Alchemical Blog

a vegan permaculture children's story for the zine, (author's note -  for some vegan permaculture begins at the microbial and microfungal level. since that story would be difficult for some others to see and understand this story begins at the eye level of  very small things,  though still, we must be aware of life and its gifts everywhere. if you'd like to hear a story about the aformentioned species, request it. for that is a story vast and complete in its own way, for now, enjoy this tale, however, as a lesson learned from volunteers (aka weeds) peace and love, and pass it on freely to all, johndoe91269@yahoo.com).


Nellie the big fat cabbage meets the weeds

one day there was an uproar of sorts in the garden. everyone had heard that the new family was moving in, and they were weeds. now,  not everyone in the garden heard the news all at once or took it the same way. as with gardens the word travelled quickly, slowly and even paced too. down in the forgotten part of the patch where perennial vegetables and weeds grow hand in hand, ( or rather root in root0 they fed bugs.  big fat cabbage and her friends were having a party, the gardeners were often playing music on the porch, and that meant party time in the garden. in big fat cabbage's patch  they hadnt paid much attention to the news or the in betweens, but there were a lot of old critters and plants who had a special kind of anarchy, they didnt bother each other too much because it was almost always lazy in nellie's neighborhood close to the porch, with cyclical sweet intoxicating smells. a constant drop of water from a pipe kept all the small things coming to visit, and they could always take a munch, there was plenty of food for all the small things.  there were slugs and tiny bugs, and thousands of others.
big fat cabbage's name was actually nellie, but for as long as anyone can remember, years in fact,  she has been called big and fat and is feeding the whole neighborhood a little at a time. all of her children were home births and they have spread out and live all over the country. nellie grows where there is lots of  stuff that people call weeds or volunteers with lots of bugs crawling all over and not much sunlight past morning. she calls them her friends and family, nellie is one of the neighborhood's peace keepers she hadnt met a dandelion before,  she had heard they were invasive; up to no good. nellie had heard lots of stories, some she believed and others she didnt. so she waited to meet the dandelions herself. she had made friends with alot of folks that human people said she shouldnt, and still remained a lady.
 long ago nellie was cared for by people, they had started her indoors and sung her songs, fed her exotic things, enriched her life and tickled her leaves, they told her to trust them, that she would grow big and strong and feed lots of people. well, the human people forgot about her as soon as the bugs and slugs took a fancy to her patch of the garden, so the gardeners neglected that part of the garden and said it was for the wildlife. first it was spiders and their beautiful webs. they left a subtle note to humans that they werent the only "people" in the picture. nellie also knew that humans were fickle creatures and didnt like alot of her friends and family. she couldnt figure out why humans had such a hard time getting along with everyone. she slept that night dreaming about what the dandelions must be like. she bet they had lots of songs and stories too, she thought about the delicious nutrients/ nurturing they would bring and what color would they be.
not all of the human people disliked nellie, her bug friends, or the dandelions.  it was a bunch of guerilla gardeners and their seedballs that brought the dandelions. they had made them during a freeskool class and packed them with assorted other seeds and soil. then they learned about the plants and the important uses they have for animals, plants and people. they sang songs as they sowed and praised the bounty of life growing in forgotten waysides. though they were few, the guerilla garderners couldn't figure out why others didnt have time to partake in this extatic connection with nature.
the dandelions arrived the next day, they were trim and oblong seeds, slightly tall as seeds go. nellie thought they didnt look like dangerous dandelions. she didnt know what that would be, having never met any dandelions. they turned out to be very tidy about growing and unpacking. they set long deep taproots so as not to bother anyone who grew short broadroots. they didnt really bother anyone, where there were others living they grew skinny roots, and where they had more space they grew thick.  there weren't that many of them and the garden had no grass. in fact, it had a lot of open, available dirt spots showing signs of vacancy, thus providing ample opportunities to live and make companions. the dandelions made friends with everyone.
