Mountaingirl’s Weblog

A few weeks ago, I got three chickens from a guy, Guy Freesen, down in Staunton who runs the Charis Eco-Farm.  After bringing them home and setting them up with food and water, we named them Mary, Judy and Maria, after some of our heroines of environmental activism, Mary Olsen, anti-nuclear activist with Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Judy Bonds, from Coal River Mountain Watch, and Maria Gunnoe, of Bob White, WV.  Both Maria and Judy have won the Goldman Environmental Award, which you can read more about here.  

Mary, Judy and Maria were doing great, laying about an egg a day.  Maria is still a month or so away from starting to lay, and Mary was laying regularly.  We enjoyed french toast, omlets, egg sandwiches, and pancakes from her eggs.  I say were, because tragically, Kidu, our Siberian Husky, got out of the house one afternoon and got to the chicken pen, which we had just built the day before, so they could get some fresh air and sunshine out of the coop.  :(  It was quite a day.  My friend Lara and I mourned their deaths, gave Kidu a good scolding, and then plucked and cleaned them.  They now rest in peace in my freezer.  Maria was alone for a few days, but then a good friend, Brian, from across town, who also has backyard chickens, donated one of his, to us.  Her name is Oprah (like Winfrey) and I’m sure she and Maria will become close friends soon.  

Sort of unrelated to the chickens, I am starting a new job tomorrow at the Little Grill Collective, a worker-owned restaurant and live music spot on the north end of Harrisonburg.  I will have more to say about it, as I work there longer and get a sense of the collective and how we operate.  To start, I will be washing dishes and running food primarily, but have the opportunity to move into the kitchen to prep and cook and then serve food eventually.  Find out more about the Little Grill    HERE!

Last week, I bid at a silent auction on a chicken house here in Harrisonburg, and ended up with the coop!  Some friends and I are helping to pay for it together and we’re keeping it in the backyard, near the vegetable and herb garden.  It’s a really nice design, made of cedar and a reused window complete with an aluminum roof to keep the chickens dry.  There’s a roosting space and a hole cut in the floor for their droppings (aka super rich nitrogen fertilizer for the compost pile and veggie beds).  It’s quite heavy though and cumbersome to move, so it might not be a mobile tractor style house.  Unless we put sticks on it and move it like one of those throne-y things you see in movies.  The space below could house a tray of sorts which could  slide out for access to the droppings.   I will hopefully post some photos soon of the coop, pre-chicken, and then again once I get some chickens.   I’ve been spending a lot of time lately doing research on all things chicken, talking to some folks in town with chickens about their varieties, what supplies to get for food and water, and potential disease preventatives.  There’s a motion here now (only needs 3 of 5 votes on the town council) to allow chickens in the city limits (though many already keep them, illegally I presume).  Austin, TX does, along with many other urban centers.  I’m excited about this venture which will contribute to the permaculture model of the garden, incorporating animals into the mix.  Of course, they will also provide me and my pals with fresh and yummy eggs

I have discussed the use of marijuana with my family and friends recently, especially since California is considering legalizing and taxing the sale of the plant.  There are some organizations, such as NORML, which are working to reform the laws around marijuana and decriminalize it for medicinal, recreational and industrial (hemp) use.  

This is pertinent to me, due to the fact that I was caught last month with stems of marijuana in my glove box.  As a result, I had to appear before a magistrate (judge) and I plead guilty, since I did in fact possess marijuana.  While sitting in the court room (of about 40 people to see the judge….I was second to last) I wrote a comment to the judge and read it after receiving my sentence.  Here is what I read:

I ask that the court re-evaluate the category of marijuana as a controlled substance for three reasons:

1) Given the declining economy, states are facing budget cuts and looking for new sources of income.  For example, in California, the state is considering growing and taxing marijuana in order to bring more revenue into the state budget.

2) Industrial hemp can be used for many uses including fibers, fabric, rope and paper among others.  Hemp does not contain THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive substance in marijuana.  Many naval journeys would not have been possible in the last few centuries without the use of hemp in the sails and ropes.  I would ask that if marijuana remains a controlled substance, that you reconsider the category of hemp for its utility. 

3) I contend that the risk of marijuana use is equal to the risk of alcohol use and should be treated in the same manner.

The judge told me she was only able to uphold the laws as they are currently written and that I should take my appeal to the legislature.  Unfortunately, it is easier sometimes to go before a judge and talk to them directly, rather than appearing on the floor of Congress.  Though, perhaps not, seeing as you have to break the law you wish to change, in order to see a judge about it.  Depending on your sentence, you may not have another chance to participate in society and use this method again.   I guess this is why people lobby, though this also seems ineffective, since you need a lot of money or a lot of people saying the same thing, for a politician to listen (mostly because they are after votes).  Additionally, and tangentially, but just as important, what exactly the ships were doing while sailing around the world with hemp sails and ropes is another discussion altogether.  Some were likely trading and taking goods to and fro, while others were engaged in warfare of some kind.  The legality of these activities can be explored in another blog post.  Until then, I’m going to eat some dinner and then go to a “House of Privilege” exhibit here at JMU.

http://homepages.uel.ac.uk/C.Knight/Is%20Female%20to%20Male%20as%20nature%20is%20to%20Culture.pdf

Hey yall in internet land, 

Get out from behind your laptops and desktops for one minute and pick up the phone to call Governor Manchin in West Virginia at 1-888-438-2731.  It is urgent that we collectively raise our voices and tell him:

1)Do not grant any permits to blast Coal River Mountain.  There is a mountain of data and evidence that supports the use of wind turbine electricity generation on these ridges.  Any blasting away for coal using explosives would ruin any opportunity for this potential alternative. 

