a beginning list of the great reskilling - please add your ideas!!

[Valerie Palar]

As a cooperative learning venture it would aim to:

* emphasize collaborative process – away from traditional ‘education’
* keep the process decentralized, informal, non-hierarchical
* re-localize our economic life, withdraw from consumerist culture, simplify materially
* inspire sharing of all our social currencies through reciprocity relationships
* include cottage ‘industry’ activities with little money changing hands
* cover the full range of our basic material needs; food and water, shelter, clothing and health care
* commit to respect and care for the biosphere’s health

Here are some ideas of useful skills:

* gardening (vegetables and grains), companion planting, insect control, watering techniques
* harvesting and food preservation (canning, freezing, drying, pickling, smoking, root cellars)
* composting, vermiculture, and soil preparation, cold frames, greenhouses, potting soils
how to make bio-char and bio-char ovens
* food preparation; solar ovens, pot cozies, utensils, efficient wood-burning stoves, high-volume
batches, yogurt and cheese making, maple sugaring
* chicken and egg production, animal husbandry and veterinary skills, hunting and trapping,
* butchering
* foraging and cultivation of native forageables – forest gardening
* garden tool design and repair
* knife sharpening and utensil care
* cutting board care (especially re: bacterial populations)
* higher efficiency cleaning – dishes, laundry (and drying), floors, bodies
* soap making
* ice harvesting and ice houses
* water purification and water-conserving innovations (PV-powered UV treatment of water)
* beekeeping know-how, hives and equipment, honey extractor
* basketry – materials, designs and techniques
* shoe repair and leather tanning
* darning and sewn goods repairs – tools and scissor sharpening
* weaveable fibers (growing, collecting, preparing), hemp culture, wool production and
processing, rope making
* gourdcraft
* spinning and weaving – wheels, looms, charkas
* low environmental impact dwellings and utility sheds
* energy audits and weatherization skills, insulating, vapor barriers, repair of wooden double-hung
window, weather stripping
* tool design and making, forging and heat treating
* repair skills for tools, umbrellas, ceramics, lamps, electronics, caned chairs, wobbly furniture
joints, faucets and plumbing joints, bicycles
* pedal-powered devices - and how to hook them up to create electricity
* home-made remedies – ingredients and processing
Musical instrument making and repair
Innovation!!
This is mostly a physical list; a list of needed social techmologies would also be useful.

…and some neighborhood shared facilities

* greenhouse, seed bank, nursery, community gardens
bread oven, potter's wheel and kiln, weaving studio, library, grain mill, canning center, root cellar,
walk-in freezer, food dryer,
* sewing machine, tools and shop, computer and printer, on-line services, car and truck
* shelter sharing – as collectives and otherwise
* a ‘freestore’ or regular offerings of surplus

…some cottage industry ideas:

* custom toys
* cloth diapers
* lampshades and lamp reconstruction
* umbrella repair
* chair caning
* door latch and hinge repair
* upholstery
* picture frames
* editing
* seasoning cast iron skillets
* book binding and repair
* solar ovens
* installing handrails and safety bars
* FM radio antennas – making and installation
* custom clothes-drying racks
* bird houses and feeders
* chicken tractors

…and here’s a start at a bibliography:

* Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan and Janet Greene, Putting Food By, 1973, Stephen Greene
* Press
* Gen McManniman, Dry It, You’ll Like It
* Warren Johnson, Muddling Toward Frugality
* Dave Markowitz, Survival and Preparedness, an on-line journal devoted to taking responsibility
* of getting through whatever life throws at us
* Ball book: Home Preserving (new)
* Appropriate Technology Sourcebook, from Volunteers in Asia at Stanford Univ.
* Foxfire series (plus a magazine)
* MotherEarthNews
* H. Staats, P. Harland and H.A.M. Wilke, “Effecting Durable Change: a team approach to
* improve environment of behavior in the household”, in Environment and Behavior, May 1,
* 2004 Vol. 36 No.3, pp 341-367
* Henley’s Book of Formulas
* Joseph Jenkins, The Humanure Handbook: a guide to composting human manure, 1998
* John Vivian, The Manual of Practical Homesteading, 1975 – self-published ISBN 0-87857-154-X
* Joan Richardson, Wild Edible Plants of New England: a field guide, including poisonous plants,
* 1981 Delorme Press, Yarmouth ME
* Nikki and David Goldberg, Choose to Reuse: an encyclopedia of services, product and
* programs, 1995, Ceres Press Woodstock NY
* Fernando Funes, Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: transforming food production in
* Cuba, 2002, Food First
* “Permaculture Seed and Plant Exchange Catalog”, Joe Hollis and friends, 3020 Whiteoak
* Creek Rd. Burnsville NC 28714
* 2003 Roxana A Dove and Sue Bailey, Voluntary simplicity: Creating a sustainable future
* Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences 95, Issue 2, April, pp55-57 Alexandria
* ISSN: 10821651
* Mother Earth News, Oct/Nov 2007, “Live on Less and Love It!” Craig Ildebrook


This work was compiled by Tom McLean of Greenfield, MA

[Michelle L'Esperance]

What a great list!

Some additions:
Herbalism, Homeopathy, First Aid
Midwifery
Infant care
Breastfeeding support

[John M. Gerber]

Great list.... thanks so much Tom.  I"ve been thinking about our motivation for learning to "do it ourselves."  Check out my latest blog here: http://world.edu/content/growing-food-save-planet/

 

Gardening to "save the planet." 

 

John Gerber