Enterprise
Eco business directory site of 2,000 green business links.
In Business, the magazine for sustainable businesses and communities, "where sustainable goals and small business team up." Can order a free copy online, has online tables of contents, and some of the articles are available for free on line. The makings of a renewable energy revolution.
On-line seminars in sustainable economics, at the Communications for a Sustainable Future site. In particular, we note the Ownership Solution, which has some distributist roots.
Farmer Direct Marketing, from the US Department of Agriculture.
Farmer Direct Marketing Publications.
Farmer Direct Marketing Newsletter, June-July 1999,
Experiments in Sustainable Urban Living, rooftop gardening, compost hot water heaters, rainwater harvesting, greywater, strawbale housing, tips.
How to build a wood fired oven and start a home bakery. Being a tried and true method of getting together our daily bread and having some loaves to sell.
Adobe Oven Page, how one family built an abode oven, step by step.
Alternative Technology Association, Australian site. Publishes booklets on how to build your own wind generator, low voltage appliances, and other subjects.
Institute for Local Self Reliance, from raising fish in a basement to organizing a community cooperative.
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, sustainable farming information center from the National Center for Appropriate Technology. Sustainable agriculture organizations and publications.
Farmer Direct Marketing online newsletter, from the US Department of Agriculture. http://www.ams.usda.gov/directmarketing/news_04_99.htm
Country Home Magazine simple living and homesteading. http://www.countryhomemag.com/
Cooperatives and Cooperation from the University of Colorado, an excellent selection of links to clearinghouses, essays, and food, community, housing, consumer, workers', agricultural and rural, health care, energy, internet cooperatives.
How to start a food buying club, from Natural Life magazine.
Community Development Links Bookmark this one for sure! Great collection of links relating to community development.
Virtual Library on Micro-credit. Find out the latest news on micro-enterprise and micro-credit activities that enable people to help themselves.
Justpeace Front Page about Co-ops many links, Catholic connections.
Northeast Co-op, a nice site, can refer you to co-ops in the northeast and can help you start your own co-op.
Wedge Community Co-op, a Minnesota cooperation.
Frontier Natural Products Co-op, a co-op supplying co-ops
Breedlove Dehydrated Foods, a nonprofit organization in Lubbock, Texas that provides low cost food to charities for use in hunger relief projects (US and international). It owns its own state-of-the-art processing facility, that has provided over 28 million pounds of dehydrated vegetables (mostly potatoes and carrots) since 1994.
Lehman's Non-electric Catalog, from the Kidron, Ohio company that supplies the Amish, everything you need to live without electricity.
Working at home, page of links about starting your own business, including how to avoid the various scams in this microenterprise area.
Ecomall, a gateway for businesses offering eco-friendly products via the internet.
Pike Place Market. What has 9 acres, 9 million annual visitors, 100 farmers, 150 craftspeople, 300 commercial businesspeople, and 50 performers? Pike Place Market in Seattle. It's also home to a number of senior citizens. Read and find out about this important public market, and then ask yourself if your city doesn't need such a place of economic opportunity.
American Farmland Trust is working to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthier environment. In particular, see the Farmland Information Library, big piles of information, very big piles. Excellent online resource. See also Web resources for small farms.
Farmland Fund of PCC Natural Markets, an 8 store chain of markets in the Puget Sound, Washington area. Their Farmland Fund is a non-profit organization that raises money to buy threatened land and put it into organic food production.
A Guide to North American Fairs, dates, links, vendors, in particular see their History of Fairs, which notes an early fair, hosted by King Ahaseurus of Persia, as recorded in the book of Esther in the Bible.
Solar baking under the Sonoran Sun, a group of women in Sonora, Mexico, start a bakery using a solar oven.
The Mondragon Cooperatives of Spain, English home page. The Mondragon cooperatives consist of 120 different enterprises, more than 40,000 worker owners. See Mondragon: A better way to go to work? in the June 2000 Oklahoma City Catholic Worker.
Ithaca Hours Online, access to information on starting up a local currency system to support your local economy. Yes, it's legal, no it's not counterfeiting (you aren't issuing US dollars, you are creating a local alternative currency).
San Diego Women's Bean Project, a small business providing homeless and low-income women with economic opportunity.
Community Supported Agriculture Business Management Series, from Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, extensive on-line manual.
TenThousand Villages, providing income to people in Third World villages by marketing their products, a Fair Trade project.
Commercial applications of mini-farming, micrenterprises and market gardens. Applications and target enterprises.
WWW Virtual Library on Microcredit, high quality access, links, data, via the Global Development Research Center
Small Farms and their economic and social importance. Plus piles of access to resources, info, and links.
Growing for Market, online presence of a hardcopy publication from Kansas, not much online info, but some interesting print publications and it looks like the publication itself is a keeper. Virtual Farm Tours, interesting link page to site offering tours of successful small farms. Followup has links relating to stories in the publication.
Economics of Transition from State-Capitalist to Cooperative Enterprises, academic paper considering the cooperative as a model for newly liberating economies.
National Cooperative Bank. Has information about coops, including a start-up guide to cooperative business enterprise.
Would you like ground spinal cord with that? Salon.com expose of the fast food industry. You might be surprised what goes into a corporate franchise fast food burger.
Green Money, online access to socially and environmentally responsible investment opportunities, businesses, and services.
Cleaner Production, on-line access to environmental resources for manufacturers and industry folks.
Co-operatives and Cooperation, access and resources.
Local Exchange Trading Systems, invent your own local monetary system back by local goods and services.
Ashgrove Community Farm and Sustainable Living Center, a small intentional community which operates a number of farm-based enterprises.
Environment
International Society for Ecological Economics, website of academic society, has info about research, publications, and conferences in the field.
Flying, page where you can calculate the environmental cost of your airplane trip.
Jetstream Analyses and Forecasts, world maps of high altitude winds. Find out where the fallout will go from a nuclear war anywhere on earth. Hint: fallout from explosions in India and Pakistan will go over China, Japan, and the US.
Choose Climate, interactive site where you can see the consequences of environmental choices.
The Great Climate Flip Flop, from Atlantic Monthly. Global warming? Global cooling? The evidence is mounting that the earth's climate is characterized by abrupt changes.
Scorecard, enter your zip code, find out what pollutants are being released in your neighborhood and who is doing the polluting.
Ecological and Environmental Access, at Communications for a Sustainable Future, has a wide variety of resources, including the "list-servs of record" of the sustainable building movement (strawbale, earthship, cob, etc.)
The Battle of Seattle page at the Co-intelligence Institute's site.
Climate change and impact on US water supplies, extensive bibliography of peer reviewed literature.
US Global Climate Change Information Office, government site offering a lot of access to climate issues. In particular, see Consequences, their on-line publication on the effects of climate change on human populations.
Rachel's Environment and Health Weekly, subscribe or review the archives of a weekly email on environmental issues.
Unwelcome Neighbors: Civil Rights and the Environment, a series from the Times-Picayune (Louisiana) News. The plain truth is: poor neighborhoods tend to have polluting industrial neighbors, negatively impacting all who live there.
The Fraying Web of Life, on-line summary (in html and pdf formats) of a report to be released in September 2000 by the UN Development Program, the World Bank (!!!!), and the World Resources Institute. In the last century: + half of the worlds wetlands were lost, + forest habitat is being lost at the rate of 130 square kilometers per year, + soil degradation has affected 2/3rds of the world's agricultural lands (in the last 50 years!). World Resources 2000-2001
Earth Share, mega access site sponsored by a coalition of the US leading environmental and conservation organizations. Lots of practical info, networking, and news is here.
A paler shade of green, essay critiquing corporation-style "sustainability" pr tactics.
Ecologia, Ecologists Linked for Organizing Grassroots Initiatives and Action, offices in the US and many of the former Soviet Empire countries, founded to assist environmentalists in the old Soviet Empire countries with information and technology transfer.
Calculate your ecological footprint, in 13 easy steps, discover how hard your lifestyle impacts the earth.
Ecology at About.com, with the usual thoroughness you expect from an About.com guide, a good place to get started with environmentalism on the web.
International Center for Bio-saline Agriculture, The mandate of the Center is to develop sustainable management systems to irrigate food and forage crops and greening plants with saline water and to provide a resource of salt-tolerant plants for socio-economic development in the arid and semi-arid areas and salt affected areas of the Islamic world and elsewhere, located in Dubai..
Center for Ecological Pollution Prevention, composting toilets, graywater and waste management systems.
