Medicine Ways Co-op - memberships

*Sustainable transition *Sustainable Decolonisation *Prototype sustainable community design *Earthships / Passive solar homes *Permaculture / Agro-forestry

Here we go! After twelve years of landscaping the land by hand (no machines or oil!) with the Midgård Blackship central to it all here in VästraGötaland, Sweden....finally we reach the beginning place.....This is a fully committed attempt to accquire the final roofing layers for the Earthship, in time to grass-up and start using as Winter: Site caretaker/family/community root store, dry-store, GCA non-GMO food seed store (free longwinter storage capacity to seed library members for life over the years that follow), raincatch/water store, year round planters for protection/preservation/regeneration of parent plants - protected indoors and to be backed-up with sun-powered LED lights etc.)

I (Kevin Schot) after being busy on this 2.5 hectares of land for twelve years now, am taking full responsibility for the recently (almost fully) landscaped gardens around the Blackship for a structured and serious GCA global seed store and library.

For those of us who live here, these gardens include large precalculated areas zoned to the North to be used for Site-Caretaker/ family/Community sustainable consumption, also grown from own grown and reserved seed. The gardens situated directly around the Southern stretch of land and Earthship, will be to safeguard and constantly regenerate seed needs for 150 to 200 seed library members worldwide....PLUS meet our own seed needs AND aim to supply Medicine Ways Co-op members and local neighbours, both in sustainable natural seed and organically grown fruit and vegetables....for life! This will take approximately 2 years to get up to full production capacity and even in time introduce a few food forest zones in far corners of the land for our members and locals, but will eventually lead to a local free food system for the local community to get involved, hopefully an extended allied landbase locally....and globally a GCA sustainable landbase fund....taking the price-tag off land for those ready and willing to take their responsibilities seriously, away from the industrial world. To try and secure homesites for those of you who need to start again, in the right order and with like-minded/like-committed.....but first let's start with seed security and what we can commit to in this direction first.

So how can members anywhere on Earth play a role in the establishing and sustaining of this (hopefully first of it's kind) GCA seed library?

Remote/global membership options - 1) Train passively and learn from our mistakes and successes through a weekly blog, monthly site report, annual wish lists in case of urgencies, videos, photo albums, species observations on-site, site species inventory and numbers.....and of course the current statistics on seed availability for member loans.....and/or 2) Book out some seeds, for use in your home or garden. Choose to grow mainly for your own consumption - with equal seed return to the GCA library after one or two seasons......OR.....be a regrow /regen GCA caretaker and simply grow seed from where you are - keep half to start/study your own indoor/outdoor seed garden - and send the other half back to the Midgård Blackship for next season's collective efforts....

Local options - 1) Same as remote options....plus....2) Volunteer when you can to come and help me develop a free food system locally, starting with ourselves and a small zone here on the land. Volunteer Caretakers are welcome between May and the end of September each season. We aim to make a major preperations this Autumn, with all grow areas for next years much more intensive attempt...hopefully we don't have the Blackship to think about by then either

On-site options - Help me out as a full time Caretaker 5 days per week, with ship and gardens - whilst discussing what qualities and responsibilities need to be balanced equally, for a 4 clan community structure to take root out in the world. Help find the common ground in time, responsibilities that can be shared, without squabbling anymore or lazy excuses
...and of course....ALL of these wonderful people, (the 150 - 200 to buy seed library memberships) are ALL welcome to visit us here whenever, check on how the gardens are going, where the seed's coming from and how.....and we get to finally have a fire counsel together and see what more we can do for the future and the unborn, united at the tree roots through the GCA and our common seed security!

What are the variables and Worst case scenarios?
The situation/legality of the Midgård Blackship. Whether we lose the battle to have the building reclassified as "non-obligatable planning"...or not, the regional authorities have saved it in some way, regardless, from destruction....all it may mean is me paying planning costs at a much later date.

Drought/poor water management - will be a process, testing our way forward for as many diverse species as possible, adjusting landscaping as necessary as we go...remember we're ALL learning together (and this is another good reason why membership costs only once, nobody gets ripped off if something like that has an effect at any time, I however will always promise to do my best to return some kind of balance at the earliest opportunity.

Human error - can be offset by remote members participation. Where once zero land access was a hinder for such members, for the GCA they are a bonus, even if there's just room for a few pots and buckets in a home, the seed regeneration potential can be tremendous. "Remote" growers could boost supplies even from home, with just a handful of seeds...and potentially save the alliance's annual store or even a species, by full co-operation, whereever they are.