 as soon as they were old enough they sang their songs and shared their stories while they shot out bright yellow flowers.  plants and insects in the garden soon lost their fear when they saw the brightly colored magestic flowers. many jaws dropped, some in multiple sets. the color was so pure and, well, yellow. it was a mellow yellow. being peace keepers, the bees went forth to investigate; sure to tell everyone if the flowers were poisonous. right away they noticed the familiarity of the flower's color. one taste of the pollen set them slightly abuzz, ok to be true, they were buzzing. they rolled around in the pollen like pigs in a mud pond, and didnt want to leave, but soon the whole neighborhood of flying insects was lining up and some of their friends from neighboring counties joined too. the bees were chased off home with food for their young and the whole neighborhood followed suit taking long turns dancing with the dandelions, each one waiting impatiently with their dance cards.
nellie met some of the dandelions that had settled near her. they were very cordial and knew how to show respect for a lady. so she made some lovely mushroom tea to share. without a doubt, they did have dandelion songs, stories and the calcium they brought up from deep below had a rich earthy flavor as yet unknown to nellie and the garden. they were all beside themselves with joy. the new neighbors were a delight and every morning they gave a fresh smell and vibrancy.
with more food in their bellies, and such wonderful company no one in the garden fretted. some of the gardeners other neighbors, however, complained. they werent happy about the new additions to the neighborhood and started spouting off about decreased property values and other urbane nonsense. they told everyone that the dandelions had to go, the argument was that they would surely spread and bring the neighborhood to its knees, literally and figuratively. no doubt there was more sultriness where they came from and they would surely also bring their repulsive friends. there was even a veiled threat to remove them under a cover of darkness.
 what could the gardners do? after a quick concensus they realized that the only way to save the dandelions was to teach of their magic, and share their knowledge. so they composed songs and stories about their new friends and sang them for everybody. the poets read sonnets. there were stories and pictures for children.
there was even more partying and dancing than usual. someone brought out homeade dandelion wine and the whining stopped.  the salads all had just enough dandelion to not notice it well enough. and all the neighbors complimented the gardeners on their salads even more than ever. then they demanded to know what was in them, subtle hints were quietly spread about the uneighborly sport of keeping recipes secret. by soup everyone was feeling heartier and even a little frisky too. the gardeners were smart to add little diced dandelion roots, but saved the big ones in the ground; growing and spreading for later. the neighbors were thrilled with the rich flavor of the soups, then there were stews, and stir-frrys. all of the dishes had dandelions and there were candied dandelion roots for desert along with cakes made with dandelion root flour.  the gardeners were sure to tell their neighbors that the feast would be good for the digestion and high in vitamin A and D, and calcium.  everyone developed a greater respect for all the weeds/volunteers and social classes in the process.
nellie was enjoying the ongoing partying so much that she barely noticed the dandelions when they had put their bright colors away and were ready to reproduce; sending their little ones onward and wherever. the dandelions had more stories to share, now singing more songs of praise for gardens, gardeners and their neighbors. they flew off quietly. though their lineage had come from europe, far away, they knew that they had something to give that was valuable, much like their human cousins. their stories and songs would travel far, even back to their home country. to their credit , dandelions were once highly valued by french royalty and will live with anyone rich, poor or otherwise. they offer their gifts equally. may we learn from their extensive cultural heritage and the many substitutes poor folk have used them for/in/on. forgotten waysides teach us many things, and it is here that we see the beginnings of healing, if we are careful we will never loose our agricultural wisdom nor our ability to care for each other freely.

