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A collection of 49 posts

Josef's Journey to John O'Groats

Josef's Journey to John O'Groats

Since this journey has ended up being a major milestone in the development of United Diversity I though I had better re-post this write up I did for the Brake The Cycle blog here too. Enjoy! Last month I cycled about 1200 miles, from the south-easternmost tip of mainland England

Homes and Hands - Community Land Trusts in Action

Homes and Hands - Community Land Trusts in Action

We’ll never have a peaceful, just and sustainable world (or, as Charles Eisenstein [https://charleseisenstein.net/] says ‘the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible [https://vimeo.com/66550562]‘) whilst the land that sustains us all is owned and controlled by a tiny minority of the population. We

COMING HOME: E.F. Schumacher and the Reinvention of the Local Economy

COMING HOME: E.F. Schumacher and the Reinvention of the Local Economy

This is one of the best documentaries about Community Supported Agriculture, Community Land Trusts and Community Currencies. > COMING HOME: E.F. Schumacher and the Reinvention of the Local Economy, is a new 37 minute film that tells the story of a series of revolutionary innovations by the community of

Springhill Cohousing

Springhill Cohousing

Last Saturday Gloria and I joined members of the North London Sustainable Housing Partnership [https://nlshp.wordpress.com/] to visit the lovely Springhill Cohousing [https://www.springhillcohousing.com/] community in Stroud. The video above is a quick tour of the site (unfortunately my battery ran out before I got to

Building communities we'd like to see

Building communities we'd like to see

This summer United Diversity is helping the West Lexham Education Centre [https://www.westlexham.org] in a variety of ways. West Lexham Education Centre is an unblemished example of a project providing a leading-edge space that creates innovative services, meaningful training and supports sustainable enterprise opportunities. Located in the beautiful

The London Orchard Project

The London Orchard Project

I love this project. > “The London Orchard Project [https://thelondonorchardproject.org/] is a fresh initiative promoting orchards and fruit trees in London. We are working with Londoners to plant and harvest apple, pear and plum trees all over the city, and help us all to rediscover the pleasure of

Sheet Mulching: Greater Plant and Soil Health for Less Work

Sheet Mulching by Craig Elevitch and Kim Wilkinson – Permanent Agriculture Resources Why Mulch? Agriculture with mulch in the tropics promotes plant health and vigor. Mulching improves nutrient and water retention in the soil, encourages favorable soil microbial activity and worms, and suppresses weed growth. When properly executed, mulching can significantly

Why use Compost Tea?

Compost tea is used for two reasons: To inoculate microbial life into the soil or onto the foliage of plants, and to add soluble nutrients to the foliage or to the soil to feed the organisms and the plants present. The use of compost tea is suggested any time the

City Repair LA

[https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OOlW-1cKA6k/Sq0uYsA6GoI/AAAAAAAACkg/uz-B0ftFvdg/s1600-h/mark.jpg] Mark Lakeman stares down the new Bimini Street salamander [https://monsters.monstrous.com/salamander.htm]. Portland architect and activist Mark Lakeman, founder of the City Repair [https://http//cityrepair.org/] movement, is in Los Angeles for a week

Rural revolution in Colombia goes digital and p2p

“Latinamerica is particularly well equipped for these changes (peer production) by their cultural affinity with the values of P2P”, said Michel Bauwens on an interview [https://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/espectaculos/16-15035-2009-08-23.html] for Pagina/12 the Argentinian journal. This statement seems to prove itself when one reads

Biosphere Home Farming from Philips designers

See larger image here. [https://api.ning.com/files/MpSRpEHITCNAANYpqA8IBLP-fhkajigh1DLQJ*Mh2stYrPWIo5FIsVBKvw64eNt49TwbYzBu9NNHiSy7ZNoSV-1ikpDRCQOB/food2_hr.jpg] by Clive van Heerden, August 6, 2009 Looking into the economics and politics of rising food prices and theories about impending food shortages led us to create the “food farm” to test peoples sensitivity to the

Agroforestry Found On Nearly Half The World’s Farms

For centuries, farmers have placed trees among their crops to enhance soil health, raise marketable fruits or nuts, and protect row crops from damaging winds. Yet agroforestry, as the practice is known, is generally considered a rarity among mainstream farmers. New data suggests that more farmers practice agroforestry than previously

The Case Against Organic Food Does Not Stand Up

By Peter Melchett There really are nutritional benefits, as research to be published next year will show Ben Goldacre says the Soil Association [https://www.soilassociation.org/]‘s criticism of the recent Food Standards Agency [https://www.food.gov.uk/] research on nutrients is “not about organic food [https://www.

