Summer Sets In – Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center

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Once we begin hosting work-trade residents, it feels our summer really begins. Thanks to Kate and Adrian for being our first helpers of the season, and we got so much done! Kate became proficient with power tools and solar cooking, and Adrian brought an enthusiasm for working with wood that dovetailed nicely with our needs. We hope they benefited from their time at Ampersand as much as we did. Glad to have you both as part of our community and wishing you the best for your new nest! And happy birthday Kate!

Welcome to our new crew: Veronica, Derek, Bella, and Stanley!

Water Update: We are still living off rainwater,still eating salads out of the garden, still with less than 2 inches so far this year! Praying for rain though!

The Cholla are in bloom! Once we see the first pink blossoms, we know it's time to get out the tongs and stock up our food supply. Thank you, Cholla, for giving us such tasty and abundant harvest! They taste a bit like artichoke hearts, they have a nice chewiness, and once boiled and dried, they last for a very long time. Check out this heart shaped double cholla bud!

I will soon begin offering online classes! This way I will be able to share with more people about dryland permaculture and how to live off rainwater catchment on a scant 8 inches rainfall a year! In fact, my first class will be called The Rain Provides: Living Systems for Rainwater Reliance.

My classes will be hosted by Sustainablelivingguide.org. They are also holding a free summit June 21st-24th where we can all learn from many sustainability teachers, authors, Indigenous elders, and potent organizations from around the world. I'm looking forward to checking out the other teachers.

Finding Our Way

The dedication of holding this place that is Ampersand, is to be actively engaged in being what this world needs. Our planet needs us to use our curiosity and creativity to live in a way that is respectful to our place and intricately linked to our lands and waters.

Those drawn here, hear this call too – in different ways. My job as a steward and teacher is to welcome that instinct and point down hallways and offer tools. I cradle my fingers to provide a step along the route to discovering a healthy humanity. As I discover it too.

We humans tend to be gregarious creatures. We certainly need each other. The economics of that are clear. If we are to wholly connect to a place, to our beautiful Earth, we must embrace the needs and gifts of our hearts and souls. When we see ourselves as part of an ecosystem, there is a niche for each need and each gift. Like water, abundance cycles through space and time. Your gift is needed. Give it. And more challenging, your need is a gift as well. It’s an opportunity for someone else to give. To weave an economy that primarily resides within the realm of our daily circles.(Read more of this blog post here)

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