View the full version of this mon's issue onlinePress here to view the newspaper signup pageEnter a secure mode - online version

Visit our Frequent Questions pageContact us

OCTOBER 2008

If this message is corrupted or you are unable to view images please click here.

THE EARTH - Online Monthly Newspaper of the
"Ringing Cedars" movement.

Language Selection:
English | Russian

IN THE NEAR FUTURE;

IN THE HEADLINES:

RUSSIA:

AUSTRALIA:

CANADA:

TURKEY:

UKRAINE:

This section is devoted to the information that will be useful in the creation of a Kin's Domains.

Children's Upbringing and Education:

Meaning of Food in Our Lives

Health, Natural Methods of Health Improvement

Ecological Farming, Permaculture

Green Construction, Eco-friendly Technologies

THIS ISSUE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

RingingCedarsofRussia.org
Source of Life Association VladimirMegre.com
Anastasia.ca EnergyofLife.ca
Day of Earth Celebration Hosting Project

IN THE NEAR FUTURE

Exclusive interview with Vladimir Megre
From the 2008 Ringing Cedars Conference in Turkey

Mr. Megre talks about pressing subjects and Kin's Domains issues.

(Interview by Regina Jensen)

Watch the upcoming issues.

http://www.earthlife.info/

IN THE HEADLINES:

Exclusive interview with Vladimir Megre
for THE EARTH Newspaper - Part II.

by Regina Jensen, Ph. D.

R.J.: Vladimir Nikolaevich, thank you for making yourself available once more. If I may, I will start with questions right away:

You have talked about the Science of Imagery and it sounds so very wonderful for us to learn more consciously how to create our lives through images. But when it comes to understanding world-affairs, which are of so much concern right now, don't you fear that people might think this is all much too simplistic when it comes to understanding politics by way of this idea of images as creative or destructive?

Vladimir Megre: Well, world forums have come to the unambiguous conclusion that a catastrophe is possible in the coming years. And it is here that an interesting question arises: is it possible to take some measures to prevent it? Representatives of the international scientific community have been unable to answer this question. The governments of various countries, although attempting to influence the situation in some way, developed the so-called Kyoto Protocol, according to which it was proposed that all countries reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere. To date the Protocol has not been ratified. This can serve as an excellent examccple for the problem as I see it, namely that the leaders of these countries do not seem to comprehend the true issue. The exhaust gases from millions of cars and the smokestacks of large and small companies, and other sources that expel harmful pollutants are only a consequence, and not the cause that gave rise to them.

R.J.: Can you say more?

V.M.: Yes, of course. Modern science has been unable to identify the real cause. Anastasia explains that the true cause may be determined by applying methods from the forgotten Science of Imagery. But the modern scientific community does not know anything about this scientific approach, at once ancient and very advanced, and this is highly unfortunate for our culture. It is a little known fact that precisely by using the powers gained from this very science, a few single individuals can and have governed entire countries as well as humanity as a whole.

R.J.: Can you give us an example?

V.M.: For instance even in the past, historians report that, after the capture of ancient Egypt, the priests at the time knew how to instill into the people's unconscious the image of a liberator and with the power of that image freed the country. Or, as another example, to this day, Byzantinists are unable to arrive at a unified opinion or to identify the true reason for the collapse of the Byzantine Empire. But the reason can be found in the same realm, namely in the realm of Images. In this case, it was the loss of the image of the future of the empire and instead the instilling of a foreign, destructive image into that culture. It is precisely for this reason that all the empires of our known historical period have perished and others will follow unless changes are made.

R.J.: What a profound loss and a very real, modern-day danger to be repeated! And those forces which you and Anastasia call the Priests have really had no opposition at all until Anastasia came along. You are so right, few people other than our Western mass-media, political strategists and the marketing gurus know about even the rudiments of this science, and this ignorance and lack has brought humanity to the brink of destruction.

V.M.: Yes. But Anastasia is certain that the catastrophe may not only be averted, but that it is possible to build a happy future for millions of individual families and the country as a whole. It would appear that she has a perfect knowledge of the Science of Imagery, and this is what she says about it:

"A person himself is nothing other than a materialized image, and being a materialized image, a person himself may create and materialize images. This comprises his Universal power that can be surpassed by no-one and nothing.

"If a person is not conscious of the abilities bestowed upon him by the Creator, then this person is himself blocking his most majestic power, and this person falls under the influence of other images, and materializes their ideas up to the point of the destruction of himself, his family, his lineage, his country, and the entire planet."

"The artificial technocratic world has also been created by Man using the energy of images which, however, infuse confront? A person with the very opposite of what they intended."

R.J.: How confusing for people, and deceptive! Can you say more?

V.M.: The artificial world is perishable and mortal. Even the most perfect machine, building, or any other thing of the artificial world is disintegrating with each passing second, and in only a few years will turn into dust or, even worse, into waste that is harmful for humans.

Man himself, who lives in an artificial world, also becomes perishable. It is too difficult for a person who, minute by minute, looks at the multitude of disintegrating objects surrounding him - objects that do not have the capacity to self-produce - to imagine eternal life, to create the image of his or her own eternity and materialize it.

R.J.: Vladimir Nikolaevich, what a profound awareness to bring to the world! You and Anastasia bring to the fore a profound question: "How can we create our divine heritage, namely that of eternal life, if all we see is death, disintegration and decay by way of man-made, robotic, dead matter all around us. No wonder we think of ourselves as mere perishable matter as well, did I understand that right, by way of the perverse, confused and "fallen" abuse of images-turned-into-things??

V.M.: Yes! The natural, visible world has existed not for billions of years, but significantly longer, because it already existed in a non-materialized image. Scientists who have determined the age of the earth have determined not the date of its birth, but only the date of its materialization as one of the stages of life, namely when it became visible, or perceptible, to the human senses or to limited man-made technologies.

The natural world possesses the ability to self-produce, and this ability makes it eternal. The Creator, having created eternity, is thus himself - Eternity. He is the alpha and omega and alpha again.

Many people may say or think: what was there before the birth of the Creator, the enormous quantity of his unusual energy? Once nothing existed. Nothing! But remember what the Creator said about "nothing" to his son:

"From nothingness will arise the new wonderful birth of you, which reflects through you yourself - your aspirations, soul, and dreams. My son, you are infinite, you are eternal, your dreams are creating themselves in you.

"But if something arises from "nothing," this means that Nothing is sensed in a birth. Having given birth, including "from nothing," the Creator has closed the circle and offered the image of eternity to man.

"The knowledge, understanding, and sensation of the energy of the Image in oneself enables a person not to die, but to fall into a delightful sleep. On awaking, the person will be incarnated in the place, time, and Image needed by him and created before sleep.

"Lack of knowledge and understanding of the Science of Imagery inevitably leads to the clumsy handling of the perfect, natural world, and the creation of a world that is artificial, primitive, and unnatural. Lack of knowledge of the Science of Imagery turns entire countries and people into playthings, pawns in the hands of those who are familiar with this great ability. Knowledge of the Science of Imagery leads to an understanding of the entire universe made by the Creator and the creation of new, wonderful worlds."

R.J.: Vladimir Nikolaevich! In the most poetic way, you just answered several lengthy questions I have had about the Science of Imagery. But still, now I am even more excited than I was when I first read the books. Just because this is so very important for our very survival as a species, could you say more, maybe about the whole idea why empires do perish, especially since it looks like there is another "empire" which has been setting itself up for just that - and I am talking about what many thoughtful thinkers fear about our own country, the United States, which has been without a wholesome image for a glorious future.

V.M.: Certainly! It is possible to provide a multitude of historical examples that are associated with the effects of images that influence human society and provoke even planetary catastrophes. But for a modern person, especially one living in Russia, as a more obvious example, one can mention the situation associated with the collapse of Tsarist Russia, and then the breakup of the USSR. "A spark will ignite a flame," said Vladimir Ilich Lenin, the leader of the world proletariat, referring to the Bolshevik newspaper The Spark, which castigated the Tsarist regime. A negative image of Tsarist power was systematically promoted, and a new, beautiful image of Soviet power was created. Tsarism was overthrown. A new empire, the USSR, arose and began to develop, an empire with an enormous army equipped with nuclear weapons. But after only seventy years, the great empire of the USSR disintegrated into several separate countries, moreover not always amicably disposed toward each other. Political scientists identified the culprits as those politicians who signed the agreement respecting the dissolution, as well as the economic and political situation.

R.J.: Oh, how painfully familiar this sounds! Just exactly what's been happening in the United States and other countries, looking for the problems in all the wrong places.

V.M.: Yes, exactly. On closer examination, even all this is only a consequence of the effects of images. Let us remember Solzhenitsyn's profound and courageous books about the GULAG, as well as other works of literary masters which castigated the USSR. Concurrently, other writers during that same time created the image of the flourishing countries of the West, where, unlike those in the USSR, store shelves were groaning under an abundance of all types of goods, while happy and free people drove around in luxurious cars. Meanwhile, when speaking of the advantages of Western civilization, they remained silent about the many problems which existed over there.

The future of Russia, as well, is being determined by images instilled in the minds and souls of the people living in the country. Unfortunately, there is a veritable plethora of images leading to the destruction of our country. The cult of force, the cult of money and other such negative constructs are forming thousands of images of destruction in movies and television films. Many of our politicians are advocating "emulation of the West." No economic or military achievements, or calls to be patriots of one's homeland are able to oppose this ongoing, all-pervasive imagery.

R.J.: That is very scarey, isn't it? - since they are not exactly very visible, these destructive images, although modern science might call them holograms, and as you've explained, Anastasia knows how to make them visible. I hesitate to impose upon your patience, Vladimir Nikolaevich, but it is so very important. Could you help us with some additional clarification about this dreadful dilemma in which humanity finds itself - especially, again, at this very moment in history?

V.M.: An image may only be challenged by another image, particularly by an image of creation, capable of inspiring millions of people. Anastasia did indeed create such an image as a counterbalance to the armadas of the destroyers. Hundreds of thousands of people have internalized the image of a real future Anastasia has offered, the future of a beautiful country and in turn a beautiful planet Earth. And they have added their own ideas to it, and have begun to turn it into reality, to build what she has called their Kin's Estates, their Family Domains or Spaces of Love. (Ed. note: For readers unfamiliar with this term, these are single hectares (2.5 acres) of land, some of them part of numerous eco-villages which are under development all over the world, where people live and co-create small paradises for themselves and each other in accordance with natural law and the powerful support and gifts the plant-kingdom can offer.)

R.J.: Anastasia's abilities to remote-view, as we might explain a very small part of what she does throughout time and space, has enabled her to not only foresee a beautiful and very possible future for us, but also observe those other, destructive dynamics. Tragically, we as modern Man have thought of this Science of Imagery as irrelevant to us because it is invisible, therefore dishonoring it as "child's play" just because we are blind to it.

V.M.: Yes, it is here that events have started to occur, events whose careful examination and subsequent study could show who really stands behind the historical and social cataclysms in our country and in the world, and the principles used to provoke these cataclysms.

R.J.: Yes, Vladimir , this is what we need to understand much more specifically, because it sounds so novel to our modern ears - or maybe a little bit like these star-war movies of dark and light forces.

Forgive me, Vladimir Nikolaevich, should we take a moment to recapitulate here for our readers what Anastasia says about the Priests, which is, of course, a term which is quite distinct from what we would call pastors or even our catholic priests or rabbis. But if I understand it right, such a Priest in her sense of the word is a person in body or in other domains which can exert enormous power over individuals, groups of people or whole countries by the sheer power of their trained will, notably their ability to create and insert disempowering, enslaving images into the racial unconscious, as you have explained so eloquently.

It is definitely very different yet from the insidious practice of how our mass-media abuse the power of images to hypnotize us. Can you explain this interesting phenomenon and unusual concept again, especially to our new readers?

V.M.: Priests exert an influence over the powers "in control", not by using the traditional methods of bribery or blackmail, but with a more global method, namely through the insertion of Images. But even more so, once these images are in place, everything else starts to develop automatically around this destructive blueprint.

Look for instance at our Russian State Parliament, which sits in downtown Moscow. Nationally elected deputies are called upon to devise laws for the people, laws - we would hope - according to which people could live in happiness. Many Muscovites as well as visitors to the capital have become accustomed to the image of the building of the State Parliament in downtown Moscow, but let us see whether its location is not paradoxical or even counterproductive.

The building is located at the intersection of streets with extremely heavy traffic; the air in this location exceeds the safe and acceptable pollution level several times over; the people's deputies are obliged to drink only bottled, therefore not natural water, because the tap-water is not fit to drink either; the food-products in the snack bar are unnatural as well - they certainly have not just been picked from a garden or caught in a river; their apartments are also located in downtown Moscow, in ecologically unfavorable areas and last but not least, on the way to work, even if in an official car, they only hear the road-noises and other sounds of a "stony" city.

All this cannot help but have an influence on their state of mind, cannot help but form in their minds the image that this indeed is real life. In actual fact, their work is organized in such a way that making wholesome decisions is physically impossible to do.

R.J.: Can we please take another minute here, Vladimir? Isn't this one of those examples of how a cultural image can work by default - by NOT being there as you have said, but with the entire environment expressing such a dark construct? Can I repeat what I think you said? Our politicians' work and environment is "organized in such a way that for them to make wholesome decisions is physically impossible."

V.M.: Yes indeed. Now let us imagine that this same State Parliament building is located not at the intersection of streets, but on the bank of a beautiful lake, let's say in the village of Konyaevo, 145 kilometres from Moscow: the building is surrounded by a forest; around it are official cottages with small parcels of land and fruit orchards; the deputies drink wonderful spring water and eat ecologically pure and always fresh foods; on the way to work they hear the sounds of the natural world and, in addition, each day they have the opportunity to take walks and reflect.

What true need is there, really, for the Parliament to sit in downtown Moscow? In fact, it is counter-productive. Now, people may think that moving the deputies seat to a different location is not all that important. But I will say this: All the fundamental, vitally important principles and teachings that have taken root in people for thousands of years were made by wise men who withdrew to a forest or desert. Just think of Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Moses and many others who were looking for, and received, inspiration from Nature.

R.J.: And this is probably what Anastasia meant by saying how good it was for President Bush to withdraw into Nature at the beginning of his first term. If only he had stayed there! But regarding this issue of Nature and sane thinking. Isn't that the most amazing thought that no-one ever considered? When Anastasia would say "Vladimir, be logical," she meant for you, and for all of us, to think in this way, didn't she, for us to confront our automated, non-rational thinking and behavior?

V.M.: Yes. And to add to it, on the way to work, the deputies'cars contribute to the creation of the traffic jams so disliked by Muscovites. Consequently, the deputies assimilate streams of negative energy from the large number of people contributing to the heavy traffic. This is another example of "invisible influence" which modern science does not consider. What wise decisions can we expect from people who find themselves in such unacceptable working conditions?

R.J.: Yes, yes! As a therapist, I can't help looking at the eyes of our politicians and see all too often what - in trauma therapy - we call a "reptilian stare". It's the dissociated, inhuman stare of an over-wrought, stressed, over-stimulated system functioning from the brainstem, our most archaic, rigid and automated reptilian survival-system. It worries me to no end, Vladimir, that these are not only the politicians we elect, but that most people cannot even tell the difference any more from a healthy human being to a bio-robot because they themselves are being kept in those same dismal conditions you described so well.

V.N.: Yes, and let me add another such disconcerting disparity, namely that of the Lomonosov Moscow State University and other large educational institutions located in the centers of large metropolises. Only they are in even more unfavorable conditions than the people's elected deputies. Your child, who is studying at a university located in such a city, is also obliged to pay money to reside in these conditions, in addition to his or her tuition. Certainly few parents can provide their children with natural food products, which in large metropolises are several times more expensive than outside the larger cities.