The Busy Person's Guide to Greener Living, eco-tips, action alerts, shopping, original content plus links and resources. Well-organized.
Inform, "strategies for a better environment," practical ways of living and doing business that are environmentally sustainable.
Fact Sheet for coffee drinkers with a conscience, the impact of the decline of shade grown coffee on migratory birds.
Environment and Sustainable Living, interesting collection of links relating to the various practicalities of a sustainable living household. Some original content about the basics of sustainable living.
Graduate Program in Earth Literacy, offered by the College of St. Mary in the Woods in Indiana. Affiliated with the Sisters of Providence and their White Violet Eco-justice Center linked in the Spirituality section this issue.
Marianist Environmental Education, from the Catholic religious order of the same name, caring for 100 acres in an ecologically sound manner, offers educational programs and service learning projects.
Christians Respecting Earth and the Environment. A project of the justice and peace commission of the Brisbane (Australia) Catholic Diocese.
Earth on Edge, website for the PBS Bill Moyers' report of the same name, examining the six major ecosystems that we depend upon: agriculture, forest, grasslands, coastal areas, freshwater, urban.
Conservation Ecology, a peer reviewed on-line electronic journal.
Pesticide Action Network, includes a database, action updates, problems, worldwide focus.
Bat Conservation International, all kinds of bat stuff, including a batcam.
Housing
The Last Straw, a quarterly journal of straw bale construction and natural building.
Sustainable Building Sourcebook, from a to z, access and information.
Lighthook's strawbale house page. Information and links.
Surfin' Strawbale Links List, aptly described as "The List" to pursue straw bale building.
Cob Cottage, information about this low-tech building technology.
Down to earth building bee, building solutions for sustainable communities.
What is cob? Basic info, plus beautiful pictures, of hand sculpted homes.
Skillful Means information about straw bale construction and sustainable building practices from an experienced architectural and construction firm. Check out their What's New? page for information about their "mission to Mongolia," where one of the firm's principles is teaching straw bale construction.
Earthfriendly and Self-Sufficient Architectures also from the U of Colorado.
Sustainable Architecture, Building, and Culture links and content for ecological building.
National Consumer Law Center, one of the nation's leading experts on low-income consumer issues. The Home Ownership Initiative researches and exposes predatory lending practices typically found in low income areas, and helps people understand their rights and options.
Timber Framers Guild, timber framing is a centuries old construction technique using large beams (8" x 8" or larger).
National Affordable Housing Network, has plans for affordable houses suitable for construction by volunteers, homeowners, or contractors, featuring R-40 walls and R-60 insulation in the attic, high performance heating systems (annual heating cost of one of these homes in Duluth, Minnesota was only $128!) Construction is explained and sequenced so that it is easy for untrained people to be guided in the work.
Straw Locator, do you need 500 straw bales to build your dream house? Or do you have a field full of straw bales to sell? This is a clearinghouse for people looking to buy straw bales, people with bales to sell, and people who will haul them around.
The Eco Design Experience, 6 week course offered in Arizona in conjunction with the San Francisco Institute of Architecture on designing ecologically sound dwellings. Courses combine construction and class work for an effective presentation. Director is Dr. Phil Hawes, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and the architect for Biosphere 2.
The Co-housing Network, a type of collaborative housing featuring private dwellings surrounding one or more larger common buildings. A good on-line library of articles on the subject, access, connections, there may be one forming in your area. Adaptable to a variety of "intentions" in starting such a community.
Cob Web II, great access to cob building resources. Great pictures, look what you can make with mud, straw, and stones.
Cob Works, instruction, accommodation, construction. Visit this beautiful location on Mayne Island in British Columbia and discover the beauty of cob construction. Site has nice explanations with pictures of the many creative possibilities using cob construction.
Gypsy Farm, a natural building resource center. Follow the adventures of the Newberry family as they construct a "super-adobe" home in Georgia, a technique based on Nader Kalili's work at Cal-Earth.
Day Creek, access to cordwood building information, has on-line forums relating to alternative house building and construction techniques. Build a house for $12/square foot, a cord wood house in Wisconsin. Day Creek Journal, follow the Mason family as they build their own cordwood home.
Our Earthship, a family is building an "earthship" dwelling and are posting pictures of their progress, together with comments and information
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, green roofs help regulate the inside temperature of a building, clean up air pollution, provide beauty, sound insulation, and food production.
Eco House , from the St. Petersburg Sustainable Community Development project. Aims to convert apartment buildings into sustainable communities, with roof tops gardens, recycling and composting, energy savings, resident ownership of the building as a cooperative.
The Knead for Casas que Cantan! Telling the story of the building of strawbale houses in an impoverished village in Mexico. Projected is supported by the Knead Cafe in Kallispell, Montana. You'll also find an on-line cookbook here and free music you can download.
Straw Bale Central, clearinghouse for information and techniques.
Robert Bolman's Natural Building and Social Justice Page, with a description of the strawbale/cob house his is building, plus information about his slide show presentations in the US Northwest.
California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture, a site with lots of information and pictures.
Hartworks, books and videos about alternative living.
50 strawbale house plans, interesting, innovative, beautiful.
Sustainable architecture, building, and culture, content and links, lots of resources here.
Earthship.org, access to all things earthship-ish, from the creators of the concept..
Earthship Landing: a pictorial history, chronicles an Earthship housing project near Durango, Colorado. Take the virtual tour for panoramic views. Lots of pictures, from all stages from the beginning of construction to the finished home. The site is very interesting.
Home Improvement, from Better Homes and Gardens, plumbing, carpentry, wiring, masonry and concrete, Energy Conservation in the Home.
Insulation Basics, from Nova Scotia Power (they should know up there!).
Family
Mother's Home, a site with interesting info, craft ideas, instructions,etc., for mothers with kids at home. See Home Made Supplies, with recipes for play dough, goop, clay, paste, finger paints, etc.
Family Crafts, with the usual About.com thoroughness, info and links on stuff families can make together.
Speaking of Education, transcript of a speech at a National Catholic Rural Conference meeting, 1946.
7 keys to a Christian Home, early publication of the National Catholic Rural Conference.
La Leche League, world's foremost authorities on breast-feeding.
What is Natural Family Planning? No pills, chemicals, or abortafacients. Calls for deep communication between married partners.
Parenting Humor, family stress test, what planet are you from, name that famous mom quiz, great family humor.
The benefits of gardening with kids, teach the kids about life, science, and share quality time.
Frugal Baby Care, by Pat Veretto, About.com guide to Frugal Living. Discussion, suggestions, and links.
50+ great websites for parents and kids, from the American Library Association.
Couple to Couple League, information about natural family planning.
Kinder-art, over 650 different free art and craft lessons, for grades K-12, plus early childhood. Need to know how to make paper mache, flour paste? Here are the instructions. Plus many more.
Let's Try Paper Mache!, articles and links about paper mache craft and art.
The Diaper Pin, everything you need to know about using cloth diapers.
Consumer Addiction, from one of the most loving and sensible women on the internet, Pat Vereto, About.com guide to Frugal Living.
Going Green, tips to help you manage a "Greener" house and lifestyle.
Growing
No till, mulch based market gardening, excellent page describing the progress of this farm towards no till gardening. Practical info.
Native Seeds, non profit organization preserving the seeds of varieties of plants traditionally used by Native Americans. "Ancient seeds for modern needs."
No till gardening, soil in nature is layered, and has tilth, or a good crumb structure that is created by the movement of worms and plant roots through the soil. Tilling destroys this, harms the soil bacteria, kills earthworms and destroys their eggs, and is not found in nature. Disturbing the soil also attracts weeds and enables erosion. All of our gardens are now no till.
Grape Seek, online portal to grape growing. Discussion groups, articles, pictures, books for sale, "Grape Growers Notebook", in particular see organic grape growing. Lots of useful information at this site.
Natural Perspective, online directory of plant images and descriptions, organized by scientific taxonomy (species/families, etc.)
Organic Research, online community for organic farmers, research, discussion, organic farm locator.
Plant Database, a compilation of gardener's wisdom on 2500+ plants, has 2900+ plant photos.
Grain Amaranth, from Rodale Research Center, academic paper on amaranth grown for grain.
Herb, Medicinal Plant, Wild Flower pictures and info on medicinal uses. Special focus on the wild herbs of Tennessee.
The Chicken, from the Yale program of Agrarian Studies, online access to "all things chicken", plus a conference on the "biological, social, cultural and industrial history of the chicken from neolithic middens to mcnuggets."
