Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://fediverse.blog/@/Gwenfars%20Garden@cafe.sunbeam.city/atom.xml2019-03-01T11:29:45.183348+00:00<![CDATA[Creating a mini forest garden border]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/creating-a-mini-forest-garden-border/2019-03-01T11:29:45.183348+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-03-01T11:29:45.183348+00:00<![CDATA[<p>For some years I've been enamoured of the idea to create a forest garden, an edible and fairly low maintenance way to grow food. It's only with this garden that I realised that I had the right conditions to finally create my own mini forest garden border.</p>
<p>Martin Crawford's book is the seminal text for learning about forest gardening, and it was a rare occasion where I read a gardening book from cover to cover. It just has so much information that was written in a straight forward tone, following each step of the process, and offering a large range of suggestions of what plants can be grown in each layer that will suit a range of climates.</p>
<p>My intention here is to show you how you can use the principles of creating a forest garden on a small urban garden scale. I aim to create a space that offers food for myself and for pollinators, that works within my health limitations (I have the chronic illness, ME), and that adds beauty to my small garden, whilst also being low maintenance. <a href="http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2019/02/creating-mini-forest-garden-border.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Go to full post...</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Plants for pollinators in late Winter ]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/plants-for-pollinators-in-late-winter/2019-02-19T18:40:10.883456+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-02-19T18:40:10.883456+00:00<![CDATA[<p><i>This has been cross-posted from my gardening blog.</i></p>
<p>There are more plants than people realise that flower in late winter. <a href="http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2019/02/plants-for-pollinators-in-late-winter.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">This post</a> presents a variety of plants for pollinators that you can grow in late winter, from a small pot or in your garden, to an allotment or community garden.</p>
<p>Prunus mume - winter flowering cherry
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/F5EC3213-A0A9-95EA-0DFA-FA28FA74E1E0.jpg" alt="Prunus mume - a hot pink flowering cherry tree">
Crocus 'Gipsy Girl' a late winter flowering crocus
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/DDE60BD7-CEF0-2E45-F646-71BA7F2036EF.jpg" alt="Crocus 'Gipsy Girl', a bright yellow small flower which has a bee feeding off the pollen"></p>
<p>Visit the blogpost on my gardening site for lots more suggestions: <a href="http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2019/02/plants-for-pollinators-in-late-winter.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Plants for pollinators in late Winter</a>.</p>
]]><![CDATA[Our solarpunk future]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/our-solarpunk-future/2019-01-31T11:12:00.578162+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-01-31T11:12:00.578162+00:00<![CDATA[<p>This post is a collation of responses I've received to my question, <a href="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/%7E/GwenfarsGarden/what-does-a-solarpunk-future-look-like" rel="noopener noreferrer">what does a solarpunk future look like?</a> I've also added some photos to help express solarpunk ideas visually. This collection explores present, near, and distant futures. Some have a creative angle, others more practical. I hope you find them as engaging and inspiring as I have.</p>
<hr>
<p>Photo 1: Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Lush tropical gardens with tall futuristic looking structures that kind of look like space-age tree trunks.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/F465499C-3B35-3B60-FAF5-82ADBDAF9C91.jpg" alt="Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Lush tropical gardens with tall futuristic looking structures that kind of look like space-age tree trunks"></p>
<p><a href="https://sunbeam.city/@MoreHuman" rel="noopener noreferrer">MoreHuman</a>: Correspondence of a solarpunk future, fictionalization from the world as it appears in 2019, having taken anarchist directions I personally find plausible. <a href="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/%7E/LibertyTheMotherOfOrder/year-38" rel="noopener noreferrer">It's currently thirty eight years after the revolution... read more...</a></p>
<p><a href="https://octodon.social/@cathal" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cathal</a>: Something I've always wanted to see was a world where we can have our cake of high technology, and eat it without environmental or economic guilt, too. For me for several years, this meant trying to build off-grid, DIY-scale, "peer to peer" genetic engineering technology. I've always felt if farmers could "Hack their own crops" there would be less mistrust of the technology itself, and more focus on the issue of "Intellectual Property".</p>
<p><a href="https://witchcraft.cafe/@F1shcake" rel="noopener noreferrer">F1shcake</a>: Boat cities!!!!! powered by the sun and the waves. Bioluminecense!!!</p>
<p>Photo 2: Tonle Sap Lake K, Cambodia. Chong Kneas the floating village - Buddhist temple.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/DD0FA39D-38A9-B0FC-505D-EDB6C1ECE985.jpg" alt="A large yellow painted wooden structure sitting on a lake, with railings around the edges and a roof. In the background are some smaller boats and wooden structures.."></p>
<p><a href="https://sunbeam.city/@scottishwobbly" rel="noopener noreferrer">scottishwobbly</a>: Co-operative farming & community gardens/garden cities with common land rights for everyone to grow their own food. Direct (rather than representative) democracy over every aspect of the economy and manufacturing. A general emphasis on a shift towards federalised, more local council style government.</p>
<p>Anon: Maximum accessibility, prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable. A society with its roots in compassion and cooperation. Accessible transportation can be pedal cabs and donkey carts (or your local equivalent). Maximum support for the disabled, chronically ill, children, and elders is what i’m picturing. Every city would be unique but i think following some basic principles like this would take humanity in the right direction.</p>
