A critical component of Post-Carbon’s strategy is direct education to the public. One of our direct education approaches is providing tours of our energy farms network demonstration sites. Tours are offered to groups of many different ages and backgrounds. Tour participants leave with new information about how individuals and societies can be prepared for eminent changes in our food and fuel supplies. Our educational strategy also includes Classes and How-To guides.

Our goals are very practical. We seek to provide citizens of all ages direct access to the information they need to implement strategies for localizing the supplies of basic necessities. We also seek to provide context and understanding, so that communities are able to problem solve and find solutions for living with-in realistic ecological boundaries.

Recent Sebastopol Energy Garden Tour Highlights

“What is the crop grown on the most land in the U.S.” we ask Parkside Elementary first-graders as they arrive. It comes as a big surprise to learn that the answer is – LAWNS. From there, we brainstorm what else could be done with people’s yards. For example, growing vegetables and fruits and herbs and medicines so they don’t have to travel in trucks and planes and we don’t even have to go to the store to pick them up.

Sebastopol Energy Garden Coordinator, Josh Puckett, speaks with students about the importance of chickens in a sustainable local food system. Trading kitchen scraps for eggs sounds like a good deal to the first-graders. They also share ideas about getting locally grown grains for the layers. Some offer their yards for this purpose.

Students learn about starting seeds with a seed block press, this allows you to plant a lot of seeds in one day with out using electricity. Students also learn about what a seed needs in order to germinate and grow into a healthy plant. Some of the kids share their plans for which food crops they would like to plant in their yards at home.

Energy Farm Network Manager, Miriam Volat, welcomes a group from Occidental Arts and Ecology Center for a tour and a discussion about how to prepare local food systems for fuel supply shortages. Discussions range from natural pest management practices to raising community support for small farmers and the roles Post-Carbon Relocalization Network and Post Carbon Cities have in creating a sustainable food system.

Tour participants of all ages are surprised to learn that up to 34% of the energy in the food system is used in storage and processing of food. Alternative food preparation, such as solar ovens, solar driers and lacto-fermentation, that can be done right in your backyard, are important parts of post-carbon living; and nothing is better than solar nachos.

Energy Farms Network is collecting information and data about how to produce sustainable local bio-fuels as well as local grains and animal fodders. Many visitors to the Energy Garden and tour participants have never before seen some of these vital oil crops, such as rape seed, peridovik sunflowers, soybeans and corn, wheat, quinua and barley.

Upcoming Classes and Tours
Backyard Water Conservation with Heather Shepard
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center Permaculture Design Course
Backyard Home Food Processing Techniques
Daily-Acts Tour
Parkside Elementary School
Sebastopol Community Center Summer Camps

Recent Tours
Santa Rosa Junior College
Parkside Elementary School
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center Permaculture Design Course

We also currently hold weekly volunteer days and harvest days at the Sebastopol Energy Garden.

Yesterday we confirmed that the rape/canola plants and seeds growing in the energy garden are indeed free of Monsanto’s Round Up Ready genes. We are growing two small (3 ft. x 5 ft.) plots for oil seeds as an example of one of the options available for local and ecologically appropriate sources of liquid fuel for agriculture. Of course, the seeds were certified GMO-free and organic, but we decided to test ourselves as well. We ordered a test kit from Envirologix in Portland, Maine.

As we face the need for non-petroleum, renewable fuels, fuels required for feeding our current population, fuels for field work, refrigeration, transportation, we must keep in mind basic ecological and economic guidelines. Here are three at the top of the list:
- Take care of the soil
- Don’t pollute the water, the air or any other natural resource
- Diversity leads to stability

We do not support a genetically modified food or fuel supply. We do not support an alternative fuel supply to petroleum that causes soil degradation, ecosystem pollution or loss of even a part of our genetic heritage.

As we continue working to create a sustainable food system, and one that is prepared for peak everything, we face very complex choices. We need alternative fuels, but we need them to be from truly renewable sources. We need to source them in ways that don't compromise other basic ecosystem and economic functions.

Seed companies like the one in Stockton from which we acquired our seeds must be supported and encouraged. Our future food system depends on our access to good seeds that are genetically appropriate to our regions and specific needs. We’ll be making this test kit available to growers in the area who may be growing organic canola or brassica species near RR Canola that could cross-pollinate.

Some of the questions we are attempting to address are:

-what are the most important uses of liquid fuels in the food system?

-what are the most effective conservation actions?

-do we have the technology we need for each part of the food and fuel system?

-at what scale, and in which applications are different alternative fuels appropriate?

-how do we diffuse innovations and knowledge about farming methods and food preparation and transportation which don’t require fossil fuels?

-how do we build a production system and an economy that serves human food needs without further damaging our ecosystems and communities?