Solar array
IV. Obtain a Yield
She is American. She sprouted from a competitive society where working hard is valued more than maintaining relationships and connections to the Universe. Her mother is a skilled worker of many time-consuming jobs and an avid student. Her father never sits down just to sit. Her Brother dances the same dance. "Boredom" is a foreign concept to her family.
A teacher of hers calls her a "Certificate junky." She is addicted to learning. After Smith and Yestermorrow, she participated in an Urban Advanced PDC, a Natural Resources Stewardship course, started Gaia University, attended the International Permaculture Convergence/Conference in Cuba and joined a Wasteland Regeneration Advanced PDC in Haiti.
One summer, when she was nineteen, she worked eight jobs simultaneously. She was a nanny of two teenage boys, shopkeeper for a luxury boutique, a florist, resident gardener, volunteer farmer, housekeeper for an elderly couple, housekeeper for an inn, babysitter for a company, and caterer. She made money, and she learned. And she will never do that again.
V. Catch and Store Energy
Her farm tasks as a child were menial. She raked the hay after Papa flattened it with the scythe, loaded into the wagon pulled by a tractor that she (wo)manned. She trenched the potatoes, cutting them and placing the eyes to face the sun. She removed stone after stone that pushed its way up through the soils--"New Hampshire potatoes" seemed to return year after year. She learned to value hard work done while the sun shines.
When she bought her house (Pay It Forward Farm) in 2013, she decided to plant an edible food forest, equipped with off-contour swales to naturally irrigate the perennial crops. She dug three ponds and an additional greywater pool. Alongside a main transit route between towns, the landscape is very noticeable to passersby. It will be be a demonstration and educational site, and this free publicity works passively in her favor.
She put a solar array on the roof after debating for months on their embodied energy. However, she chose to install an electric heating unit, electric stove, and electric water heater, so the benefits of solar energy outweighed oil extracted from far off places.
That same year she chose to give to the community and learn about food production. She co-managed a community garden where she grew vegetables, fruits and herbs for three daycares, an elderly center, and several food banks. It was a heart-lifting experience and an immense harvest of experience and skill.