The PermaDesign Weblog, with Nate Downey and Melissa McDonald!
Category: Books
Harvest the Rain: An Inconvenient (but Fun!) Tour
At the outset of the Industrial Revolution, the protagonist of Voltaire’s Candide travels extensively in an attempt to discover “the best of all possible worlds.” In the end, Candide realizes that he and his party would have been better off if they’d never gone on tour in the first place. “What’s necessary,” the tired traveler declares in the last sentence of the novella, “is that we cultivate our garden.” Thanks to the slow-food movement made popular by Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingslover, and many others, 250 years later people are finally starting to get this message. From backyard gardens to downtown farmers’ markets, people are realizing the rewards of becoming truly productive human beings.
07/10/2010 | Books | Community | Ecology | Edibles | Water Harvesting | (0) Comments
Radioheads: Please Check Out These Two Eco-Shows
Had a blast taping two radio shows this week. On Thursday, Kate Manchester interviewed me for her Edible Radio program. She’s the publisher of Edibles Santa Fe, a magazine for Santa Fe’s local-food movement. Please keep an eye out for my article in the Fall edition. (It’s about cold composting.) Kate’s a great interviewer and an awesome magazine publisher. I’m not sure when the show will air, but I’ll let you know as soon as it’s linkable. Please check out Kate’s work here: www.edibleradio.com and www.ediblesantafe.com.
07/08/2010 | Bike Commuting | Books | Compost | Edibles | Events | Water Harvesting | (0) Comments
Staff Writer at “The New Yorker” Enjoys My Book!
“Downey’s anthem to the rain could do for the backyard and the water table --and therefore, let’s hope, for the Earth and its inhabitants-- what the “Joy of Cooking” did for the kitchen, or what “The Joy of Sex” did for the bedroom. It’s one of those rare how-to books that, by way of the author’s wit, warmth, and passion, converts practical wisdom into a kind of transformational incantation.”
--Nick Paumgarten, Staff Writer at The New Yorker
07/02/2010 | Books | Ecology | Water Harvesting | (0) Comments
