Preparing for El Nino – Nov. 7
Are you ready for LOTS of rain? Sounds like it is headed our way this winter. That’s why on Saturday November 7, we’ll be preparing for rain at the Westchester Community Oven. Come learn about water drainage, how to install…
Here’s how to sidestep those doomsday economic forecasts
Lately the news has been full of dire reports about the economy (LATimes article, Baker article, Stanford/Berkeley study) Let’s get back to Resilience. Sufficiency. How can we thrive, economically, despite these dire reports? If you run a small business (or are…
Diana Leafe Christian – Oct 5
Diana Leafe Christian has been part of intentional communities, group living, and ecovillages for more than two decades. Recently, she has been working with a community governance and decision-making method called Sociocracy. It means “governance by peers and colleagues,” and…
Cactus juice preservative for the cob oven
I’m “cooking up” a batch of Opuntia juice preservative. It is a traditional weather coating used on adobe and cob structures. We will be adding it to the final coat on the Westchester Community Oven when we re-surface it next…
Rainstorms and the cob oven
After months of drought, last Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning we got 1.79 inches of rain within about 6 hours — the tail end of Hurricane Linda. Long story short, the Oven was uncovered during a severe…
Why we’re hosting speakers on death and dying
Over this past year, Peter and I have each separately had someone very close to us encounter end-of-life issues that didn’t necessarily go the way the person would have liked. If the families had known more, or had been better…
The Change-Making Manifesto
What is Change-Making all about? Change-Making is passionately creating positive change. It’s an onging and forever project, because there is simply so much that needs repair and nurturing. That means there’s an element of long-term commitment. But then, what else…
Test firing news from the Westchester Community Oven
Last night a small team tried cooking food in The Westchester Community Oven.
ebook The Secrets of Soil Building now available
You can now get my new ebook, The Secrets of Soil Building, to help you in your gardening journey. At the heart of every successful organic garden is rich, healthy, ALIVE garden soil. The Secrets of Soil Building helps you build it, and…
Making the best of drought and flood
Seems like we’re getting the weather extremes this year. A summer of extreme drought, water rationing, and lawn removal. And winter forecasts are for record-breaking rains (but all that water isn’t here yet). How do we make the best of…