The ecoTrain Magazine: 16th December 2018- Bringing you Amazing Content from the EcoTrain Passengers
Welcome to another weekly Curation from the amazing Passengers of the EcoTrain. This is the week before Solstice and change is brewing in the air. This is the time of year when we allow ourselves to pause and reflect, to become aware of our visions and goals for the coming year. This is the time for rebirth of our active selves. (within the Northern Hemisphere). It is the time to journey once again as the sun comes full circle once again.
Today I have picked one post from each of the EcoTrain passengers, who continue to write under the EcoTrain tag, within these great posts each writer is sharing their knowledge with you and also a little piece of who they are. Each of these posts are about reflection, and within each a realization. As is the way with the talented passengers of the EcoTrain, there is something within this magazine suit everyone. From natural medicine, to natural building, permaculture, fund raising and creating and envisaging our future.
It is our goal within the EcoTrain to make the world a better place and we are all very passionate about doing just that, which is reflected in the content we create. So sit back, enjoy and remember to show your support by upvoting, following and resteeming the content that you enjoy and lets all work towards making the world a better place together!
WELCOME!
@stortebeker
My 2018: Achievements and Failures – A Year of Physical Activities
It’s that time of the year again: the end meets the beginning, and we tend to look back and forward at what we’ve been doing lately or what we are planning for the near future, all amidst the most annoying music ever written, reserved for just this season (someone please shoot Rudolf). So let me go ahead and do the same, particularly since there is this sweet contest going on.
Before I start counting off my accomplishments, let me see what I had been planning last year around this time. I think I even wrote something about it here…! I was going to:
@walkerland
Conifer Recipes: Celebrating Yuletide & Kitchen Witchery
Yule, is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was to be had as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth and made her to bear forth from seeds protected through the fall and winter in her womb. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider. - Yule Lore
A waft of cold air enters the room and I stomp the snow off my boots and hurry into the kitchen.
I've brought back a basket filled with evergreen boughs, pine cones, birch bark, usnea, all lovingly gathered from the woods. My numb fingers soon begin to tingle in the warmth of the cabin. Shaking the snow from my hood, I happily wrap my hands around a warm mug of cocoa and smile.
@riverflows
Making a Wicking Bed Bath: Water Wise Gardening Part 4
In the last few weeks I've been preparing for a dry summer. Seems crazy given all the unusual rain we have had over the last few days but the dry weather WILL come.
You might have caught these posts, but if you haven't, scroll back through my feed for the posts on ollas and wicking beds. They've been wildly successful so far.
After making my IBC beds, and a wicking bed from an old trough, I thought I'd do one with the last remaining vessel in my garden - an old bathtub - so I could use up the last of the gravel. I also wanted to be able to plant a few herbs that really like water, and never survive hotter weather, such as Vietnamese mint.
@celestialcow
Donations received in Lombok: Tarpaulin given to families in need
The donations from our fundly appeal have reached Lombok and we have been able to hand out sheets of tarpaulin to several families.
We were informed that there was another earthquake just last week so everyone continues to sleep outside with the rainy season now starting its critical people are able to make secure shelters from the rain.
@trucklife-family
From The Darkness Into The Light
I recently came across, some of my poetry that I wrote when I was a teenager. It reads like a window into my soul. Seeking insights and knowledge, whilst at the same time expressing the pain and confusion I held inside. Being able to write when I was a teenager definitely saved me from myself in so many ways. Indeed it was a fine line I walked between creative expression and the path of self destruction. Writing has always been my saviour, that and my relationship with nature.
I chose to share the first poem that I picked up, which is written from a place of darkness. But always with the light in sight. The darkness is where my creative expression thrived as a teenager. It was there that I accessed my emotions and it was there that I often chose to retreat. There is a warmth in the darkness, for sometimes in the light too much is exposed.
@senorcoconut
Stone-Age European Hunters, The First Americans?
Everything (and everyone) is native to this earth and universe right?