But back to the politicians. Modern means of communication make it possible for the peoples' elected representatives and deputies to communicate with any sources of information necessary for them. There is no advantage to the fact that they are located in large metropolises. Quite the contrary, it is absurd and does great harm to their psychological and physical health, and therefore to us as who are at the mercy of their decisions. But why does this absurdity occur? Images! Both they and we have become accustomed to the fact that this is the way it is supposed to be, namely that our beautiful young people, the future specialists of our country, as well as the experienced, elderly deputies necessarily must be in the center of a metropolis. It appears to be prestigious, it is "respectable". And few people realize that it is devastatingly dysfunctional and absurd.

R.J.: Vladimir Nikolaevich! We don't want to overstay our welcome with you. So, on that painful last note I will let you get back to your work. But you have given us much to think about. This has been most enriching.

Thanks to you and Anastasia, instead of thinking of Imagery as child's play or dreaming, we now know it to represent the most essential divine power given to Man. It would also seem to be the most important one for our human survival because of those possibly catastrophic events we may be facing as an entire civilization unless we learn to use these powerful, creative forces correctly.

Please let us have some more time with you soon. I thank you so much - in the behalf of all your readers.

Regina B. Jensen, Ph.D.
(c) 2008 Regina B. Jensen
(c) 2008 Vladimir Megre
(c) 2008 RingingCedarsofRussia.org

* Dr. Regina Jensen holds licenses as a psychotherapist, physical therapist, certifications as Master Executive Coach, and Somatic therapies with professional training and experience for over 35 years. She is a writer and independent researcher with a commitment "to finding intelligent, expedient and joyful solutions for the predicaments we have co-created for each other on our Mother Planet." fullyalivewellnesscenter.com

http://www.earthlife.info/

RUSSIA

Kin's domains and a new life in Russia on Channel 1

WATCH THE NEWS REPORT ON "THE ARC"
aired on the 1st Channel of Russian Television

More and more Russians are preferring an existence out in the middle of nowhere to city life.

The city is the undoing of people. The advocates of a new movement, and more accurately-a movement from the metropolis to the countryside-are convinced of this. As a rule, these people choose deserted land and begin to build a new life there from literally nothing.

And, what is the most interesting, the majority of these settlers were in the past successful businessmen, actors, and white-collar employees.

A report by Ekaterina Kachur:

If you ask anyone whose home is the most beautiful here, without batting an eyelid they will answer: Oleg Malakhov's. This very same Malakhov who is applauded by opera goers when, as Lensky, he falls on the stage, slain by Eugene Onegin's bullet. By the way, it is difficult to recognize the timid Lensky in this young peasant who built his log house with his own hands. And not so long ago even the actor himself would not have been able to imagine that he would exchange city life for the backwoods, and his cozy apartment in Moscow for a hectare of land demarcated by a line of pegs.

Oleg Malakhov, the settler: "When we arrived here, we still had nothing: only a small tent. That is how our construction began."

Six years ago Oleg came to this land with his wife as one of the first settlers. Today already 80 families have settled in this open field of Kaluga Province.

It would seem that it is only 140 kilometres from Moscow. But after a strong rain not a single car is able to drive in here. You can get here only by foot and find yourself in an absolutely different life, where people do not swear, do not smoke, and do not lock their doors when they leave the house.

So, after collecting the harvest and not locking her door, Oleg's wife Lena- in the past also an actress-heads off for the communal building, the first dwelling that appeared on this land. The settlers built it together with the same enthusiasm as though they were building the Baikal-Amur railway (the great Soviet construction project) or opening the virgin lands.

In the settlement there are also former businessmen, high-ranking officials, musicians, and models. The inspired tenor Aleksey holds the title of Master of Sport in wrestling. In the settlement he is also responsible for the physical training of the young boys. The onus for the musical education of the girls rests on the shoulders of the teacher Natalya. After their common classes, all forty children scatter to different homes. In each home the educational programme continues. Fedor and Elena Lazutin give a class in "mathematical gymnastics." In the past, Elena was an economist, Fedor was an entrepreneur. They are the ones that everyone considers to be the pioneers. They are the ones who gave a course on the new society-people who love the land and each other.

Fedor raises bees and teaches the new settlers how to build simple but solid houses. Only the Internet links him to the city, just as it does for the family of physicians Maksim and Olga Sidorov, whose third child was even born in this house.

All of them have passed through the tumultuous life of the city, and they insist that the metropolis robs a person of his freedom. And only here-on the land-can one leisurely and with pleasure watch the fruit ripen and the children grow. For that reason they believe that the number of people fleeing the countryside will become much smaller than those who are returning to their roots.

A Brief Description of "The Ark" [Rus: Kovcheg]

The idea behind the creation of "The Ark" was born of present day civilization. We live in a society that is stupidly wasting our natural resources through the senseless destruction of the environment. For future generations it is necessary to change the direction of our growth and progress to something that is ecologically sound. Our settlement is based on family owned land where each family owns one hectare of land to be kept in the family for generations. One hectare with woods, fruit trees, garden and a small pond can provide the family with all of life's necessities. By using long ignored methods of cultivating the earth and harvesting in the context of preserving the earth for future generations, this hectare of land will produce enough for the family's use with surplus. Besides agriculture, every community can develop crafts that can provide for the people's needs for manufactured goods. The majority of people spend about 10 hours daily earning the money to buy two kilograms of food and for housing. This accounts for practically all of their useful time for life. With the use of "adobe" methods and/or timber, a person can build for himself inexpensive and practical housing of much better quality than that built by modern methods. Food grown in the garden is healthier and tastier than that purchased at the store. A person can much more efficiently satisfy his needs and spend the tremendous resource of extra time exploring the arts, pursuing invention and on self improvement. The general implementation of these ideas can lead to significant improvements in health, reduction in crime, strengthening of family relations and harmonious self development. This would decrease technology related catastrophes and create a drastic reduction in the exhaustion of natural resources for industrial production, and even the reduction of travel expenses and refocus the expenditure of energy from manufacturing, to rebuilding the environment.

1. Community Government
All important issues are discussed at town meetings and proposals implemented if they receive a 2/3 majority vote. Decisions for less significant issues are decided by a simple majority. The settlement is led by a chairman. Community projects related to infrastructure are undertaken by community members on a gratuitous basis, specialists being employed as necessary.

2. Flora and Fauna
The relationship with the environment is one of harmonious coexistence. No ecologically harmful manufacturing processes are permitted on settlement land. It is not possible to raise animas within the settlement for slaughter for food or other uses. Conservation practices are observed in agriculture. On ones property, one must preserve at least one quarter of their hectare under the natural cover of trees and bushes.

3. Energy, Water and Refuse

Early spring in the eco-village

Currently, the settlement uses ordinary electricity. This is necessary to perform infrastructure tasks and civil works. At the same time, we are searching for safe, ecologically harmless, alternative sources of energy. Water for drinking and for food preparation is brought from springs and rivers. We have future plans for drilling wells. The majority of settlers plan to have a small pond on their land for water for planting and technical needs. Recycling is conducted by each family on their own land through the use of compost pits and other means. Every effort is made not to use materials that cannot be recycled naturally.

4. Architecture
In the construction of housing, local, inexpensive materials, generally lumber, is used. Presently, we are learning to build houses using wooden frames and walls made from a mud/straw material mix. The resulting house is warm, easy to erect with minimal skills, well insulated, durable and very simple and economical. Heating costs are considerably less than for typical houses. Such houses completely conform to our ecological ideals as they are created from recoverable, natural materials, require minimum energy expenditures and are completely recyclable after their useful life. In our settlement, over the last two years, 22 houses have been built for temporary and permanent habitation. In the summer, about 40 families live in the settlement. Of those, 9 families reside there year round.

5. Economy
Presently, the economy of our settlement is weak. The saw mill is working, providing construction materials for the local builders and construction brigades which are working on housing for the settlers. There are two tractors and a truck which are not being fully utilized in this work. The majority of the settlers work away from the settlement and come to the settlement on their free days to tackle the business of building temporary and permanent housing. The economic basis of the settlement will consist of timber resources, construction, farming, beekeeping and handicrafts. The creation of jobs in the settlement will be stimulated by people moving into the settlement permanently.

6. Cultural Life
Leisure activity presupposes the presence of free time and as we are generally involved with intensive construction activities, there is not much leisure time. Typically, evening brings the building of a large bonfire in the community and friendly song is heard until midnight. Otherwise, 2 or 3 times per year, larger celebrations are arranged which will, little by little, become tradition. These involve large banquets to which all members of the community are invited. These celebrations are very happy with games, jokes, singing and dances, etc. One has the sensation at these celebrations of one large, happy family.

7. Accomplishments and Objectives
The principal achievement to date in the settlement is the enthusiasm and determination of the people to adopt this ecologically sound way of life. This has facilitated the construction of the community lodge, sawmill and wood shop, the installation of electricity, repair of the highway and the intensive construction of houses. The number of objectives, as yet unrealized, can be attributed to the lack of funding. It is due to this that the development of the settlement has not proceeded as rapidly as desired.
Contact information

Some facts

Eco-community "Kovcheg" was started in 2001 (with land allocation - on big field with forest 3 sides around).

First common house (10x12m) and first private houses was build during summer 2002.

Common house used as guest-house and as place of meetings, singing, children study, lectures and etc...

Holiday fun and games

Totally we have 100 hectares and 80 family parts. Now we have 73 family (about 200 people). We have strict rules for new members and 75% of existent members must want to see new family as there neighbors (so we have very good community).

During last summer about 100 people was on land, during winter 2006-2007 31 families (~80 people - many children) live permanently.

From last 4 years we build about 10-14 houses per year (from foundation to roof), so now we have about 45 houses with roof (but sometimes not fully ready to Russian winter :).

We have our own power-saw bench and wood workshop (and also two wheeled tractors) that helps us to organize houses construction.

We use pretty different technologies in houses creation - from our own "warm light adobe" technology and up to aerated (foamed) concrete. Different forms, different construction and etc. Most of them (even dwelling houses) are in the middle of construction.

And unfortunately we have no time to update this photos and English pages, we did not agitate new people now, so reduce site activity and increase life and building activity.

E-mail: kovcheg@eco-kovcheg.ru
Post restante:  Russie 119019 Moscow, Ivchenko Sergey.

View the Full Gallery

http://www.eco-kovcheg.ru/
Translation copyright http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.org/

AUSTRALIA

My Ringing Cedars Conference

by John Kovacs

From the left: John Kovacs, Vladimir Megre,
John Haberfield

I have just returned from The Ringing Cedars Conference held in Belek, Turkey and thought I could share my experiences for those who may be interested.

I was going as a participant but also to document proceedings by way of video, which I organised earlier with event staff. Television/documentary camerawork and editing is my usual occupation in Australia.

John Haberfield, my good friend/colleague and I flew in with two camera kits for the shoot.

In my experience, the camera crew usually has access to otherwise out of bounds areas, so I felt quite privileged and in a position, as it turned out to view proceedings from afar as well as up close with the author.

On the 10th of Oct we arrived in Belek at the Belconti Resort and we met the organizational committee of Ringing Cedars. Many people were registered from countries around the globe. Most were of Russian origin but Ukraine, USA, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Iraq, UK, Hungary, Cypress, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, and of course Australia were also represented.

A conference with such diverse cultures is bound to have some initial challenges however navigation, accommodation, and communication issues were soon resolved.

My hope, like most was to meet with the author himself and this happened on just the second day. We shot an interview with Vladimir Megre with questions prepared and asked by Regina Jensen, Ph. D., editor of the magazine "Space of Love". Mr. Megre was extremely accommodating however time didn't allow for all her questions.

Conference Day of October 12.

On the 12th and third day I went swimming at the beach, which is always so refreshing for me. I had a thought that I would see the Author there and as coincidences corresponding with the books occur, we greeted one another, in true Aussie style with somewhat more subdued surf in the background.

The conference proper began that same day at 10 am and Mr Megre confidently walked in and began to speak. Anton Kadantsev and Peteris Spels form Latvia translated for the English speakers.

I had given my questions to the organising committee previously and after his brief introductory speech Mr. Megre began answering all these, one after the other. I felt quite honoured and fortunately have the camera tapes to look back on.

Many other questions were also asked or written down and translated and the author seemed to be filled with energy and conviction answering most of the questions in a four-hour stint without a break. I leave it to your own thought as to where his energy and enthusiasm originates.

I was also very fortunate to have the opportunity to interview participants about themselves, their experiences, Kins Domains, and eco villages. Most were at some stage of building their dreams and I believe the sharing of these ideas will prove incredibly valuable on an international scale.

One of the agendas at conference was to prepare a document for the governments of the world proposing the concepts Anastasia sets out throughout the series.

I got the feeling on the fourth day that Vladimir Megre in his address was leaving this responsibility to the group, as if to hand over the reigns to us. Mr. Megre called this conference "the first meeting of the United Nations" which felt very appropriate.

Antalyan Seashore at dawn.

There are ways to regain energy very quickly and the resort offered a beneficial area to us, the ocean. On this particular occasion Mr. Megre suggested we all go swimming and specifically asked for the video cameras to be taken. I believe this was so rejuvenating and cleansing for all, in such playful surrounds.

The 15th of October was again a special day indeed. I had prepared questions earlier but these were misplaced so I frantically thought up new ones, which perhaps Anastasia had a hand in. The author asked for these especially so again I was in a privileged position.

Anastasia talks about negative energies and dark forces on numerous occasions. I believe the participants and I witnessed a manifestation of this at one particular group session. It was as if these forces entered certain participants who were so lovely just prior to the moment. I don't believe there is a need to dwell on the negative actions just to say we need to realize when this occurs and learn how to counteract it. In our situation we joined hands, stood in a circle and filled the space with love until calm returned.

During final interview with V. Megre.

Our 3rd and final filming of an interview with Mr. Megre was perhaps the most comfortable and the questions weren't from me directly however upon conclusion he asked me for a question out of the blue. I was taken aback and for a moment went blank. I finally thought of the patriotic question "Has Anastasia been to Australia and does Mr. Megre have any plans to visit?" After all the intelligent questions I'd heard from participants throughout the previous days, I thought what sort of a question is that, but for some reason Mr. Megre spent a long time answering. I haven't had the answer translated yet but I can tell all the readers, expect the author in the near future and to the question regarding Anastasia; I can confidently say Australians have been blessed, as do all the readers who feel her presence.

I recall entering the conference for the first time feel a little alone and in a foreign environment, but then I remembered something a wise man once said when he experienced the same sensation. He thought, "Here are a bunch of friends I haven't met yet". I would like to thank all my friends of The United Nations who were so kind and sincere. I also pay my respects to the Latvian team, in particular the Camera crew of Andris and Tatjana who were a sheer delight to shoot along side and were so inspiring.

The DVD is currently being prepared in various languages and should be completed within 2 months. It will be available through the Ringing Cedars web site.

I plan to write another article in the coming weeks, containing the questions and answers given in Turkey. Mr Megre had some amazing insights and explanations for us all.

Blessings to all,

John Kovacs

Candlelight Pictures
Canberra Australia

Mountains surrounding Antalya-Belek, Turkey.

To Be Continued...

http://www.earthlife.info/

AUSTRALIA

Russian Worries
About Our Loss of Freedom

"The Bible and the Bolsheviks"

by Alexandre Obnovlennyi

Alexandre Obnovlennyi

I come from Russia and I want to tell you what happens to people when they lose their freedom and their land. If you read the Old Testament, Genesis chapter 40 - 47, it speaks about Joseph's interpretation of the Pharoahs dream which came true. There were 7 good years of crops followed by 7 years of famine and the people, desperate to survive, gave everything they owned in exchange for food. "And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds."