Growing sorghum in Oklahoma for syrup, from OK State, basic info on cultivation and seed sources.
Sorghum for Syrup, from the University of Wisconsin, basic cultivation details. A page from the Alternative Field Crops Manual, with details of more than 40 crops, ranging from lentils to sunflowers and most points between.
Windowbox.com, commercial site offering everything that a container gardener needs, good place to get ideas, also has free resources, Ask the Experts.
Gardening without irrigation (Or not much anyway), online text of the complete book.
Resource Center on Urban Agriculture and Forestry, policy, links, full on line text of several useful publications.
Planting a Three Sisters Garden, from Native American Technology and Art.
Learning from Ancestors, another article about Three Sisters gardening.
I Can Garden!, great resource with newsletter and discussion boards for gardening info.
Do it yourself garden site, sponsored by an on-line garden store, practical gardening information, nicely organized for easy access.
Permaculture, agriculture, gardening link page
Resources for tropical agriculture, from a Christian research and missions organization, Amaranth to Zai Holes: Ideas for growing food under difficult conditions, online book text, in particular see Above Ground (container) gardening for models, techniques, tips.
The hydroponic home(made) garden, sponsored by a commercial enterprise, information and design considerations, discusses components and has some diagrams.
Container Gardening in the City, promoting the "wading pool" system as the ultimate low-tech cheap container for city gardening. Step by step instructions, project initiated by people of faith to help the urban poor.
Chris' Hydroponics Home Page, by a University of Florida horticulture student, pictures and descriptions of his homemade hydroponics system.
Hydroponics Links, from a guy who seems to be working on growing a 75' long tomato plant.
Grow your own yeast, the tiniest garden plants!
Growing your own food, access, links, catalogs, publications.
Agropolis, from the Texas A&M University System Agriculture Program, "the place to go for information to help you grow gardens and crops; take care of your pets and livestock, become more environmentally responsible; prepare nutritious meals safely; and other information to help you and your family cope with the everyday happenings in your life.
Heirloom Seeds, offers a selection of non-hybrid seeds.
Redwood City Seed Company, alternative seed company founded in 1971, offers old-fashioned open-pollinated vegetables, herb seeds, and medicinal plants, including many endangered species cultivars. Check out their hot pepper growing tips...
Urban Agriculture Notes, by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture. Urban farming is a way that poor people can better their lives by making their own bootstraps to pull themselves up with. This page is full of articles and reports about them that's doin'. The world's urban population is growing at twice the rate of total population growth; by 2025 urban population will be 5.34 billion, half of whom will be living in Asian cities. 800 million people today practice urban agriculture, growing 10% of the world's food supply (UN figures). Urban and Periurban small and medium-sized enterprise development for sustainable vegetable production and marketing systems a study of experiences in Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines.
GardenGuides, a great on-line source for all kinds of information about growing vegetables and flowers.
Community Supported Agriculture of North America, the University of Massachusetts Extension.
American Community Gardening Association, "greening America's communities". Has a database of questions and answers related to community gardening and horticulture.
Homeless Garden Project, located in Santa Cruz, California, founded in 1990, offers a 3 year job-training and transitional employment program for homeless and marginalized people. Operates a commercial organic garden cultivating at 3 sites in the area.
Center for Rural Affairs a non-profit organization serving and advocating for America's family farms and rural communities for 25 years. Emphasis is on sustainable agriculture. Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a California site helping put farmers directly in contact with people buying food for home consumption. National Agricultural Library, of the US Department of Agriculture. Access to big piles of information.
Kazarie Worm Farm What's a compost heap without red worms? Not much. Recommended to me by a friend. Prices look good.
Sustainable Agriculture, from the Virtual World Wide Web Library, one of the best directories on the web (not the largest or the most comprehensive, but the sites are high quality). 25 categories of info relating to sustainable agriculture.
Agriculture, from the Virtual WWW Library, access to all things agricultural.
Vegetable Companion Chart, besides insect control, many vegetables benefit by growing "in company" with others. This is a guide to increasing yield and quality through companion planting. It also indicates which plants are "bad companions" and should not be planted in close proximity.
Home Gardening, on-line free encyclopedia.
Organic Farming and Marketing, from the USDA Economic Research Service, links, access, online documents, news.
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Educational Resources (MOSES), "Our mission is to help agriculture make the transition to a sustainable organic system of farming that is ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially just, through information, education, research, and integrating the broader community into this effort.
Rapeseed: a new oilseed crop for the United States,
All About Sprouts, from a professional organization of sprout growers, piles of information on growing and consuming edible sprouts. How to grow sprouts.
Practical Farmers of Iowa, promoting farming systems that are profitable, ecologically sound, and good for families and communities. Farming practices and on-farm research.
Oregon Tilth, a non-profit research and educational organization certifying organic growers, retailers, and processors. Lots of resources and links.
Cyndi's Catalog of Garden Catalogs, she may not have every garden-related catalog in the nation listed & linked if they have a website, but she is sure trying.
A thriving mini farm in the city, at the new Ecology Action biointensive growing site, home of John Jeavons and the How to Grow More Vegetables crowd. Bountiful Gardens, supplying non hybrid organically grown seeds, associated with the Ecology Action folks.
Intergarden, big site, lots of connections, networks, on all things sustainable farming and organic gardening.
Mini-farms, raised bed agriculture, market gardening, mini farming, mini ranching,
Square Foot Gardening Project, sponsored by Washington State Cooperative Extension in Pierce County, helping gardeners maximize the nutrition from their home gardens.
City Farms, from Journey to Forever, one of the top tier sites for urban agriculture, especially for beginners.
Soil and Health Library, on-line texts of long-out-of-print classics. See especially Farmers of Forty Centuries, a 1911 study of agricultural practices in China, Japan, and Korea.
Urban Homestead, from Suite101.com, articles and links relating to self-sufficient, ecologically sound living in the city. Offers discussion area. Free registration with suite101.com offers additional resources, including email notification of new content.
Henriette's Herbal Homepage, big piles of information on medicinal and culinary herbs, including Herb Faqs (growing, harvesting, using), classic herbal texts. Nice site, well organized, good info.
Planeters Pallette Articles, collection of articles by professional gardeners are various design and plant selection issues, Vegetables add unique look.
Plants and Horticulture, from the UK's Countrylovers site. Articles and links, business and organization directory. Exotic salad crops to grow at home, practical details about some lesser-known but hardy growing salad crops. Designing and planting a knot garden (planting your herbs in decorative geometrical patterns).
Lost crops of the Incas, with potential for worldwide cultivation, complete online text of a 1989 book.
Knot Herbs, commercial site, information on knot gardens, nice pictures. Plant descriptions, gardening tips.
Permaculture Magazine, solutions for sustainable living, online presence of a UK print magazine, has a number of on-line articles.
Mesclun . How to grow and harvest a traditional European mix of salad greens. Here's another article on the same subject, originally from Sunset magazine, has a nice plant list.
Salad Burnet , an ancient perennial salad crop, popular in England, forgotten in most of America. Plant some in your garden.
Gardening 101 , index of articles from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about how to make a garden starting with bare ground.
Growing fruit crops in containers , from Florida Extension, everything you need to know to grow a fruit tree in a pot.
The Rhubarb Compendium , everything you ever wanted to know about growing, propagating, harvesting, and cooking rhubarb.
Kitchen Gardener Online, internet presence of a print magazine, has lots of online articles.
Organic gardening tips and links, nice page with interesting articles and links. See especially Easy Edible Landscaping.
Growing herbs for the home gardener, from North Carolina Extension, growing requirements, propagation, and uses for annual and perennial herbs.
The Weekend Gardener, practical horticulture for busy people. In particular, see Growguide Online, which in four easy steps will tell you what you need to plant each week for a succession of food, based on your average frost dates. Also has lots of seed starting info.
Organic Potting Mixes, from Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, details, charts, recipes for making your own.
Forest Gardening
Forest Edge Garden Project , describes our Oklahoma City "forest edge garden" activities, we presently have 105 different varieties of edible or useful plants on our property. Garden Diary, weekly entries chronicling our garden activities.
How to landscape with edible plants. Nice article describing the basic elements and suggesting some practical and beautiful possibilities.
Djanbung Gardens, five acre permaculture demonstration site in Australia.
Bob Ewing, Permaculture Designer, sustainable solutions for your balcony, backyard, and neighborhood. Offers an online course in permaculture design, and an ezine, Small Moves.
Nitrogen Fixing Trees, basic info and a list.