Native or invasive, is an extremely long and complex discussion (a very sensitive one as well) that I wish to only skim the surface. When you think about it, everything (and everyone) is native to this earth and universe right?
How long does it take for someone or something to have native status in our world?
When it comes to the plant kingdom, people have strong opinions towards eradication of invasive species, there is also a mountain of solutions mostly involving the use of insane chemicals that can't be any good for our our soils, watersheds and the overall health of life. We have come to a point where permaculture can help perhaps with the problem is the solution mindset.
@misslasvegas
Spread the Love contest: The Entries. WOW! I LOVE you ALL!
Last week I held a contest by the name of 'Spread the love Contest' and after a somewhat slow start (to be honest, I got a bit nervous that no one wanted to win any Steem), at the end of it, there were 11 contestants that entered.
I asked the contestants to find a brand new Steemian with the #introduceyourself tag and tell me in a few words what they loved about their intro.
I did bend the rules just a little bit along the way. One contestant introduced 2 new Steemians, but I am not going to hold it against her, since it's all about spreading the LOVE and not about excluding anyone.
@porters
Of Root Cellars – Straw Bale Construction and Earthbound...
As the food prices get higher I find it a good idea to put up what ever seasonal foods you can.
A great place for vegetable-saving is root cellars!
I have a couple of variations to share with you.
STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION
We built ours against a west wall of our porch and the north wall of an extension we had put on our home,
this was the first straw bale construction we did and it consisted of just two walls.
We cut an entrance into it through the porch.
Venting was put in the door and on the north wall with two PVC pipes stuck through the bales before the chicken wire and three layers of stucco were put on.
@nainaztengra
There is always a reason to smile 💖😍
There are many reasons that life can give us to make us feel low and down and at the same time there are many reasons that this universe gives us to lift us up and bring a smile to our face. The joy of little things keeps our spirit alive and gives us the strength to get through those difficult periods. Happiness is in these simple and finer things of life.
Early morning as I take a walk in this beautiful part of my city and soaking up myself in the early rays of the sun I feel rejuvenated and refreshed. Its a beautiful day and there are flowers all over the city.
@eco-alex
ecoTrain QOTW Tie Up Post: If you were suddenly and unexpectedly elected to be president / prime minister of your country what would be the first executive orders you make?
A fun and engaging question this week.. with some pretty spot on suggestions and posts! I am on a long meditation retreat right now so I haven't posted or been online much at all, but I would like to mention a few points that I would include as my first executive orders. There are SO many i would choose, but I think these following points rank high on my list!
Abolish all prisons that focus on incarceration rather than rehabilitation. People would be given proper support and new opportunities instead.
Government would be decentralised with local areas being responsible for their own decisions and law making. Elections would also be local and representatives put forward in a truly democratic process.
@zen-art
To be a Witch is to be Free
On a lot of occasions and by a lot of people, I have been asked a simple and yet so complicated question "Are you a witch?". Depending on the intelligence level of the person asking (and yeah, I would subjectively estimate that level myself), the answer would be as simple as yes or I could be persuaded into joining a conversation about it. Today, I am persuaded to say more than just yes and explain to you what being a witch means to me and what exactly do I do. It will get complicated at some point in the text but stick with it and read on. Do not thank me, thank @naturalmedicine and their post WHAT DOES WITCH MEAN TO YOU? 20 SBD of prizes!. I am a sucker for prizes and since there is a chance to win some money in this bear market, sure... I will write a post about being a witch, no problem but do not say that I did not warn you about being complicated.
@ecoTrain
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A beautiful curation work @trucklife-family Thank you. I'm looking forward to taking a quiet hour over coffee tomorrow morning to read, comment and upvote some of these wonderful contributions, after a week away deluged by 'life' and 'biz'. Encouraged by your constancy and the @ecotrain community. Grateful. :)
thank you lovely friend, I have missed your writing this week but I completely understand. Much love xxxx
Wow @trucklife-family, you are doing an amazing job curating the #ecotrain newsletter!! Nice going :)
thank you @sagescrub xxx