After the so-called " Russian Revolution" in 1917 the early communists took the monopoly on all food, especially bread and they organized the famine in order to take control over the whole country. Hungry people exchanged their money, their livestock, their clothes, their furniture and everything they had for the bread. Communists did not buy it as Joseph in the Bible did. They simply gave to the people very small amounts of bread while the population was dieing because the famine was severe. At that time Russians and Ukrainians lost around 20 million people. Hungry people do not have the ability to fight back.

In the Old Testament chapter 47:19 we read, "Why should we perish before your eyes - we and our land as well?

Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh."?

The rest of the surviving Russians did not even say anything or object. They were so weak that they were only able to watch as communists took their land and their freedom in exchange for a very small amount of food. They became in bondage to the communists. And the early communists, reduced the people to servitude, from one end of the Soviet Union, to the other.

What happened next? In Egypt we learn from the Bible: Genesis-47:27. "Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number."

The situation in the Soviet Union is widely known to all Canadians.

Because I am experienced in living in the USSR, it surprises me to watch the development of the very same situation in Canada.

First of all, Canadians are losing their land. They have lost a number of property rights (ie. the limitation or prohibitation of providing some kind of businesses on private properties - Green Belt, Wet Lands, Conservation Areas, Flooding areas and so on). This is just the beginning.

I have no idea who, in the future, will come to Canada, "to settle, to acquire property, be fruitful and to increase greatly in number". I am not against the coming to Canada of people from the whole world, but I am against it if the price that is being paid, is the death of the small Canadian family farm and the demolishing of the rural population and its culture.

Next, I am watching in Canada an attempt to create a monopoly on the food. Good farmland has been built over and forever destroyed and small family farms have been eliminated. Small family farms are not only the producers of food but this is a part of the Canadian Culture. This is a style of life for many Canadians. Destroying this way of life is a huge discrimination to the Canadian rural population.

Everything is going exactly as in the Soviet Union. But at the same time there is a difference. In Canada the natural food and natural heritage seeds, little by little have been reduced to genetically modified ones. There wasn't a lot of information given to people openly and widely. Everything was done quietly. When you can't save and reuse your seeds, you become dependent on the seed companies.

There is worse to come. While the whole world now is facing a potential food crisis, more and more arable farmlands have been annihilated. For me, it is hard to understand how we can cry about a shortage of food and at the same time, destroy good farmland. Who is driving this and why?

The Bible says in Genesis.."and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate."Only a few big corporations are establishing a monopoly on seeds. If these corporations do not like you for some reason, they have a power not to sell the seeds to you. As we know genetically modified plants do not produce seeds that can be used, so all farmers are forced to buy the seeds every year from these monopolized corporations. It will be very easy in the future to turn off the tap that supplies the seeds. Could the Ontario Landowners be prevented from buying seeds because they are fighting the Government? It's hard to imagine but I saw in Russia, that the government controlled the people with hunger so I know it can happen.

During The Second World War and the years after, the Russians were deserted by their Government and they had to survive by themselves. Many Russians survived because they planted potatoes every Spring and they collected the seeds every Fall. Russians went to the forest and picked up many kinds of wild berries, mushrooms and fruits. Mother Nature gives people many sources of food for survival. Genetically modified plants are poisoning wild plants by pollinating neighbouring fields and wild plants are losing their ability to produce the seeds. Wild natural plants will be destroyed.

I do not feel comfortable with letting the government control everything about our lives, especially our food production. The monopolization of food is a dangerous direction to go in. Could a dictator decide what to do with our land and reduce the people to servants. Living in Canada, it is hard to imagine this happening but I have lived in a country where people lined up and waited for hours just to get a loaf of bread.

We have allowed our government to dictate to us, what we can and cannot do on our land. We have allowed our government to freeze our land so that our children can not take over the family business. We can not stop this fight. We must continue to say, This Land is our Land - Back Off Government.

Alexandre Obnovlennyi

The President of Toronto Landowners Association

Used by permition - Landowner Magazine - August/September 2008

Release of
RINGING CEDARS OF RUSSIA
in Turkish!

Resin of Siberian Cedar

We are happy to announce the release of RINGING CEDARS OF RUSSIA, Book 2 of the "Ringing Cedars of Russia" Series in Turkish Language!

Right now be the first to order the Turkish translation of Book 2 - RINGING CEDARS OF RUSSIA and recieve a 20% Discount! Click here to go to our online store

Publisher: Kuraldisi Yayincilik Ltd. Sti.

Official Distributor in USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: RingingCedarsofRussia.org

http://www.rinigngcedarsofrussia.org/


Impressions from the visit to Sepp Holzer

Greetings to all, dear friends!

My trip to Austria and the farm of Sepp Holzer is over.

You cannot write about everything in a dispatch because there was a lot of information (17 hours of video), so I shall try to set out the main points.

Our group consisted of 25 persons-basically the leaders of regional Organic Farming Clubs from Ukraine, at Holzer's we were joined by two families from Germany, one from Poland, and one from Hungary.

We travelled by bus from Uzhgorod through Slovakia, we were amazed not to see garbage anywhere in either Slovakia or Austria, one felt that the people realize their responsibility to their descendants. For me it was a discovery that Slovakia is a mountainous country, all around were beautiful landscapes, well-kept yards with evergreen hedges, beautiful rock gardens, houses covered with flowered plates, many clean mountain rivers and streams. Both in Slovakia and Austria there was a castle on practically each inaccessible mountain, and in the valley were fields, like in the fairytale Puss in Boots: "Whose fields are these?" "Karabas-Barabas." In Slovakia many fields are sown with rape, and in Austria, surprisingly, with poppies (red and purple). There is no border between Slovakia and Austria-this is the Schengen zone.

On entering Austria we noticed entire "plantations" of wind turbines-they are conserving their resources. The quality of the water was a pleasant surprise. Frightened by one of the tour members that the water in Europe is bad, we brought with us seven five-litre bottles of water and...brought them back almost untouched. On the way back we brought with us all our containers in which we had collected the most delicious fresh water from melted snow from the mountain stream near our hotel in the Alps. Along the roads for the entire route from Slovakia to our destination stretched small settlements of 100 to 500 farmsteads with one- and two-story houses, but we saw no people along the entire road, almost no cars either. But on the other hand, we saw deer and pheasants freely roaming around, rabbits would sometimes run by, white swans, ducks, and geese were swimming on the lakes and rivers.

We drove into Vienna for two hours. To tell the truth, the large city did not make an impression on us. The same prisons as in any other city, hustle and bustle, and crowds of people, of which we had really become tired.

We stopped in a private boarding house four kilometres from Holzer's farmstead at an elevation of 1800 metres above sea level. To our surprise, there was still snow in spots, the vegetation had just started to bloom. In spite of this, every morning the hardened Ukrainian "polar bears" bathed in the icy mountain lake, which provoked a storm of admiration from the owners of the hotel. Three microbus taxis took us to and from Holzer's.

An now, finally, here we were before the gates of the long-awaited paradise. The meeting with the owner of the domain was warm and joyful. At Holzer's, at an elevation of 1100 to 1500 metres above seal level, already the rhododendrons, a multitude of other flowers, and fruit bushes and trees were in full bloom, and all this with an average annual temperature of +4C.

All this is thanks to a microclimate, which he created using a system of lakes, rocks, and high ridges, which consist of the trunks and branches of trees, covered with earth taken out of a trench (with a width of the bucket of an excavator, a depth of 0.5 to 1 metre, and arbitrary length). These are the so-called heat traps.

So the first and most important thing I took from Holzer's remarks was that, when restoring a natural landscape, you must provide the area with an open source of water. He said that there is water everywhere, one only must learn to find it. At first he invited specialist water-dowsers, but with time he mastered this skill himself.

The second thing is to shield the parcel from the blowing wind by creating a hedge and high ridges.

Third, create a variety of plant and animal life (including poisonous plants). From the entire neighborhood he dragged sacks of wood ants to his parcel, since he considers them to be the healers of the forest. Holzer is creating, as he expresses it, "edible" forests, where fruit trees and bushes grow in symbiosis with coniferous, deciduous, and decorative plants. He believes that the future of the planet depends on these types of forests, since apart from producing air and renewing the soil, they will be able to eliminate the problem of hunger.

Fourth, the greater in size the parcel of land, the less work there is. Holzer no longer has to do anything, and the income from the domain will grow spontaneously, because nature is generous. The value of each plant planted ten years ago has grown a hundred-fold (and sometimes a thousand-fold), once, moreover, it has reproduced itself many times without the help of man, augmenting his passive income yearly in increasing progression.

Fifth, his motto: "minimum work, maximum effect." Today his domain is a self-sufficient, self-developing system. I cannot parade the amount of his annual income without his consent, but, believe me, it is impressive, as is the general value of his entire domain. He lives off the sale of saplings, plant seeds, fish, crawfish, mushrooms, nuts, fruits, berries, and vegetables, and now seminars as well. What's more he does not trouble himself with gathering the harvest. On the other hand, there are enough people willing to gather wholesome, ecologically pure crops, and in doing so to pay 18 to 20 times more for the products than in the usual commercial network.

Sixth, try to the maximum extent to plant all plants using seeds, creating beforehand conditions close to natural conditions: stratification in a freezer or snow. He planted very many trees this way, showed us the most wonderful 15-year-old fir grown from a seed. A cedar forest is growing on his land (Siberian cedars and some other type of cedar, which has much larger nuts). By the way, I gave him a cedar seed cone, which made him sincerely happy. He recommended planting seedlings in poor soil, under no circumstances in humus, since plants grown in more favourable conditions find it more difficult to adapt to a natural environment and fall sick.

Seventh, do not trim fruit trees. He believes that this is unnecessary work, and he does not like to do unnecessary work. In addition, they get accustomed to this procedure and become dependent on the intervention of man, become weak and less vigorous. He only trims in the case of a tree disease.

Eighth, do not water the trees when transplanting, plant them in the poorest soil with no fertilizers. Holzer uses an interesting method for transplanting adult deciduous trees and bushes: he wraps the roots of the dug-up plant in sacking, moistens the roots so they will not dry out, leaves them in the shade, and places the crown in the sun, when the tree loses its foliage, it is ready for planting. They take root one hundred percent of the time.

Ninth, make maximum use of the abilities of animals to help in the farming. Thus, he uses the ability of pigs to dig up the earth in order to prepare beds for planting, scattering their favourite peas and corn on the area he needs.

Tenth, do not copy anyone blindly, including him. Use your own head to think and observe nature. His words: "My university is nature." All his experience is taken from nature. He very often repeats, "Man cannot perfect that which is already perfect, we must simply learn to manage nature wisely." For that reason, when a problem arises with the plants, animals, or soil, he enters into the state of this being, imagines being it, and listens to his feelings, whether he is comfortable in this spot, what is bothering him, what is lacking, what he would like. And the answer comes, and what is very important-it is always right. And if the diagnosis is made correctly, then the treatment will be effective.

Holzer is also convinced that each person has the right to a parcel of land, a vital space, and that only by living in harmony with nature can the world be changed for the better and all social problems of our sick society be solved.

Now he has been recognized both in his own country and others. He is invited to lecture at many universities. The academic elite of Austria has united around Holzer's ideas and, in his name and on the basis of his interviews, has drawn up a document-an appeal to the governments of the countries of the world and the inhabitants of our planet with proposals how to surmount the ecological and economic crisis.

Holzer is invited to countries to renew environments that are being degraded "thanks to" the unwise activities of man. At this time, he is participating in twenty such projects. These are all social products, often he also finances them himself and carries out the restoration of the degraded areas using his own saplings and seeds.

He talked about an interesting social project that he implemented in the city of Graz in his homeland. He created a small permaculture garden at a boarding house for disabled persons who get around on wheelchairs. He helped make high plant beds so the disabled could care for them directly from their wheelchairs, sow the seeds and gather the crops. The effect of this project was staggering. There was a fundamental change in the psychological states of the persons, who experienced an interest in life and had a sense of their own significance by independently providing themselves with food products and communicating with the living creations of God.

He spoke a great deal more about his projects, but you can read about them in his book, The Rebel Farmer: Sepp Holzer.

Let us return to our seminar. The first day the seminar was conducted completely by Sepp himself. The next day Josef, his 27-year old son and successor, became involved. A bright and kind young man, Josef made a very good impression on us. I think he also liked us, since we displayed a lively interest in their family experience and got to the bottom of the smallest trifles, and he discussed it in all its details with great willingness. And truly, in the planning and creation of any feature of their domain, these people thought through everything so competently that there was nothing to cavil at. The main thing is that the materials at hand were used everywhere, with minimal financial and labour expenditures.

I must also speak about Veronika, Holzer's wife. We almost never saw her. But we savoured the fruits of her invisible activity. For dinner she served us masterpieces of the culinary art: fruit-cakes of coarse flour of their own making, produced from "Russian grass," as they call it. Just what this was, I do not know to this day. Sepp explained that this is an original grass, either one-kernel or two-kernel. Its seeds, at least, are in a small package with a seed mixture that he distributed to all the participants in the seminar. This grass may be perennial, if it is mowed and not allowed to form ears, the blades are in no way distinguishable from ordinary grass. I shall sow it, grow it on my parcel, then I shall share it with others.

Well, I have to confess, that in spite of the fact that I am now a cheese-eater, I did not deny myself the pleasure of tasting the culinary novelties prepared by Veronika.... And I confirm that everything was, well, verrry delicious! We were also treated to the most aromatic home-made tea from alpine grasses, a liqueur made from white elder, and the next day the completely staggering taste of apple kvass prepared without sugar. By the way, with tea we were served the choice of white or brown, unrefined sugar. At the hotel too, it should be noted. Well, I also decided to distinguish myself, and in gratitude for the efforts of our hostess, decided to make her work in cleaning up the premises after dinner easier-I got the people moving, washed all the dishes myself and cleaned the crumbs off the table, which elicited the considerable, but pleased amazement of Veronika.

Time is inexorable, and our stay in this alpine Eden was drawing to a close. That day was sunny, we warmed ourselves among the wholesome unruliness of alpine nature, intoxicated by the keen mountain air filled with the scent of flowers and pine needles, enchanted by the hospitality and kindness of our hosts. And we did not want to leave this place to go anywhere else, we wanted to prolong the joy of interacting with like-minded persons endlessly.

But the moment of parting came nevertheless. The young Holzer was given some Fokin cultivators, which had been smuggled across the border by Yura Goncharuk (Kiev) and Dima Pelykh (Kherson-the organizer of the trip). A master class in working with the cultivator was given. Then there were many photographs with Josef, autographs from the author of the books, exchanges of business card and addresses with other participants in the seminar. We probably would have sat up until the wee small hours if Sepp did not have to go the following day to his next lecture at some university. We inevitably had to say our goodbyes. In chorus we sang the Ukrainian song "Be healthy, live well, we are setting off for home, to our little hut." Mutually pleased, both hosts and guests, we parted.

That evening at the hotel a woman from the German group approached us. It turned out that she was a follower of Anastasia, in Berlin she works in the deployment of computer technologies. And again there was a flurry of delight and emotions, an exchange of addresses! It turned out that over the entire period of putting on seminars, 170 thousand Germans have already visited Holzer's.

I must also tell you about the family that are the publishers of Holzer's book and its translators into Russian. They are the Russian Germans Edward and Angelika Scheck, and four of their children. Edward had been the interpreter at our seminar as well. The family is very interesting. The children are supporters of the idea of the creation of kin's settlements. In Germany they bought a parcel of land for a kin's domain, 50 ares (an are is one-hundredth of a hectare) for the time being, but they plan to enlarge this to at least a hectare. They have been acquainted with Holzer for a long time, they were the ones who first brought the film Permaculture in the Alps to Russia and translated it into Russian. They use permaculture methods on their own land as well. Now they are digging a lake. Angelika shared with us some of her experience in rational farming.

