Next Sunday 5/27, 3pm – 8pm again at El Jardin del Paradiso scene 2 will unfold at “The Official Beneficial Mud Ball Benefit Ball”.

to MoS Collective founded by Elizabeth D Maucher.

• $5: MoS 1/2 pound of Bokashi Starter
• $10: your very own Beneficial Mud Ball
• $15: MoS Watershed™ Activated EM Spray with lemon grass, orange or pine essential oils (natural cleaning)
• $25: MoS Watershed™ coconut & cocoa edible body butter
• $75: a certificate of sponsorship and a gift basket of one of each below
• $150: a NuGuru Healing doll™ (hand-made) with acupuncture chart.
• $250: A NuGuru Healing doll™ (hand-made) with acupuncture chart and gift basket.
• $800: a cocoon Kinetic Furniture™ + installation
• $35 – $1200: print of your choice by dd maucher

Parade order : http://danceparade.org/wp/parade-order-final/

The last page excerpt
"Introduction to Permaculture"

By Bill Mollison:

"…. I believe we just change our philosophy before anything else changes. Change the philosophy of competition (which is now pervades our education system) of that of cooperation in free associations, change our material insecurities for a secure humanity, change the individual for the tribe, petrol for calories, and money for products.

The greatest change is from consumption to production, even if on a small area, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this there will be enough for everyone.. hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who produce words and bullets not food and shelter. It sometimes seems we are all caught. all on earth, in a conscious or unconscious conspiracy to keep ourselves helpless. And yet it is people who produce all the needs of other people, and together we can survive. We ourselves can cure all the famine, all the injustice, and all the stupidity of the world.

We can do it by understanding the way natural systems work, by careful forestry and gardening, by contemplation and by taking care of the earth. People who force nature force themselves. when we grow only wheat we become dough. If we seek only money, we become brass, and if we stay in the childhood of team sports, we become a stuffed leather ball. Beware of the monocultureist, in religion, health, farm or factory. He is driven mad by boredom, and can create war and try to assert power, because he is in fact powerless.

To become a complete person, we must travel many paths, and to truly own anything we must first give it all away. This is not a riddle, Only those who share their multiple and varied skills, true friendships, and a sense of community and knowledge of the earth know they are safe wherever they go.

There are plenty of fights and adventures to hand: the fight against cold, hunger poverty ignorance, overpopulation and greed; adventures in friendship, humanity applied ecology, and sophisticated design– which would be a far better life than you may be living now, and which would mean a life for our children.

There is no other path for us than that of cooperative productivity and community responsibility. Take that path, and it will change your life in ways you can not yet imagine."

Figment Project 2012

SATURDAY 6/9 (SUN if there are any left)

At Figment: The second official throw event in the USA!

(That is actually not a good thing– the US should have had many by now.)

At Figment Project 2012 on Governors Island June 9 & 10 expect pyramid shaped stockpiles of beneficial mud balls. They will be placed at water’s edge — last year the stockpile was next to Castle William. People are invited to throw them in the water. The mud balls are beneficial because they are activated with EM-1, a solution of 8 most dominant beneficial microbes like yeast and Lactus Bacilli that are found in foods like yogurt, cheese. (emrojapan.com for lots of information). When thrown into the water, the activated microbes eat the waste and reduce the pollution leaving behind proteins, enzymes, vitamins and minerals for a healthy body of water. We are hoping to grow this event with other organizations and patrons. Mud ball thows are cleaning up polluted waterways worldwide. In Malaysia they call mud ball throws “One Million Apologies for Mother Earth”.

FIRST: Help us make Beneficial Mud Balls!

sign up on our email list

Fundraising: “10,000 Gowanus Beneficial Mud Balls”

We are raising money for a throw on the Gowanus. Please be generous. Help us teach people through experience that we can help nature heal our toxic legacies. IOBY.org >>> search Beneficial Mud balls if you are reading this in MAY it should be launched. :)

Rain harvested from the roof will be 1.8 million gallons. Currently from this one roof, that rain floods the (combined with sewage) storm drains which causes the sewage in them to over flow into the river.

