Our neighborhood association had its annual meeting and I presented our sustainable neighborhood group's vision to transform this park that is a field of old disturbed farmland (lots of alfalfa and invasive weeds) into native grasses, pollinator friendly plants and maybe some nice aquatic plants along the pond.
Everyone was really into the idea and we connected with someone who volunteers with
https://frontrange.wildones.org
So, that about wraps up this week's #SolarPunkSunday! I will be highlighting others' posts next Sunday, but probably won't post a lot, since I have plans. I'm sure you'll enjoy reading posts by others! Speaking of which, a big TY to this week's participants, including @MaQuest , @BrambleBearGrrrauwling , @jblue , @elplatt , and @kunstvereinweiden !
Easing back into the #DoomPosting. Re-posting earlier #SolarpunkSunday posts, then I'll focus on #MayDay protests in Maine, NH, and elsewhere! Then updates on breaking news of the fascist takeover(s) going on -- and resistance against them!
Getting to know our food, and how being good stewards of the land can help us eat better
by Katharine A. Jameson, Vermont Country magazine
03/01/2024
Excerpt: "Learning from the land
"Chief Stevens points out that it’s all in one’s perspective. He gives the example of #dandelions. 'You might look at them as a weed but I might look at them as a food source,' he explains, noting the wine and greens for which they’re used.
"When Europeans arrived in what they later named Vermont, they saw the lush #ForestGardens Natives had fostered, but didn’t recognize that it had been cultivated. 'The sophistication of the agriculture system was so high that people couldn’t see it at all. It just looked like abundant wild lands, but really they were so abundant because of our deep connection and long-term #stewardship of them,' #Abenaki tribal member, #JohnHunt describes in a new, short film posted to YouTube about Abenaki food systems.
"What can we learn from these growth practices? Professor Tiana Baca of Sterling College explains in this film: 'Nature doesn’t grow in #monocrops.' She notes that Native people’s lush gardens maximized yields by #CompanionPlanting crops like the #ThreeSisters. 'The three sisters is a companion planting group of corn, beans and squash. They’re plants that grow together and support each other. The corn is growing up, it’s providing this living trellis. The beans use that to climb on. The beans are then fixing nitrogen and supporting the growth of the corn and then the squash plant kind of sprawls out and creates this living mulch. All of them working together makes all of them produce better.'
"Respect runs deep in the Abenaki tradition. From the elders and ancestors from whom they learn to the food and animals they consume, they bless the animals they dispatch with tobacco and hold sacred the chain of custody of each of their seeds.
" 'We have to have some foresight about it. Treating the land with respect and not looking at it always through our need, but as a collective community need. In the old days we used to look at community more than individual needs.' Stevens discusses the Native mentality that land, contrary to the European way, is to be shared by all creatures, not owned.
" 'There is hope,' Chief Stevens says. 'There is a way to reconnect and change the outcomes of what is happening. But the only way to do that is to put the effort, time and resources into connecting with us, the native people and others to try to remember that historical knowledge of connection to our land, our animals and our wild food sources. The forests and the wild foods sustained our people for thousands of years. Why would we not think it wouldn’t do that now?'
"The Chief set out a few things we can all do to help save the planet."
https://vermontcountry.com/2024/03/01/abenaki-food-systems-native-stewardship/
Installed a 4x4 post for a raspberry trellis using sand, wood ash, and packed earth instead of concrete. Won't last 100 years, but it doesn't need to, and it'll just be soil after it degrades. #SolarPunk #SolarPunkSunday #Reuse
#SolarPunkSunday #ClimateChangeGardening #gardening #NativePlants
So I’ve been super busy. After rains, there’s been standing water in a dip in the lawn - this is bad living next to a marsh that gets flooded in hurricanes.
So I built a huge organic flood wall on top of that dip that will be filled in with native plants and raised beds/pots. The plants and organic matter will hopefully absorb water that creeps up from the marsh.
It’s 39ft long, 8-10ft wide, 1ft high and amoeba shaped.
Also, my #SolarPunkSunday posts next week may be delayed (or not happening). Big May Day celebration with my Pagan peeps, so I'll be donning my horns and dancing around a May Pole!
So, I'll be re-tooting some #SolarPunkSunday articles again later in the day, but now I'm going to shift gears and post about a related topic -- #NativeAmericanFood and #NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty. I've been wanting to post these for a while, and I figure Sunday is a good day for that -- since I'm consciously taking a break from the #DoomPosting for a bit (that will resume at around 6pm EDT).
@MJK Thanks for posting! Tagging for #SolarPunkSunday.
I've got a couple of Meyer lemon trees. They are tricky to get started, but it is possible. Try and get a few seeds to work with if you can.
8 Fruits That Thrive in Pots and Containers, From Blueberries to Cherries
You don’t need a lot of growing space to cultivate delicious fruit at home.
By SJ McShane
Published on April 22, 2025
5 Outdoor Plants That Are Surprisingly Easy to Grow From Cuttings
From snippet to stunning!
By Marnie Kunz
Published on April 24, 2025
Great example of real life visible mending! Nice stitch work!
Mine is pretty awful still, but I have plenty of ripped cloth to practice on.
You inspire me
#ChattanoogaTN Just Became North America’s First National Park City. Here’s What That Means
The designation was awarded by a London-based charity that aims to make cities more like national parks: “greener, healthier and wilder”
by Sarah Kuta - Daily Correspondent
April 23, 2025
"#Chattanooga has been named North America’s first #NationalParkCity, a designation that acknowledges the city’s abundant green spaces and commitment to environmental stewardship.
[...]
"In Chattanooga, city leaders have used the initiative to encourage residents to 'think about Chattanooga as a city in a park, rather than a city with some parks in it,' says Tim Kelly, the mayor of Chattanooga, in a video announcing the designation.
" 'The outdoors is our competitive advantage,' he adds. 'It’s at the heart of our story of revitalization, and it’s at the core of our identity as Chattanoogans. We’ve always known how special Chattanooga’s connection to the outdoors is, and now it’s going to be recognized around the world.' "
#CriticalMass - List of Rides around the World! (Many of them are the last Friday of the month, but not all of them.)
"The following is a partial list of Critical Mass bicycle rides around the world. Some rides may no longer exist and most certainly not every ride is listed here.
"Unless otherwise stated, rides are held on the last Friday of every month at 5.30pm."
https://criticalmass.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_rides
#SolarPunkSunday #WeAreTraffic
#BicycleSafety #BuildingCommunity #Bikes #BikeTooters #OwnTheRoad
History of #CriticalMass - The Night That Changed #SanFrancisco #Cycling Forever
Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman
Feb 23, 2023
Excerpt: "One night, on the last Friday of the month in September of 1992, Carlsson and a group of friends decided to take action. They planned to gather at Embarcadero Plaza, right by the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco, and ride home together. They called the ride 'The #Commute lot.'
" 'We were asserting our right to the streets, essentially. One of the slogans that came out that period was that we’re not blocking traffic, we are traffic. So if you’re sick of being treated like crap on the streets of the city, show up for this thing and ride home in a group. About 50 people showed up,' said Carlsson."
Read more:
https://www.kqed.org/news/11941576/the-night-that-changed-san-francisco-cycling-forever
