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Building Solidarity and Resilience in an Uncertain Time

March 25, 2020 by Kate Wallace Leave a Comment

Dear friends,

Given all of the chaos of this moment, we wanted to offer some points of connection and reminders of the resilience that we’ve been building as a wider community over the last ten years.

One of the foundational tenets of the Resilience Hub is to support individuals, households, and communities in becoming more resilient, and in our collective ability to bounce back from disruption. We acknowledge this is a time of severe disruption. Over the past 15 years, the Hub has built a 3,000+ person network of people who are interested in this work. Together, this body of people holds a massive amount of knowledge, diversified skills, land, food, and resources towards how to build a world that is healthy, just, and abundant. The Hub has supported many residential and community spaces to plant food forests and to build resilient systems with massive food growing capacity. While there are still not enough of these sites, their existence is a glimpse into one component of a decentralized, accessible food system. 

The Resilience Hub is, at its core, a network made up of people. We need your input regarding how to show up for our community. What do you want and need from this network in this uncertain time? We invite you to fill out this survey asking what needs you see for yourself and the community, as well as what services and resources you might be able to offer to assist others. We welcome your ideas.

This moment lays bare both the inequities and the interconnectedness amongst us. It is an opportunity to acknowledge resources and recognize them as privileges: be that access to land, financial resources, food growing capacity, skills – and to leverage them in support of our community in the spirit of solidarity. We also acknowledge the very real material needs that many of us may be experiencing, and the range of emotions present. The Resilience Hub has been committed to the practice of mutual aid and reciprocity since its inception, and we’re calling for that from each other now. How can we put our beliefs into practice? 

Asks:

  • We’re looking for people with skills in social media, communications, or technology to join our communications working group in order to support communications and logistics during this crisis and beyond. 
  • Are you gardening in your backyard? Would you be willing to commit to planting extra this year to support food access in the greater Portland area?  
  • Do you have available space in your yard but don’t feel like you can do the gardening on your end? Would you be willing to share yard space in support of food security in your community? 
  • If yes to any of the above, please complete the survey or don’t hesitate to reach out. 
  • If you have available financial resources in this time, please consider giving to one of the mutual aid funds that have been set up. Please share information about these funds and mutual aid networks widely. 
    • People’s Emergency Fund: This is a locally-based people’s emergency fund to raise money for the most vulnerable people in our communities. The funds will be used to purchase basic survival goods (food, medicine, etc) and distribute those goods and money during the COVID-19 crisis to people most marginalized in this crisis, with the least access to other forms of aid.
    • Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America Assistance Fund: Assistance fund and mutual aid network.
    • Maine People’s Alliance Assistance Fund: state-wide assistance fund and mutual aid network. 

We take seriously the threat COVID-19 poses, and as such will not be hosting in person gatherings for an indefinite period of time. Please take adequate precautions and gentle care of yourselves. Our individual actions as part of the whole will be key to stemming the spread of the virus. Here are some things that we’ll be offering over the next few months:

  • Our Education Working Group is working to put together a series of virtual talks, workshops, and educational offerings particularly geared towards building resilience in this crisis. If you are interested in offering a talk, or have something specific you’d like to learn about, please let us know. 
  • We are still planning for a season of permablitzes, even if we have to modify them in some fashion. We will have more details about this over the coming weeks.
  • We’re looking to expand communications and information sharing and will be exploring the best way to do this.
  • Platforms to support gardening mentorship, yard-sharing, and food production and distribution. 

There’s no good way to sum up this moment. When we look to nature for guidance, we see disruption creating devastating loss and creating opportunity for growth and regeneration. May we continue to build a community that can hold each other through both. 

With you in Community, 

Kate, Toxtli, Eli, Josh, and Heather

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Call for 2020 Permablitz Hosts!

March 12, 2020 by Kate Wallace Leave a Comment

The Resilience Hub is seeking proposals for projects to build community-scale resilience:

•Are you part of a community group that could benefit from increased access to your own fruits and vegetables? From reduced water or electricity bills?

•Are you an organization doing community organizing or direct support work that has an idea for the way that small-scale energy or food/medicine production could support your work?

•Are you a tenant or a renter in an urban area wanting to increase your access to fruits and vegetables, decrease water or electric bills, and learn about and demonstrate urban gardening techniques?

•Are you a property owner in a rural, urban, or suburban area looking to build your household’s resilience and also committed to building equity in your community by leveraging your property towards community benefit? (This could look like land sharing agreements, building a community gathering space, creating a neighborhood food distribution network with surplus, running a community research project on soil remediation, etc.)

The Portland Permablitz Network organizes work parties to build projects that increase resilience through backyard or neighborhood food production, energy generation, water catchment, and community-building. We take a permaculture approach – a way of designing that mimics nature’s patterns. Together, we can accomplish in a day what it might take an individual or small group a whole season to complete. We will convene 5-6 permablitz work parties from June through November this year.

If you would like to apply, please fill out the Permablitz Host Form by April 3.

To learn more about permablitzes, visit https://resiliencehub.org/projects/maine-permablitz/

Filed Under: Uncategorized

NEW! Garden School Series

February 4, 2020 by Kate Wallace Leave a Comment

The Resilience Hub is offering a 13-part Garden School Series starting in mid-February. The series is a collaboration between the Hub, Rooted in Resilience, the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension, Fedco Seeds, and Edgewood Nursery.

Photo Credit: https://permaculturenews.org/2016/03/11/5-simple-ideas-for-transitioning-into-a-permaculture-garden/

This “seed to storage” series will be a chance for beginning gardeners to connect with more experienced growers and learn the basics of growing food at home. We believe that gardening is a life-long pursuit and there is always more to learn.

