Regenerative Living

In the High Desert Climate of Silver City New Mexico

Regenerative Living

Living your life by designing your systems in ways that  generate more resources than are consumed.

You get back more than you put in

Your land produces more of a return of  food, shade, utility, and comfort than the energy you put in to it

Your house produces more energy than it consumes

Your life contributes more to the community and the environment then the resources that it draws from the community and the environment

What this might look like

Land that catches and stores as much water it can in the soil and uses it to grow shade, food, and medicine. Land that produces  little or no runoff of water which contributes to flooding and erosion down slope and leaches nutrients and other resources from the land, which in turn increases the amount of resources you have to put in.

A house that harvests more solar energy than it consumes in electricity and gas. A household that minimizes utilities consumption by maximizing gains through thoughtful shading and air flow strategies, solar water heaters, and solar ovens. With a roof that collects every drop of rain it can, both in tanks and the surrounding soil, a roof that doesn’t contribute to runoff.

How you could create a more Regenerative life style

1. Observation and Engagement

Look at your land and your household. Where’s the waste, where are the leaks and runoff that increase what you have to put into the process of maintaining the house and supporting the people within. 

Consider what you might do to reduce these losses. Look for examples of less wasteful and more abundant households. Your friends and neighbors have most if not all of the information you need.

 Make a list, prioritize the items by how attainable they are with available resources, and how much of an impact they will have. Learn as much as you can about each item on the list. Create a plan and start to work your way through the list. 

1. Experience

Regenerative living experiential opportunities are abundant in Silver City. Workshops and volunteer days are often offered by local community groups. Your neighbor who has the colorful shady yard with the apricot tree that seems to overflow with fruit, could probably  use some help and will likely be willing to share how they got to that point. Join or start a community garden, or have a garden creation day at your place.

Saturdays at the Future Forge between 11-3 most weeks there will be Permaculture gatherings Starting March 18th barton@thefutureforge.org for info

Gathering the Information and learning the Techniques

There is a ton of Information on the internet, thousands of hours of video on all subjects related to Regenerative living in urban or rural environments.

https://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/download-ps2-free

https://www.discoverpermaculture.com/

https://ourpermaculturelife.com/

https://holmgren.com.au/

The most difficult part is putting all this information together in a way that creates a plan specific to your site. That's why I like Permaculture. It's a design method that takes you step by step through the process of observing, planning and engaging with your site to fit the land’s needs and your households needs.

Saturdays at the Future Forge between 11-3 most weeks there will be

Permaculture gatherings  barton@thefutureforge.org for info

• 11:00 - 12:00
  Meet and greet followed by Introduction to Permaculture including basic concepts Ethics and principles and how they relate to creating a regenerative design for your situation.
  At the end we will talk about the rest of the day and how we would like it to flow
  The rest of the schedule can be flexible depending on the interest of those present
  
  

• 12:00 - 1:00
  A look at Compost Teas and how to make them with an aerobic brewer. We have 2-20 gallon brewers and will be beginning a new brew as well as giving away some of the latest batch, bring a jug or jar. We will also look at how to make extracts and Johnson Su bioreactor composting systems. We will discuss Geoffe Lawtons 18-30 day composting method. We will explore soil rejuvenating concepts and methods you can take home and implement at little or no cost but time and energy.
  
  
  

• 1:00 - 3:00
  Developing the park
  This is the good stuff, we go next door and work on developing the park next door to the Future Forge Makerspace.
  Every week is likely to be different.
  We will be laying out contours and marking out areas for rain water harvesting, plantings, gatherings, and pathways.
  We will be designing and creating rainwater harvesting structures
  We will be designing and creating garden areas tree plantings and edible fencing around the perimeter and along pathways
  We will be designing and creating pathways that are wheel friendly
  We will also be picking up trash or weeding

This is an opportunity to help develop a local community park and teaching space while learning a lot about how to improve a piece of property and create a yield at the same time

The Future Forge Makerspace is located at

307 E College Ave

Silver City NM 88061

Contact Bart at barton@thefutureforge.org