This local farm will save on transportation costs — and sell to local stores and markets.
100,000 sq ft roof yielding an expected 1,000,000 pounds of produce a year. Some say the taste is not as good but apparently with advances it’s improving. Do they know about the effective microbes? EM-1 probiotic solution would help.

Write us if you want an EM-1 consultation for your business, restaurant or farm.

Got a roof?

.

Photo by Eric Michael Johnson for The New York Times
An old Navy warehouse in Sunset Park will be home to a hydroponic greenhouse of up to 100,000 square feet. The developer says it will be the largest such greenhouse in the country.
Click for more info article By LISA W. FODERARO
NYT Published: April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/nyregion/rooftop-greenhouse-will-boost-city-farming.html?_r=1

Background:
The county and place of Reston gas been for yard trying to regenerate economy in this village center. Once big box and lots of shopping choices moved the money and vital energy out of the place of pleasure and commerce it suffered. There are drawings in place now by the county of Fairfax to add many new towers, an underground garage, lots of new shopping and hopefully public art and urban garden opportunities. Gazillions of dollars and many more years will be needed before the village center will perk back up.

After the Permaculture PDC DD Maucher took a stab at a design plan that could be started with little money- community kickstaters and community small business investing that would enable locals to attract shoppers and visitors back to the center.

To state: Watershed

The plan states with watershed revitalization and restoration. Without this foundation the plan is not as strong. Once the lake is healthy and wonderful Eco systems are re-established around the streams and water run-off locations the fish in lake Anne will be consumable. With the help of the community using the effective microbes and natural cleaning products in their home environments the watershed can begin to maintain it’s health. Also composting their food waste with the fermentation method trenching that on their ground will help in the run off as well. The county is already starting work on the restoration of the streams that run into the lake. More help will come from holding back and slowing water with rain harvesting from roofs on each house or from a series of townhouses. Allowing more to soak into the earth recharging the aquifer. There are labels on all the storm drain now that remind people what goes into the drain will go directly into the lake. The new idea is to create rain garden around the curb and sidewalk areas, day light storm pipe pathways to become streams and French drains, or even wet lands and create marsh type systems with rocks. The serendipitous benefits are to name a few: healthy swimming, back-up potable water using a filtration system, water for gardening and emergency use, edible fish and more biodiverse habitat — more food for all creatures.

The watershed plan itself is extensive.

FOOD:
Part of phase one is also to start a food co-op. An inexpensive model to bring healthy food shopping back to the center with the help of generous start up money– in this design it has been placed next to the parking lot where the bank was in the 70′s.

The massive storm drain infront of this building that connects the upper lake with the lower will be day lighted and made into a decorative canal (dry or wet) rain garden plants and ecosystem micro climate– trellised with fruiting vines.

This connects at a T infront of the market near the plaza entrance with the water flow coming off the Fellowship House (elders:eyes on the street). Also made into a shallower canal mostly covered with mini bridges allowing access to the outside fruit and veggies part of the market.

There Fellowship water will have some power from it’s decent enough to create an element of excitement and pond at the bottom of of journey for some fish, turtles and frogs on Lilly pads.

The paved parking lot will be replaced with well designed appropriate variety of new terrain — porous pavers and stable surfaces. The current surface is super toxic — I read about this parking lot on the USGS web site while researching for the analysis for this plan.)

Directly In front of the market will be a ambling garden for locals and shoppers to pick up ideas on how to design their neighborhood gardens with a mix of traditional decorative but mostly an edible medicinal useful garden diverse enough for butterflies and migrating birds. Herbs, veggies, berries fruits and nuts.

Up about half way will be a chicken coop that washes its glorious waste into the garden as fertilizer. The small chicken coop will catch rain to provide water for the chics, fish and garden. Add bunnies. The ducks are in the lake.

Up from that at the top west side of the parking area is the green house with hydroponics and soil growing year round.

