Comments on: Why Adapt In Place? And How?

By: Mel

Mel — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:51:14 +0000

My head has been in turmoil for these past couple of years, regarding the environment, peak oil etc etc. Truthfully I have been worn down to the ground, depressed at the thought of life and what’s around the corner.

I came across Sharon’s web page here today and have been reading bits and pieces and to be honest it has totally lifted my spirits and reading people’s views on things and the ideas and stuff has given me a positive mental attitude in with to move forward, to accept life for what it is - but at the same time do something.

I live in Northern Ireland, have a beautiful wife and two kids. From now on i’m thinking of the future, working on the stuff that needs worked on now and thankful for the little I have.

XXX

By: Amelia

Amelia — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:25:47 +0000

Our plans have changed for a reason Sharon mentions in another post: continued access to medical care.

I have albinism. The technologies that make my life possible in Salt Lake — prosthetic lenses, laser body scans of suspicious moles and surgery for the precancerous ones; hell, sunscreen — may not be a priority in a post-Peak world. Even if they’re available, if I’d had to come up with $700 for my lenses without insurance I wouldn’t be wearing them right now.

If we can, we’re moving to a lower altitude with less UV risk for me, preferably somewhere without a lot of temperature variation: if we’re all going to be gardening a lot more, I need to be able to go outside for more than 10 minutes. If we can’t, we’ll convert the garden to square-foot beds and add some solar shade sails so that I can work in the mornings and evenings. There are advantages in either scenario.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:56:57 +0000

Hi Sally - I think it sounds like staying put may be the right decision for you. I’m going to write more about this today in general, but I think you should go with your gut. Honestly, I’m not sure there’s a lot of time to adapt to a completely new environment at this point.

Sharon

By: Lisa Z

Lisa Z — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:02:48 +0000

Sally, you’ve got a hard decision. I always think that if “something” is saying something to you, however, you need to listen carefully. That “something” is usually intuition, gut, still small voice, whatever you call it, and it’s usually on to something right on.

Good luck. Perhaps Sharon’s class will help you a lot with this…

Lisa in MN, USA

By: Laney

Laney — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:00:58 +0000

One more reason for staying put: communities need skilled persons: doctors, nurses, teachers, plumbers, veternarians, engineers, librarians, artisans, farmers, craftsmen, carpenters…. If all those people pull out of our communities and head for the hills, the communities will fall farther, faster. I read somewhere that each of us needs to find a place we like & stay there. I think that is absolutely true — and then we need to work on creating/converting homes that support our families and our communities, and communities that support our families and our homes.

By: Sally

Sally — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:32:04 +0000

Hi Everyone.
This is something that is taking up a lot of space in my head at the moment! Since I was very young I have wanted to live in the wilds and raise all my own food. I married a lovely man who wanted nothing of the sort, however! He has recently come ‘on board’ regarding the whole peak oil/economic meltdown scenario and suddenly announced that we’d do it - we’d sell up and run for the hills. Wow! Now though, when I could actually realise the dream something is telling me not to go. We live in a village surrounded by open countryside. It is chemically farmed now but will still be there when the chemicals run out. We are 7 miles from a market town and 15 from two cities, both with large hospitals. 1 1/2 miles away is a large main road running half the length of England. I thought that we were too near to too many people who - when hungry - would pose a threat, but how safe would we be isolated in the middle of nowhere with no community ties? My husband is an electrician with a business that is mostly local. We envisage that his trade will dwindle slowly as the money runs out. He can reskill into homescale renewables (people are starting to ask him about this) to give him a bit more time. He can fix ANYTHING which means he will always have a trickle of work. If we move though, he will instantly have no customers and have to start again. In a depression? Not a good idea. Obviously I am tempted to grab my last chance at a long held dream but my responsibility is to my three boys and to make choices that give them the best chance. I do think it will be scary here though. We are a very densely populated country (our ‘open country’ probably looks like a roadside verge to you ;))and the vast majority cannot heat their homes or even make a cup of tea without a steady supply of electricity. There will be a LOT of scared and desperate people.
Ugh! Decisions. I’m not good at them at the best of times
Sal

By: Susan in Los Angeles

Susan in Los Angeles — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:31:30 +0000

We live in Greater Los Angeles, in a bedroom community in the hills north of the city. We’re tenants, but expect to be in this house for the next four years at least (our daughter is starting college nearby). So it makes sense to us to begin learning the skills we will need and especially to start gardening and building soil where we are. My job is 1.6 miles down the street, we have three supermarkets within walking distance, and our physician is four miles away; we don’t need much else.

I expect this class to be very valuable to me because few of my neighbors practice any of these skills — although I notice vegetable gardens are beginning to appear.

By: sealander

sealander — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:10:27 +0000

Sometimes what is needed is a change of mindset - I spent too long fixated on wishing for a place in the country, before finally realising I could do a lot more with what I had in the city. I found that I do have room for chickens after all, and fruit trees, and a bee hive. If I had bought some land further out I’d now be stuck with a huge mortgage and a rapidly increasing fuel bill, whereas now I can walk most places. Now, if I can just figure out where to squeeze in a milking goat…….

By: Leila Abu-Saba

Leila Abu-Saba — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:52:04 +0000

BTW parking lots to gardens - look at the original Alice Waters Edible Schoolyard. A dozen years ago it was asphalt. They were eating food out of it within two years. Of course it took a great deal of imported soil and other inputs, and lots of Chez Panisse money (as well as volunteer and child labor).

http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/garden.html

Still it could be replicated with more labor & time and less money.

By: homebrewlibrarian

homebrewlibrarian — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:38:06 +0000

Once I decided I was indigenous to this place, I began to see what it would take to increase my self sufficiency in an inner city neighborhood. This neighborhood used to be on the east edge of town back in the ’50s and was composed of slapped together one bedroom duplexes and quads to house FAA employees working to build up Merrill Field (a small plane airport). Lots are rather small and the neighborhood has maintained its rental majority. Most of my hood mates are in worse financial shape than I am and have many more people living together. We aren’t a very chatty bunch on my block but we do speak to each other when we see each other. In my meanderings through the neighborhood, I haven’t seen anyone else with a kitchen garden even close to the size of what we’ve done here (two 4 x 8 ft raised beds) and the ones I’ve seen are very few.

But the good news is there’s lots of small chunks of land all over the place that could become garden space. Lots of backyards are currently parking lots but that could change quickly. As people begin their own adaptation to place, I believe the land will get used for food production of some sort. Also, the neighborhood has a small number of home businesses and at least four churches. You can get your hair cut, your car fixed and spiritual renewal all within four square blocks! I expect more small businesses to pop up in time as well.

Even though I feel like a complete noob about raising my own food, next year I’ll know more than I do now and will know more than my non-food producing neighbors. I’ll be able to share what I know if they decide it’s time to garden.

We’ll be much better off staying right where we are if we share with each other. And, in a way, I’m looking forward to it!

Kerri in AK