<p>Photo 3: Solarpunk flag by <a href="https://radical.town/@starwall/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Starwall</a>. The yellow of the flag represents the solar power portion of the solarpunk movement, and the green represents sustainability. The half-gear symbolizes a reclaiming of technology for sustainable projects and infrastructure, and the sunbeams represent the hopefulness and futurism of the solarpunk movement.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/FD490919-705E-C8EE-039C-6C9AB24A87D0.jpg" alt="The yellow of the flag represents the solar power portion of the solarpunk movement, and the green represents sustainability. The half-gear symbolizes a reclaiming of technology for sustainable projects and infrastructure, and the sunbeams represent the hopefulness and futurism of the solarpunk movement."></p>
<p><a href="https://sunbeam.city/@gwenfarsgarden" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gwenfar's Garden</a>: Our streets will no longer by dominated by cars. Public transport, cycling and walking (or rolling if you're in a scooter/wheelchair!) will prevail.</p>
<p>Anon: I'd like to see diversity in housing styles: cozy apartments, cabins, bigger houses, for every possible preference, given that people could still prefer one style over others when capitalist made up scarcity is over. Also, a public housing system with spare houses in every region for nomad lifestyles, so people can live traveling or spend one year or two in a far away place. For example, artists could enjoy many different kinds of landscapes to inspire their work if they can travel as much as they want and for longer times, and our current tourism model doesn't allow that (besides being unsustainable).</p>
<p>Photo 4: BedZED, London. Completed in 2002, this is the UK’s first large-scale, mixed-use sustainable community comprises 100 homes, office space, a college and community facilities.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/ACC60AB8-F5B9-7CB7-08BE-A16C97F875E1.jpg" alt="Two blocks of flats about 3 levels high, with solar panels on the roof, lots of glass windows, and small gardens. They are built providing renewable energy, minimising the embodied energy of the buildings, reducing fossil fuel miles and also tackling food, waste, water usage and flooding."></p>
<p><a href="https://mastodon.nl/@jasper/101432445844852568" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jasper</a>: Cargo pods, aerial ropeways, trolley buses/trucks, lowering speeds and DIY solar (heat)collectors.</p>
<p><a href="https://sunbeam.city/@talesfromtheev" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tales from our EV Studio</a> and <a href="https://sunbeam.city/@CommandoJugendstil" rel="noopener noreferrer">Commando Jugendsti</a>l have written a post on <a href="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/%7E/PostcardsFromAPossibleWorld/our-solarpunk-cities" rel="noopener noreferrer">Our Solarpunk Cities</a>. They see solarpunk as an organic blend of traditional practices and high-tech put in service of social and environmental justice. Being city folks, they have mostly focused their imagination on the urban environment. <a href="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/%7E/PostcardsFromAPossibleWorld/our-solarpunk-cities" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read more...</a></p>
<p><a href="https://kitty.town/@InvaderXan" rel="noopener noreferrer">InvaderXan</a>: I can sum it up with one word. Harmony. And, to elaborate a little, blurring of artificially imposed boundaries. Harmony between technology and environment. Harmony between society and nature. Harmony between people of all kinds. Coexistence.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A nice little real world example if this blurring of boundaries is the fact that solar energy production and beekeeping can apparently coexist quite nicely. Beekeepers, Bolton Bees, use the land surrounding solar panels as pollinator friendly spaces, using the same land space to plant flowers, keep beehives, and produce honey. This is the kind of thing I find very appealing!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Photo 5: A family in Tarialan, Mongolia has a yurt and uses a solar panel mixing older and newer technologies.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/26E83CB8-43A3-28A8-C05F-0A3A4B237E43.jpg" alt="A family in Tarialan, Mongolia (photo 5) has a yurt and uses a solar panel mixing older and newer technologies."></p>
<p><a href="https://sunbeam.city/@scottishwobbly" rel="noopener noreferrer">scottishwobbly</a>: Consider the now classic Solarpunk images of forest cities, for instance. I like to imagine a world where city planning and forestry are essentially the same task. Having some sort of green railway infrastructure (again run by direct democracy - service issues by popular vote, labour issues by worker vote) to connect communities, ideally to the extent at which owning a car becomes obsolete.</p>
<p><a href="https://sunbeam.city/@puffinus_puffinus" rel="noopener noreferrer">Puffinux</a>: I think proper labelling of packaging stating what it's made from along with a general change in packing so everything is 100% recyclable (and simple to separate the different materials) would be a good start. Also, the end user cost of a product is just one way to categorise it. Proper labelling with ecological impact, water/energy use etc should be put in place. They did it with nutrition content, why not go further? I'm not looking too far to the future because I feel that way you lose sight of the little changes required here and now.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For instance, a cup of coffee uses 160 litres of water to produce, while a pair of jeans uses 2,300 litres. But a single hamburger is 2,900 litres! There's nothing on the packaging to say this, and generally nothing on the companies' websites either. And this is only one facet of the energy/resources overconsumption crisis of the West. If it said on the packaging that the water used in the production of the hamburger you're about to tuck in to could have fully hydrated a child every day for 2 years, perhaps people would stop automatically reaching for the "easy" option. The purpose is not to guilt-trip people into certain habits, but to make the information more obvious. There is so much information freely available all the time these days that the most valuable thing we can provide is our attention. Turning it to advertisements diverts it from real issues.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Photo 6: The first Women Barefoot Solar Engineers of Mauritania are installing solar panels in their villages. These African women trained for 6 months at the Barefoot College of Tilonia in Rajasthan, India. They earn an income paid by the people in their village for maintaining the solar-powered lighting systems that they install for each house in the village.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/9E1772B8-32A7-1842-31C5-A4FEF4234BE6.jpg" alt="A group of African women in different coloured veils sitting around watching the woman in the centre putting together a solar panel."></p>