This will eventually, phase 4 (slow money model), be built into a large vertical glass building on top of the “information building “at the original “entrance” of Reston. Say 6 floors or more, rounded corners. Fish hatchery on the top floor with sun set and sun rise corners being balconies with water flowing from the roof around the flanks of the balconies. The water pathway will be plants growing hydroponically and the decent will enable a fountain at he base attracting people passing by into the center.

As one enters historic Reston by personal travel device they can see through the building’s archway to the lake and the market gardens.
For added fun I added a trapeze school in the parking area that would give a driver the random opportunity to see flying humans through the vignette.

Perhaps growing birch trees — though might block too much view.

The bottom floor of the new Lake Anne vertical farm is an experimental Arts Center maintained by the elderly in the Fellowship house and college interns staying in the new community apartment building over the now one story Buddhist center opposite side of the plaza.

The other side first floor is a Permaculture Business Education Center that is world renowned. These temporary students also live in the community apartments.

Credit for rent or food is given for professional positions in one of he installations.

The second floor of the building will be indoor space for farm animals and some visitor information about the revitalization experiment. The animals will graze across the street on either side of the entrance way. There is the day lite storm drain to adapt into a water stream for the animals as well as provide more habitat for little creatures birds and bugs. Berry bushes a fodder growing abundantly buffering the animals from the traffic.

This grazing space is accessible to the elders by a raised boardwalk through the woods. There will be seating at the edge of the woods for them to watch people come n go and watch (take note ) of the animals. Eyes.
The animals will be rotationally grazed by a workers at the Fellowship house, hydroponics farm or alternative travel device station (the former gas station).
These workers could be immigrant Hispanic who live currently in the Crescent apartments above the former gas station. There will be a fruit orchard planted on the Crescent apartment hill. The animals will rotate over there. Possibly also to browns Chapel and playing fields via the underground pedestrian tunnel.
The orchard is fertilized by the animals just enough. The hills is bioswaled with little ponds at each end to irrigate the trees and prevent erosion. There are 2 more opportunities for day lighted streams in either side of this hill.

The Mutant Vehicle Station
will be an experimental lab and shop for local alternative vehicles. The alternatives are able to get a permit to drive in and around the Lake Anne, Tall Oaks Area which extends to future metro drop off locations and the Reston Town Center. They can not go on 606 or beyond the toll road, or on Reston Parkway.

There will be bike paths on all roads. There will be in the phase 4 plan a raised bike path diagonally cutting across Reston for fast commuting by bike. (details on a sep sheet)

The Mutant or Experimental Vehicle Station will be one on the four landing spots for the gondola on its’ roof. There is an easy spiral decent -no steps– and wheel chair attachment on the wall. The station is run by solar power generated by the hydroponics buildings solar glass walls. There is a vertical wind turbine but not a great spot for it. Better for wind is the top of the Crescent houses and fellowship house. Also the east end of the lake, ball clueless and lake Newport. Plenty of opportunities.

The roof water is captured in the center of the spiral decent for an attractive aquarium and photo energy experimentation and bioluminescence lab.

Moving on to the old 7-11. Now the .. Teen center. The roof opens up (phase 4) like a camera shutter to the stars with a powerful telescope. The interior is a planetarium or game station. The kids can play interactive computer games or play music and light and visual art shows. There is super affordable healthy market prepared foods by a crescent house resident chef or permaculture work study. The teens have a natural toilet that creates biofuels and soil building for the wooded area. There is a bat house and tree house, building space and sculpture space in the woods around. Also great for interactive game and inventions.

The strawberry bus
stops outside. The seats spin or there are bike peddle that charge it’s battery. Free book swap in the back — or downloads in the back. Hair cuts on Thursday’s. The roof grows strawberries which are free to all riders. It’s an alternative experimental vehicle that connects to RTC and the metro, the ball fields.

The recycling station
and glass blowing studio. Plastics art lab. This is where locals do extensive source separation. Collection of all electronics that can be useful (as in not refrigerators). Up to 60 bins for separation — the resource is used for art projects– only available to local kids for free. Schools out of town purchase the items. (the extensive separation process creates creative value. Done currently in Japan)

The parking is limited to 20 cars — people are encouraged to walk or bike or build a vehicle — golf cart or whatever.

