Sustainable Flatbush

While in Portland, I was eager to check out some of the projects spearheaded by a local organization called City Repair (“an organized group action that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live”). One of their traffic calming “intersection repairs” turned out to be a few blocks from [...]

We had a full house for Friday’s lecture by Wilton Duckworth and Joan Ewing of Green Phoenix Permaculture. Wilton provided some fascinating historical perspective on New York City’s infrastructure; I was particularly intrigued to learn of our transition from a city that was once able to sell its “night soil” (waste from outhouses) to farmers [...]

Event #3 also provided a special treat for the late-nighters who stayed to hear Cacau Arcoverde and Ileana Santamaria perform music and dance from Pernambuco, Brazil! We even had a roda de capoeira going for a minute (thanks to Samir). DJ Drummerman (Jeff Duneman) and I helped out on percussion too. photos by Chris Kreussling [...]

Tonight’s Sustainable Flatbush Event #3 | Urban Permaculture is ON… with an added BoNuS: Vocalist/dancer/songwriter/percussionist *** Ileana Santamaria *** will treat us to some of her favorite classic Brazilian tunes!! “Cuban-born Ileana Santamaria grew up in a musical household with a dream to carry on the legacy of her father, Cuban percussionist and Latin Jazz [...]

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Sustainable Flatbush Event #3 Friday, June 15th, 8pm until midnight at Vox Pop Cafe/Bookstore 1022 Cortelyou Road, Flatbush, Brooklyn Q train to Cortelyou Road, walk 5 blocks west to Stratford Our regular (ish) monthly (or so) event will be on Friday June 15th from 8pm to midnight. The subject will be “Permaculture and its Applications [...]

I met Sean Maley from Green Phoenix Permaculture‘s NYC Chapter on my visit to Epworth Camp a few weeks ago, and invited him to do a little guest blogging about the Permaculture Design Course. (Doesn’t “guest blogging” sound like an appropriate way to reconnect with the urban whirlwind?) Sean is a resident of Upper Manhattan, [...]

Last weekend I took a bus ride up to Epworth Camp in High Falls, NY to drop in on a Permaculture Design Certification course taught by Geoff Lawton. Geoff is an internationally-recognized permaculture expert who has overseen projects all over the globe, from soil restoration at a former refugee camp in the Balkans to creating [...]

The past week has been a whirlwind of permaculture activities for me. I am fascinated by this subject, though I still have trouble adequately explaining what it IS when asked. Fundamentally, permaculture is a practice of sustainable design based on ecological principles, and although usually associated with farming or gardening, it can also be applied [...]

Permaculture-based systems offer a broad range of solutions to making NYC more sustainable, and the alliance of folks presenting this event reflects that range. Whether you are interested in growing your own food, making efficient use of land and energy, or just keeping it together when the oil pipelines go dry… this gathering should be [...]