Halima Catches Her First Catfish

My daughter Halima caught her first catfish today with her friend Mimi. We also caught crappies and bluegill and ate them for dinner. Halima will be eight in July. She has already been involved in chicken, goat and sheep slaughters. What a way to learn, hands-on, hands-in…

Spring Glory

After ten inches of rain over the past week and sunshine the last two days everything in the yard is bursting. Spring in Southern Illinois is glorious. Enjoy these photos of the back and front yards. The food is abundant here, pick it and eat. So simple, so, so simple…

A Few Thoughts on Permaculture

We have got to float the Permaculture canoe into the rapids of the mainstream, and the way we get there is through the mainstream. We have the keys. The question remains: what doors are we willing to open? What threshold are we willing to cross? Each second is before us in each second and the [...]

Keylines and Quarries

Just returned from Wisconisn where my project with Kristine Beck is moving along splendidly. We keylined her property, measured out buildings and other elements, selected trees, and visited two quarries, limestone and granite, to select stones for the stone circle and the labyrinth. We worked on the design for the stone tower and the all [...]

What in the World is a Strawberry Tomato?

Spring is upon us and the field guides are in the pockets and the plants and animals beckon. Getting in shape for my Three Epochs course at the Farm in Tennessee. At this course we go through hunter/gatherer, settlement and agriculture, and contemporary appropriate technology and suburban and urban skills. It includes the full Permaculture [...]