Feb: Monthly Meeting Notes

AMPY Meeting 2/3/2014

(In attendance: Diana Goode, Sheldon Smith, Bridget O’Brien, Helen Daley, John Cox, Brendan Bradley, Monica , Elliott Yush, Jesse Tack)

Jesse’s Summary: I can finally get on on my Doc’s, sorry for the delay. I have been thinking and plotting about this and here’s my basic summary. I am interested in determining the WEAKLINK in each aspect of the summary. Then we can send out a basic summary, with the next steps clearly laid out.

Summary: List the ideas we want to see this year–choosing ones that can reasonably occur. Brief summary of the State of AMPY. Summarize our NEEDS, RESOURCES, and RECRUITS listing that we did at the end of the session.

• Communication Networks–WEAKLINK: that it is primarily centralized

  • Potential Solution: establish decentralized small networks

• Dawn Farm Team–WEAKLINK: not enough committed people (need 5-10)

  • Potential Solution: offer tree packages as gifts and other gifts as intensive

• Monthly Meeting–WEAKLINK: not enough teachers/projects to link to

  • Potential Solutions: communications reach out (direct calls or emails) with basic questions about specific skill sets wanted

• City Permaculture–WEAKLINK: not enough grass yards moving into well-designed forest gardens

  • Potential Solutions: free designs, establish work crews by proximity? swan song for the lawn?

  • Find 2-4 yards to

• Investments/Memberships–WEAKLINK: getting people to put in money every month

  • Potential Solutions: just start!

Intros

Went around the circle, each person introducing self and expressing what is their passion.

(Don’t include unless fill in missing pieces)

Sheldon  – Energy systems, biochar, …

Brendan   NW pt of Washtenaw County Earthen Buildings, ovens, heaters

Sunday the 16th Permaculture day at Brendan’s

Diana – Getting my soil right,  databases about cyclical life processes  chelsea

Bridget Ypsi township – landscaping, plants in generals, love flowers & anything edible and can ferment.   Interested in enegy as sel (?)

John – ??,  getting involved in tiller’s, farm animals

Jesse – community, large-scale tree planting, economic development

Elliott – synergistically engaging together, evolving resilient structures supporting shared abundance

Helen – gardens, flowers, pollinators, community

Monica – creating vibrant local livelihoods; supporting timebanking and life beyond ‘money’

What’s going on.

AMPY started a year ago,  systems developed, many folks participated, coming & going.

Ordered a lot of things, planted a lot of things, worked at many people’s houses.

Need to

• Put together calendar of events, events corresponding to natural cycles

• Co-creating AMPY – sharing in presentations  

– don’t have to be an expert, can do the research.

• shore up communication, make sure it’s really working,

• Identifying functional communication systems

• When get enthused and come up with great ideas, how to diffuse the info, and build on that together.  How to keep energy networks and work going.

Dawn Farm opportunity .

• Have 1000s of trees for planting this year.

• Food forest, ecosystem,  trees providing nut, oil, fiber, coppice wood lots for us

• 65 acre farm.  Potential if steward well, could manage the whole farm and spread out to another farm and another, and what are we producing is a whole , new economy.

Discuss application at City scale, home scale

• Permaculture not a template system (?)

How do get our neighborhoods more sustainable

Catching rain water,  wind breaks,  annual & perennial production, …

What do we want to see?

Monthly meetings.

Want to time so that info at monthly meeting relates to activity at workdays, at which we work with what we’re learned about.

 

Communications – how to stay connected and make sure everyone can be engaged

When people are passionate about activities, how to engage them, and in a way they don’t feel overwhelmed.

Events Calendar  – Helen suggested that this needs to managed by someone; perhaps as a 6 month shift.

Can open ?

Can give 6 people or 12 people.=?

Brendan suggested a need for signage, notifications posted at  central locations

Helen suggested the need for a person in charge of communications

Diane spoke to how the Transition town website is effectively using wordpress

3 sections of the page.

A section of the page where anyone can post anything.

Sheldon spoke to the multiple permaculture groups in the area/

Family Permaucture

Salem/south lyon/milford

Multiple farms looking to collectively working together 12acres, wanting to work w animals

Chelsea group

Livingston County

Milton’s Permaculture meetup portal

How to link these 5+ groups (plus the ones in Detroit)

Someone who’s maintaining

Blog roll – or news feed

Bulletin

Monthly newsletter goes out on that.  ???

 

CALENDAR – ideas for AMPY activities

 

Insect motel

Mass heater

…

What would like to see as far as permaculture techniques?
What would you like to share?

 

John

Backyard ponds maybe 50 gals

Plants and fish get out of there

Perennial vegs that can grow

Event where pick and taste the diff varieties growing

Help people decide what to try and grow.