These hands-on, participatory workshops will be held from 6:00 to 8:00pm at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension unless otherwise noted – see below for a full list of the series workshops. The gardens at Tidewater Farm will provide an opportunity to follow the progress of a garden tended by Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners. Participants will come away with practical knowledge that can be applied in the home garden, and there will be time to check in with questions during every class.

Cost is $10 – $25 sliding scale.  The true cost of this workshop is $20 per person. Our aim is to have this series accessible to all people, contact us about scholarship opportunities. To sign up, become a member of our Meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/maine-permaculture/.

February 18: Garden Design and Planning with Mary Wicklund from Rooted in Resilience

March 10: Seed Starting with Heron Breen and Buddy Thomas from Fedco Seeds

April 14: Overview of Soil – Soil Biology and Sheet Mulching with Mary Wicklund from Rooted in Resilience and Aaron Parker from Edgewood Nursery

May 12:  Composting and Vermicomposting Made Easy with Mary Wicklund from Rooted in Resilience

June 9 : Water Systems: Drip Irrigation and Rain Barrels with Mary Wicklund from Rooted in Resilience

June 30: What’s Possible with Guilds/Companion Planting & Forest Gardening with Aaron Parker from Edgewood Nursery

July 14: Problems and Pests: Summer Garden Status for Success with Heron Breen from Fedco Seeds

July 28: Freezing Green Beans and Canning Dilly Beans with Mary Wicklund from Rooted in Resilience

August 25: Taste Trials – Summer Bounty of Tomato and Melon Varieties with Heron Breen from Fedco Seeds

September 1: Season Extension Techniques with Mary Wicklund from Rooted in Resilience and Heron Breen from Fedco Seeds

September 22: Root Cellaring with Jason Lilley from Cumberland County Cooperative Extension

October 13: Fermentation Techniques with Kate Wallace of the Resilience Hub

October 27: Planting Garlic and Season Review with Mary Wicklund of Rooted in Resilience

Filed Under: Uncategorized

December 6 Winter Celebration and Silent Auction

November 18, 2019 by Kate Wallace Leave a Comment

Join us on December 6 at Root Wild Kombuchery from 6:30 – 9:00 pm to celebrate another year of permaculture design courses, workshops, and permablitzes!

Highlights include a photo booth and silent action with some great stuff from our friends and neighbors around the state. Proceeds from the silent auction will benefit another year of Resilience Hub programs. We’ll release a list of auction items before the event, so stay tuned.

Winter Celebration and Silent Auction

Friday, Dec 6, 2019, 6:30 PM

Root Wild Kombucha
135 Washington Ave Portland, ME

13 Permies Attending

Join the Resilience Hub at Root Wild Kombuchery to celebrate another year of permaculture design courses, workshops, and permablitzes. Highlights include a photo booth and silent action with some great stuff from our friends and neighbors around the state. Proceeds from the silent auction will benefit another year of Resilience Hub programs. We’ll …

Check out this Meetup →

We’ll have music and activities as well as small bites to snack on – if you’d like to bring something to share, please do! Root Wild kombucha and beer will be available to purchase. Kids are welcome!

Join in the fun — stop in for a few minutes or stay the whole time. We will be telling stories from the past year and sharing the goals we have set for the year to come. We hope to see you there!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Fedco Trees Group Order is BACK!

October 27, 2019 by Kate Wallace Leave a Comment

The parking crew gets ready for the onslaught of people at the 2019 Tree Sale. Skip the crowds and join our group order!

It’s hard to think spring when the snow hasn’t even started to fly, but it’s that time of year again! We’re excited to bring back the Resilience Hub’s Fedco Tree group order. Their website has been up and taking orders for a couple of weeks now.

Why participate this time around? Get a discount, order great stuff, have your plants delivered to Portland (you won’t have to drive 90 minutes north and back to get your order!), and support the work of permaculture education here in Maine.

Here are the details:

  1. For all inquiries regarding orders, email kate@resiliencehub.org.
  2. You can use the paper Fedco Trees catalog if you have one or the online catalog to put together your wish list. Order early, as popular items tend to sell out.
  3. Log into Fedco Trees using your email address and follow the directions given here. When you review your order prior to checking out, click the “Part of a Group” button as your shipping option. Then go to “Checkout Securely” and type in our group order number: 49808.
  4. You will not pay on the Fedco site, but you will click here to send your total amount to The Resilience Hub. We collect the money and make one big payment to Fedco in order to qualify for the discount.
  5. You need to place your order with Fedco and make your payment to us by the ORDER DEADLINE OF JANUARY 17, 2020.
  6. PIckup up your order in Portland at the end of April. Depending on how much of a discount we receive, we will process a refund* back to you via PayPal.

We will be organizing 2 or 3 members with trucks to drive up and get all our stuff on Friday May 1. Your order will be available for pickup in Portland on the afternoon of May 1 and over the course of the following Saturday and Sunday (May 2 and 3). More details about the specific location and time for pickup will be shared closer to the date.

We will also be available to help out with any order problems or shortages after the fact.  

Here’s to more perennial food in the landscape!

* Depending on the size of our order, Fedco will issue a discount of between 10% and 20%. Then sales tax will be added back in, we will put a bit of money toward fuel for the volunteers who drive to Fedco and bring the order back down to Portland, and a bit of money toward a stipend for the order coordinator. You will likely get at least 10% back, support the Hub and contribute to a reduced number of vehicles driving up and back for pickup!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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