During the past two months we’ve slowed down somewhat to catch up with ourselves in Corvallis and southwest Portland. We’re folding ourselves into these communities—loving the Farmers Markets and biking around the neighborhoods to discover wild blackberry bushes (yum!). Next we’ll head to Seattle briefly for some family gatherings.
Many people have told us Peak Moment TV is a valuable resource. We agree, and we’d like to increase our viewership. Would you be willing to write a testimonial about Peak Moment TV? Email it to Janaia and we’ll post it in a new section on our website (crediting you in the way you wish). (In full disclosure: we may also include it in a business proposal we’re putting together).
With appreciation for fresh summer produce and growers~
Janaia & Robin
Janaia’s Journal
A Neighborly Neighborhood. There’s a lot of talk about getting to know your neighbors—to work on projects and share goods, tools and expertise. It’s a social investment for harder times or emergencies, to feel more secure, and/or to enjoy the convivality. Here’s a neighborhood in south Corvallis, near Williamette Park, that’s living it…[more]
Peak Moment TV in a Doctoral Thesis. We feel very honored to be referenced with the following personages in Marie Little’s doctoral thesis on Climate Change Adaptation through the School of Public Health, Curtin University, Western Australia… [more]
Videos to look forward to
Yak, Buffalo, Alpaca – Oh My!
Last night I cooked braised Yak shanks… so tender and mild, perfectly sauced in the stock I made last week from Buffalo bones. This morning Robin served homemade garlic-ginger-basil sausages made from Alpaca ground paleo style (with heart and liver added to the muscle meat). Tomorrow I’m going to try Yak bologna. All of these products come from grass-fed, grass-finished, humanely raised animals from Pine Mountain Ranch in Bend, Oregon…[more]
New Videos from Peak Moment TV
Re-Becoming Villagers Wherever We Live
. Whether city folk or country folk, North Americans don’t tend to know our neighbors, much less do things together. Mark Lakeman (Portland) and Brandy Gallagher (rural Vancouver Island) talk about “repairing” our isolation. How can we we reclaim our village roots — living, working and playing in the same neighborhood? Mark, founder of City Repair, helps create gathering places with projects like the famous painted street intersections. Brandy, founder of O.U.R. Ecovillage, discusses overcoming regulatory hurdles like narrow zoning laws by working with agencies to find innovative solutions. Episode 268.
Handmade Tools Make Simple Work at Inspiration Farm. Watch Brian Kerkvliet cut thick grasses easily and quickly with his hand-built scythe — a far cry from a noisy weed whacker! He demonstrates three tools whose design he has honed over the years: the scythe, grass rake and U- bar or broadfork. “It took a few years to get the right methodology, the right blades, the right sharpening technique, and the ergonomic setup so it’s effortless,” he says of the scythe. The U-bar gently aerates soil and doesn’t compress it like a rototiller. “I used to rototill, run my tractor. The beauty of this is you don’t have to do the whole area. You just do the beds you need to do. It might take me 15-20 minutes to do these beds, and I’m good for three years.” Episode 269.
Rethinking Stress — And What You Can Do About It. “What people really think of as adrenal fatigue or burnout rarely has anything to do with the adrenals themselves.” Nora Gedgaudas dispels myths, and illuminates various forms of brain dysregulation that can affect our response to stress, as well as our energy levels. She also discusses the importance of a daily sleep-and-activity rhythm based on natural light and dark, a low-carbohydrate diet and supportive supplements. Nora is the author of a new e-book Rethinking Fatigue —What Your Adrenals are Really Telling You and What You Can Do About It. Episode 270.
What Is Sustainable?. “We’re a mining society. We mine the soils, the groundwater, the forest, the minerals, the fish… We’re destroying non-renewable resources. There’s no future in it.” Richard Reese, author of What is Sustainable? and Sustainable or Bust, examines past cultures in search of patterns for a sustainable future. Earlier cultures lived slower and simpler. They limited their populations; many prohibited over-hunting. He concludes that ours is a story of tools: “We’re really clever on the tool-making side of the game, and very undeveloped on the foresight side of the game.” As resource bubbles pop and industrial civilization collapses, can we use wisdom from sustainable cultures, and not just repeat the same mistakes in the next civilization? Episode 271.
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