Eco Calendar Events, Late November

[Jocelyn Campbell]

Winter sure feels like it's here, doesn't it? I think winter is a perfect time to learn something new! Look at today's workshops at jocelynsevents.com - rainwater, fruit trees, sourdough, permaculture 101, biochar, green remodeling - and that's not even the half of it! If your schedule doesn't allow spontaneously taking a new class today, drill into the details and ask the instructor if they will be offering that course again. Many do.

A lot of folks will be preparing for Thanksgiving this weekend, and I'm sure you've heard of eating local for Thanksgiving. How about finding ways to eat local even more?

• Find local online: play with a map to find a local CSA, or farmer's market, or a restaurant that serves local food: www.localharvest.org, or see the farm and market lists at www.pugetsoundfresh.org.
  
• Order local online: choose spud.com, which specializes in organic, local grocery delivery, or use this link for AmazonFresh, which doesn't list whether their products are local or not, but through December will match up to $150 spent as a donation to Hopelink - which is a different type of local benefit!
• Grow or make it at home: it doesn't get any more local than when it's from home! See the classes on planting and growing fruit trees, cider pressing, sourdough primer, no-knead bread and more at jocelynsevents.com. (Reminder: the events in purple have to do with food, locavore and gardening.)

Moving slightly beyond local food, permaculture provides design tools not only for food systems, but also for building community and sustainable structures and energy. A fabulous two-day introduction starts today: Permaculture 101 and 202 classes at Seattle University on 11/20 and 11/21, respectively. Or, take the full 20th Annual December 2-15 Permaculture Design Course in Lost Valley, Oregon (where movie star Ellen Page learned about permaculture!). (See the lime green listings at jocelynsevents.com, which are the permaculture events.)

Some folks turn to permaculture design in preparation for a post carbon economy. I think many on this list are familiar with peak oil or post carbon theories, but frankly, I've been surprised at how many people I run into who have never heard of these concepts before. A friend recently recommended Chris Martenson's Crash Course, a series of YouTube videos that were easy to digest for me and incredibly informative. And a great resource to share with people who say, "huh, what's peak oil?"

Speaking of informative videos about systems crises, it's worth the risk of cross-posting to encourage you to watch this YouTube video on colony collapse disorder prevention. Jacqueline Freeman, the bee expert in the video, offers fantastic beekeeping workshops at her farm near Vancouver, WA. For an even more local pollination resource (Woodinville!) see the excellent Crown Bees website.

My view is that the more local, healthy food and businesses we encourage, and the more sustainably we frame our lives, not only are we better prepared for multiple kinds of disaster (see this "mother of all disaster-preparedness sites"), but we just might be happier, too. Disaster happens; whether it's a storm and power outage, an earthquake, a family medical crisis, or an economic crash. I think it makes sense to be prepared. Imagine if more of us could work locally and find a large percentage of the freshest, healthiest, tastiest food right beyond our doorsteps. Maybe I'm simple-minded, but less commuting time and better food makes anyone happier, doesn't it?

Hope the different format this time around works for you. Replies and feedback are welcome, but be sure you e-mail jo...@jocelynsevents.com. Any replies to the Seattle Eco Events e-mail do not reach me because it's a restricted list. (I never share your e-mail and don't allow others to send messages to the list.)

Happy Eco Thanksgiving!

Jocelyn



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