<p><a href="https://sunbeam.city/@puffinus_puffinus" rel="noopener noreferrer">Puffinux</a>: Reimagining cities is all very well, but they've already been built a certain way. Sure, new builds can implement different processes, but we're not about to knock down the cities and move in a different direction. Improving and modifying what's already there is the only reasonable option.</p>
<p>Photo 7: Solarpunk/anarchist flag by <a href="https://sunbeam.city/@socalledunitedstates" rel="noopener noreferrer">socalledunitedstates</a>. The black half represents anarchism, the green half represents environmentalism, and the sun is a reference to the solar part of solarpunk
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/036274AE-7030-3B30-4FD9-907C7280F3BC.png" alt="A solarpunk flag. The black half represents anarchism, the green half represents environmentalism, and the sun is a reference to the solar part of solarpunk"></p>
<p><a href="https://queer.party/@sergeisilence" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sergei</a>: My solarpunk future has plants everywhere and everyone being taught how to grow things, as well as craft make and repair and take care of tools and buildings and the like. It is also accessible: we do not all have the same abilities, and our worth is not to be measured by what we can produce: not everyone can work in the fields, but everyone can learn how to care for a plant. I want access to knowledge and the understanding that we are all different. We should all work with the land rather than on it, and that goes with going back to native species. So many plants are being imported and moved into new ecosystems even though we can't control the effect they'll have on native fauna and flora, and so many native plants are forgotten while they have so much to teach us, so I want us to focus on that. Also, there shall be no borders and no restrictions to people's freedom of movement.</p>
<p>Photo 8: Tyres gardens in rural Haiti. Used car tyres that have been turned into planters, growing a mix of edibles. They are on a raised platform so they aren’t so affected by flooding, and are more accessible.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/7CD76A3A-DDB7-7A77-C065-B01C322F1D55.jpg" alt="Used car tyres that have been turned into planters, growing a mix of edibles. They are on a raised platform so they aren’t so affected by flooding, and are more accessible."></p>
<p><a href="https://queer.party/@sergeisilence" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sergei</a>: My solarpunk future will also be queer. Gender is a burden for too many of us, and should only be kept by those who find it helpful or comforting, never to be applied to others our sexuality should never put us in danger, nor be tolerated as long as it is not shown diversity and differences have to be treasured and nurtured we have much to learn from each other, and I want us to learn one thing first: respect.</p>
<hr>
<p>Do you have any ideas you'd like to add? Feel free to leave them in the comments below.</p>
<hr>
<p>Note: due to formatting limitations on Plume, photo/image credits are listed here (in order of appearance):</p>
<ol>
<li>Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robert_glod/46538814031/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Robert Glod</a></li>
<li>Tonle Sap Lake K, Cambodia. Credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielmennerich/30721685216" rel="noopener noreferrer">Daniel Mennerich</a></li>
<li>Solarpunk flag design by <a href="https://radical.town/@starwall/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Starwall</a></li>
<li>BedZED, London. Credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomchance/1008213420" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tom Chance</a></li>
<li>Yurt and solar panel, Tarialan, Mongolia. Credit <a href="https://eco-fiction.com/interview-with-adam-flynn-on-the-solarpunk-movement/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eskinder Debebe</a></li>
<li>Women Barefoot Solar Engineers of Mauritania. Credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barefootcollege/4028688322" rel="noopener noreferrer">Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia</a></li>
<li>Solarpunk/anarchist flag. Credit <a href="https://sunbeam.city/@socalledunitedstates" rel="noopener noreferrer">socalledunitedstates</a></li>
<li>Tyre gardens in rural Haiti. Credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uusc4all/14425886273/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Unitarian Universalist Service Committee</a></li>
</ol>
]]><![CDATA[Moving instances on Mastodon]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/moving-instances-on-mastodon/2019-01-30T22:25:53.841819+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-01-30T22:25:53.841819+00:00<![CDATA[<p><em>Updated 31st May 2019</em></p>
<p>These instructions are based on using the Mastodon web version, and not an app.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>First create a new account on the instance you want to move to.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Then, go to your old account, click on the three dots, choose preferences, Import and Export, which takes you to data export.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>You should see, on the right side next to 'you follow', a little download symbol with CSV next to it. Download this, give it a name like 'you follow'.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/C3F44278-83C6-1B46-BD56-9E703BF30243.jpg" alt="1 Moving instances on Mastodon"></p>
<ol start="4">
<li>
<p>Do the same with 'lists', 'you block', 'you mute' and 'domain blocks' (unless you haven't got any lists/blocks/mutes/domain blocks).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Go to the preferences of your new account, import and export, import, and import each of the CSV files. This will add all the people you followed (mutes, blocks, etc) from your old account to your new account. Note: at the time of writing this post, you cannot transfer your followers from one account to another.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/39A81E91-269A-1C53-B5AE-BCB46A63AFC6.jpg" alt="2 Moving Instances Import"></p>
<ol start="6">
<li>Go to preferences in your old account, profile, appearance. Scroll to bottom to 'move to different account' and click on 'configure here'.</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/490338ED-5F90-9E77-51A5-2BF922C31DC7.jpg" alt="3 Moving Instances Configure"></p>
<ol start="7">
<li>Insert your new username@domain of your new account and save. This will finish migrating your account.</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/57C39561-97C7-C4AA-B151-614661BCAE05.jpg" alt="4 Moving Instances Account Migration"></p>
<ol start="8">
<li>
