Reviving the Department of Subsistence Homesteads

Dorothea Lange The Wayfarers May 1937
"Mother and child of Arkansas flood refugee family near Memphis, Texas. These people, with all their earthly belongings, are bound for the lower Rio Grande Valley, where they hope to pick cotton." Photographed for the Resettlement Administration.

Ashvin Pandurangi:


First Diamond in the Rough: Reviving the Department of Subsistence Homesteads


I am pleased to present the first article submission to TAE Community’s "Diamonds in the Rough" project, which you all voted to explore! In this submission, Joanna Bailey delves into the history of FDR’s Department of Subsistence Homesteads, created during the Great Depression as a part of his New Deal economic program, and outlines how it could be revived and put to use for local communities and/or regions in the near future.

Artificial Photosynthesis to Power Homes & Villages

While we wait for Andrea Rossi et al. to perfect the long-awaited "cold fusion" panacea, here is a fine example of energetic biomimicry. - Ed.

MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing 
By Mark Brown
wired.co.uk
28 March 2011

Speaking at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in California, MIT professor Daniel Nocera claims to have created an artificial leaf, made from stable and inexpensive materials, which mimics nature's photosynthesis process.

The device is an advanced solar cell, no bigger than a typical playing card, which is left floating in a pool of water. Then, much like a natural leaf, it uses sunlight to split the water into its two core components, oxygen and hydrogen, which are stored in a fuel cell to be used when producing electricity.

Nocera's leaf is stable -- operating continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity in preliminary tests -- and made of widely available, inexpensive materials -- like  silicon, electronics and chemical catalysts. It's also powerful, as much as ten times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural leaf.

Forest Gardening - Permaculture

Forest Gardening with Robert Hart
More details and background on forest garden dynamics and design.

Courtesy of AppleseedGarden, which also offers a lot more edifying eco-agro-videos here.