while at Sleeping Frog Farms i was told about a couple who live in nearby Cascabel. they do humanure composting and are cyclists. that caught my interest of course, so i got a hold of them to arrange a visit.
i ended up going over for breakfast on my last day there. it was a chilly morning and rough riding for several miles on a dirt road. i was able to find flat spots most of the time, but occasionally the washboard surface spanned the whole width! what a trial.
david and pearl live on a friend's property among mesquite woodland. this is the first mesquite bosque i have been within. a cluster of london rocket, which i also found all over the place in tucson, was growing happily in the duff by the trail to their little home. i ate some, as my belly was beginning to rumble. pearl soon satisfied all of our hunger with mesquite meal pancakes. while she was fixing them i got a tour of all the components of their simple home.
during our conversation three points were emphasized as being shaping their way of life:
-living below one's means
-having as many handy skills as possible
-living and working in a local community context
check out their website for more information on how they live.
the night before my visit they had attended a meeting concerning the community garden being established in cascabel. both are volunteering time towards this kind of community development. another project they are involved in, facilitated by the fantastic organization watershed management group, is researching composting toilet models which may eventually gain more permanent permitting in pima county! one of these will be installed at the Las Milpitas community farm where i volunteered! this is the most exciting news i've heard so far in the arena of humanure composting. well, only a little more exciting than the permitting of a composting toilet in austin. can't wait to make a donation to that progressive pooper!
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