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the flower

 

 (in some african languages amani means wish or desire. in swahili, amani means peace. amani are also known in fantasy circles as a peaceful kind of elves).

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is permaculture a means of classwarfare?

yes, if the end result continues in the direction syracuse is headed.

 who here is truly poor,  tired, homeless, hungry, alone, and scared? as an affected person i have been all of these, and to this day i have never truly been helped by a single rich person. in other words, thats normal. i do not find a moral or ethical problem in poverty, i see it in the exesses. at the Good Samaritan one can find alot of gentle older men eating substandard food, nothing improves until the poorest are enriched. i find it highly unrational to have so many mansions unoccupied and for sale, while people are homeless due to lack of opportunities. if the opportunity to learn permaculture was available to many homeless and poor people we might have hope of improving our conditions and providing for ourselves, and our families. if the social strati of our society were leveled perhaps poor people could even make a living doing permaculture. unfortunately, our society would rather pay entertainers and hired guns than agriculturalists. the well paying permaculture jobs very rarely involve building a food shelter (or food production), and never in low class neighborhoods. i challenge this group to consider my words.

this permaculture gathering is questionably a case of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. i do not fault any of the teachers here for practicing their craft, i do fault anyone who is a permaculturalist who does not improve the worst areas, that is neglect no matter the zone. art parks simply do not "cut it" and to call them permaculture is offensive.  its easy to perform permaculture with a vast amount of resources and happy well fed people. it takes a lot more diplomacy to handle the difficult work of creating/restoring/maintaining a food shelter or a real permaculture site in an impoverished neighborhood. however, the rewards outweigh the struggle. even the struggle is useful as it helps people to learn how to organize. if there is no struggle then the poor do not benefit.  this is not a new problem and by facing it head on (forward) we build real community with all of our neighbors. i assert that there is truly a class war continuing in america, and this gathering does not feel like a battle for freedom. may we all walk away from this event sharing knowledge freely with the members of this society who contribute the lowest financially. permaculture is truly for the birds and beasts. anyone can plant seeds. everyone should know that you cant plant seeds in concrete. the seeds are not the problem its the concrete and the mentality that pervades; pave paradise and put up a parking lot. the reality is that city dwellers spend more money on concrete than seeds.until october of last year i could easily research permaculture using the keywords "syracuse permaculture". today that is impossible, the first five and more pages are covered with invitations to this conference (which was formerly called a consulta, with that emphasis and sense of urgency gone  this conference feels stale, stagnant, lifeless and festering). the informational websites on permaculture in syracuse have been buried by sites with no educational content. stop and imagine what it would feel like if your important research had been buried by spam. this is what has happened to many like me, i am not the only person who has suffered. for a person, such as myself, paying for permaculture is simply out of the question. my annual income is less than ten thousand dollars a year. i cannot afford to spend one tenth of my annual income on classes, many of my neighbors will agree. quite possibly there are alot of people attending the conference who do not intend to earn a permaculture certificate. will any less be thought of us? to this i will add that it is simply not necessary, why learn permaculture in the country if you live in a city?   instead i rely on other sources of learning, i listen to nature everywhere not just pretty places. i also learn by word of mouth and read. my efforts to gain information about permaculture, and i would imagine that others too, in my local community has been hindered by all the spam for this event. i dont think all of the resources were widely considered when planning this event, or the impact on those who quietly do the much needed work of earth healing (for which i dont always charge).  my studies have included spending half a year in portland oregon where i am a proud  member of the portland permaculture guild along with toby hemmenway and others. portland's guild has a listserve monthly meetings and addresses all levels of income.  i am still a member and wrote to my friend toby just last week. i am a professional permaculturalists. i do not need a permaculture certificate to practice my craft professionally, and to my knowledge no one intends to take me to court (or anyone else i know who is a professional permaculturalists without a certificate.
i have lots of fellow guild members (also in santa cruz and nevada city, as well as other guilds) who also do not hold permaculture certificates. On the east coast i know of very few permaculture institutes within the confines of smaller cities, they are usually located in the country, with no bus lines connected. these institutes do not make a habit of devoting themselves to poor neighborhoods. this is a shame, because it would seem plausible to presume that if you take care of the most neglected areas the rest will improve. its like being in a building when it gets hit by an airplane, its better to be on the ground floor. i do not fault any of the teachers here for practicing their craft, i do fault anyone who is a permaculturalist who does not improve the worst areas, that is neglect no matter the zone. art parks simply do not "cut it" and to call them permaculture is offensive.  its easy to perform permaculture with a vast amount of resources and happy well fed people. it takes a lot more diplomacy to handle the difficult work of creating/restoring/maintaining a food shelter or a real permaculture site in an impoverished neighborhood. however, the rewards outweigh the struggle. even the struggle is useful as it helps people to learn how to organize. if there is no struggle then the poor do not benefit.  this is not a new problem and by facing it head on (forward) we build real community with all of our neighbors. i assert that there is truly a class war continuing in america, and this gathering does not feel like a battle for freedom. may we all walk away from this event sharing knowledge freely with the members of this society who contribute the lowest financially. permaculture is truly for the birds and beasts. anyone can plant seeds. everyone should know that you cant plant seeds in concrete. the seeds are not the problem its the concrete and the mentality that pervades; pave paradise and put up a parking lot. the reality is that city dwellers spend more money on concrete than seeds.

