Survey for a location design

Posted on 2023-05-05 14:45:00+02:00 in surveys • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with permaculture, survey, community, location design

I'm collecting information for a design on location. This to validate our current choice of location and / or to find another place that is more suitable to our wants and needs.

Focusing on the basics

Tool: 6 ways to die

  • Shelter protects from heat and cold.
    • having appropriate clothes for …

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Hair Soap

Posted on 2023-05-03 19:45:00+02:00 in recipes • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with soap, experiment, recipe

We made a shampoo bar / soap for washing our hair. We did this for the first time in 2021 and after we had used up the first batch, we made a second batch in 2022.

We took every precaution to do this safely. Please familiarize yourself with the process before …


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Homemade Insulated Insoles

Posted on 2023-01-20 11:35:00+01:00 in blog • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with experiment, season: winter

I was looking for a way to create insulated insoles. I considered covering a piece of plastic with felt. As I looked around at what I had laying around to use as a felting template, I considered radiator foil.

The foil is made of a layer of foam and a …


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Journal of work in Proeftuin Meerhoven in 2022

Posted on 2023-01-04 13:58:00+01:00 in blog • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with survey, practical, season: spring, season: summer, season: fall, season: winter

Since mid 2017 I have been involved with gardening at the Proeftuin Meerhoven in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. This is a community garden maintained by volunteers in the neighborhood adjoining ours. We use the space with approval from the local council. The harvest from this garden has supplemented our lunches and …


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Web of Goals

Posted on 2022-12-13 19:08:00+01:00 in tools • Modified on 2023-09-13 15:47:00+02:00 • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with web of goals

Web of Goals is a technique proposed by Jacob Lund Fisker. It tries to map out a set of goals in a holistic way. Because for every goal we choose, there are consequences - positive and negative. In permaculture the attitudinal principle Everything gardens expresses this same sentiment.

A module groups …


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Experiments in 2022

Posted on 2022-12-13 16:02:00+01:00 in blog • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with experiment

This is a list of experiments Ina and I have been conducting in 2022.

  • gardening
    • a third full year of having an allotment garden
    • involved in creating an edible lawn / tiny food forest
    • propagating more plant cuttings
      • elaeagnus varieties
      • fig varieties
      • grape
      • willow
      • red and black currants
  • cooking / baking

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Ikigai

Posted on 2022-12-13 15:10:00+01:00 in tools • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with ikigai

My understanding of Ikigai has changed from my initial contact with the concept. I recently came across two articles by Dave Pollard that explain his take. I resonated with his views more than I did with other explanations. Below is Dave's synopsis. I highly recommend reading the articles linked for …


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Felted slippers (finally!)

Posted on 2022-11-16 11:38:00+01:00 in blog • Written by Arno Peters

Two weeks ago I finally managed to complete the felted slippers we started almost four years ago at the Permacultuur Festival (2019) in Belgium. Even though they came out a bit rough, they are quite comfortable to wear. We found them to work exceptionally well in plastic clogs.

Yesterday I …


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Pseudo olives

Posted on 2022-11-03 11:25:00+01:00 in recipes • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with experiment, harvest, recipe, season: summer

Ina found an interesting video on YouTube a while ago that talked about turning the cherries from Cornus mas (European cornel / gele kornoeille) into something resembling olives.

We have discovered three Cornus mas in the park nearby. This year the trees had a mast year. Naturally we decided to try …


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Contemplation on money

Posted on 2022-09-07 02:54:00+02:00 in contemplation • Written by Arno Peters • Tagged with contemplation, money, global economy

Let's start with some basic questions:

  • What is money?
  • What does it represent?
  • Why is a bank note in my wallet different from a candy wrapper? They're both colored pieces of paper and yet we treat them differently.

What is money?

In today's culture, there is the understanding that if …


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