Glossary of terms used on this site

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Alchemical Nursery

The Alchemical Nursery is a community benefits organization committed to the development of regenerative lifestyles and landscapes utilizing the principles and ethics of Permaculture, the Intentional Communities movement, Ecovillage living, and Mutual Aid activity. By providing educational resources, dialogue space, networking tools, and project development we are growing together towards cultural transformation, right livelihood, and equilibrium between local human society and our global ecological community.

This Mission is accomplished through these goals and operations:

Facilitate Permaculture based ethics, education, and hands-on experiences to assist individuals in becoming more self-reliant and connected to their ecological environment.

Advance an understanding of Intentional Community and Ecovillage based lifestyles and philosophies.

Direct the continued research and development of the DUCk (Decentralized Urban Community) Land Trust model.

Aggregate and coordinate educational and project based initiatives based in cooperative and mutual aid methodologies.

Provide logistic, financial, organizational, and public support to other like-minded endeavors.

Biodynamic agriculture

Biodynamic agriculture, a method of organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view (anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner), treats farms as unified and individual organisms, emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a closed, self-nourishing system.Regarded by some proponents as the first modern ecological farming system, biodynamic farming includes organic agriculture's emphasis on manures and composts and exclusion of the use of artificial chemicals on soil and plants.

Blackwater

Blackwater is used to describe water containing fecal matter and urine. It is also known as brown water, foul water, or sewage. It is distinct from greywater or sullage, the residues of washing processes.

brown compost

compost made from yard debris like; leaves, weeds, decaying garden plants, and specificically not vegetables nor fruits.

Cohousing

A cohousing community is a type of intentional community composed of private homes with full kitchens, supplemented by extensive common facilities. A cohousing community is planned, owned and managed by the residents, groups of people who want more interaction with their neighbours.

companion planting

grouping plannts together in a garden so that their propertis might benefit and aid each others' life cycles.

Compost

reusing plant matter as a soil medium, the process of aging plant matter to reuse as a soil medium.

Consensus

a form of group decision making in which the process is based on shared approval of an idea or action, rather than voting. in this way decisions are made collectively.

curry

anglicisation of the Tamil word "kari" which means spice. it often includes; tumeric,cayenne,corriandor,cumin,fennel,dill,ginger,clove,nutmeg,pepper, and sometimes curry leaves.

d.i.t.

(do it together) the act of making something by hand with one or more people, or acquiring the skills to do so.

d.i.y.

(do it yourself) the act of making something by hand or the acquisition of a relatively self-taught skill.

decoction

A decoction is a method of extraction of herbal or plant material, which includes, but is not limited to; flowers, stems, roots, bark, and rhizomes.

draft box

an open box enclosed with screens that has a door, used for storing foods instead of refridgeration. this sytem employs air to cool and uses no artificial energy.

Fellowship for Intentional Community

The Fellowship for Intentional Community nurtures connections and cooperation among communitarians and their friends. We provide publications, referrals, support services, and sharing opportunities for a wide range of intentional communities, cohousing groups, ecovillages, community networks, support organizations, and people seeking a home in community.

Aliases: FIC, F.I.C.

Fiscal Sponsorship

The practice of non-profit organizations offering their legal and tax-exempt status to groups engaged in activities related to the organization's missions. It typically involves a fee-based contractual arrangement between a project and an established non-profit.