<p>Send a toot from the old account telling people you have moved and to follow your new account, listing the username and domain. Pin this toot so anyone who goes to follow you on the old account sees this and hopefully they will follow you there.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It's worth changing your bio on the old account to say you've moved with the new username@domain.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Do an <a href="//cafe.sunbeam.city/tag/Introduction" title="introduction" rel="noopener noreferrer">#introduction</a> toot in your new account so people on your new instance know who you are.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Use your new account!</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It's worth doing 8. again a few days later, just in case some people missed it the first time.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>You can also delete the old account if you want. Go to preferences, appearance, scroll to bottom and click on 'proceed here' under Delete account.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/DDB62312-37C5-3529-9399-0EDC7BEA4033.jpg" alt="5 Moving Instances Delete Account"></p>
<hr>
<p>Once you've done all this, toot your friends from your new account to tell them you've moved. That way they will know for sure, plus they can then also boost your intro toot!</p>
<p>You could also follow your new account from the old account, then boost the intro toot there as well. It's another way of letting people who follow you to get your new account info.</p>
]]><![CDATA[What does a Solarpunk future look like?]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/what-does-a-solarpunk-future-look-like/2019-01-17T11:07:21.536004+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-01-17T11:07:21.536004+00:00<![CDATA[<p>It is very easy, in a world where we have 12 years to stop catastrophic climate change, to feel that trying to change anything is seems too hard when governments are controlled by a corporate elite who care only for profit, and not the planet. This can suck out of you all hope for a better world. Solarpunk offers an alternative future, one that is bright, <a href="https://wiki.sunbeam.city/doku.php?id=start" rel="noopener noreferrer">where society can re-centre around sustainability, longevity, and balance</a>.</p>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/0EAE7BF6-5D3D-724E-FBD0-EFD13EB75BC9.jpg" alt="The two towers of Bosco Verticale, Milan. Tall, purpose-built to include large trees as well as shrubs. In the foreground is a green park with playing fields"></p>
<p>I'm still pretty new to solarpunk, but I find it offers an attractive alternative to doom and gloom. It has made me start to reflect upon how we all might envisage a solarpunk future? Do you imagine urban farms and free public transport? Localised energy systems? Instead of nationalised governments, are there interconnected bioregions run by empowered citizens? A society built around sustainability, whether in the desert or a busy metropolis? Or is your solarpunk future more sci-fi, a bit like the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, below?</p>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/3581E3C8-4594-1E5E-1747-D5C1E18FF9A4.jpg" alt="Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Lush tropical gardens with futuristic looking buildings and structures"></p>
<p>It's so easy to talk about what you don't want in the future, but harder to pin down what you do want. So my idea is simply to capture and share your ideas the kind of things you want to see in a solarpunk future.</p>
<p>To get you started, I've added a couple of my own. But be as romanticised or practical as you like. Our solarpunk future starts with our dreams, big and small.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All people, from the disabled and chronically ill to the neuro-diverse and those in old age, are valued as beings in their own right, regardless of their ability and needs.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Diversity, of people and nature, with an understanding that people and nature are not separated, but deeply intertwined, should be at the heart of everything we do.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Our streets will no longer by dominated by cars. Public transport, cycling and walking (or rolling if you're in a scooter/wheelchair!) will prevail.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Plants, plants, everywhere!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you are new to Solarpunk and would like to get an outline of Solarpunk ideas, I recently collated a collection of ideas <a href="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/%7E/GwenfarsGarden/describing-solarpunk" rel="noopener noreferrer">describing Solarpunk</a> which should help.</p>
<p>Leave your ideas for your solarpunk future in the comments below or if you are on Mastodon, toot me <a href="https://sunbeam.city/@gwenfarsgarden" rel="noopener noreferrer">GwenfarsGarden</a> your ideas, and let me know if you would like your name next to your listing (you don't have to). If you've written your own post around this theme, let me know and I can add a link to it here. Feel free to submit photos or artwork too, along with who to/where to credit it.</p>
<p>I'll collate your ideas and put them in to a single post to inspire and share.
<br>
<br></p>
<hr>
<p>Note: due to formatting limitations on Plume, photo/image credits are listed here (in order of appearance):</p>
<ol>
<li>The two towers of Bosco Verticale, Milan. Credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/89167025@N02/21436911149" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ale Desiderio</a>.</li>
<li>Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shebalso/23516944293/" rel="noopener noreferrer">John</a>.</li>
</ol>
]]><![CDATA[Describing solarpunk]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/a-bit-of-an-introduction-to-solarpunk/2019-01-06T22:03:09.724921+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-01-06T22:03:09.724921+00:00<![CDATA[<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/706CD3C7-B976-1D94-0AFD-B18DE7F1A8BB.jpg" alt="A garden in mid-summer, bursting with fruit, flowers, vegetables and foliage">
If you are new to solarpunk as I am, it might help to have some descriptions of what solarpunk means. So here are a few that I have found helpful, with a link to the full articles where I found them.</p>
<p>These aren't dictionary-style definitions. I rather like that solarpunk is still fluid in the descriptions that people have used. Some have a more environmental or artistic focus, others come from anarchist thinking and some combine all three. All describe a more hopeful future, something I find both exciting and comforting.</p>
<p><strong>Descriptions of Solarpunk</strong><br>
*Solarpunk is a literary movement, a hashtag, a flag, and a statement of intent about the future we hope to create. It is an imagining wherein all humans live in balance with our finite environment, where local communities thrive, diversity is embraced, and the world is a beautiful green utopia.
