What is Project Reliance?

I've had several inquiries into what I may be doing and how I might be doing it. I've started this blog to attempt to outline exactly that.

This is me -

One unsuccessful attempt to define Project Reliance is to assume I'm 'going back to the land'. As if I ever left. Don't we all live on the land? Perhaps the simpler one lives, the more immediately his or her effects are felt. To support a more extravagant 'lifestyle' (an interesting word in itself), one must spread his impact to more land, some of it far away. In any event, we're all on the land. If consciousness of this fact were ever-present, Perhaps we would live differently. 

I will soon be inhabiting 15 acres of pure Rhode Island wilderness (this would be a spectacular cue for a photo-op but, sadly, no photos quite yet). There are a bunch of trees and some fields. I think it would be interesting to see if, one day, I could 'close-the-loop', that is, make the place completely self-sufficient, or sustainable, or green, or environmentally conscious or whatever it is people are calling the idea of living reasonably this month. What would it take? 

Well first, I need shelter. So I'm going to see what kind of a house I can build for $1000USD. Luckily I picked up some wood at an auction held by a bankrupt lumberyard for $50 -

(My dad called this a worthless pile of kindling. And, upon further inspection, it is. However, I'm sticking to it - If I can build a house out of this stuff...I'll call it...The Kindling House!)

and borrowed some design tips from ancient mongolian sheepherders -

All that and a CAD program I pirated might just lead to a solid place to hang my hat. For the last two days I have been cutting, drilling, sawing, planing, etc. I drilled 600 holes this morning I think. Here are some pieces of wood that will eventually be a very strong circle -

How? Well here is it being glued. (This took patience) -

The toolbox is very important here. Aspiring woodworkers please take note.  

In addition to habitation, one needs food and water. We'll get to the water part later, but as for food I will be taking part in the ancient tradition of gardening. In the gospel of Thomas, Jesus said: 

"Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure. Anyone with two good ears had better listen!"

Whoa! Thanks Jesus! I'll keep that in mind. Here are some seeds I've recently germinated -

Now, these are fuzzy seeds. That's because instead of scattering them, I germinated them in conjunction with the spores of a mycorrhizal fungus. The mushroom mycelium (fuzzy white stuff) has formed a symbiotic relationship with the seedling and will be with its root system for life, protecting it from bacterial intruders and acting like a nutritional superhighway importing resources from beyond the plant's reach. All else equal, more resources means more vegetables. These particular seeds are an heirloom Dino-Kale variety from our good friends at the NY seed library. Kale is packed with phyto-nutrients. 

I'm also teaching myself calligraphy. Just in case there IS a revolution from the collapse of the financial system, the ornery working class electing a populist uberlord, a large-scale environmental crisis or, better yet, a radical psychological evolution of mankind, I like to think I might be called in to help draft a new Declaration. Here is a sample for the resume -

For now, that's about it. 

Project Reliance question of the day - Can anyone identify the language I'm writing in?