2) Ask the governor to allocate funds (from his gynormous budget) to build a new elementary school in Sundial, West Virginia.  Currently, 1.6 billion gallons of toxic coal slurry sits precariously above Marsh Fork Elementary school.  Check out Pennies of Promise for more information.

These injustices go on all the time in our backyards and in others backyards.  Do not sacrifice one for the other.  ”Not in my backyard” or NIMBY, is rampant these days, where a community is pissed if the injustice is happening in their backyard, but if it (ex. a coal plant, a landfill, a prison)  is displaced somewhere else, then they are more ok with it.  Outta sight outta mind.  But as Martin Luther King Jr. said from the Birmingham Jail in 1963, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

Call Governor Manchin today!   1-888-438-2731

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a government owned utility, operates the Kingston Fossil Plant in near Kingston, TN at the confluence of the Emory and Clinch Rivers.  With nine boiler units, it combusts primarily coal to produce ten billion kilowatt-hours (or ten million megawatt-hours) of electricity per year, for 670,000 homes.  After the coal is burned, the ashes remain, and at this plant are mixed with water and stored outside in ponds.  (Technology exists to more safely “recycle” the ash into construction materials.)  There are three ponds with man-made dams to hold back the poisonous soup on the Kingston site.  On Monday, December 22nd around 1am, one of the dams broke, releasing millions of gallons of fly ash slurry into the adjacent lake and river canal, onto roads, homes and railroad tracks.  The toxic goop was six feet thick in some places, according to video footage taken by residents and concerned citizens.

On the ground, the all-volunteer non-profit, United Mountain Defense has been working around the clock to deliver emergency water to the residents, collect water samples for chemical analysis and update their website with the latest video footage.  In addition, they have been distributing information to the residents about the potential toxicity of their water as well as the Tennessee Mountain Defender, an independent newspaper which describes the ills of mountain top removal mining, another piece of the dirty coal puzzle.

There are parallels between this spill and hurricane Katrina that happened in New Orleans in August of 2005. We point the finger of blame to the Army Corp, EPA, FEMA, TVA, the government, wondering how in the WORLD they could have let this happen?!? It’s human nature to want to blame someone or something, but should there always be someone/thing to blame? Mother Nature/Jah/God/Allah/Jehovah/insert your preference here played a role in both of these events, bringing tremendous wind and water to the Gulf Coast and bringing cold temperatures and rain to Tennessee which was part of the reason the dam broke, the news is reporting. I don’t doubt that in the months and years leading up to this catastrophe in Harriman that the TVA engineers felt they were doing all they could to make sure the ash pond was safe and secure. Isn’t that their job? I have trouble thinking that EPA or TVA “allowed” this to happen. lo que paso paso…..what happened, happened. Now we have to react and change course. Call me an optimist, but this is an opportunity! The small amount of good that can come from this is that more people will wake up to the facts that the coal industry is really not all it’s cracked up to be. We DO have us to take a hard look at the coal industry and what it is doing to our communities’ health. From cradle to grave, coal is a mess. It is a 19th century technology, which cannot be relied upon any longer to power our planet. We, and the earth, literally cannot take its’ poisoning effects much longer. Once again, an act of God, Mother Nature, whichever, has shown us that sometimes we, humans and our constructed realities are powerless to storms, wind, rain, cold, hot, ice, snow, blizzards, avalanches, mudslides, sinkholes, and tornados, etc.

If you can send donations to Tennessee, they are greatly needed, for emergency water, food and supplies. Donations can be made to the non-profit United Mountain Defense at PO Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920. Please mark “for TVA Spill” Many thanks for your solidarity, economically and otherwise.

Visit www.unitedmountaindefense.org or http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/ for more updates and ways to help.

There is an awesome opportunity coming up in the Winter & Spring of 2009 from the Blue Ridge Permaculture Institute.  They are offering a Permaculture Design Course for five weekends, in February, March and April near Charlottesville, Virginia.  The cost is $895 before January 15 and $995 after that.  

The course will provide tools to help design and develop urban or rural properties or neighborhoods in a sustainable manner, revitalize local communities and restore ecological balance.  Participants will learn how to design and build gardens, homes and communities that model living ecosystems as well as techniques to grow food, manage water catchment and storage and utilize renewable energy sources.  The 72 hour certificat course will cover themes which include natural soil improvement, native medicinal plants, natural habitat restoration, local economics and community and consensus building strategies, among others.  Some of the best teachers in the permaculture movement will lead classes including Ted Butchart, Christine Gyovai, Dave Jacke, Dave O’Neill and Joel Salatin.  

Check out www.blueridgepermaculture.net for more info!

Simply, permaculture is a design system which works to create ecologically sound and economically sustainable environments and human settlements. By drawing from patterns in nature, the most biodiverse and efficient systems are achieved, which will regenerate over time, saving energy and resources.  More broadly speaking, permaculture is a way of living, thinking and acting; it carries a set of ethical principles for relating to each other and the Earth.  First, care of the Earth (the land, water, air, plants, and animals)  Second, care of the People.  Permaculture seeks to develop a responsible community which is self-reliant and provides access to resources necessary for existence.  Finally, it aims to set limits on consumption and population, giving back to the Earth the surplus time and materials to achieve the first two ethics.

Saddest day ever….

A man was trampled to death at a Wal-Mart in NY. Check out the video below.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-walmart-death29-2008nov29,0,4038125.story