<a href="http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/city/life/215749-solarpunk" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: Solarpunk wants to save the world</a></p>
<p>*Solarpunks cherish nature, progress and science; the individual and the community. They believe in a world that is green, colourful, and bright. It can be described as a literary genre, an aesthetic, or a movement. The key points are: an emphasis on renewable energy, especially solar power; a demand for technology and society to re-centre around sustainability, longevity, and balance; a focus on decentralisation, community activism, social justice and civic empowerment; a recognition that economic, social, and ecological injustices are all deeply inter-connected. <a href="https://wiki.sunbeam.city/doku.php?id=start" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: Sunbeam City's wiki</a></p>
<p>*Solarpunk is about finding ways to make life more wonderful for us right now, and more importantly for the generations that follow us – i.e., extending human life at the species level, rather than individually. Our future must involve repurposing and creating new things from what we already have (instead of 20th century “destroy it all and build something completely different” modernism). <a href="https://hieroglyph.asu.edu/2014/09/Solarpunk-notes-toward-a-manifesto/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: Solarpunk: Notes toward a manifesto</a></p>
<p>*Solarpunk is a reaction to climate change, inequality, and our cultural obsession with dystopian futures. We want a world where people thrive through energy independence, local resilience, and sound infrastructure…The vision is not about back-to-the-earth survivalism, because solarpunks embrace the responsible use of new technologies like synthetic biology and sensor networks. And it’s not utopian, because the solarpunk future is one that is both high-tech and gritty, and — more importantly — one that we can actually achieve.
<a href="https://eco-fiction.com/contest/what-is-solarpunk/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: What is Solarpunk?</a></p>
<p>*Solarpunks believe that a better world is possible and we can build it in the shell of the old using direct action and mutual aid. We believe in producing for people, not profits in decentralized cooperative workplaces and replacing oppressive power structures with community-level direct democracy.
<a href="https://sunbeam.city/@socalledunitedstates/100788336036314661" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: Toot on Mastodon by socalledunitedstates</a></p>
<p>*Solarpunk is a rebellion against the structural pessimism in our late visions of how the future will be. Not to say it replaces pessimism with Pollyanna-ish optimism, but with a cautious hopefulness and a daring to tease out the positive potentials in bad situations. Hope that perhaps the grounds of an apocalypse (revelation) might also contain the seeds of something better; something more ecological, liberatory, egalitarian, and vibrant than what came before, if we work hard at cultivating those seeds.
<a href="https://solarpunkanarchists.com/2016/05/27/what-is-solarpunk/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: What is Solarpunk?</a></p>
<p>*Solarpunk aims to transform science fiction into science action. An emerging aesthetic sensibility undergirds and drives this impulse. As a genre style, Solarpunk’s visual representation is distinctly architectural and infrastructural: while many bloggers emphasize the importance of the “local,” it is necessarily global in concept. Awareness of planetary-scale environmental destruction is precisely where it derives a sense of urgency. In the face of perceived crisis, Solarpunk demands constructive, instructive fictions. Fictions that are not shy about their intended feasibility. <a href="https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/positions/191258/is-ornamenting-solar-panels-a-crime/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: Is Ornamenting Solar Panels a Crime?</a></p>
<p>*We’re solarpunks because the only other options are denial or despair.
<a href="https://hieroglyph.asu.edu/2014/09/Solarpunk-notes-toward-a-manifesto/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source: Solarpunk: Notes toward a manifesto</a></p>
<hr>
<p>I don't see this as a static blogpost. If you come across any other descriptions of solarpunk you feel should be included, please let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the list!</p>
]]><![CDATA[Seed viability]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/seed-viability/2019-01-05T10:37:56.522180+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-01-05T10:37:56.522180+00:00<![CDATA[<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/9F98F1DE-B904-5EC2-0DF1-B44095809D24.jpg" alt="Left to right: broad bean, fennel and pumpkin seeds">
It's the time of year (in the Northern hemisphere) when everyone starts going through the shiny seed catalogues and then get tempted by all the new varieties. Before you do that, it's worth checking whether the seeds you already have are still viable, that is, that they are alive and still able to germinate.</p>
<p>For a list of vegetable, flower and herb seeds and the number of years they are viable, check out the <a href="http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2019/01/seed-viability-will-my-packet-of-old.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Seed Viability</a> post on my gardening blog.</p>
<hr>
<p>At the moment I have two blogs. This is my new permaculture/solarpunk blog, but for the moment I'm also continuing my <a href="http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/" rel="noopener noreferrer">10+ year gardening blog</a>. Hopefully once Plume develops more features I'll be able to move here permanently.</p>
]]><![CDATA[Small greywater system]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/small-greywater-system/2019-01-03T19:19:37.222983+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2019-01-03T19:19:37.222983+00:00<![CDATA[<p>Back in 2010 I did the full <a href="https://permaculture.org/what-is-a-permaculture-design-course/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Permaculture Design Course</a>, and as part of the course, I learned how to build a small greywater system*. The system was built in a small community garden and could easily be used at home.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greywater" rel="noopener noreferrer">greywater harvesting</a>, you are trying to recycle dirty water, which you may then use in the garden. A greywater system filters and recycles water from when you have been washing up the dishes, taking a shower or bath, or doing the laundry. The system described here is just for greywater from washing up.</p>
<p>You can pour dishwater straight onto the garden, but only if it's just a bit dirty and soapy. If it's got lots of grease or oil in it, you wouldn't want to pour that onto the garden, you would want to clean it first, via a system like this. Any food you harvest is just rinsed like you would any shop bought fruit and vegetables. Note: don't use greywater directly onto your plants or via this system if it has any chemicals in it.</p>
