Green Party of TN 518 Moore Avenue Nashville, TN 37203

February 1, 20125:00 pmto10:00 pm

Sequatchie Valley Institute will sponsor a Fire Feast Seed-Sharing Potluck on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 from 5-10 pm at green/spaces.

Eric Blevins from the Mountaintop Removal Road Show will kick off the feast with a talk at 5pm.

Bring seeds you saved, and a Slow Food dish you made!

• (Slow Food is the opposite of Fast Food, the more local, the better!)

Seed-sharing, Socializing, Music! and discussion of the year to come! Free event! 

Fire Feast 2012 flyer (PDF download)

Tomorrow, Monday, January 9, at 3:30 in the afternoon, I am going to be someplace I’ve never been before–inside the Federal Courtroom at the corner of Broadway and Eighth Avenue.  I’ve been outside it, involved in demonstrations, several times, but this is the first time I’m going in.  I’m not a witness or a defendant.  [...]

As I said, getting the state of Tennessee to recognize the Green Party’s right to appear on the ballot as a party is only half the battle.  The other half involves how the votes will be cast and counted. First, a little history.  The Cheney-Gore-Nader presidential contest in 2000 was widely perceived as having been [...]

Please note:  I’m going to drop a lot of f-bombs in this segment and the next.  In politics, however, the f-word that is not spoken in polite society has nothing to do with plowing or the union of male and female.  In politics, the f-word that should never be uttered is “fascism.”  I’m going to [...]

I’m going to conclude with this Marge Piercy poem, musical background is “Black Dust” by Bill Laswell from his AFTERMATHematics instruMENTAL album The Low Road What can they do to you? Whatever they want. They can set you up, they can bust you, they can break your fingers, they can burn your brain with electricity, [...]

January 6, 201210:00 amto4:00 pm

We are putting the final touches on the new high tunnel greenhouse, and will need “all hands on deck” on Friday beginning at 10AM to pull the 72′ X 40′ plastic roof over the top.

We will provide chili, cornbread, and beer… so please come and help us RAISE THE ROOF!

The greenhouse is intended for season extension, allowing us to start crops earlier and grow longer. It was funded by a NRCS USDA grant and will be a great addition to the SVI gardens.

My old  buddy Wally died a few days after Thanksgiving.  He had just passed his 56th birthday, but his body was worn out and his spirit was worn down.  “Wally” isn’t his real name, and I have altered some of the details of his life, just to preserve what dignity he had left.  As I [...]

I’ve been eagerly following, and occasionally participating in, the Occupy! movement here in Nashville, and it gladdens my heart to see so many young people taking up the cause, just when it seemed like the only folks interested in a just society were just us old holdouts from the 60′s.  Suddenly the land is full [...]

So, let’s revisit that American foundation document, “The Declaration of Independence.” IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the [...]

Because I am deeply committed to “occupying” our homestead, and there’s nobody to do some of the chores but me, I haven’t spent a lot of time with Occupy Nashville, but, at one of the General Assemblies I was able to attend, a young woman brought up an issue that, to me, is “the elephant [...]

December 10, 2011

Dust off your jingle bells and come join us for fun and shopping at SVI, a non-profit sustainable living center located 45 minutes from Chattanooga, in the midst of 400 acres of forest. We will be providing nature-based fun for adults and kids alike, so bundle up and join us by the fireplaces for hot spiced cider, yummy holiday snacks, games and crafts.

Great gifts by local artists will be available for purchase (cash or check), including Carol’s Sassy Shadows Pottery bird feeders, mugs, dishes, and wall hangings, all with impressions of forest flowers, vines, and leaves. Nature of Reaction jewelry, marbles, and kaleidoscopes by Patrick Ironwood will be featured.

Watercolors of birds, and hand-painted holiday cards by the well-known Atlanta artist Michelle Kimmons will be available. See http://michellekimmonsfineart.blogspot.com/ for more information on her work. We’ll also have for sale SVI’s favorite books on sustainable building, food, gardens, and kid activities.

    

If hiking is your style, wear your boots and explore our mountain trails. We’ll have tours of our gardens and hand-crafted buildings made of rock, logs, clay, and straw, and powered by the sun. Dress warmly and wear walking shoes. No pets, please. Please let us know if we can expect you.

SVI is located in the Cartwright community just off Hwy 28 half-way between Dunlap and Whitwell. For more information and directions, contact Carol or Chris at: 423-949-5922, carol-kimmons [at] utc [dot] edu, or go to http://svionline.org/about-svi/directions/

Sequatchie Valley Institute is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to offer society an opportunity to experience and learn about living in harmony with nature by providing:

• education, art and research opportunities, land conservation & restoration
• a dynamic model residence and learning center
• a vision for attaining a sustainable future

 

November 12, 2011toNovember 13, 2011

Join Sequatchie Valley Institute for an earthen plaster workshop in downtown Chattanooga. Earthen plaster is a low-impact sustainable construction technique that has been used for thousands of years.

We have added walls made from a local clay/sand/straw mix (a material known as “cob”)to a timber frame structure in Chattanooga, as a demonstration of ancient, sustainable building techniques. Our next step is to seal the walls with earthen plaster. You will learn how you can use similar materials to create projects for your own home.

 

Dates: Saturday and Sunday: November 12-13
Times: 10:00 am and 1:00 pm (Lunch is included, starts at 12:00 noon)
Price: free (donations accepted)
Location: 1025 East 8th St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

Space is limited, please email ruderockdesigns [at] gmail [dot] com to reserve a space in this workshop.

Last Saturday,I was invited to speak, on behalf of the Cumberland-Green River Bioregional Council, on the topic of “How can we create a better world.”  Here’s the text of the invitation: Still being planned. Educate people against corporatism and militarism. This will be held at the Belmont United Methodist Church. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! If you [...]

I have a cousin who used to work for the World Bank, back in the day when most people thought highly of that institution.  His specialty was bringing potable water into urban neighborhoods in Africa, which is a noble pursuit, in my opinion.  My cousin has a good understanding of “the big picture,” and thus [...]

Sir Albert Howard published “An Agricultural Testament,” his best-known book, in 1940.  In its 300 pages, he laid out the scientific foundation for what has become the organic farming and gardening movement.  Of course, very little of what Howard expounded in his magnum opus was really new–much of  it was the logical, scientific justification for, [...]

When I first heard of David Kennedy’s recent book, “21st Century Greens–Leaf Vegetables in Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture,” my mind flashed back to the last time I had seen him, nearly twenty years ago, when he was a member of the Flat Rock Community near Murfreesboro and active in the Cumberland-Green Bioregional Council.  At one [...]