bienvenidos a la ancla, ventura

hello. we have a very new, very fun urban sustainability project going on in ventura, california and wanted to share it with those of you who care about such things or who are travelling/wwoofing your way around this part of alta california.

after numerous attempts at "going back to the land" our hearts and minds realized two things: one, for most people seeking an alternative to corporate death culture, moving into rural or wild areas proves, in the long run, to be isolating, alienating and lacking many of the economic and social resources those of us without blood families and trust funds need to survive. secondly, as more and more of us try and get off the train of planetary destruction, the last thing the earth needs is more well-intentioned people colonizing her last wildlands.

so instead of getting 4x4s and preparing to live alone in the woods, we went the opposite direction. we commandeered a 1/5 acre multi-family residential property in the barrio by the beach in ventura, california and are in the process of turning america's urban blight into an urban oasis with plentiful food, re-used infrastructure and materials, and a thriving community of youngish people who can live well on very little.

although we haven't been here very long, several garden beds and a small orchard of fruit trees have gone in. the concrete has vanished (50% down!!) or been transformed into more useful forms. the broken glass and bottle caps and lost plastic toys have been recycled or regifted. the moldy paint has been removed and old motor oil and leaking batteries recycled. the kale and chard and avocados and passion fruit are thriving, the peas are shooting up and already, as we sit around and drink a hot whiskey and laugh together, we can feel a subtle but palpable shift in the land beneath us. where once was broken glass and compacted, dusty soil, the 10,000 year old riverbed soil has already regained its moisture and the dark shades of decomposition. where once rusty machines stood, arugla and pomegranate scramble skyward.

as i look at L and T and M, and we talk about skateboarding and joy division and broccoli in the same sentence, i know we are onto something good: something old and thrifty where we reuse what has been presented before us in an effort to reshape the future in a more healthy, positive direction.

if any of this sounds interesting to you, click on the wwoof link to your right...

in the meantime, be good family, be good.