<p>The system described was set up in order recycle used washing up water from events ran at the community garden, turning greywater into clean filtered water that could then go into the pond.</p>
<p>Figure 1. A list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to build the greywater system.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/33C906B2-C712-7569-4A9C-C9A11F5E875A.jpg" alt="Figure 1. A list of tasks that need to be undertaken to build the greywater system"></p>
<p>Figure 2. A large recycled plastic barrel has been cut in half, with bendy black nozzels coming out the size, sitting on bricks, one higher than the other.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/70E74A00-6D70-97D6-D16A-7E0E949DEF8B.jpg" alt="Figure 2. A large plastic barrel has been cut in half, with bendy black nozzels coming out the size, sitting on bricks, one higher than the other."></p>
<p>Figure 3. A large used water bottle (c. 15 litres) with the bottom cut off, turned upside and added to the higher of the barrels.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/2DE54597-8991-9FF4-CB74-73CEC149E8D3.jpg" alt="Figure 3. A large water bottle (c. 15 litres) with the bottom cut off, turned upside and added to the higher of the barrels."></p>
<p>Figure 4. A L-shaped pipe has been added to the lower barrel, connected to the black nozzle. The bottom part of the L pipe has a series of holes in it, to allow water to filter through.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/2FED5E15-5D68-4E3E-3851-F201D23D27CD.jpg" alt="Figure 4. A L-shaped pipe has been added to the lower barrel, connected to the black nozzle. The bottom part of the L pipe has a series of holes in it, to allow water to filter through."></p>
<p>Figure 5. Medium-sized gravel has been added to the lower barrel, so it is just covering the pipe with holes in figure 4.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/8F44D10F-0F19-C5A2-5610-AC0B81F05E0D.jpg" alt="Figure 5. Medium-sized gravel has been added to the lower barrel, so it is just covering the pipe with holes in figure 4."></p>
<p>Figure 6. A rectangle slate being cut to size and is then sat on top of the gravel in figure 5.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/6D73BEA3-0F6F-768E-C184-5C6C0454101D.jpg" alt="Figure 6. A rectangle slate being cut to size and is then sat on top of the gravel in figure 5."></p>
<p>Figure 7. A view of the placing of the slate, which has been put on top of the gravel shown in figure 5.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/858DB22F-97D9-A514-0855-3B5FA7E958EC.jpg" alt="Figure 7. A view of the placing of the slate, which has been put on top of the gravel shown in figure 5."></p>
<p>Figure 8. Perlite has been added to both barrels, filling up three quarters of each barrel.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/FAC1A8AA-14A9-C991-0492-BEAF5EC55617.jpg" alt="Figure 8. Perlite has been added to both barrels, filling up three quarters of each barrel."></p>
<p>Figure 9. Water has been added to each barrel, filling each up about half way.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/5089FDEF-E1EA-A26B-3E91-4D9F9FAC74E0.jpg" alt="Figure 9. Water has been added to each barrel, filling each up about half way."></p>
<p>Figure 10. A view of how both barrels now look, filled with respective piping, gravel, perlite and water, along with the water bottle sitting in the top barrel.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/1349B85D-92EF-D524-1D18-DC539BB5F25E.jpg" alt="Figure 10. A view of how both barrels now look, filled with respective piping, gravel, perlite and water, along with the water bottle sitting in the top barrel."></p>
<p>Figure 11. Marginal plants (those that live close to the waters edge), including the soil they were dug up with, are added to both barrels. The plants were gathered from a nearby stream. Once planted, add some more gravel around them to help hold them in place.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/CA54DC34-A297-BAD3-22C1-16D20CBB529A.jpg" alt="Figure 11. Marginal plants (those that live close to the waters edge), including the soil they were dug up with, are added to both barrels."></p>
<p>Figure 12. A sieve has been placed inside the water bottle from figure 3, which will help with filtering out larger deposits from greywater.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/1770EEB0-397E-006E-C2B2-3143CF104BE4.jpg" alt="Figure 12. A sieve has been placed inside the water bottle from figure 3, which will help with filtering out larger deposits from greywater."></p>
<p>Figure 13. A tub of greywater (after some dishes have been washed) is being added to the water bottle in the top barrel.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/7C6348F8-AF38-4CE3-7080-0729091239C5.jpg" alt="Figure 13. A tub of greywater (after some dishes have been washed) is being added to the water bottle in the top barrel."></p>
<p>Figure 14. A close-up of the inside edges of the two barrels. You can see some greywater has reached the black nozzle that filters greywater through the top barrel, into the lower barrel.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/1909A099-E933-AC75-EE6E-1926B427B024.jpg" alt="Figure 14. A close-up of the inside edges of the two barrels. You can see some greywater has reached the black nozzle that filters greywater through the top barrel, into the lower barrel."></p>
<p>Figure 15. The lower large barrel, the bendy black nozzle spills onto a piece of black guttering that allows the water to flow down into the garden bed. In this case, the clean water was filtering into an area of the garden with plants that liked waterlogged soils. If you don't have that sort of site in your garden, or if your system is in heavy use and you don't want to over-saturate an area, you could build it further off the ground and then filter the clean water into a bucket or watering can from which you could water other plants in the garden.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/D201205A-0BD9-3079-2B83-D71FD813F5CB.jpg" alt="The lower large barrel, the bendy black nozzle spills onto a piece of black guttering that allows the water to flow down into the garden bed."></p>
<p>Figure 16. The completed greywater system.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/BF2DEF15-6EE6-B6C6-6CED-15C9270A224A.jpg" alt="Figure 16. The completed greywater system."></p>
<p>One limitation to this particular system is that being a smaller sized greywater system, it meant that only so much greywater could be filtered at a time. So for bigger public events that ran all day, probably only 1/4 off all greywater created was able to be filtered. So what couldn't be used on the vegetable and flower beds (for example, because it was too greasy), had to go down the drain. So build the largest that you can reasonable do so, as space permits.</p>
<p>This greywater system was regularly used by the community garden. Some education was needed, to teach garden users how the system worked and to ensure that people put the greywater in the right place and to clean the sieve regularly so that it didn't get clogged. But on the whole, it was well-received and did a good job.
