http://www.ted.com/talks/john_kasaona_from_poachers_to_caretakers.html

In the last few years a popular meme growing throughout the ether of the inter-webs is the idea of guerrilla gardening.  The idea of guerrilla gardening is really quite simple, but with some rather radical implications.  Guerrilla gardening is the cultivation and care of plants (usually edibles) on land that you do not own.  It is done on land that may be overlooked and forgotten about by private companies or municipalities.  It may be D.O.T. land such as boulevards or…

Inspired by articles such as Growing Up Dystechnic, and a desire to connect with other makers I have started a new group for…

Yesterday I watched Les Miserables and was reminded what life was like not all that long ago. Now, it is true the film represents the seedier part of life in Paris in 1840s or so. But today standing in a warm shower, one I took for the sole purpose of getting a bit warmer after a mountain hike, it occurred to me that the people of Hugo's book probably never experienced a hot shower----never. Victor Hugo may not have. I just took a shower for leisure. I stood in there realizing that…

Recently my friend John who is a fellow fruit enthusiast like myself and helps run the NASE with me, sent me an email with a link to a program entitled The Fruit Hunters.  Documenting the history of fruit and the industrialization of the food chain, The Fruit Hunters takes us on a journey through history and around the globe.  From the jungles of Borneo and Bali, to a banana breeder in Honduras, and the flat northern plains…

Greetings one and all. I recently found my way onto here and thought I'd give you all a wave and show you what I do. I'm an artist/maker working in Bristol, UK, primarily making needle felted sculpture. The ideas in the Dark Mountain manifesto are ones that I have been thinking as well, so it was very…

Cross posted from www.culture30,net.

In this post we are going to try and unravel something that has been bugging me for a while: the role of specialisation in Culture3.0. As usual we need to make sure to define what we mean. Specialisation has many related meanings in different contexts but as it concerns us here it refers to division of labour. From …

Pretty Cute, Huh !!!

So I have something to tell you all.  With much hesitation and trepidation, but with encouragement from my wife and my good buddy Bill, I bring you the story of why I have blood on my hands.  Two nights ago I had to kill a possum.  I did not do it because I wanted to, or because I thought it…

I submitted this article to the main Uncivilisation blog - it was graciously published and started a fair bit of good, thoughtful conversations.  The idea of what "The Fittest" actually means is something I combat regularly.  My joints and immune system are often in a state, but what I've learned through my life has value, too.  The Fittest isn't always about physical or monetary means - it's something I think our society needs to relearn.

Under the UK austerity…

Hi all,

I noticed this was on a Birkbeck and thought it might be of interest to Uncivilised folk. It's free and open to the public.

M

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/events-calendar/david-bell-workshop

All that is Solid Melts into Air:Civilisation & its Discontents, a contemporary…

Cross posted from www.culture30.net.

Of all the memes in industrial civilisation perhaps none is as powerful as the myth of progress through the advancement of technology. That progress has been more or less linear from stone age to agricultural age to the…

Eight years ago when Peak Oil became a part of my life, and my DIY spirit kicked into high gear, I had no idea about the journey I was about to embark on.  From the beginning, food security and providing for my family had always been my main concern.  While it is true that the effects of Peak Oil will be far reaching, long term, and in some instances painful, nothing is more important than food and water security, with shelter coming in a close second.  Unlike food, clean water, and a dry…

I use my grandfathers garden tools. They are around 80 years old now, perhaps more as I doubt he bought them new himself. Of course some parts of the tools are much younger. I have replaced the handle of the large fork after snapping it trying to uproot a small tree. I burned out the old handle on the forge and used a cold chisel to cut the rivets out before heat shrinking the steel socket around the shaft of the new handle and forging two rivets to hold the handle firmly in place. The steel…

In late February on a gorgeous sunny afternoon, we packed up the two kids and the dog to go on a hike.  My wife wanted to show me a new spot she had just recently found and it proved to be a very interesting and fruitful hike.  I am hesitant to reveal the exact location of this piece of urban wasteland and future nature sanctuary, but I can tell you this much.  For many years it was a large rail yard, there are remnants of a 100 year old brewery, an old industrial site, and other artifacts…

Dear Uncivilised folk,

Some of you may know me from Uncivilisation festival, where I've been involved in organising the music for the last couple of years. I've also performed at a number of Dark Mountain events in the past, and some coming up too.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm currently working on my second album, 'Sweet Dregs', which I'm aiming to have out by the summer. I'm trying to crowdfund the means to get this album together at present so it can see the light…

Civilization: What a concept.



Outside it has warmed to 15 degrees but at the moment I sit next to an old iron stove, a potbelly we call them, made over a century ago. It was manufactured by the engine of civilization and I am in love with it. The warmth comes form the Red Oak, the Red Oak that has been dying here in Wisconsin because of the wilt. But the White Oaks, the Black Oaks along with Burr Oaks still thrive. The forests of pre-settlement  are returning as the farms have…