i live in a racially mixed neighborhood. we have macedonians, chinese, african americans, africans, indians, caucasians and probably more than a few have native blood. the root of nursery is nurse, and if taken literally the alchemical nursery should nurse alchemists. that being the case, i ask who is doing this at all levels of society? my intention is not to make a mockery of anyones efforts, but to encourage us to fullfill our mission statements, by truly understanding what they mean.  as many know a mission statement is useless and misunderstood unless it is put into practice universally.

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 is for the birds...
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 5:30 PM
From:
"dandelion" <johndoe91269@yahoo.com>
Add sender to Contacts
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ppg@lists.riseup.net
How can i do permacultulre?" he asked. The moon looked down an benevolently said "permaculture is for the birds". "You're right!" he said. "No" she stated. "Permaculture is a human action". "And its for the birds?" He said. "Of course, you are bright enough to understand ecology.". they contemplated together. "But im a gadener i grow food and flowers to consume." the moon smiled. and said,"They do to." . "how? With their maps and charts?"  He cried. "In time that becomes alot of things, like the seeds birds cultivate. You know time. remember, you are an alchemist.The birds come and go. It takes seasons. " The moon laughed. Permaculture is for the birds. the boy laughed, and planted a fig tree in his mushroom patch. . "I'll keep doing this, its for the birds!". "and they will join you". the moon ended.

feed two with one seed.

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more on capitalizing sustainability

   

http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2009/03/66835.php

The Slow Decline of a Dying Rhizome
by B. Perdue Friday, Mar. 13, 2009 at 12:08 PM

  Perdue Friday, Mar. 13, 2009 at 12:08 PM

    This Tuesday, the Rhizome Collective will begin to die its slow death. All residents and backspace organizations have been forced to vacate. Many fear the blow of losing one's home will taper any gained momentum to save the space.

UNOFICIAL, COPYLEFT RELEASE
Please Circulate
13th of Friday, 2009

This Tuesday, the Rhizome Collective will begin to die its slow death. All residents and backspace organizations have been forced to vacate. Many fear the blow of losing one's home will taper any gained momentum to save the space.

Last night, we sat in a room with many collective members and the Allen Street Rhizome Warehouse private property owners—Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew. Kellogg and Pettigrew have been members of the Rhizome Collective and sometimes residents of Austin, TX. They legally own the warehouse property through Sustainable Revolution Inc. Kellogg and Pettigrew have built a career through their work with the Rhizome Collective—creating a sustainability consulting/training seminar called RUST and published a book entitled Toolbox for a Sustainable Revolution. Over nine years, Kellogg and Pettigrew and countless others built the Rhizome together.

On 2/16/09, Kellogg and Pettigrew informed the collective of their intent to sell the warehouse property in six months. They listed an asking price of $390,000 and asked the collective to make an offer. When asked if sweat equity would be valued, they firmly responded, “no.” People questioned making this transaction using capitalist economic values. Kellogg purchased the warehouse with an inheritance of an unknown amount. Kellogg and Pettigrew also own property in New York State.

On 3/3/09, City of Austin Code Enforcement cited the property owners with a number of violations. Kellogg and Pettigrew received this information and informed us that we needed to vacate and the building would be sealed 3/17. Through collective pressure, Kellogg and Pettigrew reluctantly pressured the City and asked questions about the exact nature of the violations. They achieved a 30 day extension to pull permits and deal with the violations. Kellogg and Pettigrew asked all to vacate, regardless. Conveniently, the community organizations and housing residents are being shuffled out the door.