Forest Garden Guilds, a basic explanation of the concept of guilds, which are to forest gardening what companion planting is to annual vegetable crops.
Apple Guild, an example, showing how mutually beneficial plants can be grouped together.
Permaculture techniques for food cultivation, basic list of permaculture concepts and elements, illustrated with photographs.
Constructing the Food Forest Orchard, basic methods and considerations, some examples of plant associations.
Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, workshops and info in Colorado, has an online "tour" with text and pictures of their forest garden, located at 7,000 feet above sea level, and are among the most mature such plantings in North America. A person can spend a lot of time here and learn lots of info about developing a forest garden, just by looking at the pictures. High quality text too.
Forest Gardening, a basic page of info, discusses the seven layers of a forest garden -- (1) canopy trees, (2) smaller trees and large shrubs, (3) smaller shrubs, (4) herbaceous perennials, (5) ground covers, (6) vines and climbers, (7) tubers. Another basic one page intro to forest gardening.
Robert Hart's Forest Garden: A Tribute, Robert Hart was a primary practitioner of forest gardening, and the author of the classic text on the subject. This site offers pictures and descriptions of his forest garden in Wenlock Edge, Shropshire, UK.
Edible Landscaping, forest gardening as an anarchist plot, database listing details of numerous edible perennial crops. One of the best sources in terms of easy to use, practical growing and using tips.
Plants for a Future, details on 7,000 useful plants, UK site.
Permaculture: a beginner's guide, a short introduction to the forest gardening and permaculture..
Permaculture Design Bites, short articles about the basics of permaculture design.
Forest Garden Initiative, supporting forest gardens in third world countries by providing markets in the first world for sustainably grown forest garden products.
Fruit Trees, good site on selecting and planting.
Daylilies, ornamental and edible.
Leaves to Live By: Perennial Leaf Vegetables, good choices for lazy gardeners.
Edible landscaping and gardening, lots of info, coupled with revolutionary thoughts as to how growing one's own food can be a liberating experience from corporate domination. Good plant lists and details.
Edible Landscaping, from About.com, nice index of pages with descriptions of edible perennial plants.
International Center for Research and Training in Sea Buckthorn, portal to the world of sea buckthorn cultivation. Not many details on this site, but lots of links, not all of which work. Located in China.
Propagating bushes from cuttings, do it yourself landscaping.
Grape Seek, large internet portal to info about grape growing and winemaking.
COMPOST
Master Composter, lots and lots of information, plus access to local "Master Composter" programs. Reproducible handouts on composting and worm composting.
The Humanure Handbook, complete online text of the definitive handbook on composting human manure.
Compost Science, a quarterly peer reviewed journal focusing on management techniques to improve large scale compost systems, with an emphasis on using composted materials.
Making and using compost, from the University of Missouri Extension Department.
Garden Compost, from the extension department of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
Composting Resources, from Texas A&M Extension, including resources for larger scale composting in commercial operations.
Composting with worms, worm casings are a very high quality fertilizer, and adding compost worms (a/k/a red wigglers) to your compost pile makes a high quality end product. A very comprehensive on-line handbook.
Worm Digest, everything you ever needed to know about vermicomposting (composting with worms).
Composting, from the spectacular Journey to Forever site. Excellent practical information. Vermicomposting.
As the Worm Turns, or how I learned to start vermicomposting and love the worm. Nice article about beginning adventures in worm composting.
Compost, another nice little page about composting.
Energy and Transportation
Converting an engine to run on alternative fuel such as alcohol or vegetable oil, discussion thread from last year about some of the details and options.
Turning sewage into cheap power, 2 million watts, to be exact, report on a functioning plant in Ottawa, Canada; they estimate they can get its production up to 10 megawatts using methane gas from the city's sewage treatment system.
Green LA, Los Angeles residents can voluntarily agree to pay 6% extra on their electric bill, with the funds used to subsidize the purchase of electricity generated by renewable sources (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.) This electricity tends to cost a bit more than power generated by fossil fuel plants, but the price of the fossil fuel plant doesn't include the cost of the pollution. As of November 1999, 20,000 households had signed up for the program. This program is designed to allow consumers to encourage alternative non-polluting energy markets to create new productive enterprises to provide such renewable energy.
PV Power, from the Dept. Of Energy, a set of detailed pages about generating your own power with solar cells.
Electricity-free Refrigeration, here are do-it-yourself plans for building an absorption refrigerator that does not use electricity.
WIRE - the Worldwide Information System for Renewable Energy, sponsored by the German government (site is in English, however), tons of resources (click on "guest access" or do a free registration which allows more options (such as providing information to the database).
The evolving renewal energy market, from the International Energy Association, which is part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Full text of report.
Energy Efficiency, collects, analyzes, and disseminates information on cost-effective energy efficiency projects. Many details found here.
Build a solar power generator for less than $300, enough power for a small TV, or radio, cassette player, small fan, blender.
Carbohydrate Economy Clearing House, from the Institute for Local Self Reliance, making fuels (and other industrial projects) from veggies and other carbohydrates.
Phyllis, a database on the composition of biomass and waste. If you need the details, they are here.
Mr. Solar great access to information about living "off-the-electrical-grid". Has numerous articles about all facets of alternative energy.
Build your own generator using a lawnmower engine and an automobile alternator. No kidding, detailed plans, built it yourself.
Solstice, an on-line source for sustainable energy and development information from the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology, accesses several interesting and useful email listservs.
Renewables for Sustainable Village Power Program access to information about local and village electrical power programs not dependent upon importing electricity from a grid.
Methane Production, detailed discussion by someone who's done it (that is, produced methane gas from manure and chopped plant matter. Can be a substitute for natural gas or propane (http://www.jrwhipple.com/sr/nf_methane.html).
Making your own fuel alcohol, hydrogen gas, and methane.
The full costs of the car, from Car-free Ottawa, an accounting of the real costs of auto ownership, including the externalities our economic system allows us to avoid.
Solar Energy International, renewable energy education and sustainable development. Among other activities, they offer on-line classes in designing a PV (photo-voltaic) energy system
Do it yourself automotive LPG conversion, convert your car to run on propane or methane. Complete on-line text of the book.
Green Energy News, covering clean, renewable, and efficient energy for transportation, home, and business.
Solar Frost, a European start cooperative offering solar refrigeration and cooling technology.
Society for Renewable Energy, European cooperative supporting self-building of renewable energy devices such as solar water heaters, by small neighborhood groups.
Carbohydrate Economy E-bulletin, December 2000, monthly publication chronicling developments in alternative economic development, from the Institute for Local Self Reliance. See also Healthy Building Network, safer & ecologically superior building materials, Waste to Wealth, community development through reuse and recycling,
Alternative Energy Links, from Frugal Living at About.com, lots of links to all aspects of alternative energy.
Earth Saving Tips, from Earth Share, lots of practical ideas for saving energy and living a green lifestyle.
Biodiesel research and the University of Missouri, bibliography, some on-line academic papers.
National Biodiesel Board, all the news that fit to print about all things biodiesel.
Biodiesel, a do it yourselfer shows how he makes biodiesel from used fryer oil, lots of pictures.
International Solar Energy Society, membership society, global outreach. Double cropping corn and land, farmers leasing their fields for wind generation, but also continuing the farm the land underneath the turbines. $2,000/wind turbine to the farmer, per year. As the price of electricity increases, this will go up.
Central Vermont Solar & Wind, commercial site, but it offers a great overview of what is involved with getting off the grid. Easy to understand, which is something when we're talking about alternative energy. Their packages run $500 to $25,000, and all are "hybrid", featuring wind and solar generating capacity.
Renewable Energy Resources, a report for the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution Study on Energy and the Environment. Rather dense reading, but makes projections through 2050.
Utility Connection, links to nearly 4,000 electrical, gas, water, and waste water utilities.
Preserving and Processing
Syrup Makers, access to major information on making syrup from sorghum and from sugar cane.
Canning and preserving the harvest, on-line forum with extensive archives and links.
Vegetable seed savers handbook, from Seeds of Texas Seed Exchange. Lots of practical details.
Beer and Brewing, from the Virtual World Wide Web Library, high quality access to home brewing. Thank God for yeast, without them we wouldn't have beer or cheese or bread, and how can we have civilization without beer, cheese and bread?
Anthony's Root Beer Barrel, make your own, information and links.
The Soda Fountain, history, links, recipes for making your own soft drinks and other soda fountain classics (syrups, ice cream, the original formula for Coca-cola.