<br>* * * * *
<br>
*Now that Sunbeam.City has it's own Plume instance, I thought it was a good place to post it now that I've finally written it up!</p>
]]><![CDATA[Upcycling: turning a pallet into a planter for succulents and cacti]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/upcycling-turning-a-pallet-into-a-planter/2018-12-25T14:06:30.124488+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2018-12-25T14:06:30.124488+00:00<![CDATA[<p>One way to make use of the high number of old pallets is to upcycle them and turned into planters, which is what one of my favourite local cafes has done, creating a succulent and cacti planter.</p>
<p>Here they have turned the pallet upright and made a planter that holds a selection of succulents and cacti planted along each row.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/B4E1FE80-7DC2-14B6-716B-D889DF8BDAF2.jpg" alt="An upcycled pallet turned into an upright planter with a selection of succulents and cacti planted along each row"></p>
<p>A close up of some of the succulents and cacti in the pallet planter.
<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/B76B82A8-9A31-F66D-D251-7BC5CE9CF852.jpg" alt="A close up of some of the succulents and cacti in the pallet planter."></p>
<p>For instructions on how to make such a planter, this post on a
<a href="https://www.upcyclethat.com/vertical-pallet-planter/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vertical Pallet Planter</a> outlines how to do this.</p>
<p>But before you start, make sure you check whether the pallet you want to use has been chemically treated. If it has, you don't want to use it because the chemical used, methyl bromide (MB), is toxic. The DIY Projects site has a useful post on <a href="https://diyprojects.com/know-safe-use-pallet/" rel="noopener noreferrer">how to know if a pallet is safe to use</a>.</p>
]]><![CDATA[Adding images to Plume posts]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/adding-images-to-plume-posts/2018-12-18T21:14:14.004658+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2018-12-18T21:14:14.004658+00:00<![CDATA[<p>I'm getting a bit more used to using Plume, specifically with adding photographs to posts. Here's the steps that I found worked for me and so I'm posting them for anyone else that would like them.</p>
<p>Open a blank document (or email, something where you can add plain text), write your description of a photo into this.</p>
<p>From the Dashboard, scroll down to Your Media, go to the Media Gallery and choose 'upload'. Copy the description text to Plume when you upload your photo. Once you've added the Description Text and uploaded the photo, press send. Then on the refreshed screen with your photo, scroll down and make sure you copy the Markdown text over to your document/email as you add each one. You cannot seem to access this later so it's important you capture it at this step.</p>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/895FB024-C5C0-6D75-FA77-1BAB6F5117BD.jpg" alt="A bunch of daffidols"></p>
<p>Keep doing this to add all photos. Only once this is done, copy everything over to your new article. It takes much longer to go to the media gallery, add a photo, then go to the dashboard to find your draft post and insert it into the text box, then go back to the Media Gallery add another photo etc. As they are in different parts of Plume, it's better if you are adding several photos into a post, to prepare it all together first.</p>
<p>The Description text is for the visually impaired when they click on a photo. But it turns out that you can also use the text from this to help write your blogpost!</p>
<p><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/924BFB76-EF45-F09D-05B3-D9F324690DB8.jpg" alt="Example of text and Markdown in Plume when adding photos">
The photo above is an example of the Description Text and Markdown code for photos. The yellow is the Description Text and the blue is the Markdown code. You copy all of this into your blogpost. You can edit the Description Text, which is now in effect your blogpost text, within the post, the yellow section. But NOT the Description Text within the Markdown code, the blue section.</p>
<p>There isn't an edit function for the Description Text for photos currently, so if you want to change the text that appears in the Markdown code, you need to upload the photo again, write the next text, etc. This is why keeping a plain text copy is useful, as you can just copy and paste, then edit the bit you want to change before pressing send.</p>
<p>If you wish to add a photo to appear in at the top of your post, like I have done with the daffidols, whilst editing the post, scroll down to the bottom and under 'illustration', choose the Description Text of the photo you would like to appear. This will insert the photo automatically. Obviously, if you want to add a photo not listed, you'll need to upload that first.</p>
<p>Finally, I discovered that Plume is a bit temperamental when it comes to the file size of photos. The way you find out is that after you press send, if the Markdown code hasn't appeared, the photo hasn't uploaded. It wouldn't let me upload a photo that was 878KB, or one too big. It was happy with 1.4MB, so I'm sticking to that. It's not too large for slow internet connections, but large enough that you get reasonable detail within an image.</p>
<p>I hope this is helpful. If I come across any other tricks, I'll update this post.</p>
<hr>
<p>Oh, the photo of the daffidol is because it's nearly mid winter and it's bright and pretty :)</p>