The revival of homegrown urban agriculture

Commentary from Sam Rose: “Not only is urban agriculture an emerging movement for individuals, it is also being pursued as part of a sustainable urban renewal strategy throughout the midwest. Some examples include: * https://www.milwaukeerenaissance.com/SweetWaterFishFarming/HomePage Sweetwater organics Aquaponics fishfarming in Milwaukee WI * self sustaining urban food

Rooftop Farms, a 6,000 square foot organic vegetable farm in Brooklyn, New York.

From Brooklyn Supper blog [https://www.brooklynsupper.blogspot.com/2009/07/rooftop-farms-brooklyn.html]. Photo by Elizabeth Stark ©2008-2009. All rights reserved. See larger image here at Brooklyn Supper. [https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lx_oVvv15WQ/SmUJ4p5twLI/AAAAAAAABpQ/kuKOueyzbp4/s1600-h/DSC_0008.JPG] This is a roof of a warehouse in

Peak Water?

By Chris Mayer at The Daily Reckoning [https://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/price-of-water-rises-in-china/2009/08/21/] (Australian edition) The price of water is starting to rise in a big way, at least in China. I’ve expected this for a few years. To set the table, water rates in China

Squat Freeshop on Commercial Road

Swap shops, Freeshops, give away shops, they all aim to go against the capitalist framework, and often people can’t quite get their heads around the idea, that, yes it is free and you can take it! Illustrations by Thereza Rowe [https://www.therezarowe.com/] When I dropped by the

The man who planted trees

The power of one man to transform a desert into a lush and verdant land. Shepherd Elzard Bouffier lives alone with his sheep not far from a drought-stricken and windswept hamlet. After the death of his wife and child, he chooses to devote the rest of his life to a

200 Urban Farms in Havana

Havana relies on 200 urban farms known as organoponicos The vegetable gardeners of Havana By Sarah Murch BBC Two’s Future of Food August 2009 Climate change, drought, population growth – they could all threaten future food supplies. But global agriculture, with its dependence on fuel and fertilisers is also highly

Permaculture Principles

As part of the Sustainable Land Use [https://patrickwhitefield.co.uk/slu.htm] course I recently completed we had to do a short piece of work on Permaculture Principles. I put together this little list of principles compiled from the following books (and website)… [asa]0731812719[/asa] Attitudinal Principles * Work

A Farm for the Future

A Farm for the Future

This documentary from the BBC is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen on TV for a long time. Highly recommended. Wildlife film maker Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family’s farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future, and discovers that nature

Curtis 50 Cent Jackson Community Garden Opening Celebration

(Photo by Joe Corrigan/Getty Images North America) On November 3, 2008, 50 Cent, along with New York Restoration Project founder Bette Midler, had the honor of celebrating the opening of the The Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson Community Garden in Queens on 117-19 165th Street. A native of Jamaica, Queens,

Room to Grow: Participatory Landscapes and Urban Agriculture at New York University

By Adam Brock September, 2008 A research paper I (Adam Brock) wrote under supervision from NYU professor Natalie Jeremijenko in Summer 2008. The conclusion? It’s not lack of land that’s preventing us from growing food on campus – it’s the politics of centrally-controlled space. Abstract Urban Agriculture presents

Save The Spike Surplus Scheme

The Spike [https://www.spikesurplus.org]in Peckham is under threat [https://www.petitiononline.com/paulk/petition.html]. With free permaculture courses, a community garden, recording studio, rehearsal space and much more, Spike is an exemplay example of volunteer community based regeneration. It is an important local resource. If you

Some of my favourite websites

United Diversity is all about creating new land, money and media systems. Here are some existing examples of the kind of projects we’re talking about: Land https://ecologicalland.coop/ https://openfarmtech.org/ https://www.energyfarms.net/ https://cityrepair.org/ https://thevillage.ie https://lammas.org.uk/ https://www.gloucestershirelandforpeople.