The center of the parking area will be open for community tent and work days, harvest meals, chaos group cooking, making, building, awards presentations….

The wind tunnel that shoots through the plaza makes a nice opportunity for wind sculptures.

The kindergarten has it’s own kids green house on the roof for their seed to table program . The gondola also stops above the market. Behind the market is food waste recycling.

The bread shop and pizza place and ice cream dairy generate heat (and cool for cold pool) which create heat for the spa hot tubs and saunas radiant heat rooms upstairs.

The natural healing medical offices are upstairs. There is a co-operative medical care space for those out of the system. So good that people inside the system supplement their care there.

The banking is above the coffee shop which self roasts (creates waste for bokashi). The roof grows herbs and harvests for tea blends including medicinal read. Medicinals are planted and harvested in the many wild zone 4′s in the area. The wooded areas are also used to grow mushrooms.

The bank offers assistance to everyone – lake Anne dollars are sold here to purchase items on the plaza at a 30% discount. (basically they inflate it 30% )
Resource trading sign up and lake Anne systems consulting for new comers plugs people in where they can be most happy and use their knowledge and creativity to help them and their families thrive. Consultants for job connections not — that is across in the community center.

Again keep in mind this is an experiment in an intimate section of what has become a large very rich city.
Rich but not without harm to others.

Good segway to Baptist church. It is down to 30 members. Might this be also used as a theater space and circus school — tall ceilings. I know it’s crazy . Otherwise the building is of little use unless gutted or who knows. I suggest a conversation to redesign the interior as multi purpose. maintaining as much integrity as possible. Morphing from one use to another. A theater circus practice and show space will bring valuable skills to the plaza (bringing the tailor back, the electrician, the sound guy, riggers, empathetic listeners, physical trainers, buskers, entertainers, waiters, shoppers.

Behind the church is a tot lot which has space to also be a small Shakespeare summer outdoor theater space.

Next — design studio, beneficial real estate and mud ball event sponsor. Roof is personal veggies and chairs.
Tortilla factory: roof peppers and tomatoes and herbs.
Peanut butter picnic palace: salads and bread spread sandwiches. Roof: veggies. Fruit trees.

Chocolate spot: fair trade chocolate : made local :: workshops and education trips to exotic places. Roof greenhouse.

Organic cleaners, maid service green cleaning.and workshops to train residents to clean with healthy products and keep pollutants out of watershed and lake. Roof: sun bleaching whites.

Artisan added value products : felt products, wooden items, herbal balms, essential oils , lotions and beauty products, local jewelry and household items. Resources are grown or free reuse or recycled resources from the community. Roof: herbs and medicinals. Fragrant flowers.

Barber shop; roof: lounge chairs and plants. Mint, oregano — aftershave beard herbals, colendula.

Heron house: somehow utilize. The water falling 15 stories in to energy . There maybe a non window flat wall where the elevator shaft is.

Business building. Roof : wheat Feld. Migratory Bird landing pad without cats.

J building
The nail salon should be a full on beauty place selling bee yummy creams and live healthy high end hand made hand harvested ingredients to keep people resilient.

The bar is local beer wine bourbon and alcohols.all local . Also make it a place to bring newly discovered tastes and keep them in a locker to share at the bar w others and the owner. A connoisseurs hang out.

Book store same

Fish seafood– lake fish eventually- aquaponics in the restaurant. Varies the fish.

Clothing consignment

Kids clothing – and baby added value local brands. Working closely with baby and kid pros. Connecting kids to activities and healthy solutions.

Restaurant high end Mediterranean

Furniture and carpentry custom.

Museum Reston history

Pharmacy and drug store
Soda fountain- healthy diner food.

The boat rental generates energy — paddle and peddle power.

The gym creates its own energy– w all the equipment and through the floor.

The lake boats are non polluting moving wind or solar or?? Green roof a d water cleansing phyto remediation islands.

That all!!