Beer at Home, recipes, instructions, equipment, and supplies for making beer and soft drinks at home.
Beer and Home Brewing, from About.com, with its usual thoroughness, offers comprehensive access.
Food Safety and Preservation, from two food and nutrition scientists. Much information about home preservation and food safety.
Jar Cakes, an old tradition. Better than junk food, you betcha.
Home Canning Magazine is a great resource, good information, links, and an extensive discussion forum.
Homemade Soy Milk, save money, control quality, convert that 50 pound sack of soybeans in your pantry into something useful.
Master Mixes, make your own mixes at home from basic ingredients, save money and time, control quality.
Laurie's Veggie Burgers, make your own, save money and time, control quality, taste, and nutrition.
Freezers & Freezing Food, from Pat Veretto. Buying and operating a freezer efficiently, and food freezing tips.
Making cheese from powdered milk, from Natural Meals in Minutes, on the Gentle Spirit site.
Stretching your food dollar with grains and beans, from Natural Meals in Minutes, make your own honey maple nut cereal.
Small scale oil seed processing, from Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, a complete on-line manual. On-line publications, from ATTRA, much good accurate info can be found here.
Home Food Preserving, Suite 101 portal site, lots of links and articles.
Cooking and Eating
Frozen Assets, cook for a day, eat for a month, homesite of the busy Frozen Assets (2000+ members) discussion group devoted to planning menus, having one or more "cook days" during a month when a lot of food is cooked and then frozen for quick eating later.
Food Network, 20,000 recipes, tips, cooking 101. Lots of info here.
All About Pressure Cookers, here's the basic info. From the Fabulous Foods Online Cooking School
Wild Food, great site on foraging.
Home Grown Food, a local food guide centered on Boone, North Carolina.
Foraging, big list of links regarding eating and finding wild foods, recipes, harvesting, making wild wines, etc.
Edible Plants, "dining on the wild." Has a survival tip and plant of the month.
Dandelion Recipes, from my good online friend, Pat Veretto, the About.com guide to Frugal Living. It's got recipes for dandelions, plus additional links to other dandelion info.
Dandelion Wine 2 recipes for dandelion wine.
Old Dutch Recipes, from a 1937 cookbook published by a church group in Iowa.
Soup Recipe.com, Searchable, soup of the day, resources and more.
Culinary Herb FAQ, everything you ever wanted to know about every culinary herb -- growing, harvesting, preserving, using.
In Season, all about using and cooking locally grown, seasonal produce.
International Dutch Oven Society, history, recipes, cookbooks.
Solar cooking and water pasteurization email listserv, has archives of messages.
Soyfoods.com access to information about and recipes using soybeans.
Veggie Heaven, practical recipes and cooking tips for meatless dining.
Veggies Unite, more online information about meatless dining.
Southern Food Great links and resources for home cooking. More than 1000 crock pot recipes. (Crock pot recipes typically work well in solar cookers.
US Soyfoods Directory, lots of info and recipes about using the humble soybean.
Crockpot Cooking, a great way to save money on meals.
Crock Pot Recipes Index, huge collection of great recipes. Remember, most crockpot recipes can be adapted easily for solar cooking.
Christmas Recipes from one of those most useful places you find on the internet, the Southern US Cuisine pages.
Real Food for Real People lots of recipes, practical stuff.
Top ten most requested recipes, from the About.com vegetarian page, non-crockpot recipes. Vegetable lasagna, stuffed portabello mushrooms, bello burgers, Thai noodles.
Top ten most requested crockpot recipes, also from the about.com vegetarian page. Vegetarian enchilada casserole, bean and cornbread casserole, all-day mac and cheese, rice/corn/spinach casserole.
The Dinner Co-op Page. What's a dinner co-op? People who get together and cook and eat together. This page has recipes (including a downloadable cookbook), and over 3000 links. Cooking is rotated on a 3 week schedule, and costs are shared. This program was designed originally by grad students, but can be adapted for many different situations.
Thrifty Meals, from the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, click on the link to download in adobe acrobat format.
Designing and building home made focusing solar cookers, from Finland, a parabolic reflector style oven. Has pictures and diagrams.
Dutch oven dinners, from Gentle Spirit magazine, can also be made in a crockpot.
OAMC 101: a fast course in once-a-month cooking, lots of very practical information. If you're thinking about using this household management tool, bookmark this site. Includes a sample menu and "All day cooking plan" to prepare a freezer full of meals, including recipes, shopping lists, and suggested method of preparing the dishes all at once, and then it has freezing instructions and how to rewarm it for eating later.
Frozen Assets: cook for a day, eat for a month, links, recipes, cooking plans, comprehensive access to the OAMC world.
Scheffler's Community Solar Cooker, a description with diagrams of a large solar cooker suitable for use by an entire village.Pictures of the construction of such a cooker at the Baha'i Vocational Institute for Rural Women in India.
Have a Rice Day Cafe, "a bowl of rice a day is all we ask." Big piles of rice recipes, plus a utility that lets you ask questions of the "rice experts." Offers regular rice recipes via email.
Cookbook and Recipe Links, page with links to a lot of on-line cookbooks
Better Baking, comprehensive site on baking.
Robin Hood Flour, from a Canadian milling company, tips and recipes, discussion forum, about baking.
Food Storage Cooking School, from Utah State University Extension, cooking with bulk foods and typical food storage items.
Tamara's Solar Cooking Pages, interesting intro to solar cooking, including some detailed plans with drawings for a solar box cooker.
The Solar Cooking Funnel, a solar cooker shaped like a funnel, with a large mason jar as the cooking container. More details on the solar funnel, some improvements, and a discussion of a "Save Heat" cooker (non-electric crockpot). From Brigham Young University.
Developing a monthly meal plan, post in a forum explaining how one family manages this.
Eat Locally, chronicles an Arizona man's year-long quest to eat only foods grown within 250 miles of his house. As farm size increase, net output per acre decreases. Plus news of an attempt to grow perennial wheat and other grains.
Community (whole systems)
Spirituality
Crafting and Making
Make Stuff, great place to go for easy instructions for making many different things. LOTS of stuff here.
Soap making threads, from the Countryside discussion forum.
Native Tech, online information sources regarding the technology and art of Native Americans.Weaving, cordage, painting, pottery, games, foods, plants, beads, featherwork, tools.
Home made dish soap, 2 recipes, plus suggestions for "extra strength".
Home Depot Project Index Their website has lots of practical information on home improvement projects. "Fix it, build it, install it, grow it."
Useful Crafts, Useful crafts -- basic info for knitting, weaving, hooking rugs, crocheting, soap making, candlemaking, rug making, cross stitch. Pat Veretto's Frugal Living page at About.com
Missouri Alternatives Center , several troves of interesting information.
How a chain saw works, from the How Stuff Works website, a comprehensive look at chain saws.
Harvesting rainwater, access, sources, building code/public health issues.
The Brick Oven Page, from the Masonry Heater Association, domestic, commercial, sourdough,
Nicaraguan Outdoor Masonry ovens. Ovencrafters, some basics and instructions for baking in masonry ovens.
Haybox cooking, how to make a crockpot that doesn't require electricity. From the Center for Alternative Technology in the United Kingdom. Great info here, more tip sheets, access.
Herbal Salve Recipes, make them yourself in your own kitchen, grow your own herbs.
Alternative Technology Internet Links, lots of information.
Holiday Gift Ideas from your kitchen for those you love.
Holiday decorations, attractive, inexpensive, homemade.
How Stuff Works hundreds of reports describing how out technology works.
Industry Profiles, from Volunteers in Technical Assistance, detailed explanations of various manufacturing operations.
Understanding Technology Series, more riches from the VITA folks, a series of technical papers summarizing, from hydroponics to making paint and many points between. A rich information source on making and doing. Volunteers in Technical Assistance, home page, their mission is to empower the impoverished in developing countries to manage their own development.
Natural homemade cleaners, recipes made from common ingredients.
Aprovecho Research Center, in the foothills of the Cascade Range of Oregon, "aprovecho" is Spanish for "I make best use of". Develops, tests, applies appropriate technology concepts, sustainable forestry, organic gardening, sustainable energy and housing ideas..
Lindsay Books, a great publisher of incredible how-to books, need to know how to build a machine shop from scratch? It's here, as is detailed information about running vehicles on producer gas.
