Peak Moment - Locally Reliant Living for Challenging Times

Carol Deppe, author of The Resilient Gardener, suggests how to grow food crops for these times of less stable weather.

"We had a different notion of real wealth…we converted [our paper money] wealth into this land and home," says Steve Unger. Mary Coll adds that they're storing wealth in their knowledge, and by building a low-tech handmade house with no need for outside "experts" for...

An island near Vancouver, B.C. has designed its own form of currency. Salt Spring Island's paper dollars and coins look and feel beautiful. For the Island’s tourists, they’re genuine souvenirs. Michael Contardi, President of the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation,...

"If you look at our DNA, we're meant to be connected…. You can take people out of the tribe, but you can't take the tribe out of the people." Bill Kauth and Zoe Alowan share a model for community where people live in their own homes located "roughly within biking...

These four presentations were taped at the ASPO-USA 2008 conference. Morey Wolfson shows a stunning Google Earth presentation of oil's planetary transportation Choke Points, primarily in the middle east. Jeff Vail discusses how our energy future is not controlled...

What if the food system benefited local producers, nourished nearby people, and built a stronger community? Krishna Singh Khalsa of Eugene, Oregon wants to turn the food system on its head. He wants it to be run by, and for the benefit of, ordinary people — not...

Megan observes that while the ASPO-USA conference focuses on the energy depletion problem, what's needed are solutions and strategies for communities and people. Her town's anxious response to a recent power outage provided a lesson, as many people didn't know what to...

Asking "wouldn't it be wonderful if our city could feed itself?" Joe Leitch ponders everybody in Portland planting a chestnut tree. Pam Leitch relates how they both left the corporate world after reading the book "Your Money or Your Life". As educators on...

Take a tour, accompanied by curious sheep and geese, of Mark Cooper's self-sufficient small farm. Over several years, he transformed a rundown house and hillsides of berry brambles into pasture and gardens where he produces and preserves most of his family's food....

According to Professor Guy Prouty, every civilization rises, evolves, and then collapses to a simpler structure — and this will include our own. Comparing America with the Western Roman Empire, Prouty notes the over-reach of our military, the unsustainability of...

Energy researcher Glenn Rambach's charts show how America budgeted for energy independence following the OPEC embargo in 1973. Then the Reagan administration switched to having "the market" create research incentives, so federal funding declined severely. He says...

Patrick Marcus and other motivated citizens sprouted a community garden on city land slated to be a park in Ashland, Oregon. When the garden was threatened by plans to develop the park, they got active. Their research and advocacy led to official policy supporting...

In Colorado it's cold for much of the year, but inside this cozy dome greenhouse, the plants are growing happily. Take a grand tour with Buckhorn Gardens manager and permaculturist Breigh Peterson: the greenhouse structure with its interplay of light and water, warmth...

How do you grapple with bigger, deeper issues like catastrophic climate change? Author Carolyn Baker and video producer Ivey Cone join Janaia in a wide-ranging conversation about keeping our hearts open while witnessing the crumbling of industrial civilization. We...

Tour Janet and Richard's quarter acre for an example of what's possible in suburbia. Their front yard of edible plants also provides habitat for birds and insects. The backyard radiates out from an herb and kitchen garden to vegetable beds and containers; 25 fruit and...

The peak oil message is slow to gain acceptance, says energy analyst Randy Udall, because it's at odds with our optimistic It's-Morning-in-America mentality. Politicians "Don't Do Depletion." Randy describes challenges, mitigations, and exciting opportunities to...

303 Vertical Gardening for Small Spaces "There are wonderful ideas for what people are doing, working with small spaces. There's lots to get you excited about growing -- anywhere." Stephen Hindrichs shows three approaches to growing vertically in limited space in his...

“We’ve had 50 years of unusually stable weather… What do we need to do now, to garden in times that are less predictable?” Plant breeder Carol Deppe, author of The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times, suggests growing a wider...

What happens when citizens apply permaculture principles to a city grid? They create friendly places within the grid that invite people to come together. Mark Lakeman, co-founder of Portland, Oregon's City Repair Project describes these "creative intervention"...

"The next twenty years will be totally unlike the last twenty... We’ll face the greatest economic and physical challenges ever seen by our country, if not humanity.” So opens Chris Martenson's much-viewed online Crash Course illuminating the relationship between...

"My full name is Pawatsqwachitl. I come from Ahousaht on the west coast of Vancouver Island." Following the indigenous custom, Pawa Haiyupis introduced herself, her people and territory. She thanked the Coast Salish people and territory where we were videoing...