Our purpose is to co-create abundance for our members in food, medicine, materials, economy and living water. We support Abundance in all Michigan Communities.
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