Oh the buddhist community living building. Rent discounts for working on the plaza. Lots of terraces and small efficiencies and shared spaces. Community rooms. Top floor is a reading sun room and water catchment. The water when full releases into a waterfall and slide into a giant solar heated hot tub.

Day lighted storm drain brings back stream that pools into a French drain rain garden before going into the earth and under the road to the lake.

All houses apt condos have rain catch systems and roof access opportunity.

Extra:
POOL
I also made a plan for the North Shore Pool
The hill allows for rain cisterns to hold water which allows water to slowly and continually feed new water into the pools so chemicals are not needed. The water drains into the surrounding plants nitrogen adds to plant health– rain garden absorbs water– overflow fill depleted marina in the summer for air conditioning.

Aromatic herbs around the hot tub, grape trellises shade structure at the baby pool. Strawberry banister boxes out of toddler reach . Espalier fruit on the walls kiwi.
Pumpkin and watermelons on the hill for watermelon party’s on the summer.
Surrounded by black berry bushes outside the pool. Nut trees walnuts almonds. Pecans.
The garage roof next door and the showers is green to keep the heat effect down for baby pool.

Now I’m done.
For further details contact me from the contact page.

Raising Reston is the story of trials and tribulations of Mr. Simon’s life and how he managed to build a thriving new town from scratch.

We are mow defrosting after 40 years what was once considered an experimental utopian design, the vision of a several men in the 1960′s offered citizens a new yet old way to live.

How did it come about and what can we learn from the successes and the mistakes.

Web Site growing:   www.frankdocarts.org

Thank you!!

Video still of Robert E Simon Jr. by dd maucher, ©2008

Lake Anne and Washington Plaza and the Heron House high rise.

Photo by j Peter Maucher ©1969 All rights reserved.

Left - a nutrient-poor oxisol; right - an oxisol transformed into fertile terra preta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Terra preta (literally “black earth” in Portuguese) is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon Basin. Terra preta owes its name to its very high charcoal content, and was indeed made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile Amazonian soil over many years.^[1] It is also known as “Amazonian dark earth” or “Indian black earth”. In Portuguese its full name is “Terra preta do índio” or “Terra preta de índio”. Terra mulata is lighter or brownish in color.^[2]

Terra preta is characterized by the presence of low-temperature charcoal in high concentrations; of high quantities of potterysherds; of organic matter such as plant residues, animal feces, fish and animal bones and other material; and of nutrients such asnitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn).^[3] It also shows high levels of microorganic activities and other specific characteristics within its particular ecosystem. It is less prone to nutrient leaching, which is a major problem in most rainforest soils. Terra preta zones are generally surrounded by terra comum, or “common soil”; these are infertile soils, mainlyacrisols,^[3] but also ferralsols and arenosols.^[4]

Terra preta soils are of pre-Columbian nature and were created by humans between 450 BC and AD 950.^[5][6] The soil’s depth can reach 2 metres (6 feet). Thousands of years after its creation it has been reported to regenerate itself at the rate of 1 centimetre per year^[7] by the local farmers and caboclos in Brazil‘s Amazonian basin, and they seek it out for use and for sale as valuable compost.

55 Members of Congress Call on FDA to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

Food Justice OWS Mar 12 11:14PM -0500

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: *March 12, 2012 ****

* *

*Contact: *Colin O’Neil, Regulatory Policy Analyst, 202-547-9359****

**

*FIFTY-FIVE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS CALL ON FDA TO REQUIRE LABELING OF
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED
FOODS

*Led by Boxer and DeFazio, Bicameral Letter Calls for Reversal of Two
Decade-Old Labeling Policy, Supports CFS Legal Petition *

*IN ONLY 6 MONTHS, ALREADY 850,000+ PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED TO FDA IN
SUPPORT OF LABELING*

** **

*WASHINGTON, D.C. –*This morning a bicameral lettersigned
by 55 Members of Congress was sent to U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg calling on the agency to require the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods.****

