Sept. 5 & 6: #193: Sharing Gardens — Giving and Receiving

More than a community garden, this sharing garden provides fresh produce for all who’ve contributed to it, with surplus going to the local food bank. Coordinators Chris Burns and Llyn Peabody note that with one large plot rather than separate plots, Alpine Sharing Garden enables more efficient food production — from watering to optimizing for pollinators. They share tips for getting started, garden planning, communicating with volunteers, garden practices like deep mulch, and especially the joy of giving without expecting a return. http://www.alpinegarden.blogspot.com

Sept. 12 & 13: #194: Portland’s Neighborhood Tool Sharing Libraries

Need a tool for a few days? Don’t have it? Neighbor doesn’t have it? Borrow it from your neighborhood tool library! No tool library? Check out Portland, where several neighborhoods have started successful tool libraries just in the last few years. Organizers Tom Thompson, Karen Tarnow and Stephen Couche discuss how they got started, stories of community generosity, and the enthusiastic response of all who stop by. In these neighborhoods, there’s no reason not to grab the tools you need and do that project!

More at www.neptl.org and www.septl.org

Sept. 19 & 20: #195: This Old House - Rethink, Reuse, Remodel

Turn a century-old Seattle house into an efficient, energy-producing home using repurposed materials. Owner-builder Jim Bristow’s creativity extends to reclaiming dead spaces, jacketing his house with exterior insulation, and modernizing the kitchen with sleek previously used cabinetry and low-power LED lights. But he’s not stopping there. Along with maintaining a prolific front yard vegie garden, this green-minded guy is working with neighbors and the city to construct a storm water drainage and traffic circle at the nearby street intersection.

Sept. 26 & 27: #196: Arrival of the Post-Petroleum Human

“Petroleum Man is dead. Infinite Growth Man is dead. Post Petroleum Human is alive,” announced Michael C. Ruppert on May 22, 2011. Members of this emerging “species” know they must live in balance with the Earth, while remembering the lessons of industrial civilization. The star and subject of the documentary film “Collapse”, Mike founded www.CollapseNet.com in 2010 to empower people to connect and relocalize. He’s the author of Crossing the Rubicon, and Confronting Collapse. Mike did a 2006 Peak Moment Conversation, “Pondering our Post-Petroleum Future.”

PEAK TV is sponsored locally by the Center for Excellence in Communication at Clarkson University and the Seymour Family of Potsdam.

Peak Moment explores locally reliant living for challenging times. The Peak Moment Shows are available at the Potsdam Public Library for borrowing and/or interlibrary loan.

The second Local Living Festival takes place on September 24 & 25, 2011 from 9 am to 5 pm at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm, 2043 Route 68, Canton, NY. The Festival is a grassroots celebration of all things local -- rural life skills, small-scale agriculture, and renewable energy -- in town, in the dorm, and in the countryside. Watch for special pre-Festival programming on WCKN the week of Sept. 19-23!