Three women, three bikes, 1600 miles and a whole lot of gardens and farms; and one movie trailer

In early 2007, three friends planned a three-month-long bicycle journey to tour and document food-producing garden projects from Washington D.C. to Montreal - and back again.

The trailer of their film is now out at
http://womensgardencycles.wordpress.com/watch-the-trailer

*********************

Thanks to those who have answered my question about urban landsharing--
I welcome more stories and anecdotes.
-- Jim

smithmillcreek@gmail.com

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Have you ever rented land from someone to food garden?

The usual model is:
You own land, and you grow things on it.

Has anyone ever been too busy to farm/garden their land,
and rented it out; or bartered use of it to someone else in exchange
for some portion of what is grown? Or have you been the landless grower?

I'm especially interested in people that might have done this inside city limits,
or with land less than 3/4 of an acre.

Please write me at smithmillcreek@gmail.com if you have any leads or tips.

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IMPactivism: Asset-based Community Development

Please pass this opportunity on to any potentially interested parties. Space is limited to 25 participants per session, but if there is adequate interest, additional dates can be arranged.

IMPactivism: Asset-based Community Development

Neighborhoods often are reactive rather than proactive, and try to deal with issues or conflicts rather than isolate the capacities, skills and resources they already possess.

This seminar series introduces a new way of thinking about community building that encourages directing effort at positive, concrete results. Case studies and examples of focusing energies internally into the neighborhood illustrate the benefits of utilizing this approach to strengthen sense of community and address quality of life issues.
Guidance and approaches to building cross-sector partnerships, along with "next steps" provide an in-depth introduction to a different way to think about and enhance community development from a neighborhood perspective.

The series is being presented over a 4 week period, and will meet once a week, from 11:30a.m. to 1:00p.m. You may select either:
• Wednesday session 7/23, 7/30, 8/6 and 8/13,
or
• Thursday session, 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, and 8/14.



Registration R.S.V.P. is required by Monday, July 21st at noon, and should be directed to kendrapenland@yahoo.com .

Payment should be made by check to Sustainable Development, LLC, and mailed to:
Sustainable Development
PO Box 8041
Asheville, NC 28814

Cost of series: pre-paid by Monday, July 21st: $150.00

payment first day of seminar : $175.00

Lunch, educational resources and materials are included.

AGENDAS:

DAY 1: IDENTIFYING AND UTILIZING INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES
11:30 - Introduction to traditional vs. asset-based model of community development
12:00 - Q&A, clarification
12:30 - Exercise

DAY 2: THE POWER OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
11:30 - Case studies of how internal focus strengthens neighborhoods
12:00 - How a stronger community can be a safer, healthier community
12:30 - Q&A, brief exercise

DAY 3: UTILIZING LOCAL INSTITUTIONS FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING
11:30 - Building cross-sector partnerships: Why it's important and how to begin
12:00 - Neighborhood Planning, community service providers & churches
12:30 - Q&A, brief exercise



DAY 4: MOBILIZATION
11:30 - Next steps...getting started
12:00 - Organized for success
12:30 - Q&A, final exercise, evaluation





Feel free to contact me with any questions!
Kendra P. Turner
Sustainable Development, LLC
828-301-3162
"Depend not on fortune, but on conduct." Publilius Syrus

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Searching for a place to live

Can you post something like this on a blog?

I'm looking a place to live in West Asheville starting August 1st. Id prefer to rent a 2-3 bedroom house & populate it, but can also share a place with someone else.

If you have leads, email smithmillcreek at gmail dot com.

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Faulty Media Coverage of Rainbow Gathering Police Riot?

http://artvoice.com/issues/v7n29/getting_a_grip

Weirdos Riot: What's Wrong With the Buffalo News?

by Michael I. Niman

It doesn’t really seem like the kind of story that would make the national news—10
US Forest Service police officers arrest a man in Wyoming for crime of
being “uncooperative.” Add the freak show specter of “eccentrics” and
“hippie types” throwing rocks and sticks, however, and in the era of
Jerry Springer, you’ve got the makings of a national news story. Hence,
nearly 2,000 miles away, the Buffalo News ran the story under the headline, “5 arrested in Rainbow Family clash with feds.”

In actuality, there was a national story, only it wasn’t the one that appeared in the Buffalo News.
I was at the scene, conducting research and working with a film crew
producing a documentary about the group, which was the subject of my
doctoral research and subsequent book, People of the Rainbow (Univ. of Tennessee Press). The alleged hippie riot reported by the News and dozens of other media outlets around the United States never happened. This Buffalo News
story, gleaned from the Associated Press wire service, like much of
what we read in mainstream newspapers, was based entirely on an
official government source, with no “on the ground” reporting or source
verification, no independent eyewitness reports, and no quotes from the
group in question.

The main problem here, as legendary investigative reporter
I.F. Stone put it, is that “all governments lie.” It’s a chronic
problem that reporters face—and a point journalism professors have been
trying to drive home for at least three generations. You can’t base
stories entirely on the narrative provided by one party to a conflict.
You can’t base stories entirely on government or corporate press
releases or official documents. News stories need to be based on
reporting, not stenography.

Keep Reading

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Net Zero Bungalow Presentation

from Asheville architect/planner Joe Minicozzi

Hello all:
The Asheville Design Center (ADC) is sponsoring a presentation next week that should be pretty cool. The architect is from Portland, though she is an Asheville native. She will show some of her work that is "net zero", which means that the houses that she works on produce as much energy to the grid as they consume. Also, much of this is 'renewably' produced energy.

One of her projects is a conversion of a 1923 Bungalow to a "net zero" house. Please pass this on to all that may be interested, see attached poster. See you at the ADC next week (8 College Street in downtown Asheville - on Pritchard Park - Wednesday July 9th, at 6PM sharp).
Cheers,
Joe


-------- Original Message --------

Attached is a poster for the July 9 Forum. The presenter, Kathy Bash, is architect Joe Wakefield's daughter. There is more information on this web page: http://www.solaroregon.org/resources_education/goal-net-zero-home-tour/goal-net-zero-home-tour

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