ORGANICS TO YOU -Review by Bob Ausbeck

Website: organicstoyou.org 503-236-6496

During a Tuesday night meeting of the Ananda Sustainability Group, led by Caren Burke, we were focusing on economics and we decided to try out a local source for farm fresh vegetables. Six of us ordered from “Organics to You”, a company that delivers produce from farmers locally. My box arrived at my doorstep Thursday after it was ordered Tuesday night.

The photo shows what I found. Beautiful looking fresh produce that exuded pranic energy. I still have not  consumed all of it but I must say that it has been not only tasty but full of vitality. I made a list of what I received and compared the prices with New Seasons. The New Seasons total was about $28.00 plus I believe they have a $10 delivery charge. The regular price for this size box, the smallest, is $27.00 delivered.

Reflecting further, I thought about our six boxes being delivered to one place, Ananda Community, by their truck which uses alternative fuel as compared to each of us driving to New Seasons separately – less energy expended. Organics to You had a coupon special going on which we were able to take advantage of which brought our individual cost down to $18.

I believe on Monday you can find out what goes in the box and make substitutions. There is no ongoing commitment. You order when you want and they deliver on Thursdays. Considering the quality, value and convenience, I am very pleased to have found out about this company.

A resource for gardening / sustainability

http://www.gardenhelp.org/category/sustainability/

Sangha Notes

t.b.d.

Infrastructure notes

t.b.d.

Seasonal produce in Oregon

http://www.tricountyfarm.org/crop_availability.asp

Food Team Meeting Notes 1/31/2009

Food Team members,

These are some thoughts and notes from last week’s meeting. (NEXT MEETINGS: Mon Feb 2, 7pm and Thurs Feb 5, 7pm – both in the community room).

Our sustainability project covers two areas (from the Ananda Worldwide description) 

1) Food Production

Naturally, a key component in a sustainable lifestyle is producing and preparing our food locally. Great if we can do so by ourselves, but practically we will blend our efforts between growing and purchasing food. So we will both work in gardening/harvesting and in learning about the sustainable nature of the food we buy. These are the major areas we can focus on now.

2) Food Storage

Food preparation for later consumption allows us to both manage through “difficult times” and to maintain a lower overall effort. (Sustainable practices typically work to reduce the energy requirements to complete a task, both by reducing consumption and waste.)

In the Ananda Portland Community and Sangha, we have much we can do together and individually in these two areas. The Food Team is helping by generating ideas,  momentum, and guidance in which everyone can practice greater “food” sustainability. As Paul Greer suggests so well, we are all growing an expanded consciousness of sustainability – learning for ourselves and supporting each other.

We discussed several very practical projects we can work on now.

- Gardening – planting and growing our own fruits and vegetables. Gardening needs space and so we are meeting with David LaBriere on Monday Feb 2. Gardening also needs willing participants, planning, and materials.  

- – Individual community gardens – are they maintained / should they be relocated/removed/re-assigned.

- – Shared garden space?

- – What should we plant and how can we share in the bounty?

- – Composting to generate natural, fertile soil

- – Care of the fruit trees

- – Use of the greenhouse

- – Research into “patio” or “front yard” / container opportunities

- – Is there land available beyond our community property?

- Harvesting – picking the edibles that are already available to us. (aka apples)

- Preparation – working to preserve food for later use

- Emergency Preparedness – having food on hand in case of un-planned needs

- Education – what practices are sustainable in nature and how we can move more in that direction

- – What local resources are available?

- – Which vendors have sustainable practices?

- – How to recognize the quality of sustainability in the food we purchase

- – What’s in season? How to eat what’s growing now

- – What buying / eating / cooking habits will assist us?

- – Minimizing waste / maximizing re-use

Let’s keep our thoughts on these items and meet again to begin some real action steps.

Our next project planning Food Team meeting is Thursday Feb 5 at 7 pm in the community room. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Blessings,

Brian

Links on the Metro (PDX) website

Metro has some pages related to sustainable living. There’s some nice, simple information here with some helpful recommendations.

• Sustainable Living
• Walk There! 50 treks in and around Portland and Vancouver
• Waste prevention
  
• Nature-friendly home improvement
• Green cleaners

December 5th – what’s next

Well the town hall meetings have finished and if you didn’t make it to one of them but would like to, let us know.

Everyone who was able to attend was asked a few questions – questions we all can consider.

1) What is your interest in sustainability and how do you see yourself being involved?

2) What might you like to learn more about?

3) What can you do to share our work with others – to help build the momentum and enthusiasm?

Feel free to share your thoughts in reply to this post – here online…

Permaculture Booklist

Permaculture Recommended Reading

Water

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond (Vol. I & II) by Brad Lancaster
Living Energies by Callum Coats
Messages from Water by Masaru Emoto (or any of his water books)

Soil & Water
Secrets of the Soil by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird

Soil
Hands-On Agronomy by Neal Kinsey and Charles Walters (details of soil science, especially chemistry)
Paramagnetism by Phillip S Callahan

Soil & Permaculture
Mylcelium Running by Paul Stamets
The Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow

Permaculture
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway

Permaculture and Nature & Spirit
The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka

Nature & Spirit
Herbal Rituals by Judith Berger (a gentle introduction to plants as medicine)
The Secret Teachings of Plants: the Intelligence of the Heart in the Piracfrp Nature by Stephen Harrod Buhner (scientific background to intuitive realities)
Talking with Nature by Michael Roads (first in a series of four, all recommended)
Behaving as if the God in All Life Mattered by Machaelle Small Wright
Kinship with All Life by J Allen Boone Summer with the Leprechauns by Tanis Helliwell

Fauna
The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide... by Kim Flottum
Wildlife in the Garden by Gene Logsdon

Recommended Plant Reference Books
Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants by Stephen Facciola
Secrets of Plant Propagation by Lewis Hill
Sunset’s Western Garden Book Feed the Soil by Edwin McLeod
Feed the Soil by Edwin McLeod

December 3rd Town Meeting

Our second of three town meetings this week was a joyful time, combining new participants with some return community members and exploring new areas of our sustainability options. 

A new topic (we haven’t really explored it in a group before) is the availability of sustainable communities in our area to be examples. Let’s explore and post links / information about what we find.

Not necessarily “sustainable” by name, there are some communities within the Portland area that are “CoHousing communities.” These are groups that share some common space and participate in group functions. Some more prominent ones are: Trillium Hollow, Cascadia Commons, Daybreak, Orange Splot, and Columbia Ecovillage. (You can Google their websites).

We also talked about our planning work with Ananda Worldwide. We are planning to plan – in February 2009 we will coordinate our local ideas with other Ananda communities and contribute our plans to the leadership work at the village. As of this writing, I am still looking for on-line resources from the village to help us.

Brian