2016 = Year of Action

Well, since I’ve returned from Australia (June last year) I’ve had to consider what’s most important here in terms of getting my own personal project going. This thing I call my Permaculture Regeneration Project.

In a sense I feel like I’m starting again, from scratch. New beginnings … and so I’m experimenting with a new approach now. I’m realising there are many characters and acts inside me and in amongst them there is a business man. A character that I have treated with some degree of shame. I see the need now to not only honor and respect that character for having taken care of the economics in my life but also to embrace him as an important part of the next step. I’m feeling that it’s time to start acting, in a way so that I can build income streams. I want to form a pool (of resources) that can be used to develop this project. It is priority number one right now and I can feel myself sharpening up to this. It’s time to open up the dam gates and let the energy flow.

2016 = Year of Action

Since my return my focus has been working out how to get money flowing in. I recognise how I can do so much with it. I’ve for so long had issues with the idea of what it’s backing (This whole centralised counterfieting scheme). I have conscience issues with it but for the moment it seems like it would be just too difficult to try and work against it right now at this point in time. I’ve thought about how economies could work differently and I’ve seen some great demonstrations of economy such as when we were having our work days for example. To see that kind of exchange happen in such numbers, in such a meaningful way, where everyone in the community just works together towards small achievable objectives and in so doing GET SO MUCH DONE! I couldn’t have said it better, because really what I need is to get stuff done! There are so many small projects I have around here that I need to get done, but just lack the funds to buy even just the materials right now.

I’ve been open to doing things without money. For example, I have a piece of land that I was working out an exchange deal with. They were two friends, one a carpenter, and the other a natural lime stone mason. I thought it would have been a perfect exchange, offering a piece of land in exchange for having some of the ruins I have here rebuilt. That would have gotten stuff done! Alas that never worked out due to one of them dropping out around the end of 2014 when a certain incidence happened and one of them got cold feet over it. Many are called …

I’ve now put it up for sale. It has a pigeon house ruin on it. It’s about 5.6ha west facing, but the problem is that last winter was dry and the water mine at the bottom was just dry during summer, so there’s no guarantee of water there unless water retention spaces are built. Which if someone has the money can do it quite easily (Just a matter of finding the right person to carry out the work). I’ve received a few offers from interested buyers but I’ve not come clear as to who will be the custodian of this piece of land. Will soon come clear though, I’m sure.

There is still this one up for sale. It’s got some legal issues but I’ve been trying to work through them with someone who is potentially interested in buying. There is also the potential that a social enterprise may fund this operation via a trust fund. An organisation that is interested in taking land out of the corporate land grab scenario and putting it into the hands of land stewards for land and community regeneration. I’m still speaking with them and getting to know them better but from what I’m hearing it all sounds genuine. It’s largely a matter of time and gaining trust and then finding a solution with respect finding a ‘fair exchange’ between them and someone willing to take it on as their own project.

Then there is this sale going ahead. I won’t go naming names yet, until it’s done. But the interested party is wanting to create a place that can be used as a permaculture demonstration site. I will share more details once the sale has gone through, but looks like it should all go quite smoothly, perhaps within the next couple of months.

So perhaps soon I will have 3 new neighbours. The beginnings of an earth neighbourhood.

I’ve been getting to know a lot more owners of land around my project here, with buildings on them and some with good water sources, so once these three are settled then I can continue on with those investigations. I will go one step at a time. I will also be sharing more news soon on how I can be of service to people coming into the area looking for land and community … Stay tuned!

Bom Ano Novo!