It’s been way too long since I wrote. I’m just going to include a link to my other blog, which explains my absence and catches up on things. Enjoy.

http://stuckincottagegrove.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/way-behind/

I only own 5 acres but I think it is one of the most beautiful places ever. It’s not worth a lot, money-wise, but we have deer and an endless variety of birds and wild irises and mushrooms and exotic-looking wildflowers and we even saw a mom and baby bear once. Streams run on both sides of our property and timber companies own the land behind us and across the street from us. I worry about this little slice of heaven someday being destroyed.

I heard about the Wildlife Land Trust (http://www.wlt.org/index.asp) and it seemed like the perfect solution. There are different options for donating your land to the trust. You can retain ownership of your land but provide a wildlife easement, you can donate the property outright and you can even donate the land but live on it until you die. The site offers a lot of information about legalities and tax benefits. I actually filled out a form online to see if my land was appropriate. I admit I never got a response, which was discouraging, but I still think it’s a worthwhile idea to explore, perhaps if not through this particular organization (The Humane Society of the United States) then through another one, like Nature Conservancy.

Here’s a great article from someone who actually lived in a yurt: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/wolfe76.html It’s been a while since I read the article all the way through but it’s a neat story that covers everything from construction to history. Pacific Yurts is even mentioned.

The author is a woman and she says it took her and one friend to erect her used yurt in about 12 hours. Amazing. She also hauled the entire thing to her building site in a mini-pick up. Those are the kinds of things that give me hope. There are so many alternatives to the destructive nature of standard, modern construction. And the best part is, living in a yurt or cob house or other more sustainable type of home often is reported to be more inspiring, uplifting and healthier.

I believe the original story appeared in Backwoods Home Magazine, a magazine I would like to explore further. The picture is from the site.

I’m not sure exactly how well this site (http://www.pooktre.com/) fits into the sustainable category but I love the idea of living furniture and art. I’ve heard of manipulating trees so that they can be houses and I’ve thought about planting bamboo in a pattern so that it grows into the walls of the rooms of a house. I think it would be wonderful if we could find practical ways to make our homes out of trees without cutting them down; if we could integrate our lives into the tree’s life. How beautiful would that be? Anyway, I thought this was a very interesting site and concept. Sort of reminds me of the art of Andy Goldsworthy. See some of his work here http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/1049936558039909072XdMbZv

I am thinking of subscribing to a farm produce program. I should get my tax refund soon and I think I will do it. The program I want to join is called Good Food Easy. It’s through Sweetwater Farm in Creswell, Oregon. One of the things that I like most about their subscription service is that it can be done month to month. There is no year commitment like with many other produce subscription services. I’m really looking forward to it. Check out their site at http://goodfoodeasy.com/

I found out about them through an old local newspaper article I found online. Here’s another interesting site from the University of Massachusetts about CSAs. http://www.umassvegetable.org/food_farming_systems/csa/resources.html

The photo is one of our chickens, Buttermilk.

I found a site for a company in Vermont that sells a huge selection of organic gardening supplies; everything from bat guano to biodegradable plastic bags, in addition to lots of links and resources. I haven’t purchased anything from them but their site did help me when I was looking for natural flea treatments last summer. They’re worth checking out. (The bat picture is from their site.) http://www.dirtworks.net/

I have a friend who would be perfect for starting a farm sanctuary. She has some decent acreage and definitely has the personality and desire.

http://farmsanctuary.org/ is a site that has information on adopting rescued farm animals, starting your own sanctuary, animal care, etc. It’s a wonderful site for those of us who feel there has to be a better way than cruel mass production. Check it out. It has some great stories and valuable information. The photo is from the site and is of Harrison, a calf who was rescued and found sanctuary.

Part of my quest for self-sufficiency is looking back to how things were done before modern “improvements”. A great site I found provides a lot of “how-to” information on Native American arts and daily life. It doesn’t have much shelter and housing examples but it is a great resource for beading, crafts, clothing, etc. Here’s their site http://www.nativetech.org/

The photo is from the Nativetech.org site and illustrates feather wrapping techniques.

First, let me say that I don’t think my links were working on my Green Wedding post. I think I’ve fixed them so if you couldn’t reach the sites I mentioned before, please try again.

Second, I wanted to write about another site I found. It’s a company called Vivavi, http://www.vivavi.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=85 ,which makes bamboo furnishings. Not only are their pieces really elegant and cool looking, the site is affiliated with The Lazy Environmentalist http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/, a radio program focusing on easy eco-friendly solutions, and with ModernGreenLiving.com http://www.moderngreenliving.com/, a resource site for green building, construction and architecture. Another thing that I like about Vivavi is that 1% of their sales goes to charity. Can’t beat all of that. The furniture is kind of expensive but gives me great ideas, the site is a resource for many other green features and purchases will benefit an important cause. I love sites that send me in other directions. That’s one of the things I like about the internet–it’s like setting up dominoes, one thing always seems to lead to another. One site I discovered through following links on Vivavi is GoLoco.org http://goloco.org/greetings;guest , which is sort of a ridesharing matchmaker service. I’m going to have to look further into it. Very interesting. I’ve tried Craigslist before for ridesharing but haven’t had much luck. I’ll have to give GoLoco a chance.

The photo is one of Vivavi’s cabinets from their website.

I have never been married and have no intentions of ever doing so but I have always been fascinated by weddings. This fascination has been passed onto my daughter, apparently, as she is considering Wedding Planning as a career (along with horse camp owner, actress, fashion designer, research scientist, forensic anthropologist and engineer, to name a few). This joint interest of ours led me to discover a great site on green weddings. http://www.greatgreenwedding.com/default.php Many of the ideas can be applied to any kind of party or event and they are great ideas–donating leftover food instead of throwing it out; Food Not Bombs is one resource for that http://www.foodnotbombs.net/; designing email invitations instead of using paper ones, and giving live plants for party favors that can be replanted. If my daughter does get into this line of work, I’m hoping the things I teach her now about gentle impacts will encourage her to focus on creative, earth-friendly ideas.

The flower photo above is from the green weddings site.