Members of the collective questioned Kellogg and Pettigrew about their intentions for dealing with the code violations. The question was asked if they are planning on pulling the permits with the understanding that the collective would purchase the space. They said they didn't know. Their options were to pull permits or sell within 30 days. Someone in the group offered to collectively share the costs of code violations. Kellogg and Pettigrew were hesitant about such an idea. Kellogg and Pettigrew in effect told the collective that from here on out they'd go it alone. It seemed silly, then, to waste our time pretending to work together. Clearly, there is an unequal power relationship between the landlord and tenants. Why pull permits if ownership is not to be transfered?

If we were working together, I'd understand temporarily leaving the space to deal with permits. But, the vague non-commitment was a de facto admission of what would happen post-permit. Nothing. The space will be sold on the open market—maybe to the collective, maybe not. This all begs a larger question, was the intention ever to transfer ownership to the collective? Why were calls to rent-to-own through owner financing not heeded by the landlords years ago? Why is the conversation revolving around money and loans, and not community cultural capital and anti-capitalist views of property?

Many who've lived in the community of Austin and have seen the day to day operations of the Rhizome and the long-term trends, have recognized the power imbalance of the situation. Fundamentally, collective space should reside in collective hands. There was a social contract of peaceable transfer power. Yet, the behavior and attitudes of Kellogg and Pettigrew always reflected their special case status. Not to mention their personal fiscal, material, and professional benefits under the guise of non-profit status and collective community building. Nor, their responsibility within the collective of building un-permitted structures for their own personal benefit and supposed community benefit. We have been co-dependent on the supposed benevolence of gift-giving from a privileged person. Frankly, we needed the space. And despite knowing that this day would come, we went ahead because we had nowhere else to go. We hastily relied on the good intentions of vastly more privileged people. Attempts were made to take good intentions out of the equation through the transfer of power—only to be stymied time and time again.

Now, I'm having a huge wake up call about the so-called community. Not so much about Kellogg and Pettigrew. I've seen them act like Queen and King of the Rhizome Castle for years. But, now, I see the meeting dynamics shake out like a bad anti-oppression workshop skit. Lip-service is given to a collective, consensus-based process when two people really run the show, their cadre of supporters seem well-intentioned yet politically fair weather, others can't deal with conflict and the elephant continues to sit in the room, voices are silenced because they are called too emotional, and people of color and marginalized folks are going to feel the brunt of the eviction. One sentiment I've heard a couple people throw out has illuminated this situation for me. Folks have said, “This is the United States, we can't just...” Its seems as though many folks in that room would stand up for somebody half way across the world out of guilt or some such motivation, rather than fight for their own home. In a classic display of privilege, folks are bouncing out of this community leaving the folks who actually live here to pick up the pieces and build again. Similar stories play out across the nation in these radical subcultures keeping them in their bubbles—never to reach out to people outside their activist playhouses.

Why am I putting this shit on blast? Well, because I think the situation is fucked up and I feel some sort of obligation to tell my version of the sequence of events. This piece will surely stir some controversy and hopefully spark some dialog. I've gone back and forth and had much self-doubt about how to approach this situation. I know this will piss some people off. I'm no stranger to controversy and firmly believe if actions cannot be held up to public scrutiny then something is amiss. I also think conflict is inevitable—especially when there is an power imbalance. We need to deal with it head on or not at all. Kellogg and Pettigrew have stated their intention to do as they please. So, either we wait for their word or pressure them to make the concessions that are politically and culturally ours. As long as Kellogg and Pettigrew continue their work creating “sustainable revolution” in New York and beyond, they must be held accountable for the sustainability of the Allen Street Warehouse and I hope this article aids in that.