So, for example, she plants potatoes in the following manner: since a lot of earth is being obtained in digging the lake, Angelika places the potatoes directly on the flattened grass and covers it with a bucket of earth. On this little mound in a circle she plants about five bushes of strawberries, in the middle it is possible to stick a couple of kernels of corn. When they are ripe, the potatoes come out, while the strawberries continue to grow.

In addition, having experienced much suffering in the birth of her first two children at a maternity home and having undergone eight operations, Angelika, with the support of her husband, gave birth to her next two children on her own at home. Now she teaches and prepares other families for home birth. She receives calls from all corners of Germany, and she travels throughout the country to help with the appearance of a new person in the world painlessly and in normal conditions.

Angelika dreams of visiting the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery, and I invited all of them to visit me, including a visit to Lubskoe, and told them of my dream to conduct seminars in Lubskoe according to the programme of the "Settler's school." Angelika answered that she would be able to organize tours for these seminars, it turns out that there are many people in Germany who would like to take this type of training.

This family is now working on the translation of Holzer's second book, which provides a more detailed description of permaculture methods.

Our last evening in Austria concluded with a session where we reflected back on our stay at the seminar. The group gathered in the Goncharuks' and Podolkhovs' hotel room, and each person who so desired shared their impressions. Much gratitude was expressed to Dima and Anya Pelykh from Kherson, who got us moving and, strictly speaking, organized the trip. After his return to Uzhgorod, Dima underwent a "pumping" procedure, which was documented on video and in photographs.

At the session, I was especially touched by the words of Petr Trofimenko, the founder of the Organic Farming Club movement. Petr said that the time had come to broaden the functions in the activities of the Organic Farming Clubs and, together with the creation of clubs, it was necessary to support the initiatives of people, active members of the movement, in their creation of practical educational centres on the basis of their farmsteads, where each interested person, together with theory, could obtain practical skills as well.

Petr put my own thoughts into words. And I shared my plans for the near future with everyone. Since the prerequisites for the founding of this type of practical educational centre had already long ago been created at my place in Lubskoe, I was planning in June of this year to go through with the formalization of this matter in earnest. Petr Trofimenko and Yura Goncharuk promised to support my initiative.

And the fruits of our talks are already evident: from the following week to the end of the summer I have been working on shifts (every second week), to spend more time in Lubskoe and to make the transition to self-sufficiency by creating a branch of the Kiev club at the place of my residence (three days a week in Kiev, four in Lubskoe).

Naturally, it is complicated to undertake such an affair on my own, and so I am seeking companions!!!

By the way, whoever has not yet become a member of an Organic Farming Club can now do so through me, as well as order the club's products.

This is the amazing way that my trip to visit an amazing person has ended!!!

In the near future I shall try to finish the processing of the photographs, and I shall ask Yakov to place them on our site.

I want to remind anyone who has not yet filled out the questionnaire that all this is still current, and I ask you to send them to me, even in draft form.

That's all for today.

Best wishes,

Oksana Inte
oki05@ua.fm

Natural Farming Practical Educational Centre, 6 June 2008
The material was sent by the newspaper Byt Dobru, http://gazeta.bytdobru.info

Subscription code for the newspaper Byt Dobru in the Catalogue of Ukrainian Publications: 96421; in the Russian catalogue Newspapers. Magazines: 21523; in the Belarusian catalogue Publications of the Russian Federation, Publications of Ukraine: 96421.

http://gazeta.bytdobru.info/

Translation copyright http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.org/

GO BACK GO TO TOP

Poetry, art, music, photography and anything else that flows from the heart.

This dream...it is alive!

This dream is with me, it walks with me,
It takes me to and from.
It talks to me and sings to me.
Like a sprout in the sun I watch it grow.

Oh sweet Anastasia, my gratitude runs deep,
Your breath is now part of mine.
Yes! This dream, it breathes, all around me is its essence,
Kind hands now lovingly plant pine after pine.

So this dream is alive, it feels!
Its birth witnessed on Russian Motherland.
So many more births are still at hand.
This grand co-creation, it breathes with me.

It is the I Am that I Am.

By ~Carina~ at RingingCedarsForums.com

GO BACK GO TO TOP

Please visit the forum at Source of Life Association and share your opinions on the books of Vladimir Megre. Discuss Anastasia's ideas about harmonic life, and how you use them for yourself. Share your impressions.

You can now discuss your ideas on the following topics:

Let's build a strong community together. Support each other with positive thoughts and create a real plan for making our dreams come true.

Visit the Forum.

Forum Talk

Posted by Noor in a topic 'Pass the poison please dear'. Join the discussion of this topic here:

Aspartim was developed in the 60's by a guy (scientist) to kill ants. When one day he accidentily touched it to his tongue he found it was very sweet. It also looked a lot like sugar!

Straight equal can be used as an unequaled ant poision.

Aspartim turns to formaldehyde when it is in the body.

I remember in 1979 when I came across the first that I had seen can of diet coke. It had a warning sign on it saying 'can cause cancer'. I thought, 'amazing! Why would anyone want to drink that?'

I don't know if aspartim causes cancer but even before 1979 I was aware of 'the formaldehyde children' when visiting the local hospital on occasion. There was a ward for formaldehyde children. I remember their limbs expecially were affected with extreme deformities, sometimes just fingers or a hand or very small deformed arm came from their shoulder.

I was told it was from birth control pills used over a certain period of time. I would think 'how could they make a mistake like that, and then carry it on for so long!? It would occur to me that one would need a bit of luck to be born outside this time frame. Or badluck to be born into it.

So here we are aproaching 2009, thirty years on from that first diet coke. Now I wonder, 'does anyone else notice this very large sign!?'

Be good! And happy
Chri5

http://www.ringingcedarsforum.com/

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed on this forum are personal opinions of individuals creating the posts. We are not liable for any information posted on the forum.

GO BACK GO TO TOP

This section is devoted to the information that will be useful in the creation of a Kin's Domains.

What Is Environmental Education?

Environmental education is the study of the relationships and interactions between dynamic natural and human systems. Environmental education:

  • Includes learning in the field as well as the classroom
  • Incorporates the teaching methods of outdoor education, experiential education, and place-based education
  • Is inherently interdisciplinary
  • Promotes school/community partnerships
  • Is hands-on, student-centered, inquiry driven, engages higher level thinking skills, and relevant to students' everyday lives
  • Develops awareness, increases knowledge, builds skills, and creates the capacity for stewardship and good citizenship regarding the environment upon which we depend for life support.
  • Helps address the causes of "nature deficit disorder"
  • Boosts student achievement in math, science, reading, writing and social studies

Why Is Environmental Education Important?

Our nation's future relies on a well-educated public to be wise stewards of the very environment that sustains us, our families and communities, and future generations. It is environmental education which can best help us as individuals make the complex, conceptual connections between economic prosperity, benefits to society, environmental health, and our own well being. Ultimately, the collective wisdom of our citizens, gained through education, will be the most compelling and most successful strategy for environmental management.

Yet studies consistently reveal that the U.S. public suffers from a tremendous environmental literacy gap that appears to be increasing rather than decreasing. For example, two-thirds of the public fail even a basic environmental quiz and a whopping 88 percent of the public fail a basic energy quiz . These same studies found that 45 million Americans think the ocean is a source of fresh water and 130 million believe that hydropower is America's top energy source.

Environmental education increases student engagement in science

In our schools, research has shown enormous benefits from environmental education. When integrated into a science curriculum, environmental education demonstrably improves student achievement in science. Such an increase is likely due to the fact that environmental education connects classroom learning to the real world. Students, when given a choice, will gravitate towards environmental science. Science fair administrators note that 40 percent of all science fair projects relate directly to the environment, and the Corporation for National and Community Service reports that more than 50 percent of the service-learning programs they fund are focused on the environment.

Environmental education improves student achievement in core subject areas

When integrated into the core curricula or used as an integrating theme across the curriculum, environmental education has a measurably positive impact not only on student achievement in science, but also in reading (sometimes spectacularly), math, and social studies . The same study found that schools that taught the core subjects using the environment as an integrating context also demonstrated:

- Reduced discipline and classroom management problems;
- Increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning; and,
- Greater student pride and ownership in accomplishments.

Even more importantly for many, environmental education employs and enhances critical thinking and basic life skills. The National Science Board of the National Science Foundation confirmed the importance of environmental education to student learning in their 2000 report, Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century:

"The twin goals of learning are to acquire knowledge and gain skills such as problem solving, consensus building, information management, communication, and critical and creative thinking. Environmental issues offer excellent vehicles for developing and exercising many of these skills using a systems approach...changes should be made in the formal educational system to help all students, educators, and educational administrators learn about the environment, the economy, and social equity as they relate to all academic disciplines and their daily lives."

Likewise, the 2005 Report to Congress submitted by the National Environmental Education Advisory Council on the status of environmental education in the United States finds that "environmental education with its emphasis on critical thinking, interdisciplinary teaching, and learner achievement is also helping to meet educational reform goals."

Environmental education provides critical tools for a 21st century workforce

The vast majority of Americans are convinced that the environment will become at least one of the dominant issues and challenges of the 21st century, as the growing needs of the growing global population increasingly presses up against the limits of the earth's resources and ecosystems. The National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education confirmed this in a 2003 report, noting that "in the coming decades, the public will more frequently be called upon to understand complex environmental issues, assess risk, evaluate proposed environmental plans and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local and global scales. Creating a scientifically informed citizenry requires a concerted, systematic approach to environmental education..."

At the same time, business leaders increasingly believe that an environmentally literate workforce is critical to their long term success and profitability, with better environmental practices and improved efficiencies impacting positively on the bottom line while helping to better position and prepare their companies for the future. Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chairman and CEO of DuPont, speaks for a growing number of his peers in declaring that: "an environmentally sustainable business is just good business, given the growing concern for environmental problems across America. A key component of an environmentally sustainable business is a highly educated work force, particularly involving environmental principles." As one example on the micro scale, the National Environmental and Training Foundation estimates that environmental education about topics such as energy, water and waste management, improved employee health, cleaner working conditions, and recycling would save small and medium sized businesses alone at least $25 billion/year.

Environmental Education helps address "nature deficit disorder"

A recent study found that children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV but less than 4 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play, leading researchers to discover a new condition specific to this current generation that they have called "nature deficit disorder". This extreme emphasis of indoor time spent in front of screens versus outdoor play and discovery has been correlated with negative psychological and physical effects including obesity, loneliness, depression, attention problems and greater social isolation due to reduced time with friends and family.

What do increased study of science and nature and its increased outdoor time accomplish? Especially in the very young, it has proved in studies extremely beneficial for cognitive functioning, reduced symptoms of attention deficit disorder, increased self-discipline and emotional well-being.

Nature Deficit Disorder

The term "nature-deficit disorder" was coined by author Richard Louv in his book "Last Child in the Woods" to describe what happens to young people who become disconnected from their natural world. Louv links this lack of nature to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.

Research is also showing that getting young people outdoors is helping ease attention disorders.

The "No Child Left Inside" Act would address this by igniting students' interest in the outdoors and spurring them to take part in outside activities. And learning to explore the natural world and their personal connection to it, inevitably triggers an interest in spending more time in it.

Narrowing Curriculum

Many schools have responded to the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law by sacrificing subjects such as environmental education to spend more time on subjects that are found on high-stakes tests reading and math. A 2008 study by the Center on Education Policy documented the problem. It found that many school districts have significantly reduced the amount of class time spent on such subjects as social studies and science. Many teachers and parents also report that field trips and time devoted to outdoor learning activities have been cut to give more time to tested subjects.

The No Child Left Inside Act would help address this problem by giving new incentives and support to school systems to provide environmental education. The Act also recognizes that high-quality environmental education often requires students to use math, reading, science and writing skills as they pursue engaging activities.

Expanded environmental education will also help boost academic achievement. A number of studies have found that students who take part in environmentally themed lessons do better in science and other subjects.

http://www.cbf.org/

Watch Video:

Get 'em Outside - Environmental Education

Nature As a Tool In Homeschooling

The Benefits of Using the Natural World As a Homeschool Resource

By Karrie Emms

Nature can be an important tool when homeschooling. Here is a look at some of the benefits making nature a key part of your homeschool curriculum.

Homeschoolers have at their disposal a variety of tools including but not limited to museums, art galleries, travel, numerous exhibits, sports clubs and perhaps the most powerful resource of all: nature. As a homeschooling family the ability to enjoy and learn from the natural world comes in many shapes and sizes and at any time. This article covers some of the benefits of using nature and gives some ideas for nature based lessons and activities.

Using Nature As A Homeschooling Tool

The elements of nature can be incorporated into many aspects of a homeschooler's daily curriculum in a variety of ways. Beyond the obvious use of nature in art, science and biology classes you may be surprised to find that it can also be easily incorporated into literature, history, religion and math classes as well. In fact there are many bonuses to using nature as one of your key teaching tools including but not limited to:

  • Increased physical activity not only on your part but also on the part of your child
  • An increased understanding of the world in its natural form
  • An understanding of the cycles of life in the simplest of terms
  • Increased attentiveness when it comes to work done
  • An increase in hands on learning through use of basic senses
  • An opportunity to explore the world in an unaltered state
  • A backdrop for creative learning within various disciplines like art and creative writing

Using the Natural World to Promote Physical Activity

Not only does nature provide a backdrop for academic learning and discovery but it also allows a child to learn the importance and fun of physical activity in a non-competitive environment. Children exposed to nature seem to have a natural curiosity about their environments and as such they tend to interact with it in a physical way.

Ways to Introduce Physical Activity Into Basic Homeschool Lessons

1. Hike to the top of an escarpment to work on a creative writing assignment. Pretend you are an explorer landing here for the first time and you must write a letter home describing what you see, hear and smell.

2. Go on a walk around your neighborhood and take nature photos to use as ideas for a sketch in art class using pen and ink, pastels or any other medium suitable for the age of your student.

3. Go to a local lake and spend an hour or a day studying its inhabitants. Use the information you collect and create graphs and charts in math and science classes.

Overall the use of nature in the homeschool environment can be a pleasure and a tool not only for your children but for yourself. Open your mind to the possibilities and you will be surprised how much can be learned from it and how much fun you can have during the process.

Karrie Emms
http://chinadaily.com.cn/

PESTICIDE FACTS

Compiled by RATE
(Real Alternatives to Toxins in the Environment)

"Chemicals have replaced bacteria and viruses as the main threat to health. The diseases we're beginning to see as the major causes of death in the latter part of this century and into the 21st century are diseases of chemical origin." -- Dick Irwin, toxicologist at Texas A&M Universities

WHAT ARE PESTICIDES? Pesticides are poisons designed to kill a variety of plants and animals such as insects (insecticides), weeds (herbicides), and mold or fungus (fungicides). Pesticides include active ingredients (chemical compounds designed to kill the target organisms) and inert ingredients which may be carcinogens or toxic substances. They also include rodenticides and wood preservatives.

HOW DO PESTICIDES REACH US? Pesticides can be absorbed through the skin, swallowed or inhaled (most toxic). During application pesticides drift and settle on ponds, laundry, toys, pools and furniture. People and pets track pesticide residue into the house. Only 5% of pesticides reach target weeds. The rest runs off into water or dissipates in the air. Drift from landscaping ranges from 12 feet to 14.5 miles. More serious effects appear to be produced by direct inhalation of pesticide sprays than by absorption or ingestion of toxins.

