another strand to chuck in the ring:

“How to Imagine” by Baruchello.

Baruchello, in this extremely entertaining little book, rambles on like a farmer leaning over a fence to his neighbour about art and agriculture. Can running a farm be art?

It seems to me that these questions are really coming to fruition now. Permaculture – the multiple uses of many things, border crossing, shifting understandings of utility and beauty, art and agriculture coalesce here. I really love this book.

I wonder if I could build a tree bog in my backyard, from what I can tell, in the case of a tree bog, which idea came from this guide: How to build a tree bog, one doesn’t use the poo again, as it’s nutrients feed the willow surrounding the bog – but it would at least save a lot of water. I live in a co-op and most, if not all, the other members would be none too pleased about this idea….could I do it without asking them?

Even people who have never been particularly interested in environmental issues now get the need to conserve energy, especially water, and my co-op is finally contemplating installing rain tanks on all our properties (about 23) – new builds will all have rain water tanks. The issue of plumbing the rain water tanks to the toilets has been raised, and amazingly, has sort of been agreed upon, although a reidiculously small amount of monies have been allocated to the potentially expensive project.

I’ve several times said that we could, provided everything meets the necessary building standards and approvals, look at reducing costs by employing a make-do-it-yourself approach. Such as, in the case of solar, this $1000 solar water heating system. I haven’t researched this thoroughly. Perhaps, as my next art project I could remedy that. I know that, in order to even get such a thing considered by my co-op, I would need to have researched everything, especially the building standards approvals.

Lucas:
(not really dog and cat poo though?)
doesn’t that shit cause diseases?

teddlesruss:
Dog and cat poo in compost – I know there’s a reason, mainly because people use the compost too early. There’s some bacterial risk or something.

I do bury my dog’s poo around the drip line of my fruit tress (peach, apricot, apple and plum) – but don’t know enough about it – I thought dog & cat dung was low in fertilising properties?

I also thought that human poo was risky in terms of disease (this would alarm the hell out of my co-op!)- but I did once share a house with a guy who was using it to grow the household’s veges – I wasn’t involved in the gardening at the time and he kept it low-key – probably for fear of our reactions.

I wonder if I could get the people in my street interested in looking at the land our homes are built upon as a whole, rather than separate, isolated blocks? I wonder if I could get the people in my street interested in growing and exchanging food? More art projects to consider.

I wonder, – as people become less and less inclined to walk and more and more ‘present’ within virtual space – if material space, the built environment in particular, will be reclaimed, as if in secret by those who still walk there? (a science-fiction novel perhaps!!!)

Teddlesruss, I noticed on your site you have a book about dietary management of cancer. It sounds a bit permaculture-related, to this one-track minded blogger (you know, integrated systems, inputs and exports etc…) Tell us more?

Small composting tip: If you don’t have a compost heap but want to use your food scraps etc – bury them around trees etc. It’s not a great solution but it does serve as a stop-gap.

this course sounds good – I saw an ad for it but I’m o/s again. actually maybe they should come here (india) and teach the class because in some areas the streets are flowing with the stuff and there’s not a garden taking advantage of it. there are gardens here in the city, but it doesn’t appear that anyone’s made the connection. it could be one solution to a problem here..