]]><![CDATA[Putting in a large rainwater collection tank]]>https://cafe.sunbeam.city/~/GwenfarsGarden/putting-in-a-large-rainwater-collection-tank/2018-12-17T22:51:21.895240+00:00Gwenfar's Gardenhttps://cafe.sunbeam.city/@/Gwenfars Garden/2018-12-17T22:51:21.895240+00:00<![CDATA[<p>This is an update of a post <a href="http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2016/03/putting-in-rainwater-collection-tank.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">published in March 2016</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p></p><center><i>A large roof just waiting to have rainwater collected from it</i></center><img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/B6CF4D3B-D009-034D-E023-01E57C1EE57B.jpg" alt="Overview of a garden with raised beds, a pergola and a large garage on the left. From the size of the roof and see that you could harvest a lot of water from this">
Collecting rainwater and using it to water your garden is an excellent way of of making the most of a free resource. It also reduces how much rainwater is washed away into drains. Furthermore, in my case, I had a small flooding issue in one part of the garden, and water from the garage roof was adding to the problem. The garage roof was substantial, c. 20 m², and the plan was to maximise the yield of water from the garage by putting in a large rainwater collection tank, from which I could use water my garden. And I also hoped this would reduce the flooding in one part of the garden.<p></p>
<p>When looking at options for putting in a rainwater collection tank, I originally was looking at standard water tanks. However, these weren't cheap (over £400 for a 1000 litre tank), and I wondered if there were any other options.</p>
<p>Thanks to social media I found out about IBC's. IBC stands for Intermediate Bulk Container, and they are used for transporting food products in bulk, including juice. They all seem to be 1000 litres tanks. Whilst you can buy a new IBC for £150, you can buy a recycled one for £56, plus delivery. A recycled IBC has been cleaned out so is clean for rainwater collection purposes, but no longer meets food standards so cannot be reused in the industry. So you are upcycling and getting a bargain.</p>
<p>A standard water butt is c. 200-250 litres, so getting in an IBC is 4 to 5 times your every day water butt. An added bonus is that a 2nd IBC can easily sit upon the 1st one, if you have the right elevation for collecting rainwater. Unfortunately I don't, so it's just the one.</p>
<p>Here you can see the paving stones to the left of the beehive-shaped compost bins, ready and waiting for the planned water tank. <img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/1B6FB6AC-6695-0E24-86B2-23E61CDD2A8B.jpg" alt="Two beehive compost bins and retaining wall next to the garage. You can see the paving stones to the left of the beehive-shaped compost bins, ready and waiting for the planned water tank."></p>
<p>Water is collected from guttering on both sides of the garage, then piped to a filter point on the back of the garage. The filter is to stop leaves and other debris from getting into the tank. <img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/31D4427D-A9D4-AD7C-423F-1CED2F39A83D.jpg" alt="Water is collected from guttering on both sides of the garage, then piped to a filter point on the back of the garage. The filter is to stop leaves and other debris from getting into the tank."></p>
<p>This is then taken to the IBC by another pipe, and filtered a second time before the water goes into the tank. <img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/9BE991F7-A600-A325-A616-9DD4FCB395CD.jpg" alt="This is then taken to the IBC by another pipe, and filtered a second time using a food sieve, before the water goes into the tank."></p>
<p>Yes, that's a food sieve. I had been using it to winnow saved seeds but it was too fine, so I re-purposed it for the water tank.</p>
<p>And this is the result. <img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/0AD7EF14-F780-83D9-82E6-125337E240B1.jpg" alt="A view of the back of the garage and the guttering that leads to the water tank. You can see the large water tank behind the beehive compost bins."></p>
<p>The tank is now two thirds full. A hosepipe extends from the tap, making it easier do the watering.<img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/58B65D5C-4A73-7993-D9ED-A1630657D86C.jpg" alt="The rainwater collection tank is now three quarters full. A hosepipe extends from the tap, making it easier do the watering."></p>
<p>You can purchase a tap fitting (as I did) that can then be used with normal hoses, such as Hozelock. Initially we added a shorter bit of hose pipe from which I could use to fill watering cans. Once the tank fills up to a certain point and creates enough pressure, you can add a longer hose pipe with a nozzle to use for watering like you would a hose from a normal tap.</p>
<p>I got my IBC from a company in Wrexham, <a href="https://www.dvcontainers.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer">DVC</a>. Delivery was £40 and if you do get 2 containers, it's the same delivery cost. All up, including delivery and the extra piping and bits we needed, it came to £128. Much cheaper than £400.</p>
<p>The end result was not only a cheap and useful way to collect rainwater, but it did in fact reduce some of the flooding that had been a problem elsewhere in the garden.</p>
<hr>
<p></p><center><i>A pergola covered in plants, behind which is the<br> rainwater
collection tank in use.</i></center> <img src="https://cafe.sunbeam.city/static/media/569CACDA-0C37-0F29-18CA-69E1571C83EC.jpg" alt="A pergola covered in plants, behind which is the rainwater collection tank in use."><p></p>
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