ARE REGISTERED PESTICIDES SAFE? NO. Many of the "safety tests" used to test these products are fundamentally inadequate: they test for the acute (not chronic) effects of single (not multiple) chemicals on healthy (not sick, chemically sensitive or immuno-suppressed etc.) adult (not feta l or young) animal (not human) subjects exposed over short (not long) periods of time. Some of the companies testing pesticides have been charged and convicted of falsifying residue and environmental studies that were used to support pesticide registration in the US and Canada. Some pesticides become even more toxic as they break down. (In the US it is a violation of federal law to state that the use of pesticides is safe.)

Pesticides initiate and propagate multiple chemical sensitivities. About 16 million US citizens are sensitive to pesticides (i.e. they have compromised immune functioning as a result of pesticide exposure).

BESIDES SENSITIVITY AND TOXICITY WHAT OTHER HEALTH RISKS ARE THERE?

  • increased risk of leukemia
  • cancers (lung, brain, testicular, lymphoma)
  • increase in spontaneous abortions
  • greater genetic damage
  • decreased fertility
  • liver and pancreatic damage
  • neuropathy
  • disturbances to immune systems (asthma/ allergies)
  • increases in stillbirths
  • decreased sperm counts

WHAT ARE THE MAIN RISKS FOR CHILDREN?

  • cancer: leukemia and brain cancer
  • asthma and allergies
  • polyneuritis with numbness and pain in lower limbs.
  • altered neurological functioning and long-lasting neuro-behavioral impairments.
  • birth defects
  • neurotoxicity
  • gangrene (tissue death) of the extremities

Children whose homes and gardens are treated with pesticides have 6.5 times greater risk of leukemia than children living in untreated environments.

WHO IS MOST SUSCEPTIBLE?

  • Children, infants and fetuses - relative to adults, children have more rapid breathing and metabolic rates, greater surface to body mass ratios, thinner skins, spend more time in contact with the ground, more frequently place their fingers in their mouths, and are less likely to be able to read hazard signs.
  • Adults - especially those with asthma, lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, dermatitis and chemical sensitivities.
  • Animals - pets, wildlife of all kinds and their habitat.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE?

  • Birds die after eating granular pesticides.
  • Animals may develop:
    • cancer
    • abnormal thyroid function
    • decreased fertility
    • decreased hatching success
    • demasculinization and feminization of males
    • alteration of immune function

EXAMPLE: 2,4-D - the most common herbicide used by lawn companies:

  • is found in one third of all Canadian pesticides
  • is present in pesticides and fertilizers found in stores under names that sound safe like "Weed 'n Feed"
  • is a component of Agent Orange
  • contains dioxin contaminants.

Known Effects:

  • developmental and behavioral effects in various animal species.
  • associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
  • reproductive and endocrine disruptions.
  • associated with a cancer in dogs (canine malignant lymphoma)
  • increased number of abnormal sperm in exposed farmers.
  • decreased fertility in male rats.

2,4,-D is under special review by the Environmental Protection Agency in the US because of concerns about chronic health and environmental effects and it is still being used!

WHAT ARE SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS? Simultaneous exposures frequently cause synergistic effects, where toxicities of individual toxins can be vastly magnified. Most pesticides contain more than one chemical and during spraying season, most people are exposed to more than one product as they move around their neighbourhoods.

Studies for synergistic effects are not required by the EPA for registration of these substances, even though these effects regularly occur when chemicals interact in nature.

WHAT ABOUT UNLISTED "INERT" INGREDIENTS ?

  • 3700 chemicals can legally be concealed in pesticides.-- Dr J. Irwin.
  • They can comprise up to 97% of products like weed killers.
  • These so called inerts are often insecticides such as DDT or contaminants such as dioxin.
  • "Inerts" may be even more toxic than the active ingredients which are listed on the labels. (ie. Reyes Syndrome was linked to an ingredient additive that allowed the pesticide to stick on the trees.)
  • Fertilizer sprays also may contain poisonous solvents.
  • Applicators do not know the danger of their product because they don't know the identity of the"inert" ingredients.
  • Inerts sometimes include benzene, known human carcinogen (if it were spilled on the highway, it would be considered a toxic chemical spill.)

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES? Non-toxic chemical-free lawn care is available. Indoor and outdoor Bio-Tool kits are available for institutions, golf courses, schools, green houses and many applications. These approaches are compatible with composting, with home vegetable gardens, gardening for wildlife, and with children walking to school safely.

Chemical Pesticides have only been in existence for about 50 years. Gardeners, farmers, and foresters have always had to control pests,using methods like crop rotation, companion planting, biological controls. It is only recently that pest management has become virtually synonymous with the use of chemical pesticides. We must reverse this unsustainable trend. Ecological methods of pest control must replace the over-dependence on chemicals that now threatens us all.

WHY ARE PESTICIDES USED?

  • Most people are unaware of pesticide dangers. (most companies claim they are "Safe"!)
  • Most people do not know that non-toxic lawn care is available.
  • There is a powerful economic incentive for large chemical companies to promote pesticides. In 1987 the companies ranked by pesticide sales include: DuPont - $510 million, Monsanto - $480 million, ICI - $460 million, Ciba Geigy $450 million. This, today, is considered a growth "toxic" industry.

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE LAWN CHEMICALS? Chemical fertilizers and pesticides on lawns weaken the grass and destroy the natural balance of microbes and beneficial insect predators, thus promoting weed and insect proliferation.

  • Despite a 10 - fold increase in insecticide use, studies have shown a proliferation in types of pests from fewer than 10 to more than 300.
  • Of the 25 most serious insect pests in California in 1970, 24 were secondary pests (produced because of insecticides) and 73% are resistant to one or more insecticides.

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS When it comes to pesticide use in Canada, we are a human experiment without records being kept. We have chemical warfare going on in our neighborhoods. The spreading and the spraying of chemicals on lawns, trees and in houses is against the common right of all citizens to breathe clean air and to remain in good health -- Dr.J. Irwin

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/

Image Sources: http://www.umaine.edu/; http://co.water.usgs.gov/; http://www.kernowtraininggroup.co.uk/

Watch Videos:

Syngenta Spray Operations near Waimea Canyon Middle School campus:

"Rainy Dayz"

"Prehistoric Monster"

Are organic fruit, veggies worth the extra cost?

By LISA STIFFLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Kristin Barquist runs the stand for Tiny's Organic Fruit and Produce at the Ballard Farmers Market while, top, leeks and red and yellow onions from Anselmo's Farms are on display.

It's chilly this time of year at the Ballard Farmers Market, and there are only a couple of dozen stands set up, but it was worth the trip Sunday for Jill Bramlett, who was on a quest for affordable, fresh, organic foods.

After buying a sack of apples from Tiny's Organic Fruit and Produce, the Ballard resident said she tries to get all organic dairy items and leafy green veggies. When it comes to other produce, "it depends on how expensive it is," Bramlett said.

Demand for organic items has grown faster than a zucchini in summer -- swelling 20 percent annually nationwide in recent years. But when does it make sense to plunk down the extra cash for organic milk, spinach and hamburger, and when are conventionally produced items OK? What are the health and environmental effects, and what does the organic label really mean?

People are turning to organic items for a variety of reasons -- often with health topping the list.

"A lot of people with children -- they're the ones that are more concerned with it," said Kristin Barquist, between customers at the Tiny's stand. Some of the shoppers buy the organic produce and turn it into baby food.

For parents concerned about the effect of the pesticides used in conventional food production, buying organic makes sense, University of Washington research shows.

Children eating non-organic foods were switched for five days to an organic diet and pesticide levels were measured in their urine before and after the change. The study -- published this past fall -- found that some pesticides disappeared from the children's urine after going organic.

"We don't say that moving to more organic food will necessarily change your risk (of health problems)," said Richard Fenske, a professor with the UW's School of Public Health and one of the researchers on the study. "But it will change your children's pesticide exposure."

Fenske previously published results showing that children consuming produce and juice grown using conventional farming practices had urine levels of some pesticide types that were five to seven times higher than for children with a 75 percent organic diet.

It's unclear what health effects -- if any -- are triggered by the low levels of pesticide detected in the research, Fenske said.

Studies are being done on the neurological and developmental effects of the chemicals in animals, and a massive human U.S. study has been proposed that could measure potential subtle effects, he said.

Those supporting pesticide use say that the levels of the chemicals in non-organic foods are well-controlled by the government and so minuscule that they are not a threat to human health.

"The benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables far outweigh any concerns about pesticides," said Heather Hansen, executive director of Washington Friends of Farms and Forests, a non-profit group representing agricultural interests.

Organic: What it is and when to buy it

Before an item is slapped with an organic label, it must pass a certification process by the U.S. or state departments of agriculture.

Certified foods cannot be genetically modified or irradiated. Produce cannot be farmed with most synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Organic dairy, poultry, meat and eggs are produced without growth hormones and antibiotics. The animals must have some kind of outdoor access, but that standard is poorly defined.

Although organic foods are sometimes the same price as non-organic items, they're often 25 percent, 50 percent or even twice as expensive as conventionally produced foods.

Shoppers who are selective about which items to splurge on for the organic label might choose those with the highest residual pesticide levels: apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, raspberries, spinach, strawberries, according to February's issue of Consumer Reports.

Other produce -- asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, kiwi, mangoes, onions, papayas, pineapples and sweet peas -- are rarely tainted with pesticides even when not dubbed organic, advises Consumer Reports.

But for many people, the decision to pony up the extra dough for organic goes beyond human health worries.

"Some of the overriding reasons for purchasing organic have to do with the environmental aspects, because that removes tons of many forms of pesticides," said Goldie Caughlan, nutrition education manager for Puget Consumers Co-op Natural Markets.

With pesticides and fertilizers curtailed, organic farmers typically take greater measures to maintain the health of the soil in sustainable, natural ways, such as rotating crops.

But for smaller farmers, the hurdles of the certification process can be too costly -- even if they're already following the rules.

"More important than anything is (that) people start thinking about where food comes from, what exactly went into it," said Judy Kirkhuff, market master at the Ballard Farmers Market.

An outgrowth of the surge in interest in organic goods is a push toward the support of locally produced foods. A benefit of buying from local farmers is less fuel burned getting the goods to shoppers. It's considered more sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.

And places such as farmers markets give consumers a chance to talk with farmers -- helping them learn about food production, identifying farmers selling organic items but without the certification and giving people a better understanding of why organic costs more.

George Vojkovich was manning his family's stall in Ballard on a recent Sunday. Surrounding him were more than a half-dozen coolers packed with organic sausages, eggs, chicken and beef from his Skagit River Ranch.

"It's a labor-intensive business," Vojkovich said. His cows are grass-fed, so they need more land than grain-fed cows penned in a lot. The chickens eat organic grains and run free. "There's not a lot of profit in it," he said, even though his prices are about double the grocery store.

But Vojkovich believes in the health and ecological benefits of what he's doing -- and says his growing number of customers do, too. "They want to know the people who grow their food," he said. "You know your auto mechanic; you ought to know your farmer."

SMART ORGANIC SHOPPING

Research from Consumer Reports' February issue concludes that some items are worth the organic price premium, but others might not be because their non-organic versions are less likely to be contaminated with pesticides, or they have weak standards associated with the organic label.

BEST TO GET ORGANIC:

- Apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, raspberries, spinach, strawberries

- Poultry, eggs and dairy

- Baby food

BUY ORGANIC ONLY IF PRICE DOESN'T MATTER:

- Asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, kiwi, mangoes, onions, papayas, pineapples, sweet peas

- Breads, oils, potato chips, pasta, cereals, canned and dried fruits and vegetables

DON'T SPEND EXTRA ON ORGANIC:

- Seafood

- Cosmetics

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/

Image Sources: http://www.jefferswood.co.nz/; http://organicgardening365.com/

Watch Video:

Why Organic Food?

Making Healthy Lifestyle Changes
that Last

Would you run out of fingers, and maybe even toes, if you used them to count your tries at adopting a healthy lifestyle? Many of us would. The reason? Often it's that we need to change how we try to make changes. How we make the journey, not whether we always reach our exact goals, determines our success. And how we make the journey is really about our ability to support ourselves along the way, instead of falling back into judgmental and self-defeating ways of thinking and doing.

If you're thinking about making another run at a healthy lifestyle, consider these steps along the way.

- Get real. Whether we're trying to start eating healthier or become more physically active, the first step is to be clear about our goals...and clear whether they are something we can achieve. For example, if you currently walk once a week, and you begin to strive for five, what's the chance you'll get there regularly? Immediately trying to fit four extra workouts into your busy week may leave you struggling. Instead, think about an initial goal of walking twice a week. Small increases --'baby steps' -- build on success. As you feel good about your ability to do one extra walk, you'll see your motivation ratchet up for another, 'til you reach that higher goal.

- Get committed. We're talking about energy and dedication to find healthy behaviors that work for you. Which of these statements sounds like you? "I'll try to walk twice a week," or "I'm committed to walking twice a week." It's much easier to shrug off the former promise to yourself. If it doesn't feel right to say you're committed to something, explore why. Is the goal you've set really right for you?

- Give up 'shoulds.' A tangle of beliefs and thoughts about what we 'should' do or where we 'should' be with our fitness and health can threaten our ability to find what's right for us. Refuse to follow the latest and greatest new diet. Make peace with your body size, and buy a flattering outfit for that important event rather than trying to lose weight to fit into an old favorite. You may still be able to improve your fitness, but you don't have to put feeling good on hold until you do.

- Get assertive. Does everyone around you have opinions about what's best for you? Exercise your right to make your own choices. That also means putting yourself first. If you don't make it a priority to care for yourself, you won't be at your best in caring for others either.

- Reward yourself. Build your self image as a winner by acknowledging and celebrating your small successes with ways that are meaningful to you. It's all about feeling good and keeping yourself going.

- Remind yourself. Whether it's remembering to eat lunch, or getting in that two-mile walk, add your new behaviors to your 'to do' list. When you check them off as done, you'll also give yourself an extra boost of satisfaction.

- Seek support. Support is one of the key predictors of success at lifestyle change. Buddy up with friends or family to accomplish your goals, read inspirational books or success stories. Join support groups, or seek the help of a qualified therapist or counselor if needed.

Remember: While it may seem to take a lot of work when we first start making healthy lifestyle changes, they become second nature after a while. So hang in there with your new positive behaviors. Soon, they'll just be the way you do things.

http://www.fitwoman.com/
Image source - http://a.abcnews.com/

Healthy Weight Loss:
Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes in the Gym

Finding or making time to exercise is the first step toward improving your health, but it's not the only step. Workouts can be challenging and mistakes in the gym are common. At times, these mistakes can cause mild strains or more significant injuries. By changing small parts of your routine, you can see incredible results. The American Council on Exercise warns of these mistakes commonly made in the gym and offers tips to help individuals stay safe during their workouts.

1) The all-or-nothing approach. Not having a full hour to exercise is no reason to skip your workout. Research shows that even 10 minutes of exercise can provide important health benefits.

2) Unbalanced strength-training programs. Most people tend to focus on certain muscles, such as the abdominals or biceps, because they have a greater impact on appearance or it is where they feel strongest. But to achieve a strong, balanced body, you have to train all the major muscle groups.

3) Bad form. The surest way to get injured in a gym is to use bad form. For example, allowing the knee to extend beyond the toes during a lunge or squat can put undue stress on the knee, and using momentum to lift heavy weights or not exercising through a full range of motion will produce less-than-optimal results.

4) Not progressing wisely. Exercising too much, too hard or too often is a common mistake made by many fitness enthusiasts. Rest and gradual progression are important components of a safe and effective exercise program.