Perhaps, there's still hope to make an offer to transfer the building in collective hands and for Kellogg and Pettigrew to do the right thing. Maybe this piece will ruin it. It should happen soon, if at all, because Kellogg and Pettigrew are leaving Texas once everyone's out and won't be looking back. What I heard last night, in not so many words, was there was no plan to pull permits and thusly no plan for collective purchase. I wonder why would they care once they leave this town? Sometimes, I think, its just not worth it. So, for now, I will no longer wait for the whims of the landlords or the illusion of collective process.

If Kellogg and Pettigrew choose not to transfer ownership to the collective, then the question is what's the community's cut?

This Saturday and Sunday there is a estate sale happening at the Rhizome. People are packing their bags and selling off community property. Come on down to the Rhizome to see it all go down.

Good Night and Adieu,

-Brent Perdue

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let us out our minds together, here in the land or the haudenosone, and honor the cosmos and all our ancestors for their contributions.

i worry about networkers,coordinators,and teachers. it feels like im old fashioned,but there is good reason to learn. life always has something to teach, and the memory hole is saturated with information. never forget what we learn from. we are primarily students the better we get.

as organizers and alchemists, web readers and people,

listen to the wind and to the bark of a dog, the howl of a cat. this is where we learn about nature, the moon has much to teach.

find cooperation without ignoring someone and you walk away from ignorance.

greenwashing is a term for fake green. its toxic and glows, its powered by nukes.

greenwashing also comes from people who tell others story and give no credit. they walk away from things when the going gets rough, and count their booty.

greenwashers capitalize off of sustainability instead of donating their luxuries.

most of us have some whitewash we are trying to do.

im trying not to greenwash and invite anyone to help me start a tool and seed library, perhaps at the spacious office. it would be a great location for starters that coukd go to the neighbors.

theres no reason why we cant all be student, teacher, and other.

come on let's grow a food shelter!

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yeah, syracuse can be bruital, try being the longhair who gets called jesus freak one minute, and then osama bin ladin the next. i did it. but syracuse is great! if you have your own sense of navigating the same plane as hiawatha syracuse is a palace twenty-four seven. if you dont want to be elitist then you are looking at a city on the rise. we have a tendency to sound miserable to outsiders, but that just gets them to stop asking questions and go away faster.

you see, its easy to be one of the few people in syracuse that are elite, lets call these folks organized. if you dont argue with them and let them railroad themselves into your mentality (if you should differ) then you can have a sense of superiority. the rest of us wont become members of the coop because it doesnt feel like one. though outsiders see us as miserable the rest of the world knows that we are just miserable at conceded folks. we have plenty of reason to know that the world has been around for a long long time, and we werent born yesterday. today i spent time working on a book about taking care of the earth, and playing with my five year old niece. whether or not there are a limited number of types depends on whether or not you follow that mindset, i do not.

there are over 8 billion people in the world now, and each is different.

in anarchist thought each is given respect as an individual.

i dont feel comfortable being placed into a type. ive been an activist for over twenty five years, and i dont like being categorized, neither does my five year old niece.

some advice for the administrators here, try focusing on the average person in syracuse. if you just plug in the folks who are the best and brightest they will leave syracuse too.

thats what THiNC did braindrain, so.........

how do you promote local? support local, and many will sound a lot harsher than me. if you cant handle me, how can you handle someone who is not a member of the alchemical nursery?

my inbox has zero replies from josh or the entire board of directors.

at this point id say that is more than just a little irresponsible,


id say thats rude.


maybe its time to enjoy peace, love, and happiness

dandelion

p.s. i've started a 4 seasons permaculture instalation if anyone wants to check it out hit me back.

http://www.youtube.com/openairfreeschool

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Syracuse is a tough town.

When I moved here in August of 2003, I couldn't help but notice people walk in the street all year round. In August, it's not to avoid the snow and ice piled up on the sidewalks; it almost seems to say, "Hit me with your SUV, it won't put me in any worse shape than I am now."

I talked to people. The guy at the oil change place who said he'd been here all 23 years of his life and couldn't wait to be able to leave; the 45-year-old who used to work for Nestle in Fulton who was working two full-time jobs at Carousel Center to almost make up for that lost salary.

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 Hello,Here I am working on recycable art in my studio.

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