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Michael

Everything communicates

this is my illustration of the permaculture principle: everything communicates. its supposed to be a bee talking to a flower. the big white blob inthe middle represents the communication between them.

Serviceberry michael cook 10/13/07

Categories

small trees (for sthapatya vedic homes), edible/useful/medicinal

List

• Sumac
• Genetic dwarf fruit trees
• Mulberry
• Hazel
• Blueberry
• Elderberry
• Wild Plum
• Serviceberry
• Chokecherry
• Pawpaw

Scientific name

Amelanchier lamarckii

Origin

Derived from the Provençal name of the European Amelanchier ovalis

Common name

Shadbush, serviceberry, sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, shadblow, shadwood, sugarplum, wild-plum

Origin

Saskatoon - The name Saskatoon originated from a Cree Indian noun misâskwatômina (misāskwatōmina, misaaskwatoomina) for saskatoon berries.

Form

Small, deciduous tree/large shrub growing 12'-18'. It has self-fertile, hermaphrodite flowers that are pollenated by bees. trunk is smooth to fissured and grey to sometimes brown. leaves are alternate, simple, lanceolate to elliptic. Flowers are white with five petals that blossom in early spring. Fruits are berrylike pomes, red to purple to nearly black at maturity with a bland to sweet taste that mature in the summer.

Drawing

Uses

Edible fruit, raw or cooked. Bark used to treat snow-blindness. A decoction of the fruit juice is mildly laxative. It is used to treat upset stomachs, to restore the appetite in children, it is also applied externally as ear and eye drops. The roots are used in the treatment of colds. Suckering root system is good for creating sturdy windbreaks. Young branches can be twisted to make rope or used for stiffening in basket making. Mature wood is smooth and straight-grained, making good handles.

Propagation

Best harvested 'green', when the seed is fully formed but before the seed coat has hardened, and then sown immediately in pots outdoors or in a cold frame. Grow the seedlings on for two years in the seedbed before planting them out into their permanent positions during the winter.

Sub-species:

• Amelanchier alnifolia var. alnifolia - Saskatoon serviceberry, Saskatoon berry
• Amelanchier amabilis - Lovely shadbush, amélanchier gracieux
• Amelanchier arborea - Downy shadbush
• Amelanchier bartramiana - Mountain shadbush, amélanchier de Bartram
• Amelanchier canadensis var. canadensis - Eastern shadbush,
• Amelanchier humilis - Low shadbush, amélanchier bas
• Amelanchier interior - Inland serviceberry
• Amelanchier laevis - Smooth shadbush, amélanchier glabre
• Amelanchier sanguinea - Red-twigged shadbush, amélanchier sanguin
• Amelanchier spicata - Thicket shadbush, amélanchier en épis
• Amelanchier utahensis - Utah Serviceberry

Ecology

Preferred by rabbits, deers, and bees. Suckering reproduction makes it good at establishing habitat. Native to North American and Iowa.

Reference:

• Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier
• Plants for a Future - http://www.pfaf.org/database/search_name.php?ALLNAMES=Amelanchier

Serviceberry guild:

• serviceberry tree - windbreak, food, ornament, medicine, native
• pole beans - nitrogen fixer, utilizes vertical space.
• squash - ground cover, food crop, attracts beneficial insects.
• comfry - dynamical accumulator, fertilizer (nitrogen, calcium)
• larksper - attracts beneficial insects (predatory wasps)
• yarrow - medicinal, attractor, grows above squash

bioneers 2007

my experience from past sustainable living conventions has always been too much focus on the problems, not enough solutions, and a bunch of overly enthusiastic advocators preaching to the choir. either that or a bunch of hippies who were all talk and no walk.

i wouldnt say that bioneers this year had "nun a dat" but there was definitely a breath of fresh air on the first day.

the first speaker, jay of pax scientific, showed some of the most concrete and impressive applications of biomimicry that i've seen in a long time. it was a nice step up from showing us a sea shell or spider web and saying "nature is cool!" he was taking his inspiration from nature, creating a powerful product, and getting into the market.

judy wicks was another impressive speaker. she had a very enlightened view of business and community. it was really inspiring to see someone having success using a business model that isnt driven solely on monetary gain. these days, the hippie in me has been seeing business and economy as a mean and angry industry, but she showed me that it could be done in a caring and beneficial way. i intend to look into her further.

in the afternoon, john abrams spoke about business democracy and employee owned businesses. at first i thought it was a really narrow and insignificant subject. but by the end, abrams convinced me that it was a crucial business model for fundamentally changing the mentality and consciousness of our workforce.

van jones was great. humor and comedy are always better vehicles to convey information than fear and terror. he also brought up some really good points about social and environmental justice that i was previously unaware of.

the conference was great but i hated grinnell. there was nothing to eat!

International Permaculture Article

The Pee in Permacultre by Alanna Moore (Australia) is an article the takes on a subject that I have wondered about for a long time now. Having been a sustainable liver for about two and a half years now, if had the chance to feel guilty and shameful of almost everything I do. One of my biggest and longest standing wounds is flushing the toilet after a pour in an ounce of piss. Finally someone has brought salvation! Now I can dilute my bodily gold 5-1, or 10-1, and feed my plants to feed myslef! If I'm on the warpath, I can unload on my gardens weeds. With a production rate of 2-5 pints of urine per day, I could potentially 3,300 sqft! I'm having flashes of my new career! I could totally be a professional urinator! I would have a pickup with big tanks on back that would store vast quantities of piss to be used in different degrees of saturation. People could pay me to pee on their farms. *looks up to the sky with a shimmer in his eyes*

My girlfriends conclusion, all men are still eight years old and we will never be able to progress further...