The Bag Bed, this project was awarded a price from the American Plastics Council as the most unusual recycling idea for plastic grocery bags. This site shows you have to weave the bags into a fabric and then turn the fabric into a warm sleeping bag/bed for homeless people. It takes about 1,000 used plastic bags to make a bed/sleeping bag, but it is warm and comfortable. Lots of pictures, easy instructions.
EcoGenics, research & development in alternative energy and building systems, has manuals (not online, for sale) on alternative fuels production (methane, alcohol, producer), solar energy, and other alternative building subjects, including building closed loop ecosystems, based on their actual experiences..
How Things Work, a very big pile of information explaining how things work. Many things.
Keeping your home clean and safe, recipes for home-made ecologically safe cleaning materials. Located at the Green Living Center, where there are many more such tips and ideas.
Solar homepower do-it-yourself projects, lots of ideas with pictures and explanations, chronicles the development of a homeowner's alternative energy system.
Crafts & Hobbies, from Pat Veretto, About.com Frugal Living guide, great collection of fun and useful things to do.
Recycling Crafts, several cute and useful things you can make from stuff that people typically throw away.
A solar windowbox air heater, make it yourself to fit your own windows.
The Society of Primitive Technology, nonprofit org dedicated to the research, practice, and teaching of primitive technology. See Building a house on limited means, "the elimination of all that is unnecessary to build a dream," how 2 people with a household income of $10,000/year built their own home.
Brad's Draft Resources, links to harness makers and other draft animal resources.
B.W. McNair and Son, commercial supplier of draft animal and steam powered farm equipment.
Southeast Old Thresher's Reunion, steam, gas, and antique farm equipment.
National Threshers Association, annual event featuring 40+ working steam engines powering sawmills, threshers, and etc.
Oklahoma Steam Threshers Association, located in Pawnee, Oklahoma, sponsoring the "March of Machines," antique tractors and cars, steam threshers, horse drawn farm equipment.
Grain Harvesting, a page of information about the history of grain harvesting, from hand reaping through the invention of the modern "combine", with particular attention to the McCormick Reaper, from the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
Hand Papermaking, how to make your own paper.
Popular Science, on-line presence of the hardcopy magazine, lots of info and features.
Thickos guide to distilling alcohol. Lots of details, step by step instructions.
WINDMILLS
The Penren Windmill Book, should be subtitled, "Everything you need to know to build your own windmill to pump water or generate electricity from off-the-shelf parts." It is well recommended in the non-profit windmill enthusiast community. It costs $35.
Windmills, there is a lot of information here about historic and modern windmills and their uses.
Windmills and how they work, nice little page explaining windmills, has diagrams and pictures.
Windmill design and construction, "windmills were works of art, no two were ever alike," history, design, milling.
Mills of the 18th & 19th centuries in Camden County, North Carolina, nice site describing early windmills in this area of the US.
Wind Energy Link Page, at the Sandia National Laboratories renewable and wind energy pages.
Simple Living
Flight from the City, an experiment in creative living on the land, complete online text of the 1933 book by a man who left the city for a small homestead in the 1920s. "His books served as guideposts for many anguished wage-slaves who saw his book as a guiding light toward financial security, even survival, during the Great Depression. More, Ralph Borsodi was an amazingly intelligent social critic whose view cut through to the very heart of the contradictions and problems of industrial civilization."
Path to Freedom, a family of 5 in Pasadena, California, who are practicing urban agriculture on their typical lot in an older neighborhood (house was built in 1917). They started in 1985, there are great before and after pictures of their urban homestead.
Full of Grace newsletter, Full of Grace newsletter, published by Kevin and Carla Christensen, who are living simply and sustainably on a homestead in Dupuyer, Montana. Recipes and sample articles and other pictures are online.
Simple Living, from Inner Explorations, a Catholic contemplative spirituality site profiled above in Spirituality.
Seeds of Simplicity, organizing and educating for voluntary simplicity, tools for children, adults, and community.
10 ways to create meaningful, yet relaxed holidays, from the just released edition of the Simple Living November-December 1998 on-line newsletter.
Domestic Church, click on the Stewardship link for information about the prudent and frugal lifestyle.
Alternatives for Simple Living, equips people of faith to live justly, challenge consumerism, and celebrate responsibly.
Simple Living, the Journal of Voluntary Simplicity,
Alternatives for Simple Living, sponsors a "Whose birthday is it anyway" campaign at Christmas, provides bulk brochures at cheap prices, customized for various religious groups, regarding this theme; will mail you a nice and informative Resource Guide via the post office.
Voluntary Simplicity, a page from Duane Elgin, author,
Living Gently Quarterly, a magazine promoting voluntary simple and frugal lifestyles.
The Front Page, a simple living newsletter.
Simplicity Circles finding help and support for simple living.
Simple Living Network Tools and living examples, more than 3000 pages of information.
Full of Grace, a simple living newsletter with a Catholic perspective.
Simple Living big page with piles of links on simplicity, frugal living, environmental issues.
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, in Occidental, California, an intentional community offering courses in (among other things) sustainable living.
Alternatives for Simple Living, non-profit organization that equips people of faith to challenge consumerism, live justly, and celebrate responsibly. Whose birthday is it anyway? Christmas 2000 campaign.
Affluenza, test your consumption quotient and find out if you have affluenza. Tips for simplifying your life, ten ideas. This is a delightful site from PBS based on their show of the same name.
Houston Simplicity Circles, brief explanation of the Simplicity Circle concept, offers networking and access for local Houston area efforts: " What is a simplicity circle? Simplicity circles are support and study groups where we help each other live deliberately. We discuss what is most important to us and what steps we must take to fit it into our lives. It's called a circle because there's no boss." Plus simplicity movement links.
Life with the plain people, the story of a family's conversion to the Old Order Amish church and way of life.
Countrylovers, connecting people with Britain's countryside. All things country in the UK.
30 ways to get sustainable at home, simple, accessible, easy to understand.
The Good Life Center, "advancing Helen and Scott Nearing's commitment to social justice and simple living, and preserving their last hand-built home." Helen and Scott lived for 60 years "on the land" in New England, building their own dwellings, growing their own food, seeking justice and simple living. Their garden still grows at their last homestead, Forest Farm, on Penobscott Bay in Maine. Scott died at age 100 in 1983, and Helen at age 91 in 1995.
50 reasons to reduce or eliminate mowing, posted in the non-mowing coalition Yahoo discussion group.
Disaster Response
Nuclear War Survival Skills, I know, it seems like an oxymoron, but with India and Pakistan rattling nuclear sabers, this classic text may come in handy. Has details, plans, and construction sequences for improvised fallout shelter, a fallout meter (which you can make from stuff you find in your home), and improvised ventilation systems. My advice is to print the entire book or buy it. Fallout from an all out nuclear war in south Asia between India and Pakistan will blanket the continental United States, and depending on how long it takes for the fallout to get here, this could mean lethal levels of radioactivity.
US Disaster Preparedness Institute, "practical preparation for reasonable risks," lots of links, plus FAQS and info about various terrorist risks.
Swiss Civil Protection, official Swiss government website regarding what we in the US would call "civil defense".
Food and Water Supplies, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, suggesting for home scale disaster preparedness. "If an earthquake, hurricane, winter storm or other disaster ever strikes your community, you might not have access to food, water and electricity for days, or even weeks. By taking a little time now to store emergency food and water supplies, you can provide for your entire family."
Red Cross, Capital Area (Florida), great source of on line disaster prep info, especially for hurricanes.
Seven habits of personal, family, and community resilience, what it takes to make it through the daily challenges and opportunities of life.
Church World Service Disaster & Emergency Response the relief arm of the National Council of Church of Christ (USA).
Situation Reports, from Volunteers in Technological Assistance, an announce-only listserv with daily reports on crisis/emergency/disaster situations worldwide. Includes both natural disasters and complex emergencies caused by social crises/war/politics, etc.
Relief Web, from the UN, access to complete humanitarian crises.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, bottom line, natural disasters have caused increasing amounts of damage and loss of human life during the 1990s. The prognosis is: things are going to get worse. Access to disaster mitigation and response information.
Red Cross World Disaster Report, summaries and highlights from the just-released 1999 report. Last year was the worst disaster year on record, tens of thousands of deaths, hundreds of millions of people uprooted and displaced by disasters. They expect a decade of increasing deaths and damage from disasters.
ReliefWeb from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Complex Emergencies, information about on-going emergencies and various countries of concern to the humanitarian community.
ReliefNet Home Page non-profit helping humanitarian organizations raise global awareness and encourage support for relief efforts via the Internet.
