Gentle Harvest
Richard Kühnel
208-255 2440
richard@gentleharvest.org

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One of the few research databases out there that is still free to everyone, and it cites articles pertaining specifically to agriculture while including natural resources and conservation. 

Looking for the latest in sustainable agriculture and organic farming news, events and funding opportunities? ATTRA features all that, plus in-depth publications on production practices, alternative crop and livestock enterprises, innovative marketing, and organic certification, and highlights of local, regional, USDA and other federal sustainable ag activities. The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is the Web site of the ATTRA project, created and managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and funded under a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service. 

The Land Institute has worked for over 20 years on the problem of agriculture. Its purpose is to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops. It has researched, published in refereed scientific journals, given hundreds of public presentations here and abroad, and hosted countless intellectuals and scientists. Its work is frequently cited, most recently in Science and Nature, the most prestigious scientific journal. It is now assembling a team of advisors which includes members of the National Academy of Sciences. These scientists understand its work and stand ready to endorse the feasibility of what has come to be called Natural Systems Agriculture. The Land Institute was founded by Wes Jackson.

This project of Steve Solomon provides a large number of free e-books available for immediate download. The books are mainly about holistic agriculture, holistic health and self-sufficient homestead living. There are secondary collections about social criticism and transformational psychology. No fees are collected for this service. These are books that are made available based on the Australian copyright law.

The IIEA is dedicated to healing the planet while providing for the human community by education and implementation of socially just, ecological, resource conserving forms of agriculture; the basis of all sustainable societies.
They have information on permaculture, alcohol as biofuel and related resources on their site.

Journey to Forever is a pioneering expedition by a small, mobile NGO (Non-Government Organization) involved in environment and rural development work, starting from Hong Kong and traveling 40,000 kilometers through 26 countries in Asia and Africa to Cape Town, South Africa. Among other excellent resources, they have a wealth of information on biofuels on their website.

Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a  leaf.

Directed by Architect Bruce Eugene Millard, the Studio of Sustainable Design focuses on the design of healthy, sustainable, and holistic buildings for personal environments and livable communities. Includes pages of projects and resources.

Healthy and environmentally sound building materials & home products.

The Inland Northwest's most complete source for environmental and green building products.

Complete source for green building materials.

iGreenBuild.com is your resource for the latest eco-freindly news, articles, reports, products and more.

Ancient Earth School of Natural Building is an organization dedicated to experiential education through building sustainable structures with natural materials. In addition to workshops, Ancient Earth School of Natural Building offers consultations on site placement, design, building techniques, and materials.

The Farmhouse represents a new type of environmental and energy-efficient architecture. It is bio-based, which means that a large percentage of materials used in its construction is manufactured from agricultural fibers and wood waste. In this project, these bio-based materials are combined with a range of other environmental products and systems to create a low-energy use, low-maintenance home. Materials for The Farmhouse are industrialized - they come from factories and are compatible with standard building materials and systems.
The resource page, although including some concrete products, has a good list of vendors for alternative building materials.

This is the weather web page of the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences of the University of Idaho. The Sandpoint page is currently not active, but the weather data per month for North Idaho (including Sandpoint) is available.
See yourself at www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint.

Ode is an independent magazine about the people and ideas that are changing the world. Positive news, projects and the people making it all happen.

A series of broadcasts for sustainable living including fuel, building, cities, clothes, food, transportation, furniture, children and more.

Oasis Design is a wellspring of original content and designs which you won't find elsewhere. It specializes in the nuts and bolts of sustainability—practical systems for living well, in harmony with nature and each other. These include designs for managing water, wastewater, energy, money and other resources. The goal is to live really well, on a small amount of well-managed resources, and help others do the same. There are several hundred pages of free information here on its web site, as well as an additional several hundred pages on its and articles. The principle owner is Art Ludwig.

A brief introduction to local currency experiments and the Self Help Association for a Regional Economy (SHARE) micro-credit program in Great Barrington, MA.
Local Currencies: Catalysts for Sustainable Regional Economies, an article by Robert Swann and Susan Witt detailing the highly successful local currencies and micro-credit programs initiated by the Schumacher Society.
Directory of local currency groups in the U. S. and Canada.
By-laws of SHARE program, Corporate status considerations and Recording the issuance of currency.

The Idaho Energy Division maintains the state's Solar Program, offering assistance to Idaho citizens and companies interested in taking advantage of solar technologies for space heating, water heating, power generation and more. The program provides solar technology information at renewable energy fairs and workshops throughout the state. It also conducts training for electricians, engineers, installers and dealers in the design and safe installation techniques of solar power systems. Publications on solar applications and information on low interest loans are also available through the division. They are the co-chair of the Idaho PV4You Solar Working Group promoting solar energy uses in Idaho. They have a limited number of funds available for approved installers to do solar installation assessment, $75 for systems tied into the grid and $175 for stand-alone systems.

