these logs were too big for the re-tooled mills for all the small trees coming out of the local forests...they were set in the "firewood" pile for the locals....what a shame....we salvaged them for an outdoor kitchen project
Salvaged from the super mill firewood pile!
Row of fruit trees
Perfect swale material
Building a moisture and nutrient battery.
ABOUT PRANA, FOOD AND SHELTER...
Background to a Changing Paradigm
Prana (Awareness of Breath and/or God), Food, and Shelter
are the foundations of sustaining life and understanding the healing process.
They support all our relationships and encompass the scientific disciplines of
Deep Ecology,
Appropriate Technology,
Restoration Agriculture,
Eco-Forestry and
sustainable design (Permaculture).
By uniting these emerging practices of food and shelter security
one can heal
and understand what it means to be human,
to achieve ones potential,
within a symbiotic system of ecology and economy.
PRANA
Energy Systems
Prana (India), Chi (China), or Ki (Japan) define what in English can best be understood as what animates all life with energy or force. While studying at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia, a little silver hair twinkly eyed Yoga teacher taught me Pranayam, the ancient Indian science of abdominal/expansive breathing. The breath is one of the easiest ways to access this energy system. It cured me of my chronic asthma and changed the course of my life forever. It led me to focus on energy systems that heal. I began healing myself and focusing on building materials from the surface of the earth that heal. The way we breathe and the way we use building materials have the ability to heal us or bring dis-ease. In British Columbia this means building with frames of sustainably harvested timber with wall systems that slowly breathe to exchange air and regulate moisture. This means sourcing materials of negative ionic charge that come from the surface of the earth within the watershed of the building site. Clay, stone, wood and other carbon fibers.
FOOD
How we Respect our Mother
Food production is undergoing a revolution from fossil fuel intensive annual crops to more sustainable perennial cropping systems.
Food comes first.
Restoring our local food systems is primary.
Capturing, storing, spreading and soaking water from the highest point on the landscape (roofs and hillsides) with passive rainwater catchment systems and perennial food-forest polycultures is integral to the design of every home.
Mimicking nature and bringing diverse food systems into landscape design are key entry points to this dialogue.
SHELTER
How we Honor our Mother
The shelters we build to rest, heal and celebrate say everything about how we view the ecosystems that sustain us. It's best to make every attempt to build with materials that come from the surface of the earth within the watershed of the building site. If not, we need to ask ourselves if we would swim with our children downstream from the industry that is producing the materials we wish to build with.
DESIGN
Natural materials from the surface of the earth. The art of placement using Feng Shui and Vastu principles. Entering the Living Building Challenge. The Sun. Passivehaus. The list goes on in our booklet of Pre-Design considerations. It begins with what local materials you have to work with. We then work together using an Integrative Design Process to create your indoor and outdoor living spaces.
FIRST NATIONS
Reconciliation, Decolonization and Ceremony
The more I observe and listen the more I realize the First Nations of this world are holding on to a deep connection to this Earth and the Creator.
Working with the First Nations local to the watersheds we are building within is an important step in the healing process for all of us.
It begins with recognizing and reconciling the mistakes of the past.
It begins the process of understanding decolonization which is important for all 99% of us.
It strengthens the importance of ceremony that connects all of us all to the Creator and all the relationships that sustain us.
We are all part of the medicine wheel.
I walk the White road with my brothers and sisters who walk the Red, Black and Yellow roads.
It is now time for me to relearn how I can contribute to all four parts of this great medicine wheel.
WORKSHOPS
Each year we offer a series of workshops
that focus on advancing the technologies of
sustainable and regenerative construction, agriculture, and forestry.
Please contact us for more information.
BUILD A TRADITIONAL SAUNA/BANYA
Summer/Fall 2019
BUILD A TIMBER FRAME PORCH
Spring/Summer 2019
FOREST FIRE PROTECTION WITH FOOD-FOREST SWALES
Ongoing 2019-2020
GET IN TOUCH
Venables Valley Rd, Ashcroft, BC V0K 1A0, Canada
no cell ... we are off grid