com for more info or to make plans.