5) Not enough variety. Too many people find a routine or physical activity they like-and then never change it. Unchanging workouts can lead to boredom, plateaus and, worse case, can lead to injury or burnout.

6) Not adjusting machines to one's body size. Most exercise equipment is designed to accommodate a wide range of body types and sizes. But it's up to you to adjust each machine to your body's unique needs. Using improperly adjusted machines will lead to less-than-optimal results and increase your risk of injury.

7) Focusing on anything but your workout. The importance of being mindful of the task at hand cannot be overstated. Reading or watching TV can adversely affect the quality of your workout because the distraction can literally slow you down.

8) Not properly cooling down after your workout. Too many people wrap up their workouts and head straight to the showers. Instead, take a few minutes to lower your heart rate and stretch your muscles. This not only improves flexibility, but also helps prepare the body for your next workout.

9) Poor gym etiquette. This can range from simply being rude-lingering on machines long after you are done or chatting loudly on your cell phone-to poor hygiene and not wiping your sweat from machines once you're finished. Always be considerate of other exercisers.

10) Not setting realistic goals. Unrealistic and vaguely stated goals are among the leading causes of exercise dropout. The key is to establish a training goal that is specific and appropriate for your fitness and skill levels-something a bit challenging but not overly difficult.

http://www.fitwoman.com/
Image source - http://newdayinitiative.org/

Watch Video:

Most Astonishing Health Disaster of the 20th Century

Permaculture -- The Path to a Sustainable Future


by Bonnie North

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were on when we created them." - Albert Einstein

Let's take a drive down the east coast of North America from New York to Baltimore on Interstate 95. Once beyond the eye-burning vapors of the industrial dead-zones of New Jersey, our journey will carry us through a landscape of homogenous suburbs marked by exit signs to places with bucolic-sounding names like "Greenville," and "Spring Hill." We'll roll past 300-miles of housing developments and chem-lawns with their attendant shopping malls, strip centers, parking lots and acres of macadam roads -all of this linked together by vehicular arteries that speed us along in a smooth flow of ad vertising billboards.

It all appears quite "normal" to us. This is the American Dream in manifestation, the post-industrial materialisation of mass aspirations to comfort, security, autonomy. It's very easy to forget that a mere 300 years ago all th e ground we've just covered was what we would now call "wilderness," vast forests, wetlands, coursing streams, fecund bogs... Now we have most of those streams re-routed into cement culverts. Most of the bogs and wetlands are choked dead with fill and s lathered over with concrete. There is not one stump remaining from those forests.

We have considered this total alteration of the landscape to be symbolic of "Progress." But as the latest readings come in, evidence is beginning to mount that these t ract developments and "village centers," are the setting for a way of life that may well be doomed. Scientists, biologists, economists and even a few politicians are becoming aware that it is simply not sustainable.

The Native Americans, who lived here for many hundreds of years and yet altered the land so little, would speak of seven generations. When decisions of magnitude were considered the potential impact on their descendants -unto seven generations- was held close in mind. This is what we have failed to bring into our prevalent mode of thinking. The dreamers of the American Dream have always held "making a better life for your kids" close in their collective heart but the vision of this "better life" rarely extended beyond one or two generati ons. Perhaps because we are a people of such mixed heritage we have little sense of tribal identity to extend our feelings of family beyond those children we could hope to live to see. Or perhaps we simply became intoxicated with this bountiful contine nt which seemed to offer wealth that was inexhaustible.

But nothing is truly inexhaustible and now we are finding that WE are the seventh generation! The fruits of the 300 short-sighted years of man's "conquering" this land are ripening fast and the harvest is bitter to survey. Our God Progress and His Omnipotent Technology may have double-crossed us. We find ourselves waking from The American Dream and choking in industrial and household waste. We dimly perceive that we are dangerously close to exhausting the earthly resources that sustain life on this planet. We can't see any clear path to the future. We eat anti-depressants to fog our fear and tell ourselves that somehow more and more technology will magically provide some quick fix.

"This is wrong-thinking and dangerous." warns Peter Bane, publisher of The Permaculture Activist. Bane argues that "Further centralizing control and greater applications of industrial technology cannot save us. These forces and processes have brought about t he crisis and cannot forestall it. Only by changing the basis of production and the nature of power can we build a world that is appropriate to our generative and loving instincts and to our nature as inquisitive and creative beings."

It's true that we can't move backwards and un-do what's been done even if we wanted to. Five billion people cannot live on this planet as hunter-gathers in a stable eco-system. There are too many of us and that stable eco-system is no longer. We have destroyed it. We must look squarely, bravely and with clear eyes at the mistakes of the past while re-vamping our vision of the possible future. An entirely new mind-set is required to meet the challenges of mankind's present impasse.

Permaculture, signifying permanent agriculture-permanent culture, may well be the first-born child of that new mind-set. The term Permaculture was invented by an Australian engineer named Bill Mollison, it is also the copyrighted name of an international organization he founded in the early 1980's.

Mollison had been a scientist with the Tasmanian Fisheries Department when he noticed that the fish stocks were collapsing, that the seaweed on the shore was thinning out, that large parts of the eco-system under his stewardship were disap pearing. At first he followed the usual path of protesting the political and industrial systems that seemed to be killing off the natural world around him. These efforts merely left him increasingly bitter and frustrated- "I decided it was no good pers isting with opposition that in the end achieved nothing. I withdrew from society for two years; I did not want to oppose anything ever again and waste my time. I wanted to come back with something very positive, something that would allow us all to exis t without collapsing the biological systems around us."

In 1968 he began teaching at the University of Tasmania and by 1974 he and a colleague, David Holmgren, had jointly evolved what they described as "a framework for sustainable agricultural based up on a multi-crop of perennial trees, shrubs, herbs (vegetables and weeds), fungi and root systems." In 1978 he published his first book: Permaculture One, followed a year later by Permaculture Two and in 1990 by a giant of a book: Permaculture, A Practica l Guide For A Sustainable Future, which has become the "bible" of the Permaculture movement. In 1991, the much smaller and more accessible (especially to the interested layman) Introduction To Permaculture, co-authored with Reny Mia Slay, appeared.

Mollison describes Permaculture as a "design system" for creating sustainable human environments. Based upon the an understanding of natural systems, it is "a philosophy of working with, rather than against, nature." Permaculture proposes "protracted and thoughtful observations rather than protracted and thoughtless labor."

We may often hear the term Permaculture used indiscriminately when discussing any hodge-podge of organic farming methods. Although Permaculture certainly advocates strictly organic farming, true Permaculture goes far, far beyond. DESIGN is the key concept in the Permaculture approach. Legitimate Permaculture designing is complicated, rigorously scientific, unfailingly thorough and requires considerable training. None-the-less, s ince 1981 more than 7,000 Certified Permaculture Designers have graduated from The Permaculture Institute and are active world-wide.

Permaculture insists upon thoughtful stewardship instead of aggressive domination. Permaculture designing is site-spe cific, though based upon a complexity of essential principles hammered out by Mollison in his early years of research. It requires keen observations and the detailed mapping of a long-term path toward ultimate sustainability. The designer considers ever y aspect of the land itself: the contour, drainage, soil content etc... and also every aspect of the environment: rainfall patterns; prevailing wind systems; yearly sunlight cycles etc...

A good Permaculture design also projects the alterations that the institution of the planned design will create in the regional biosphere as the design system matures. Permaculture builds towards maximum sustainability in carefully plotted stages. It can require 15 - 20 years for a Permaculture design to reach maturi ty. Through the plotting of zones of activity; the institution of "guilds" of plants that compliment each other's needs and grow together in synergy; and the planned rotation of foraging animals through the crops at various stages of their growth, a rati onal stewardship over the land, the plants and the animals is developed.

At maturity, a fully realized Permaculture site bears little resemblance to a "farm" as we know it today. Though deliberately established, tended, monitored and maintained by m an, it will APPEAR to be almost "wild." Permaculture mimics natural systems. It incorporates the natural tendencies of the land, the plants and the domesticated animals into it's plan -creating a naturally ordered system that is none-the-less intentiona lly designed to serve man's needs while respecting the needs of all the species within the system. The result is high-yield/low-maintenance agriculture that maximizes the potential of the land and minimizes the effort required to achieve a bountiful harv est. This is what is meant by "working with, rather than against nature."

The Permaculture Institute is active in every continent on the globe. Working humbly, and usually without governmental or corporate funding of any sort, Permaculture volunteers are doing the kind of good work in the developing nations that we once believed the Peace Corps was going to accomplish. Since 1984 the Institute has held an annual international conference bringing together teachers, designers and laymen from all over the planet to discuss the future of the movement and share its expanding applications as adaptations to essential principles evolve in new regions and biospheres.

The movement is growing steadily as new students and freshly graduated designers enter t he arena every year. Still Permaculture, an all-encompassing approach to one of the crucial elements in developing a sustainable way of life, is not well understood. More educational outreach is sorely needed. Chemically assisted mono-cropping is neith er healthy nor sustainable. Yet usual methods of organic multi-cropping are labor intensive and expensive and thus are often rejected as a serious practical alternative. Ultra-efficient, high-yield/low-maintenance Permaculture designing, whether impleme nted on a large market-intended scale, or in the individual home garden, can offer us a real solution.

http://journeytoforever.org/

Image source - http://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/; http://api.ning.com/

Watch movie:

PERMACULTURE TRIO:
Forest Gardening, Edible Landscaping, Urban Permaculture

Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria - Rhizobia

Growing Nitrogen Fixing Plants - The Beans and Peas Myth

The myth of nitrogen fixing bacteria in vegetable gardens...

How often have you read that nitrogen hungry vegetables like salad greens or the cabbage family should best be planted in a rotation after peas or beans? The cabbages are supposed to make use of all the nitrogen that the peas and beans have "fixed".
Well, that may or may not work. It depends where you live and what has been growing in your garden the last ten years.
Let's clear up some confusion and make sure that growing nitrogen fixing plants actually works for you.

How Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria Improve Soil Fertility

Nitrogen is one of the most important chemical elements for plants. If there is not enough nitrogen available in the soil plants look pale and their growth is stunted.

Nitrogen fixing plants are called legumes. Legumes - and all peas and beans are legumes - are plants that work together with nitrogen fixing bacteria called Rhizobia, to "fix" nitrogen.

The Rhizobia chemically convert the nitrogen from the air to make it available for the plant.

Legume plants live in a symbiotic relationship with the nitrogen fixing bacteria - the Rhizobia live in nodules in the plant's roots.

This way the plant can look after its own nitrogen needs. Fertilizer is not required.

In addition, when the crop is harvested and the plant cut back to ground level, the root nodules should release all the valuable fixed nitrogen for following crops.

That's the theory. It's great news and all permaculture designs make extensive use of legumes and nitrogen fixing bacteria to increase the nitrogen level in the soil.

However, there is a hook!

The relationship between the legume plant and the nitrogen fixing Rhizobium is highly specialized. The Rhizobium strain suitable for a certain plant is usually found naturally in the soil where the plant originally developed. After all they developed together.

Well, most of our beans and peas originated in Europe, so if you live in America or Australia you can not expect the required Rhizobium to automatically be present in your soil. Most likely it's not, and if it is, then probably not in sufficient numbers. (The latter is even true in Europe.)

That means unless you inoculate the seed you have to fertilize your beans and peas just like any other crop, and growing them makes no difference for the following crop at all.

Inoculating Legumes

Inoculant is the matching Rhizobium in liquid or powder form. It should come with instructions on how to coat the seeds with it before planting.

Once present in your soil the Rhizobia will happily live there for several years on their own, so if you plant beans again in the same spot a few years later they'll be just fine.

Nitrogen fixing bacteria sure are the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way to supply nitrogen to your plants.

How Much Nitrogen Is Left Behind For Other Plants?

Nitrogen fixing plants do fix nitrogen because they need it. And they use it. I'm sure you know that beans, peas, lentils and other pulses are good for you because they are high in protein. Well, that's where a lot of the nitrogen goes, into the protein rich seeds.

If your legume plants flower and go to seed then most of the nitrogen that the bacteria fixed is tied up in the plant. Some of it you eat, the rest hopefully ends up on your compost. But precious little actually remains in the soil.

If you want nitrogen fixing plants to benefit other plants the best way is to grow them as "green manures". Grow them until they are about to flower, then cut them and work them into the soil. If you let them go to flower and seed be aware that most of the nitrogen is now in the plant. Use it for mulch or compost.

Native Nitrogen Fixing Plants

There's one more option, I like to call it the permaculture option. There are many native legumes, trees, shrubs and other kinds. Since nobody ever fertilized them they had to make do by themselves, so they developed relationships with Rhizobia.

If you grow a legume that's native to your area the required nitrogen fixing bacteria will be present in your soil.

Use the natives as a cover crop, as an in between crop (talking both time and space here), slash or prune them regularly, get creative and find ways to incorporate them into your permaculture garden design.

Native nitrogen fixing plants usually don't need looking after, they just spent thousands of years adapting themselves to your particular soil and climate.

As they grow they work for you, by converting the nitrogen in the air into nitrogen for your plants. No need to buy inoculant, no need to buy fertilizer, and no need to spread it. Sounds like a good deal to me.

For the sake of completeness I should mention that there are other nitrogen fixing bacteria as well. They live in the soil independently of plants, and they also fix nitrogen from the air.
Examples of such nitrogen fixing bacteria are azobacter and clostridium pasteurianum. However, that's material for another article. Rhizobia are what most people refer to when they mention nitrogen fixing bacteria.

http://www.ecovillagenews.org/

Permaculture Zones

The Growing Zones In A Permaculture Design

Permaculture zones are the different growing zones in your permaculture design.

A permaculture garden is divided into growing zones according to how frequently you visit the different areas, and your plants are placed in these areas according to how much attention they need.

Permaculture zones save a lot of time and energy by reducing necessary travel. And that makes a huge difference, believe me.

The planting zones in a permaculture design are numbered from the inside out. Zone 0 is the house. From here we count outwards. That gives the initial impression that permaculture zones are just concentric circles around your house, but as you will see, that's not the case...

Permaculture Zone 1

Zone 1 contains all the most visited areas of your garden. Usually it's the area closest to your house, but it also extends along frequently travelled paths. And if there is one side of your house that you rarely go to, then that's not part of growing zone 1, no matter how close to the house it is.

Everything that needs a lot of attention should be growing in zone 1.

Examples for plants to grow here are seedlings that require daily watering, frequently used herbs, salad vegetables, a lemon tree, and maybe your favorite flowers or scented shrubs. Something like the area where you collect compost may also be part of permaculture zone 1.

Let me show you with a few examples why it is important to place anything that needs a lot of attention in zone 1:

Say you have chickens and you visit them daily to feed them and collect the eggs. A propagation area along the path would make sure you don't forget to water your precious seedlings.

Or say you only have a tiny yard and a busy corporate lifestyle. Place your seedlings so you fall over them when you walk from your car to your house, and you'll notice any problems before it's too late.

Or another example: you are throwing a dinner party, it's raining and you started cooking late, because as usual you were held up in the office. The guests have arrived, the soup is ready, and the fresh chives to add that extra zing are at the end of a muddy path right down the bottom of your garden. Are you going to venture out to get them?

Herbs like parsley and chives should grow right on your doorstep, and you will actually use them.

These are just a few examples, but I'm sure you get the drift. Forget that old fashioned idea that useful plants like herbs or vegetables should be separated from your "ornamental" garden and grown in a vegetable patch in a far corner of your yard. Especially for beginners that is the surest way to a neglected, overgrown, weedy, sorry excuse for a vegetable garden...

Herbs and vegetables are very ornamental in their own right, some are outright spectacular.