Mushroom cultivation, inoculation logs and other ways

 

Bridget (were these your items, Bridget?)
Grey water systems, indoor and/or outdoor

Find ways to implement from simple ways to medium more complex

hose in bath, syphon and hose

(May – Sept)

Plant care

Pruning, pest control, grafting, propagation

(Throughout the year)

Even short = this is great time of year for fruit trees

Extending the season w hoop houses; designing & planting techniques.

Fermenting benefits, way can make own beverages, what can do with fruit & things.

(Winter)

 

Diana

An above ground water storage ferro-cement storage, so could be used at Dawn Farm,

But open so can have water lilies etc.

Stealth well as a add on.

Drain …

 

(2) Insect Hotel – Summer

(3) Workshop – Fiber – how to grow, craft & other uses.

Which plants, how to grow

Flexible, could be winder

Patrick

Building stove

Rocket mass heater –  

Demonstration building chicken coop or quail coop

Have several locations of people who want to implement.

Build a hoop house

Canning workshop  – Fall

Possibly combined with Harvest

Monica suggested Grange(?)

 

Brendan

Using Biogas/biofuel

People w mountains of dung  (Helen – even Dawn Farm)

(October)

Fermenting feed before feed to animals

Can use as fuel source and use as animal feed.

Bio-swales that use biochar

Use stuff that comes out of Cornfields, waste(?)

Sheldon

Tach & share =???

Biochar – using it

Moving water – treddle pumps – building one for several years.

Info on Energy; Passive solar buildings, zero

Aquaponics design,

Wood chips, making pellets out of them for fuel

Making pellets for feed.

Positive Economic  for engineering & economic get return

 

Elliott

 

Monica

City repair events/actions, reshaping the look of neighborhoods to show new community

mobile or stationed ‘little library’/community share ‘cart’ that adverts AMPY presence

Community Stoves (cob,  rocket) for community use and gatherings

More Gathering,

Every 6 months event about food, community, fire  and having opportunities for this group and the native Ypsi folks integrating our energy, bonding as community

 

Helen

Maximizing butterfly & pollinator habitat

Communication skills, community building & what’s involved in that.

Learning about that in parallel with what we’re doing

 

Dawn Farm – a recovery facility,  A way to involve Dawn Farm residents to get more involved in process

 

In ….publication, article about city of Ypsi’s city planning

Can we obtain a lot & call it the Permaculture lot in Ypsi, a permaculture nursery

A city parallel to …???

 

Bridget? Suggested that if can have dues and pay taxes

There is a lot off of grove road next to plating factory that we could take over.

 

Having a long range goal that we’re going to have a plot of land.

 

Being strategic

Dawn Farm – getting trees in the ground

 

Foraging w someone who knows plants and knows building.

 

 

Plant care & foraging

 

Possible presentations/activities

 

Jesse – Grafting

Bridget – Class about plants care, propagation; Fermentation .

 

Medicinal  –  Heather & Diana?

 

Melinda(?) Dunn  join with her for medicinals.

 

Bucket – for rocket stove

 

Builder’s guild prospects

Jeff Y  – for builder, chicken coop ?

Sue

E’s friend Don

 

Communications

Bridget, Elliott, Dawn, Helen

 

Ferro-cement – Peter Bane

 

Bridget friend in Stockbridge –  Hoop houses

 

Grey water systems –  Ian, Miko

Ian can explain to use & do something with us?

 

Assemble Dawn Farm crew = who?

IF get 70% of trees in

Those 4 people would come out and finish.

Watch over during the year.

Diane?

Sheldon – if aware and available.

 

Meeting follow-up

Building on energy, ideas, decisions at meeting\

Sending out meeting notes.

Meeting of core shortly after meeting to summarize, consolidate, strategize

Jesse, Bridget, Elliott meeting on 2/15.

Meeting notes to be sent out or posted.

 

Need for  greeter who takes initiative with new people.

Make sure identify, how to stay in touch with

Laura?

 

Recruiting

Different skills needed.  

Bringing it in from outside

Different Roles needed and  …

 

Needs

Jobs,

Roles

Materials

Trucks

Bridget – 2 trucks

IF someone paying insurance and some mechanic can work on it, can make 1 available to AMPY

Wood chips

Call Tree Services

If connect with 1 or 2, that should be plenty

But make sure to be there to monitor

Compost

Need to make

Identifying roles needed

Greeter – Lena, Laura Jackson

Recruiter

Resource Coordinator

Research person – could assist with this

 

Communications

AMPY Google Groups

Use for AMPY Correspondenace

Bridget to consolidate mailing lists from Jesse & Elliott and put together invitation for all to join

 

Next meeting

Fruit trees pruning – presentation by jenny

Angel investor person presentation

,

8 forms of ?

 

Diane  – ?

Patrick – Concrete ideas  ???

 

Sheldon – Biochar workshop