AlertNet, a news and communications service from the Reuter Foundation for the emergency relief community, has press releases from leading relief agencies, expert analyses, reviews of key issues and events, jobs noticeboard. Has a focus page on Kosovo.
Direct from the Field, reports from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the world's largest humanitarian network.
DisasterRelief.Org, worldwide disaster aid and information via the internet.
American Radio Relay League, access to all things amateur/ham radio. During emergencies and disasters, ham radio operators serve the common good by providing free communications networks to assist in recovery.
Natural Disasters information from the Clorox company about using bleach as for emergency cleanup/sanitation during disasters, has excellent information on general preparedness for disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, and floods.
Center for international disaster information, from Volunteers in Technical Assistance, information and guidance in support of appropriate disaster relief.
Stormwatch Project, proper preparations for disasters have the effect of mitigating the damage they cause. The site offers content and access for civil society organizations, particularly fraternal lodges and sisterhoods, to help them develop local sustainable and resilient networks. Offers a sample process that local groups can implement to assess their hazards and prepare responsibly.
Foot and Mouth Disease, a guide for people planning to visit the United Kingdom.
Shelter in place guidelines, from the Central Florida Regional Council. Chances are very good that your nice residential neighborhood lies in the potential footprint of a deadly chemical accident. This government site has suggestions for what you should do if your neighborhood is threatened by such an event. Rural areas aren't exempt; look no further than your local farmers cooperative to find a large tank of ammonia whose catastrophic release would create a deadly cloud bigger than most small towns.
Blast Mapper, type in the address or zip code of the closest potential target for a nuclear bomb, and find out what happens in your neighborhood. Air and ground burst, 1 and 20 megaton bombs.
The American Civil Defense Association, non-profit org promoting community and family preparedness and resilience.
Frugality
The Budget Decorator, very nice site with lots of free high quality info. Offers an online six week cyber learning experience in budget decorating, with personal instruction via email, for $15 tuition. Every month a new free project is posted, they are archived on the site.
Miserly Moms, website of Jonni McCory, author of "Miserly Moms: Living on one income in a two income economy." Site promotes book, but also has lots of high quality, free resources: recipes, tips, budget calculators, home schooling.
Budget Calculator, go through four steps that identify your expenses and income, and then it automatically calculates your household budget.
Online Budget Guide, from a Christian website, enter your annual income, your taxes, and your tithe, then it gives you a sample budget fitting all the typical household expenditures into your after tax/after tithe income. Has other budget/economic calculators, including amortgage prepayment calculator that shows you how much money you can save by paying off your mortgage OR student loan faster than required by making extra principle payments with each monthly payment.
What's it worth to reduce my spending? Calculate the financial effect of reducing various categories of your personal expenditures.
Frugal and Single, Frugal and single -- how to save money even though you're single, another great article by Pat Veretto, frugalista extraordinaire.
The Frugal Life, asks the question: are we living to work or working to live? Lots of resources, offers an email newsletter.
Frugal Moms, "live better for less," free email newsletters and discussion lists, book reviews holiday idea base, "the frugal kitchen", kids information, stuff for beginners.
The 20th century homemaker, conservative Christian site with a lot of practical details on frugal and simple household management.
Wacky Uses, alternative uses for common household products. Did you know you could use jello to style your hair? Mostly mentions brand names, but generics could be used, saving even more money.
Frugal Living at About.com, we've featured this link before, but it is so good we're mentioning it again. Lots of resources, great articles and links. I can't believe it's a plastic bag! It's amazing what you can do with a plastic bag and a crochet hook. One Income Living, resources for families living on one income.
The Underground Railroad to Financial Freedom, discusses the hidden costs of "two income living".
One Income Living index page of links from the frugal living pages at the mining company.
One Income Living in a Two Income World has good ideas for avoiding affluenza. Step by step instructions for frugality and simple living,
Frugal Family Network information, a newsletter, some good links.
The Underground Railroad to Financial Freedom 19 page report on frugal living as a substitute for "double income" families.
The Dollar Stretcher, "living better for less", a weekly resource for simple living.
Message Forum at the Frugal Living corner of the Mining Company internet community. Post a question, find an answer (http://frugalliving.miningco.com/mpboards.htm).
Three Quarters of a Gallon, from Pat Veretto, About.com guide to Frugal Living, about the recent trend of decreasing the amount of product in packaged goods while keeping the price the same.
Myths that keep Americans in the hole, discusses the common messages of modern society that encourage consumer addiction, overspending, and debt.
From Country to City, what's a country gal gonna do once she moves to the city? No huge gardens, no woodpiles -- maybe so, but still there are plenty of opportunities for frugality. From Pat Veretto, About.com guide to Frugal Living (one of the best frugal sites in the known universe). Plus, the every-growing list of things you can do with a plastic bag.
How much is a ton of interest? Learn how much a mortgage can really cost you -- and how you can save the big bucks on the total price of a mortgaged house. For a $100,000 house, you will need to earn $400,000 to net $300,000 to make your payments, providing $200,000 in profit to the mortgage lender -- twice the value of your house!
What to do when your income drops, from North Dakota State University Extension Service. Tips, ideas, strategies, resources for managing an abrupt loss of income.
Favorite Frugal Living Pages, at Pat Vereto's Frugal Living pages at About.com. A list of readers' favorites.
Miscellaneous
Rainwater Harvesting, from Texas, an article about harvesting and using your rainwater.
Weights and Measures Conversion Factors, how to convert acres to hectares, BTUs to kilowatts, etc.
Wilderness Living Lots of info and links about low tech wilderness living, including foraging, medicinal plants, etc.
Grasshopper management, without using pesticides, from the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas supersite of practical information.
The Homestead School, We are nurturing a relationship with Bruce and Barbara of the Homestead School in far northeast Oklahoma County. This is their winter letter, announcing their workshop schedule for the year 2001. They live in on a sustainable five acre farm, which is not connected to the electrical, natural gas, sewer, or city water line. They have 350 watts of solar cell generating power, and 1,000 watts (peak) wind generating capacity. They have solar water and air heating, an organic garden, electric bicycles, a battery-powered lawn tractor, and cook on a woodburning stove. Bruce also bakes a very tasty mixed grain loaf of bread. Here is their January letter. They are not on-line, to contact them send them a letter at the address on their letter, or call their phone number. Homestead Workershops RMW
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension, one of the fundamental influences in my life via 4-H. Lots of access to resources, publications.See Pete's Electronic Archive and Resource Library, for on-line publications.
The Dead Media Project, no it's not an archive for fans of the Grateful Dead, rather, it is a compendium of information (and a project to collect more) about "dead media" -- such as that mimeograph machine in the back closet, or the old thermo-fax copiers, or the written ideographs of the Mayans and the quipu knotted cords of the Incas.
Service Learning, information on integrating curriculum with community/volunteer service, that contributes to the common good while helping the student learn important lessons.
Pioneer life in days gone by, a personal page with reports on what life was like in pioneer days.
Environmental Resource Guide, from Earth Share, a very big pile of information and access.
The Old Farmer's Almanac, online access to traditional wisdom and weather forecasts, gardening tips and other almanack-ish stuff.
Gentle Spirit, online presence of a hardcopy magazine that is kind of like Mother Earth News used to be, with a spiritual component (Christian). Has quite a bit of on-line material, including how-to stuff
ELF links, large collection of sustainable living links.
WWW Virtual Library Project, access to 310 high quality on-line libraries of info.
TopoZone.com, on line source for viewing (free) or dowloading( ($) topo maps anywhere in the US. Fun site to check out your neighborhood.
Outlook Maps, from the Climate Prediction Center of the US government, charts regarding weather outlooks for up to 13 months in the future, for the US.
Sources of Sustainability, from Communications for a Sustainable Future, nice page of links and access to various sustainability issues - permaculture, food security, energy, etc.
Sewing and Fabric Arts
Food Security
The Food Trust, Philadelphia non profit improving the supply of affordable and nutritious food in the mid Atlantic region. They operate farmers' markets every week from June through November throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Food demonstrations, nutrition education, and health screenings are available at their markets.
Food, Faith, Farming, nurturing relationships between farmers and eaters based on local food systems rooted in biblical values of authentic community, creation care and social justice. Active in ten counties in Pennsylvania and several other states.
Factory Farm Project, comprehensive access to the issues involved with factory farms and CAFO (confined animal feeding operations).