Right seed storage conditions. This will be the fine tuning of all storeage spaces. Apologies in advance for any inventory loss due to insufficient drying before storage - however, I think I may have learned patience this past 2 years and should be able to reach a better standard...we'll see on a smaller scale at the end of this season and all evolutionary notes will be ongoing through a private network for these active GCA seed library members, if we reach the needed critical mass of good folk in time for the Autumn and the Blackship's final roofing!

Everything for the seed library starts and ends with the Blackship.....so back to square one we go. As and when I see membership fees come in in full, private details will be added to my list and a network will be created for more private communications and focus. The alternative to Facebook will be implimented on reaching the minimum 150 members who wish to co-operate and roof this ship then go on an adventure together. Seed sovereignty now! Assistance to secure allied sustainable homesites and land access will be covered as the personal relationships evolve, the further we get into it. For all our relations.

For seed library members/caretakers' future common project ideas within the whole Green Circle Alliance evolving model; We have also a registered charity; Världens Snällaste Förening/The World's Kindest Union......and even a resting but registered economic co-operative, Medicine Ways Ekonomisk Förening set up to run a common land fund in the future. On top of this, me and my partner Sandra have a registered but resting "Organic garden centre" /trading company at our disposal....There is much we can do together, above and beyond the GCA global seed library......this is just where the path starts...and if Internet is not your thing, you can always reach us by snail-mail still by writing to;

Sandra Brovall and Kevin Schot-Elliott
Rom Brobacken,
541 93
Skövde
Sweden

Members of course are MOST welcome (and encouragad) to send us seeds for further regeneration and distribution. This will be a constantly evolving group relationship and become quite personal, as we get closer to our common goals.
Here ends 26 years of listening, watching and processing.....and here come the hardcore responsibilities of the future.....just jump on in and join in if your gut instincts are saying to you also that time is running out to preserve some bio-diversity (especially those relatives we depend upon for food) ....and for us to find people in whom we can trust and depend on when necessary.....but more importantly, so we can get active now and help each other build some resilience to the times that are coming.

Thank you on behalf of all our voiceless relations for your time, interest, concern, support......but your personal involvement, lifetime friendship and solidarity would go a lot, lot further. Blessings to one and all regardless and peace to all who are working for it!

Kevin Schot-Elliott

PS, once we've reached somewhere between 150 and 200 members, we will be closing this as a complete private grassroots circle of relatives helping relatives. These are the first REAL Green Circle Alliance warriors/caretakers, all contributing to everybody's best health and stable future on the ground. With that many people, there should always be someone who can help the next if we have private communication capabilities, blogs and notice boards/wish lists too. We'll see what we can do about the GCA website once and for all for all the private goings on and I'll probably just share technical bits and pieces of the progress via facebook to try and help keep the network at large going with things that work....all the while, trying to inspire and assist our relatives find their way home - onto sustainable landbases.....we certainly took one hell of a challenge, but it's a good and honourable fight against the human-greed sickness that has blossomed in our time. Good medicine and good people to weild it! Blessings one and all, especially those who solidify this circle with me, once and for all.....

(Picture above: my daughter Star - before the roofing planks went up on the Blackship and we ran dry of the final materials....

Note also, the target we're aiming to reach includes a five percent payment for using this website fundraiser and the relevant hand tools/seed to start next season hitting the ground running....for all of us who make this first circle possible. Thank you again from the heart for your time and support, for all our relations.....Bless!


GCA global seed library Membership costs have been calculated based on economic needs here on the land and a very informed rough calculation of what the land is capable of producing sustainably for the future, bearing in mind that we're also allowing for the needs of 25 to 30 permanent members of the Medicine Ways Co-op - sharing this landbase in co-operation - and assisting the continuing future land reclamation efforts for responsible caretakers or givers.



A lifetime's full membership to the Medicine Ways Co-op costs
3000 SEK (Swedish Kronor) via this fund roughly equal to £300 Sterling or $300 US.

A lifetime's full membership to the GCA Global Seed Library costs
1000 SEK (Swedish kronor) via this fund roughly equal to £110 Sterling ....but seems to be counting in US dollars, which makes it for 2013 - $140 US.
Please remember this is a one time payment - so that also gives me some fair room for mistakes, while I'm the only full-time caretaker on the ground each day, however, I hope to inspire some more lasting assistance and we WILL reach our goals - and sustain them ;-). Respects to one and all.

Simply write in the text box "donation" if it is just a general donation to Medicine Ways Co-op start-up costs and Green Circle Alliance research on the ground. Thank you for your coherent participation.