The bicameral, bipartisan letter led by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and
Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) was written in support of a legal petition
filed by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) on behalf of the *Just Label
It*campaign and its nearly 400 partner organizations and businesses;
many health, consumer, environmental, and farming organizations, as well as food companies, are also signatories. Since CFS filed the labeling petition in
October 2011, the public has submitted over 850,000 comments in support of
labeling.****

“Consumers are being misled about the foods they are purchasing,” said
Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director for the Center for Food Safety. “FDA’s
two-decade old decision is bad policy based on outdated science and must be revoked. The American consumer deserves the same fundamental freedoms and choices of other nations’ citizens.”****

** **
In the U.S. there is overwhelming public demand—*consistently near 95%*—for
the labeling of GE foods. The U.S. policy of not requiring GE labeling
makes it a stark outlier among developed and developing nations. Nearly 50 countries have mandatory labeling policies for GE foods including South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China, Australia, New Zealand, the entire European Union, and many others. ****

* *
In its 1992 policy statement, FDA allowed GE foods to be marketed without labeling on the basis that they were not “materially” different from other foods. However, the agency severely limited what it considered “material” by targeting only changes in food that could be recognized by taste, smell, or other senses – applying 19th century science to the regulation of
21stcentury food technologies.
The outdated standard has no legal basis in the statute and was adopted by
FDA despite a lack of scientific studies or data to support the assumption
that GE foods are not materially different from conventional foods. ****

**
The Congressional letter to FDA states: **

At issue is the fundamental right consumers have to make informed choices about the food they eat…The agency currently requires over 3,000 other ingredients, additives, and processes to be labeled; providing basic information doesn’t confuse the public, it empowers them to make choices.
Absent labeling, Americans are unable to choose for themselves whether to
purchase GE foods…. We urge you to fully review the facts, law, and
science, and side with the American public by requiring the labeling of
genetically engineered foods as is done in nearly 50 countries throughout
the world.****

** **

The 45 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to join the letter
are:Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Richard Hanna (NY-24), Dennis Kucinich
(OH-10), George Miller, (CA-7), Louise Slaughter(NY-28), Keith Ellison (MN-5), Raul (AZ-7), Peter Welch (VT-At Large), Hansen Clarke (MI-13), Earl Blumenauer, (OR-3), Lloyd Doggett (TX-25), Anna Eshoo (CA-14), Sam Farr
(CA-17), Maurice Hinchey (NY-22), Rush Holt (NJ-12), Chellie Pingree
(ME-1), Jim McDermott (WA-7), Madeleine Bordallo (GU-At Large), James Moran (VA-8), John Olver (MA-1), Jared Polis (CO-2), Charles Rangel (NY-15), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Pete Stark (CA-13), Howard L. Berman (CA-28), Robert Brady (PA-1), David Cicilline (RI-1), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-11), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Dianne DeGette (CO-1), Bob Filner (CA-5), Barney Frank (MA-4), Luis Gutierrez (IL-4), Janice Hahn (CA-36), Michael Honda (CA-15), Barbara Lee (CA-9), Zoe Lofgren (CA-16), James McGovern (MA-3), Jan S (oops iPhone selected and accidentally deleted her name – fill it in please) (IL-9), Jackie Speier (CA-12), John Tierney (MA-6), Melvin L.
Watt (NC-12), Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), Maxine Waters (CA-35), and Grace
Napolitano (CA-38).****

The 10 Members of the U.S. Senate to join the letter are: Barbara Boxer
(CA), Patrick Leahy (VT), Bernie Sanders (VT), Daniel Akaka (HI), Dianne
Feinstein (CA), Ron Wyden (OR), Mark Begich (AK), Jon Tester (MT), Richard
Blumenthal (CT), and Jeff Merkley (OR).****

** **

The bicameral letter was supported by more than 70 businesses and
organizations including Stonyfield Farm, the National Cooperative Grocers
Association, the National Organic Coalition, Beanitos, Inc., Consumers
Union, Organic Valley, PCC Natural Markets, the Organic Farming Research
Foundation, and a number of farming and fishing associations. ****

**

*The Center for Food Safety is a national, non-profit, membership
organization founded in 1997 to protect human health and the environment by
curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture.*
** **