Sustainable Farming Connection, very comprehensive site, lots of info and links
Food First, from the Institute for Food and Development Policy, tracking food security issues around the world.On the benefits of small farms. See also 12 myths about hunger. Bottom line: there's enough food produced under current conditions to provide everybody with 4.3 pounds of food a day -- 2.5 pounds of grains/beans/nuts, a pound of fruits and vegetables, and a pound of milk, meat, and eggs, enough food to make most of us fat.
Food Security: no room for complacency, from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, five million children in poor nations die every year from malnutrition.
America's Second Harvest, the nation's premier food security organization.
Sustainable Agriculture, at the Center for Environment and Society, University of Essex, UK. Has reports of a new study by the Center that reports evidence of crop yield increases after introduction of sustainable farming practices, studied projects worldwide.
Plant a Row, last year, more than 1 million pounds of fresh produce were grown in backyards and donated to emergency nutrition programs like food banks. Here's how you can start a program in your neighborhood.
Bountiful Table, founded by a professional chef, educating people about local food systems, organic growing, and good food. Has educational programs.
Garbage and Waste
Biocycle, published since 1960, this magazine is devoted to news and info about recycling trash into usable products. Four years of issues have a table of contents available, and in each issue some articles can be read online.
National Onsite Water Recycling Association, professional organization of folks interested in onsite waste water recycling. Has info on managing a septic tank, links, newsletter.
Eco Demolition, from Middlebury, Vermont, a study in how to deconstruct a building a recycle all of the debris.
Enviro Care, commercial site, says it is one stop shopping for recycling, composting, and conservation programs and products. Offers some free informational resources. You can sometimes learn a lot by reading catalogs. Has free clip art, relating to conservation, recycling, and composting.
The Living Water Garden, located in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, this is a six acre water park that includes a natural water purification system, recreation facilities, and an environmental education center. The Fu-Nan river flows through the city, 30 years ago, 56 different kinds of fish lived in its waters, now it is so polluted nothing lives there. This park is a prototype that can help cleanse the river.
Home use of gray water, article discusses pros and cons of recycling your own gray water (wash water) for uses such as toilet flushing and plant irrigation.
Waste-Line, local Ottawa (Canada) site promoting the 3 R's -- reduce, reuse, recycle.
The internet consumer recycling guide, good links, plus the world's shortest recycling guide, easy to understand, basic, covers all the bases. Remember, if you don't buy recycled products, you aren't recycling.
Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, keeping nicad batteries out of the waste stream.
Directory of computer recycling organizations, facilitating donations of computers to schools and community groups.
Recycle City, fun and informative site from the EPA
Recyclers World, a world wide trading site for information related to secondary or recyclable commodities, by-products, used & surplus items or materials. Has a very comprehensive Global Recycling Directory.
Reduce Garbage, Eliminate Landfills, a very nice personal page with lots of ideas about how to "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost, Sell, Donate, Collect... Just don't throw it out! Saving our earth starts with YOU!!!" Has an interesting "boot camp" section to help newbies get up to speed and analyze their trash habits.
Garbage and Recycling, Explorer Club kids page from the EPA.
Ten things you can do with a cardboard box, also from Journey to Forever.
Dumpster Diving, from Pat Veretto, About.com guide to Frugal Living. Your humble webservant is a veteran dumpster diver, and the thing I always say about it is this: "The hardest thing about dumpster diving is getting into the dumpster the first time." Talk about amazing things that some people throw away!
Zero Waste Alliance, an alliance of businesses, governments, universities, and other such organizations exploring zero waste as a means of cutting costs and protecting the environment.
Sewage Sludge homepage, get the real "scoop" on what's coming out of our sewage treatment plants.
Email Listservs ...
Seed Savers, all aspects of saving seeds, Archives
Cherokee Small Farming, sharing small farm information with Cherokees and others.
Market Farming, small to large scale, organic, sustainable, transitional & conventional. 2002 Archives, Old Archives
Free Range Poultry, discussion group for small farmers.
Wild Edibles, yahoo group. Discussions concerning wild edible plants, animals, mushrooms; including identification, recipes, folklore, etc.
New Okie Pioneers, homesteading, back to the land, in north Texas and Oklahoma.
Living off the grid, alternative energy, alternative shelter, aquaculture, closed loop systems.
Intentional Communities Mailing Lists, directory of lists at the Intentional Communities site.
Homesteading, nice friendly informative hangout for back to the landers.
Third World Energy, off grid, low tech situations.
Grassroots Information Coordinating Center, one stop shopping for breaking news on infrastructure issues worldwide. Not actually a mailing list, rather a bulletin board, but you can enable the system to send you each posting in email.
Ecoptopia Waste Treatment, alternatives to our industrialized wasteful systems of use and trash.
Discussion lists, index of sustainable living discussion lists.
misc.consumers.frugal-living , Usenet board.
Family Farm Agriculture
Winter Wheat in Northern Europe According to the Fukuoka-Bonfils Method, which is to say no till, all organic. Instead of planting 350 wheat plants per square meter, which is a common commercial agriculture spacing, this method sows 3 or 4 plants per square meter. Conventional wheat will have 1 to 3 ears of kernals per plant, this spacing produces 100 to 150, and they have 2 to 3 times the commecial kernals per ear. This is sown into a carpet of perennial clover.
The Fukuoka Bonfils Method for growing winter wheat, adobe acrobat file. This report, which is about growing wheat via this method in France, reports yields of 6 tons of wheat per acre, or 200 bushels per acre, without chemical fertilizers! (In Oklahoma, yields of 35 to 40 bushels per acre are common.) Wheat is planted in June for harvest the following summer; this is muchearlier than is typical in the US for winter wheat.
Small Farmers' Journal, serving small family farmers and craftmanship in agriculture, has online articles, faqs.Directions for the farm culture of fruits and vegetables, market gardening ideas from a 1902 publication, "How the Farm Pays."
Free Range Poultry, online basics plus discussion group.
Resilience Magazine, published by a non profit organization active in the areas of agriculture, appropriate technology, human nutrition and Native American Ways of living in harmony with all creation. They research and develop systems and share this information with others through workshops, tours, field days, demonstrations and written materials. Back 40 Books nice selection of books in an online store about small farm issues and resources.
Southern Region, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, includes Oklahoma info plus general info about sustainable agriculture.
Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Poteau, working farm, research, demonstration projects, on-line information. On-line library and links.
Overstreet Kerr Historical Farm, showing casing late 19th and early 20th century farm life and technology. Preserves heirloom livestock and plants. Near Keota.
Composting reduces fuel and labor costs on family farms, from Bio-cycle magazine, case studies of how composting has benefited family farms.
S&S Aqua Farm, a working farm in the Missouri, Ozarks, using a low-cost organic growing system combining hydroponics with aquaculture; they call it bioponics.
Small Tractor FAQ, what you need to know to select, buy, and operate a small tractor.
Small farms -- from the spectacular Journey to Forever site, great information, access, resources.
University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension, an honorable example of the usual thoroughness and practicality a person expects when they visit the internet presence of a state extension service.
The Land Institute, a research institute and farm in Salina, Kansas, seeking to create a "food producing prairie" featuring mixtures of perennial grasses and other plants.
On a Green Mountain, With Masanobu Fukuoka, Sensei of Natural Farming, worldwide, the loss of topsoil is a looming crisis. To a large extent, the world thus far has been able to substitute fossil fuel fertilizers for the loss in fertility due to topsoil depletion. But fossil fuels are themselves finite, so it behooves humanity to seek a new path of agriculture. Masanobu is a "no-till" agriculturist, working with the land, never plowing and thus preserving topsoil and natural fertility. He says: "The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings." Article archived at the Seedballs site, which promotes an innovative way of natural farming pioneered by Masanobu: making seedballs to encourage germination of food producing plants.
Sustainable Agriculture Faqs, the faqs page actually seems to be missing, but there is a nice essay on sustainable agriculture in Canada.
Sustainable Farming Association of Central Minnesota, ensuring a future for family farms with ecologically and environmentally sound "best practices".
Permanent Raised Bed Gardening, online publication, for market and home gardeners. Lots of details, pictures, step by step instructions.
Commercial Sites
Mother Earth News , online presence of the commercial magazine. MEN is not the publication of old, its much more slick these days. Still, it has interesting and useful info.
Countryside and Small Stock Journal , "promoting self reliance and simple life style through home food production, gardening" and etc. 83 years young, lots of good info here.
Organic Gardening Magazine , another venerable journal that isn't what it used to be. and they are OK with using plastic for mulch. Old habits die hard, and there is some good info in it.
Intentional One
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