Your persistent Lifeboat Crew is at it again! This October we're planning our second annual Green Fest and again we’re challenging you to join us.

October is usually one of the easier months here on the Northwest Coast with the weather still fine, the days still longer than the nights, everyone settled back into school year routines and no holiday interruptions. It’s the perfect time to test our Local Quotient: how well can we do living on just what’s here in our local environment.

Last year we pledged to spend the entire month off the grid, with only 1 tank of gas, and no purchases. Our efforts were recorded here first, in Hipfish, and spread to KGW TV and the internet. People from Portland to Adams Center, NY took up the challenge, avoiding everything from plastic packaging to purchases to gasoline to wasted paper. Instead, they went for bulk items, local purchases, local foods and local transportation, biking or walking -- and had fun doing it!

We did fine ourselves on a single tank of gas and almost made it completely offgrid, but not quite because our wind turbine wasn’t cooperating. Purchases were another story. We couldn’t figure out a way to go without insurance for the month for one thing, and we came face-to-face with the realization that we’re addicted to two things we can’t source at our homestead or within our local community: orange juice and chocolate!

This year, we’re determined. Apple juice and homemade homegrown treats (like goats milk ice cream) will substitute for last year’s addictions. We still can’t find a way around the insurance, but we’ve already cut our outside purchases by more than half since last year’s Green Fest and we’re prepared to be even more conservative. We’re sticking with the 1 tank of gas and going off the grid again. (The wind turbine’s working well.)

Take up the Green Fest Challenge!
What will you do during October? How can you lessen your footprint on the Earth, your contributions to global warming and species extinction, your need for foreign oil? Make your pledge and let us know in November how you did!

Try something simple, like going an entire week with no purchases. (Or even a weekend!) Cut electrical use and compare October’s bill with last October’s. Set a percentage goal, like cutting usage by 20%. You might accomplish this by vigilantly turning off all lights which are not in use and switching to Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, by conserving on home heating and cooling, by conserving hot water (if your hot water heater is electric), and simple things like staging dinner’s leftovers next to the frig and putting them all away at the same time (rather than repeatedly re-opening and closing the refrigerator.)

Or, set a percentage goal for cutting gas consumption. Start carpooling once a week. Eat only locally produced food for the entire month. Cut your garbage in half for the month—or even a week. Buy nothing for a week. Take one room of your house “off the grid”.

Start small; start anywhere, but start. The possibilities are endless! C’mon! Try something! Think how you might reduce your consumption; re-use more of everything; repair instead of replacing. Rethink “necessary”.

Register your GREEN FEST PLEDGE by emailing the Lifeboat people at LifeboatAcademy@charter.net or phone them at 503-325-6886. Registration consists of explaining what you’ll attempt for the Green Fest (The Lifeboat folks can also help you with ideas).

Harvest Festival Workshop
October 11th

October 11th we’ll host a Harvest Festival & Workshop at our demonstration homestead harking back to the traditional harvest gatherings held on every farm and small holding for centuries, right up through the 1950s.

Beginning midday, we’ll teach 3 workshops using traditional harvest hand tools: scything, wood rake tedding & wind rows, and baling.

No dust mask or ear plugs needed here! Traditional, ergonomic hand tools reconnect us with the Earth in ways you can feel. Their gentle, continuous rhythms move with the body and clear the mind. First, the scythe cuts the grasses. Then, after the sun’s rays dry one side of the fallen stalks, the wood rake teds them, turning them over in the air so they will dry thoroughly. When the stalks are dry, the rake gathers the stalks in wind rows or stacks or sheaves or shocks, depending on the farm. Forks move the stacks move to wagon or travois and from there to the baler, where one person loads the hay and one works the lever. Workers learn to “flow” with these ancient tools to the quiet heartbeat of a drum, working together in the fresh air.

We’ll cover both the design and the “Zen” of traditional tools and teach some of the songs that went with harvest work. If you have your own scythe or wood rake, please bring it! Tradition continues with a potluck picnic around 6pm, homemade ice cream and soft drinks.

At dusk, we’ll stack some of the bales we’ve made on the wagon for a hayride under the (almost) full moon. Long-time area farmer Charlie Hartill will pull us behind his tractor. Bring along your guitar or fiddle, harmonica or voice – we’ll sing while we ride along.

Cost is a $15 donation, plus your potluck dish. Please call if you plan to come, so we can have enough materials ready for everyone. If it rains October 4th, the Harvest Festival will be held the following weekend, October 11th.

