Peak Moment TV

Every year for the past two decades, the neighbors near Sherrett Street in southwest Portland repaint their colorful street intersection. Resident Mighk Simpson gives us a tour on painting day. On the sidewalk corners are spacious cob benches (with roofs), a children’s playhouse woven from tree branches and found materials, a beehive-shaped dispensary for the monthly neighborhood newsletter The Bee, a 24/7 Tea Station, and the first-ever “Little Free Library”, an innovation which has now gone viral around the world.

What might ecovillages show us about living sustainably? Political science professor Karen Litfin visited fourteen ecovillages in both developing and developed countries. The author of Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community looked for commonalities among such communities, whose intention is to live sustainably. Looking through the lenses of ecology, economics, community and consciousness, she found they share a common worldview: The web of life is sacred, and we’re part of that web.

"We're here to help form things. We have a food forest mimicking what the natural forest does." Ann and Gord Baird's edible gardens make use of less-than-ideal growing spaces on their rocky knoll. Nook and cranny gardens optimize micro-climates -- water catchment for perennial plants, rocks that retain warmth to extend the growing period, and trees providing fuel, food and shade. They are transitioning away from the annual food plants. As more perennials get established, they're becoming foragers rather than cultivators.

Let’s cultivate fermented food not only because it’s healthy, but for the wonderfully rich diversity of flavors! That’s what Kirsten K. Shockey and Christopher Shockey encourage. These food entrepreneurs show us how easy it is to make sauerkraut: slice and salt cabbage, scrunch it to get brine, press into a jar, weight it down, let it sit for a few days.