Just take plain lettuce. Do you have any idea how many colourful varieties with different kinds of leaves there are? You can plant the most beautiful swirls and patterns just out of lettuce. If that pretty bed is next to your kitchen door it takes no time and effort at all to pick the outside leaves every day as required.

For a spicier salad use purple mustard, and tatsoi, and, and... And who says you can't grow flowers amongst them? Nasturtiums add a cheerful splash of bright colour, and you can eat the leaves and the flowers in salads. They taste and look good, like many, many other edible plants.

It's time we give our herbs and vegetables the place they deserve, which mostly happens to be in permaculture zone 1.

Permaculture Zone 2

Zone 2 in a permaculture design also receives a lot of attention, but less than zone 1.

Growing zone 2 is usually fully irrigated - if your climate requires it, that is - and mulched. It contains your smaller fruit trees, shrubs and trellised fruit, bramble berries, hedges, ponds or windbreaks. Anything that will do well even if you don't check it every day.

Permaculture zone 2 also features hardy perennial herbs and spices that you don't use on a daily basis, things like ginger and turmeric or a bay tree. Then there are the herbs that re-seed themselves every year without you doing anything (dill, coriander, borage). They happily grow under fruit trees in zone 2.

Vegetables that take a long time to mature and are only picked once or twice also belong into planting zone 2. Think potatoes and sweet corn, cauliflower and onions.

Other species I evict from zone 1 to zone 2 are unruly rambling vines that take up a lot of space and threaten to smother everything else around them (cucumbers!).

Let me make sure at this point that you don't misunderstand that permaculture zone thing:

There are no clearly defined borders between the growing zones in a permaculture design. Most importantly permaculture zones need not be of a circular or any regular shape.

I already mentioned the frequently travelled paths, the edges of which belong to growing zone 1. Growing zone 2 would start right behind the plants on the edge.

The main questions to ask yourself when looking at your permaculture design is how often you visit certain areas, and how much your plants - or animals - need you or you need them. That's what ultimately determines the permaculture zoning.

Unless you live in a rural area and have a lot of land to play with, you won't have much room to include the remaining zones, so we'll only cover them shortly:

Permaculture Zones 3 - 5

Permaculture Zone 3
...is still a managed growing zone, but not as intensely managed. It would not be mulched and not visited on a regular basis. This growing zone features your large fruit or nut trees. On farms it would include your main crop areas and the large pastures.

Permaculture Zone 4
...is only semi-managed. This is an area for gathering wild foods and for growing timber.

Permaculture Zone 5
...is your unmanaged bush.

Now, I said that these zones are not relevant to you unless you have a huge block of land, but permaculture zone 5 is an exception. Even on a garden sized bit of land you can set aside a suitable area for native plants and wildlife only.

This is especially the case if you are lucky enough to have your block adjacent to a wild area like a state forest or a nature reserve (I know, realistically few of us are that lucky). You can then even have a strip of permaculture zone 5 cut through your growing zones 1 and 2, a wildlife corridor straight to your favorite deckchair!

And now imagine that every garden had a strip of permaculture zone 5, and that we could link them all together, can you imagine how much of a difference we would make? Dreaming, I know, but the dream is always the first step to change the reality. So what do your neighbours think?

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/

Image source - http://www.lucas-smith.co.uk/; http://sustainablepenrithblog.blogspot.com/

Building with Cob

by Brian Liloia

This beautiful cabin was built by members of cobworks.com and cob cottage. Located in Mayne Island British Columbia, Canada.

Cob is a mixture of sand clay and straw - wet enough to mold yet dry enough to build up without forms. Walls are built up to be monolithic, which gives them greater strength in earthquakes. Cob invites your creativity to be expressed in the process of building your space: living space, meditation space, work space, sleeping space, play-space. Build curved walls, arches, and niches. And who says that walls are flat? All it takes to make the step towards your dream space is a fairly short learning process, to gain a sense for the material. A fun way of learning is to participate in a workshop, where you work on a structure and learn hands-on, with opportunity to discuss your ideas with others, pick up knowledge of the whole process and meet new friends.

Entry Door

Fireplace

Kitchen

Stairway to Loft

http://tinyhouseblog.com/earthcob/little-cob-cabin/

Cob house designs and planning

I've been dwelling on (pun sorta intended) my cob house designs for a little while now, making plenty of sketches and reading lots of different books. As of yesterday, I thought I was fairly settled on a basic design. The roof has been causing me the most anxiety, since that is where I have no experience in either design or construction. But anyway, I had a salon/discussion last night to talk about my plans and to get feedback. I've been talking to a few different folks already, but I wanted to have a group discussion to get additional ideas. As a result of that talk, I am no longer so attached to my original design, and today I am doing some re-thinking, especially in terms of the roof I had in mind.

Originally, my plans looked something like this:

It's a small cob house, with an 11'x13' interior, rounded corners, with an urbanite foundation and a living roof. The walls are projected to be about 18 inches thick. A 6' wide porch is on the west side of the house.

The south-facing wall would feature a large sliding window, about 4-6 feet wide for solar gain. The entrance is positioned in the southeast corner. Smaller double hung windows rest in the east and west walls, with a tiny fixed window in the north. Along the west wall is a rocket stove connected to a 4' wide heated cob bed and bench that wraps around the northwest.

Bookshelves would be cobbed directly into the walls. A three foot deep shelf would be positioned above the cob bed for storage.

So. I'm now rethinking these basic plans a bit after learning about reciprocal roofs and seeing this incredible woodland home design. Originally, I kept debating between using standard dimensional lumber or pole wood for the roof construction. I was leaning towards dimensional lumber since I figured it would be easier to work with, and it would keep the living roof design more uniform and easier to build. However, I did not like the idea of depending on milled lumber. I thought it would be much nicer to find wood poles here on the land and incorporate them into the building instead. But I was intimidated by the prospect of using lots of uneven pieces of wood. How would that complicate the living roof?

However, after talking with Mark of Red Earth Farms I became inspired by the reciprocal roof design, which could easily be made using pole wood. I even made a couple smaller scale reciprocal roof models using chopsticks and oak wood scraps. After doing some web browsing, I have seen a number of photos of natural homes with reciprocal living roofs. Additionally, I am just starting to overcome my fear of a lack of familiarity with some of the construction process. Why should I worry? This is all one great big learning experience. If I really want to learn, I might as well design the cottage the way I really envision it. Take the bull by the horns.

Now I am starting to reformulate my design to incorporate a reciprocal roof, and a slightly different building shape. The basic layout will be similar, but I think this potential second iteration will have a more unique design. We shall see.

http://small-scale.net/stash/2008/02/28/cob-house-designs-and-planning/

Watch Video:

Building with Cob

What are the benefits of a solar water heater?

Solar water heaters provide you with several benefits over conventional water heaters. You will reduce your hot water heating costs. You will also be directly reducing greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, CO2, released into the atmosphere), thereby contributing to a healthier environment.

The energy you can expect to save by switching to a solar water heater depends on several factors such as the size of the collectors and storage tank, appliance efficiency, amount of sunlight in your region and, very importantly, the amount of water you use. A typical solar hot water system will reduce annual energy costs by 40 to 50 percent. You can expect that a solar water heater will provide you with 1500 to 3000 kWh of energy per year, depending on your hot water usage and regional climate. The map on page 4 shows approximate energy savings for various places in Canada.

Most solar water heaters consist of solar collectors mounted on the roof of a house; a pump for circulating the heat transfer fluid; a heat exchanger for transferring the heat to storage; and one or two storage tanks for storing solar-heated water for periods when there is no sun.

Will we always have hot water?

Modern solar water heaters are well suited for the Canadian climate because they produce energy when the outside temperature is well below freezing. They also have mechanisms that protect them from freezing in the winter and from overheating on hot sunny days. Nearly all systems use the existing water heater as a backup energy supply to ensure that there is always a supply of hot water.

Is our house suitable for a solar water heater?

Most solar water heaters can easily be retrofitted to your existing water heater. Inside your home, you will need a small space adjacent to your existing water heater for the solar-heated water storage tank and the heat transfer unit that is connected to the collectors. Having a storage tank for your solar-heated system will reduce the likelihood that you will run out of hot water in your home. However, most small systems, for example systems with 3 m2 of collectors, do not come with a storage tank.

The best location for the collectors is on an unshaded, southfacing roof or wall. For excellent performance, solar collectors should face due south and be set at an angle of 18C- 50C from the horizontal plane. Collectors can also be mounted on a sturdy frame near your home, or can be integrated into the roof of a storage shed. The solar collectors typically require a flat mounting area of about 3 m2 for each collector. Most installations require one to two solar collectors.

A small path is required for the piping which connects the solar collectors to the storage unit. The piping usually can be installed through closets, cold air returns, wall cavities, and along the outside wall of the home.

What will a solar water heater do to
the appearance of our house?

Components for solar water heaters are located outside and inside your home. Properly installed solar water heaters will not detract from your home's appearance or disrupt your normal household routines.

Taking a small amount of time to examine the different possible locations for the solar collector array can make a large difference on the visual appeal of the finalinstallation. On the outside of your home, the largest visible component is the solar collector array. Solar collectors look similar to low-profile skylights. Modern solar collectors are usually finished in an attractive aluminum casing with a glass cover. Collectors are 10 to 15 cm in thickness and require a flat area of about 3 m2 each.

Special frames to raise the collector off the roof are usually not desirable and, in most cases, the improved performance of the system may not justify the additional cost. On the other hand, installing the solar collector at a shallow angle may compromise winter performance and will not assist in snow removal. Mounting the collector flush with the roof contributes to a neat installation and ensures the collector will not contribute to additional wind or snow loading.

The only other part of a solar water heater that may be visible on the outside of your house is the insulated piping connecting the solar collectors with the solar storage unit. A good installation will pass this tubing through a special roof flashing in an unobtrusive place. Sometimes cathedral ceilings or special wall construction require that the piping be run along the outside of the house to a more convenient entry point. In this case, a downspout can be installed to hide the piping, to avoid any negative impact on the appearance of the house.

Solar water heater dealers are equipped to provide you with information on currently available models. They will advise you in selecting the best model for your needs and help select a suitable location for the system. In most cases, dealers can also offer complete installation services. Before contacting a dealer, however, you should become familiar with the various types of solar water heaters and their suitability for your needs.

A variety of solar water heater designs are available for consumers. There are variations in collector styles and component arrangements, as well as different methods of freeze and overheating protection.

If you are planning to use a solar water heater year-round in Canada, it must be protected from freezing in the winter and overheating in the summer. Solar water heaters that meet the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) International guidelines have automatic controls to prevent overcharging the solar heater (i.e. to prevent potential scalding water temperatures). The following are common system types (the first two can be freezeprotected in the Canadian climate):

- "Antifreeze" systems use special fluid to transfer heat from the collector to a heat exchanger in the storage unit. These systems are fully freezeprotected, prevent contamination of the hot water, and can operate in all climate conditions. Snow will slide off the collector as the sun begins to warm them. On days with heavy snowfall, performance can be increased by removing the snow off the collectors.

- Drainback systems automatically drain the collectors when they are not collecting solar energy or when the temperature of circulating water is 3C or less. Make sure that the system's minimum temperature rating is appropriate for your climate.

- Thermosiphon systems do not have freeze-protection, and are popular for cottages where water heating is needed only in the summer. These solar water heaters are often less expensive than models incorporating freeze-protection.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PDF HERE

Solar Water Heating Systems
Resources Canada

Image sources: http://solar.envirohub.net/; http://lifehacker.com/; http://www.espressomilkcooler.com/; http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/

Watch Video:

Side by side testing of eight
solar water heating systems

These articles come directly from researchers and are passed on to everybody. The company assumes no liability for any content in these articles.
For Educational purposes only.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease

For more great articles go to http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.org/infoE.php#article

GO BACK GO TO TOP

REPORT

Of a Clinical Trial of
Siberian Cedar Nut Oil
Bearing the Ringing Cedars of Russia Trademark

Part I

RingingCedarsofRussia.org

Essential Oils of the Siberian Cedar
Cedar Nut Oil

The clinical trial was conducted in a random population group in outpatient conditions. In total, 22 persons from 20 to 52 years of age (the average age was 37.2 +/- 2.4 years) were included in the trial. The persons studied belonged to the category of students (5 persons) and employed persons (17 persons). All of the persons observed had a pathology of the digestive organs. Gastroesophageal reflux disease was observed in 8 persons; erosive gastroduodenitis, in 9 persons; peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, in 4 persons; and postoperative stomach disease, in 1 person.

For the evaluation of the criteria of the effectiveness of Cedar Nut Oil of Ringing Cedars of Russia Trademark, a standard questionnaire for the evaluation of the quality of life was used -the Nottingham Health Profile. All patients were surveyed prior to beginning taking the preparations and after 20 days.

Results

The results of the trials are presented in the table.

After the detection of the disease, in persons 20 years of age in the group under study (5 persons), the lowering of the quality of life indicators was minimal. Following the course of treatment with Siberian cedar oil bearing the Ringing Cedars of Russia trademark, a reliable improvement was noted (P<0.05-0.02), as was the full restoration of the evaluated quality of life parameters.

In persons in the older age groups (17 persons), the lowering of the quality of life indicators was more significant. However, on the completion of the course of treatment with Siberian cedar oil bearing the Ringing Cedars of Russia trademark, a significant and reliable improvement (P<0.001-0.05) was noted in the quality of life indicators.

As a whole, in the entire group of persons studied, the most noticeable improvement was observed in the improvement of emotional reactions and the restoration of sleep.
Table. Results of the surveyed patients from 20 to 52 years of age

Time
observed

Energy
level

Pain

Emotional
reactions

Sleep

Social
isolation

Physical
abilities

Before treatment
(n = 22)

30.6 +/- 7.6

9.1 +/- 2.6

12.0+/- 3.1

18.1 +/- 4.8

7.9 +/- 3.0

7.4 +/- 1.8

After treatment
(n = 22)

15.6 +/- 6.6*

3.7 +/- 1.3*

2.5 +/- 1.5*

5.7 +/- 2.2*

1.6 +/- 1.1*

3.9 +/- 1.4

Note: An asterisk indicates differences that are statistically reliable in comparison to the initial level (P<0.05)

Clinical tests conducted by:
A. B. Krivosheev
Professor of the Department of Internal Medicine
Doctor of Medical Sciences

http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.org/
Used by permission
© Copyright CedarInfo.info


FOOTNOTES

Cedar Nut Oil - widely known as Pine Nut Oil in North America.

Linguini with Pesto Sauce Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4 ounces (120 gr) small basil leaves
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 ounce (30 gr) pine nuts
1/4 cup (60 cc) extra-virgin olive oil from Liguria
2 Tablespoons parmigiano reggiano cheese, freshly grated
Salt
1 pound (450 gr) small tender green beans
1 pound (450 gr) new potatoes, peeled and cut into large dices
1 pound (450 gr) linguine pasta
4 ounces (115 gr) parmigiano reggiano cheese, freshly grated for topping
Preparation:
Wash basil leaves and dry them with a towel. If the basil leaves are large, remove the center stems with a sharp knife. Place the garlic, basil, pine nuts, and one third of the extra-virgin olive oil in a food processor or blender. Run the blade, and stop occasionally to push the paste down. Add some more extra-virgin olive oil. Process the pesto until it is reduced to a fine paste and all the oil has been added. Stir in the grated parmigiano cheese (see note below for make-ahead instructions) and salt.

Transfer to a nonmetallic bowl or jar. Cover with a drizzle of olive oil and reserve.

In a stockpot, boil the beans and potatoes in salted water, until tender. Remove the vegetables from the pot; and in the same water, cook the linguini pasta, following manufacturer's instructions, testing for readiness from time to time.

