The goals and values embodied in the concepts of natural farming seem well aligned with the mission of DR. I think DR would benefit from having me do natural farming here, both in terms of alignment and project results as well as the *eco sex appeal*/recruitment potential. I think I would benefit from living at DR through immersion in the community experience and from the exposure natural farming would get through DR's built in outreach mechanisms. Additionally I have a lot of emotional attachment to many of you as well as great deal of respect and admiration. Even if I didn't live at DR I wouldn't want to go far. My goal in writing this is to discuss the concerns I have and the possibilities of living at DR.

Integration:

Integration is a core concept of natural farming and is understood as the positive relationships elements of the system have with each other. Nature is perfectly integrated in the sense that all elements utilize other elements or the products of other elements and in turn are utilized by others. Mature ecosystems do not often experience situations of waste or surplus. Our own processes are rarely integrated as beautifully as in nature. Failure to integrate results in pollution in extreme cases and extra work in moderate ones. Our culture has been able to accommodate much of the failure to integrate by utilizing cheap [fossil fuel] energy. An example of this is seen in how much of mainstream society commutes to work. Here the incorrect relative placement of the worker and the workplace generates extra work that is solved with cars. The car itself is so unintegrated with it's environment that it creates pollution.

Although I doubt that many people think about DR this way, it is apparent to me that DR as an eco-village is an attempt to integrate some of the systems that are so badly out of whack in mainstream. Commuting via cars has [largely] been excluded as a possibility thereby enforcing correct relative placement of the worker and work-site or changing the nature of the commute. Clustered housing as a model represents the integration of residential, commercial, and industrial elements of the village, thereby eliminating most of the modern transportation infrastructure. It's interesting to note that before the advent of fossil fuel clustered housing models were much more the norm.

‹rant›I suspect the long term exposure we have had to cheap energy has desensitized our thought processes to the significance of integration. I am concerned with what I see as a tendency to fill the void of cheap energy with human labor, something I don't think is an adequate substitute and certainly not cheap on several levels. The only obvious example I can point to is the humanure system. I think we should try to work smarter not harder.‹/rant›

I think farms have a different set of integration priorities than villages do, the most important of which is the integration of the farmer[s]. It is critical, not just important, in natural farming to consider the relative placement of all elements in the system. The degree of integration, or quantity of positive relationships among elements within a system, is directly related to relative placement of the elements. This is the math behind the Chinese proverb: "The best fertilizer is the shadow of the gardener." The farmer benefits by observation and the system benefits by the farmers intervention. Being central to the system, the most benefits are had if the farmer is located centrally.

High levels of farm integration are also dependent on contiguous land and the possibility of unintentional integration is much higher in a contiguous system. It's interesting to me that segregation is an antonym of integration and reduces integration even if it's not immediately observable. For example if your house was some distance from your garden extra work might be necessary to transport water from the house catchment to the garden, as well as the transport of compost from the point of production (the house) to the point of use (the garden), transport of food and fuel from the garden or field to point of use or processing, and many other sorts of agriculturally related schlepping. Natural farming attempts to eliminate as much extra work through integration as possible.

Specific concerns:

I think the current land use planning guidelines proposed are [mostly] adequate to accommodate tillage based agriculture, but value village based integration in a manner that is exclusive to farming systems that are integration focused. The primary elements that the proposal fails to make available are the ability to locate the farm house/farmer centrally and lack of [guaranteed] contiguous farm land. I don't think this is a fault of the proposal so much as the integration needs of a village are somewhat mutually exclusive with those of natural farming.

Under the current proposal the best possible level of integration would be had by having one's warren located at the edge of the village (realm I) separated by 250 linear feet of garden space (realm II) that was adjacent to field space (realm III). Although this does provide for a contiguous farm, the shape would be approximately pie shaped and housing would have to be at the tip of the pie. This may or may not provide optimal placement of water catchment and/or utilize other features of the land optimally. There is also no guarantee that this sort of warren would be available in a timely way or that it would be available to other farmers who valued integration focused agriculture. Additionally this farm may or may not be intersected by a road/warren/garden or some other element of segregation.

I am also concerned with the affordability of a farm at DR. I feel that to adequately demonstrate natural farming I will need to [eventually] utilize up to 5 acres and possibly more. I realize that living at DR has benefits that add to the economic value of the land, but I am not sure that the current valuation scales in a way that does not discriminate against agricultural uses. I am willing to pay more for 5 acres of land at DR than it would cost to buy locally and homestead on, but I'm not sure I could understand why if it were more that 150%.

I have thought of a number of possibilities to facilitate natural farming research that relate to DR:

• The first possibility is described above as a warren on the edge of the village, although it is substantially less satisfactory than I would like and possibly not even available this year. I think the lupc may be able to answer most questions regarding this option.
• Another idea I've had is for DR to make a one time special exception and lease a small piece of land to allow the research of natural farming or sell me a small piece of land to do the same. I suspect this will not be a popular option.
• A couple of rants ago I introduced the idea of a DR eco-farm, which roughly consisted of applying a completely different (farm specific) set of land use planning guidelines to a portion of DR (20-80 acres perhaps). Although I haven't gotten much feedback on this idea it is currently the one I am most attached to and have the most energy to pursue.
• Another idea is when/if DR buys Oren's land across the street DR allows me to take part in the purchase of a small part of it.
• Somebody at DR has a really good idea I haven't thought of yet.

I have also thought of a number of possibilities to facilitate natural farming research that don't specifically involve DR:

• Myself and some [currently unmanifest] other parties interesting specifically in ecological farming purchase some of Oren's land across the street as a land trust.
• I go fabulously into debt and purchase the smallest parcel of land that Oren or some local person is willing to sell. I have a high level of debt resistance so this idea is very unappealing if the parcel of land is not quite small.
• I buy or lease land from Sandhill.
• Somebody has a really good idea I haven't thought of yet.

Process:

I've put a lot of stuff out in the recent past and I suppose folks would like some time to read it and think about. Although I am open to conversations about this I don't always find myself able to think as fast as I can hear and would like the opportunity to clarify myself in writing. Based on the speed of my writing I must think pretty slow;-)

In terms of group process I would like to have some meeting time to discuss these possibilities and other ideas that may be out there. I hope to be able to take direction from this meeting and begin to focus on a specific solution. If possible I would like to talk about this in group before the end of February.