This article by Sinan Koont describes details of Cuba's effort in “food sovereignty”: the right of peoples and states to democratically decide their own food and agricultural policies and to produce needed foods in their own territories in a manner reinforcing the cultural values of the people while protecting the environment.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) promotes food safety, organic farming and sustainable agriculture practices in the U.S. and internationally. It provides consumers with factual information they can use to make informed food choices. Genetic engineering, irradiation, toxic sludge fertilizer, mad cow disease, and rBGH are some of the issues it addresses. The OCA gives interviews and supplies background material for journalists, news organizations, and public interest activists worldwide. Its campaign strategies include public education, activist networking, boycotts and protests, grassroots lobbying, media and public relations, and litigation. It publishes one print newsletter (Organic View) and one electronic newsletter (Organic Bytes).

The IIEA is dedicated to healing the planet while providing for the human community by education and implementation of socially just, ecological, resource conserving forms of agriculture; the basis of all sustainable societies.
They have information on permaculture, alcohol as biofuel and related resources on their site.

This leading European magazine gets to the heart of permaculture and sustainable living. It features practical thought provoking articles on organic gardening, sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, climate change, peak oil, eco-villages, alternative technology, eco-architecture, personal and community development and much more. Packed with informative articles, readers solutions, DIY designs, news, reviews, book, tool and product reviews, letters, classifieds and details of a wide range of related courses.

The Activist is North America's leading permaculture periodical offering articles on permaculture design, edible landscaping, bioregionalism, aquaculture, natural building, earthworks, renewable energy, and much more. It provides a current listing of upcoming permaculture design courses and serves as an valuable global networking tool linking students to teachers and information, homeowners to designers and consultants, home seekers to community, organisms to habitats, life to soil, and hope and help for all who imagine a culture that cares for the Earth AND people.

It is estimated that up to 100,000 plants, representing more than one third of all the world's plant species, are currently threatened or face extinction in the wild. BGCI's message is clear - Action needs to be taken now!
BGCI brings together the world’s botanic gardens forming a community working in partnership to achieve conservation and education goals.

This database provides taxonomic data of the structure and nomenclature for the accessions of the USDA's National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). Many plants (37,000 taxa, 14,000 genera) are included in GRIN taxonomy, especially economic plants.

The Permaculture Information Web offers information about the relationships between biota including plants, animals, microorganisms, and other elements of living systems in order to assist with the process of Permaculture design. The current dataset includes 7300+ plants.

This Species Database contains details of 7380 plants and has extensive details on edible, medicinal and other uses of plants together with information about their cultivation and habitats.

Contains a comprehensive germination database, as well as many excellent articles by himself and other authors. As Tom is retiring his site is archived here.

This site hosts a wide range of databases and software developed by UK CropNet, as well as hosting many other plant databases developed in the USA. You can perform keyword text search across all of these databases or use the UK CropNet BLAST server to search against all of the sequences in these databases.

This database provides standardized information on a large number of plants grown in the US about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. It includes names, plant symbols, checklists, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, plant links, references, crop information, and automated tools. It includes wetland plants. Provided by the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

From the vision statement of this company, a leader soft-surfaced modular floor coverings: "To be the first company, that, by its deeds, shows the entire industrial world what sustainability is in all its dimensions: People, process, product, place and profits - by 2020 - and in doing so we will become restorative through the power of influence."

The American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) was founded in Austin, Texas to promote rainwater catchment systems in the United States. Membership consists of professionals working in city, state, and federal government, academia, manufacturers and suppliers of rainwater harvesting equipment, consultants, and other interested individuals. The objectives of ARCSA to promote rainwater catchment systems through meetings and seminars, to provide networking between people with experience in rainwater catchment systems and those who might need technical or professional assistance in developing or building such systems, to provide a forum for discussion of new methods, techniques, and materials pertaining to rainwater catchment systems, to develop informal publications to assist in the design and use of rainwater catchment systems, and to establish acceptable treatment methods for harvested rainwater.
ARCSA publishes a newsletter to keep members informed of developments in this growing field. ARCSA publications and events are free or discounted to members. Membership in ARCSA is open to anyone interested in rainwater catchment systems.

The International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (IRCSA) aims to promote and advance rainwater catchment systems technology with respect to planning, development, management, science, technology, research and education worldwide; establish an international forum for scientists, engineers, educators, administrators and those concerned in this field; draft international guidelines on this technology and update and disseminate information; collaborate with and support international programs.

The Watercone (trademark) is a device that enables anyone, in a most simple fashion, an independent, cheap and mobile solar potable water generation from sea water or brackish water on the base of condensation by solar still. It is a conical, self-supporting and stackable unit made from transparent, thermo-formable polycarbonate (same as water dispensers) outfitted with a screw cap spout at the tip and an inward circular collecting trough at the base. Technically speaking it is a solar still.