Just before the pasta is al dente (firm but not too soft or overcooked) return the vegetables to the pot, and finish cooking. Drain the pasta and vegetables, transfer to a bowl, top with the pesto sauce and the grated parmigiano cheese. Toss, and serve immediately.

Notes: If you want to store pesto for a longer time, do not add the cheese; it will ferment and become rancid in a short time, dramatically changing the flavor of the pesto.

Store the pesto in a glass jar tightly sealed. Make sure the sauce is fully covered with olive oil to prevent darkening of the pesto. Use only nonmetallic containers and tools. Store the jar in the refrigerator for several weeks. Stir freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese and salt into the sauce just before serving. Pesto can be used in many preparations, including lasagne, soups, and gnocchi.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe Source: The Timeless Art of Italian Cuisine by Anna Maria Volpi (Publisher Palatino, Inc)

Watermelon, arugula, and pine nut salad

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon table salt, or to taste

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups cubed (1/2 to 3/4 inch) seeded watermelon, drained (from a 2 1/2-lb piece, rind discarded)
6 cups baby arugula (6 oz)
1/4 cup pine nuts (1 oz)
1/3 cup crumbled feta or ricotta salata (1 1/2 oz)

Coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Fleur de sel to taste (optional)

Preparation:

Whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, and salt in a large bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

Add watermelon, arugula, and pine nuts and toss to coat, then sprinkle with cheese, pepper, and fleur de sel (if using).

For Educational purposes only
This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
These articles come directly from researchers and are passed on to everybody. The company assumes no liability for any content in these articles.

For more great articles go to http://www.cedarinfo.info/

GO BACK GO TO TOP

The Strength of Siberian Health:

AUTUMN PROMOTIONS!

Full Course of Cedar Nut Oil - 30% off!

Essential Oils of the Siberian Cedar
Get your monthly course of Cedar Nut Oil - 5 bottles at a 30% discount! At the usual . Please go to our store for more information.

The oil from cedar nuts is being extracted for a long time in the Ural Mountains and Siberia. Our ancestors ate cedar nut oil and used it for medical purposes since the ancient times. In XIX century cedar nut oil could be bought on any Siberian market. It has been home-made with the use of only the simplest machinery. It has a soft taste, gold-and-amber color, and a wonderful smell of nuts.

In old Russian folk medicine consider that Siberian cedar nut oil eliminates a chronic weakness syndrome, increases overall strength of an organism, physical and brain activities. Siberian cedar nut oil taken regularly improves immune system. Any vegetative oil can be substituted by Siberian cedar nut oil, but nothing can fully substitute cedar nut oil. It can also be used as a facial night cream for returning a natural beauty of the skin.

Click here to go to our online store

For more great articles go here

Siberian Cedar Resin and Siberian Larch Resin Chewing Gum - 40% off!

Resin of Siberian Cedar
Resin of Siberian Cedar
For a limited time get 40% off when you buy a family pack of Siberian Cedar Resin and Siberian Larch Resin Chewing Gum at 40% discount!

Among the people, the resin of the Siberian cedar has acquired the name zhivitsa, related to the Russian word for life (zhizn). With an unbelievable ability to heal wounds and regenerate cells, cedar resin has, since ancient times, been considered to be a very valuable product, and was used by the peoples of Siberia and the Urals in the treatment of various diseases.

Siberian cedar resin contains 30-35% of volatile substances: turpentine and its derivatives, oxygen compounds and succinic acid. The remaining part (65-70%) is represented by resin acids and their derivatives, resinols and resinotannols, rubber (inert substances), plant matter, vitamins C and D.

Siberian cedar resin has a maximum medicinal effect if the tree is not tapped during its collection. It is thought that if harm is done to the tree, then it will not provide the life-giving force that it is capable of providing. For that reason, Siberian cedar resin is collected only from those cedars that exude their resin themselves.

Siberian cedar resin for preparing chewable tablets bearing the Ringing Cedars of Russia trademark is collected exclusively from the surface of cedar trunks without the use of tapping. Flour made from the cedar nut is added to the resin.

Click here to go to our online store

Preorder Book 2 in Turkish - 20% Discount

Resin of Siberian Cedar
Right now be the first to order the Turkish translation of Book 2 - Ringing Cedars of Russia and recieve a 20% Discount!

Publisher: Kuraldisi Yayincilik Ltd. Sti.

Official Distributor in USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: RingingCedarsofRussia.org

Click here to go to our online store

Flagstaff, AZ, USA

Official Distributor

Advanced Ayurveda, Howard Lape, Phone: 928-266-6777, e-mail: bronsonlape@cox.net

For a full list of our distributors please click here.

BOOK REVIEWS:

Dear Vladimir Megre,
Recently we have been blessed to have found 6 of your books.Please send our love to Anastasia...we have lived for 9 years here,on a 2 hectare Small Holding,we have 3 milking cows,free range chickens,and geese.

OASIS Environmental Centre
Much love Rachel Jackson.

* * *

I am now on Book 7 and see how these puzzle pieces fit with my research and service

--------------------------------
ROGER GADSDON
WINNIPEG, CANADA

* * *

Hello, I am just beginning to read Anastasia, and I'm finding it truly fascinating!

--------------------------------
Rebecca Voros
British Columbia
Canada

FEEDBACK ON PRODUCTS:

These cedar nuts have the creamiest taste and texture of any pignolia on the market. They're a dream come true in any recipe that uses pine nuts. They're simply the BEST ever!

Allan
USA

* * *

I have been using Cedar Nut Oil for 6 months. I also gave away to my loved ones who are suffered MS, Myocard Enfarctus and old age. They said this is a miracle.

Beril Sonmez
Turkey

* * *

Thank you so much for the wonderful product.
Regards

shirley cassin

WHAT CUSTOMERS SAY ABOUT OUR COMPANY:

Would like to become a distributor for these books and products. I see nothing more important than to circluate Anastasia's splendid image to all people of the Earth asap. The faster the image spreads, the faster we will have a splendid paradise to live in!

Tor Fjelldal

* * *

Hello,

I am impressed with how quick my order got here! Thanks for the prompt delivery.
I look forward to telling all my friends about your companyas well as purchasing more products in the future from you.

Thanks,

Valorie Vogel

RingingCedarsofRussia.org is the official
literary agent of Vladimir Megre.

This is the official message to publishers and editors.

Dear Publisher:

We are inviting you to participate in the interesting project of publishing the books of the writer Vladimir Nikolaevich Megre.

Vladimir Megre's books embody the human striving for harmony with oneself, the nature that surrounds us, and society. His books have been translated into more than 20 of the world's languages, more than 11 million copies have been printed, the books are international bestsellers.

All Vladimir Megre's works were originally written in Russian.

If you are interested in translating the books into one of the available languages and publishing it in the appropriate country, we are prepared to consider your proposal and give you an answer within a period of three days.

Our requirements:

1) The translator from Russian to the selected language must be highly qualified, with wide experience in prose and poetry styles.
2) The fundamental meaning of the works or any part of that meaning may not be changed or abbreviated in the translation.
3) Professional design work.
4) The presence of a distribution network or a professional business plan.

Some of the existing translations of the Ringing Cedars book series can be found on the Ringing Cedars Information page

Sincerely yours,

Rights Department
RingingCedarsofRussia.org
Official representative of Vladimir Megre

www.RingingCedarsofRussia.org contact information.

All services are available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year!

www.RingingCedarsofRussia.org currently has three regional warehouses in Europe, USA and Canada. Our Customer Service department is available to serve you 24 hour a day, 7 days a week including ordering by phone and inquiry assistance. Ringing Cedars of Russia Customer Service Representatives respond to our customers on a timely basis with accurate information. We work hard everyday to improve our customer service to the level of satisfaction our customers deserve and have come to expect. Personalized attention is what we provide. Understanding your questions and solving any problems as quickly as possible is of great importance to us. Our customer service department is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Please feel free to contact us in the manner in which you are most comfortable. We will be happy to get back to you as soon as possible.
Send us a letter 1Newsletter 1Request callback 1Order free catalog

1Mailing Address USA
130 Church Street Suit 366
New York, NY
10007
USA

Customer service and orders
Tel: 646 - 429 - 1985
Tel: 1 - 877 - TO - CEDAR (862 - 3327)
(Toll free within US)
Fax: 1 - 877 - 549 - 6902
(Toll free within US)
sales - usa@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1
customerservice - usa@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1
Outside USA:
Tel/Fax: +1 - 646 - 429 - 1985

1Mailing Address CANADA
1057 Steeles Ave. W.
P.O. Box 81768
M2R3X1
Toronto, ON
Canada

Customer service and orders
Tel: 416 - 994 - 6495
Tel: 1 - 888 - 994 - 6495
(Toll free within Canada)
Fax: 1 - 888 - 994 - 9495
(Toll free within Canada)
sales - can@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1
customerservice - can@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1
Outside Canada:
Tel/Fax: +1 - 416 - 994 - 6495

Mailing Address EUROPE - WIDE
Maybach Str.16
Recklinghaysen
45659
Germany

Customer service and orders
Tel: +44 - (0)870 - 068 - 9694
sales - eu@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1
customerservice - eu@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1

1Customer service in ENGLAND
Free Phone: 0800 - 027 - 0874
Tel: 0870 - 068 - 9694
Fax: 0870 - 068 - 9693
sales - uk@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1
customerservice - uk@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1

Outside UK:
Tel/Fax: +44 - (0)870 - 068 - 9694


Any general questions
info@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1

For distributors
distribution@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1

Webmaster
leo@ringingcedarsofrussia.org
1

GO BACK GO TO TOP

Shambhala-Shasta

SUCCESS!!!
The Anastasia Eco-settlement project has found its home in North America on Sacred Motherland!

Many great thanks to all of you who contributed to this success and to many who have supported this dream and vision with your love from near & far.

Shambhala-Shasta community has taken back 466 acres of prestine motherland.
Free and clear. No debt. No Encumbrances. No liens. Free and clear!!!

To freedom, independance and sovereignty!!!

The community will steadily grow out from here as we are bordered on the east and north by national forests.

More to come soon after our visit to our motherland in the next few days.

We have several settlers who have begun the intake process and purchased their domains. If you are ready and feel the beat in your heart, come and join!!!

http://shambhala-shasta.org/become/

Kin's Domain Eco-Village Initiative

Message submitted from: Tor Fjelldal

Email: creatingabeautifulworld@gmail.com
Title: Kin's Domain Eco-Village Initiative
Interested in making difference? Investors needed to start up a kin's domain eco-village concept based on the Anastasia books. Visit http://creatingabeautifulworld.org - all kinds of input and help is highly appreciated and welcomed! our aim is to purchase land and retunr it to people free of charge to create abundance and diversity and a good place to raise our children. the plan is to start it off in Golden Bay New Zealand and eventually make it a world wide project inspiring others to fulfull our beautiful destiny!
--------------------------------
Tor Fjelldal

Green Garden Earth

Message submitted from: Green Garden Earth

Green Garden Earth Almanac (GGEA) is an online periodical discussing the creation of Green Garden Earth with sections such as Green Technologies, Gardening, Hand-made, Traditions, and more: http://www.greengardenearth.com/almanac/

Signup to our mailing list to get notified about the next issue of GGEA: http://www.greengardenearth.com/mailinglist.html

We are looking for any like-minded authors to send us your own articles: editor@greengardenearth.com

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

This Classifieds column is created specifically for the announcements related to the "Ringing Cedars of Russia" Movement (please view example below). If you wish to submit your message please fill out the form below and click "Submit".

Thank you for your attention,

Administration,
The Earth online newspaper.

(Note: The Administration of The Earth online newspaper reserves the right to review all of the announcements. There are no guarantees that your message will be posted.)

GO BACK GO TO TOP


Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Earnest request to authors of articles and scientific works to please send your materials to us to the address info@earthlife.info with a subject "Articles". Upon a separate agreement your works may be published in the internet newspaper "The Earth", in separate collections, in the Resource Library of the Source of Life Association, and on the pages of the websites devoted to the "Ringing Cedars" movement.

Also you can open a tread on a forum devoted to readers of Vladimir Megre, at http://sourceoflife.ca/forum_ca/ and publish your works.

We value your work greatly and consider publication activity one of the highest priorities.

Please send your works of art, poems, songs, and paintings, inspired by the books of Vladimir Megre to the following address info@earthlife.info with a subject "Art". Best ones will be published in "The Earth" Newspaper. Also, you can open a thread in the ART OF SOUL section of the forum devoted to readers of Vladimir Megre, at http://sourceoflife.ca/forum_ca/ and publish your works.

For a possible answer to your question we advise you to review with the content of the internet conferences held by Vladimir Megre for the readers of the "Ringing Cedars of Russia" series of books and our Frequently Asked Questions.

You can direct your questions to the Letter Department of theearth.ringingcedarsofrussia.org website. Your question will be answered within 7 business days.

Thank you for your attention,

Administration,
The Earth online newspaper.

Editorial Staff

Publisher - EarthLife.info

Newsroom - Leonid Belov; Petr Kornev; Yulia Portna

Editor - Viktor Rod

Editorail Board - Igor Borodenko; Arthur Grom

Contact Information

Mailing Address
130 Church Street Suit 366
New York, NY
10007
USA

Contact by phone:
Tel: 646 - 429 - 1985 ext. 720
Tel: 1 - 877 - TO - CEDAR (862 - 3327)

E - mail: info@earthlife.info

GO BACK GO TO TOP

Sign up for "The Earth - Online Newspaper".

Click here to go to switch to high security mode of this page

Join our mailing list
for new and
updated information!

Click "Submit" to securely sign up for this online newspaper. You will receive up - to - date information on the "Ringing Cedars" movement, as well as news, informative articles, our promotions, and more! We respect our customer's privacy. We never exchange personal information with a third party.

To unsubscribe from the online newspaper use one of the following options send us an e - mail to info@earthlife.info with the subject "Unsubscribe".

Recommend this newspaper to your friends.

Your name:

Emails :


Information entered here is used for this referral only and no other purpose.

Send us your important news to: info@earthlife.info

Recommend to your friend

Word of mouth is our best advertising. The world needs the Ringing Cedars to be widely available in English, please tell your friends and neighbors about us. Better yet, share our Web site, http://www.earthlife.info, with them and help spread the word. It is wonderful if Anastasia's dream comes true in this country too. If you found this e - news useful to you please forward it to your friends.

Wishing you and your family health and prosperity,

www.earthlife.info

You have received this Newsletter because you are signed up on our mailing list.

Click here to go to switch to high security mode of this page

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this mail is presented for educational purposes only. The information should not be considered complete, nor should it be relied on to suggest a course of treatment for a particular individual. Always consult with your physician, Doctor or other qualified health care provider before embarking on a new treatment, diet or fitness program. You should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this email. The information contained in this mail is compiled from a variety of sources ("Information Providers") and experiences. Neither this email nor Information Providers directly or indirectly practice medicine or dispense medical services, and so all information should be treated as thus. You hereby hold RingingCedarsofRussia.org, or ANY companies/individuals associated with RingingCedarsofrussia.org and it's affiliates NOT responsible for any injury that may occur either directly or indirectly by use or misuse of the information or ideas contained within.

Copyright Notice:

The content of "The Earth - Online Newspaper" is copyrighted by http://www.earthlife.info, and, occasionally, other rights holders. You may forward this Newsletter by e - mail an unlimited number of times, provided you do not alter the content in any way and that you include all applicable notices and disclaimers. You may print a single copy of each issue of E - News for your own personal, noncommercial use only, provided you include all applicable notices and disclaimers. Any other use of the content is strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of http://www.earthlife.info, and any other applicable rights holders.

Copyright 2006 - 2008 http://www.earthlife.info, All Rights Reserved.

GO BACK GO TO TOP