Green Fest October Event: Neighborhood Preparedness Workshop
October 1st

Is your neighborhood ready for this winter’s storms? Wednesday, October 1st, the Lifeboat Academy will host a workshop for neighborhood organizers from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.

We’ll provide training for people who’d like to help get their neighbors together and better prepared. We’ll cover getting started, mapping your neighborhood, organizing your first meeting and speaker, and ways of determining special needs, special skills and tools. We’ll offer materials you can share with everyone in your neighborhood.

Caren Black and Christopher Paddon are the founding members of the Titanic Lifeboat Academy, a local 501c3 nonprofit that specializes in research and education in sustainable living and is an “outpost” of the international Post Carbon Institute. They have been working to create a sustainable homestead where they can demonstrate the skills, systems and technologies of sustainable living. You may have caught their monthly radio program that aired on the third Monday of every month on KMUN 91.9 FM and KTC B 89.5 FM Community Radio which featured interviews, book reviews and banter about sustainable living. You can get CD recordings of all their shows, and loads of resource information by going to the website: lifeboat.postcarbon.org.

1st Annual Seed Ball
seed exchange and country dance
by Caren Black

When Fall arrives later this month with its vivid colors, crisper days and bounty of crops, it’s time to gather up the seeds from your garden, put on your dancing shoes and head for the Netel Grange!

The first Saturday evening in October the country dance marks harvest season with the first annual Clatsop County Seed Exchange, taking place during the dance.

At the Grange, you’ll find friendly community faces and hear the lively sounds of Bill “Bubba Guitar” Martin and his group as he calls the dances. (He could get nasty if you refuse to have fun!) King Bubba is a key coordinator of the Portland old-time music and dance community, and oversees Bubbaville, a nonprofit, all volunteer organization supporting the cause. The evening begins at 7:30 pm when Martin will teach all the basic steps to the evening's dances. The dances are "easy to learn, vigorous and enjoyable," according to Martin, and anyone can learn them. “If you've never danced before, a Country Dance is a great way to start.” It's also fun to watch. The dance begins at 8:00 and the fun continues until 11:00 pm. Everyone is welcome. No dance experience required.

Upstairs in the balcony overlooking the dancers, the first annual SEED EXCHANGE will take place through the evening. Adjacent the yummy cupcakes and treats and the beverage bar with fresh coffee and herbal teas, tables spread with seed packets will display the promise of next year's bountiful local harvest of fruits, vegetables and herbs.

LOCOVORES NEED SEEDS. Interest in eating locally is growing in Clatsop County. The first step toward eating locally is growing locally. Local growing begins with seeds, especially those from plants which have already proven to grow strong, healthy and prolific here in our local environment.

It’s easy to find seeds to bring. All kinds of edible seeds are welcome, and there will be sections for vegetables, fruits and herbs seeds, along with information, like…

WHAT IS A "SEED BALL", ANYWAY? An actual "seedball" is a mixture of seeds, wrapped in humus and clay, rolled into balls and scattered directly on top of the ground, a no-till planting method popularized by farmer, author, and master teacher of Natural Farming Masanobu Fukuoka. With sufficient rain, this protective layer helps the seeds inside to sprout and then "melts" into fertilizer as the sprouts root, giving the plant a good start. Information on seeds, seed balls and local growing will be available for avid as well as brand newgardeners and the Black Thumb club.

BRING YOUR OWN SEEDS: Package your own seeds in any sealed envelope or zipper-style sandwich bag, whichever is easier. Be sure to mark the type of seed (like "tomato"), the variety ("Early Girl") and the botanical name if you have it (“Lycopersicon esculentum”), the year the seeds were harvested (in case you have seeds from 2007 or 2006), your name and any other information you’d like to share about how the plant grew for you. If you have pictures of the plants, even better!

BRING PURCHASED SEEDS: If you do not have seeds at home, seeds are still available at local garden centers and the Community Store. If you bring purchased seeds, please be sure they are “open pollinated” or “organic” seeds.

For every package of seeds you bring to the Seed Ball, you can take a different package from the exchange. If you wish to take home more seeds than you bring, or if you don’t bring any seeds, you may “exchange” for a small donation.

The Netel Grange hall is located at 90525 Logan Road, off Lewis & Clark Road, about 4 mile south of Miles Crossing and next to Logan Road Chapel. Wear your dancing shoes, bring some seeds, and expect a good time!