May/June 1984 RAIN Page 17 ACCESS: Sustainable Agriculture The Annals of Earth Stewardship, quarterly, available with membership donation of $10 or more to: Ocean Arks International 10 Shanks Pond Road Falmouth, MA 02540 Where do Nancy Jack Todd and John Todd get their energy? You'd think running the New Alchemy Institute would be enough to keep anyone busy, but here they are, launching yet more projects designed to help humans fit in better with our world! The introductory issue of Annals came out in late 1983, and it looks like another success for the Todds. Published by Ocean Arks International, a spin-off of New Alchemy formed in 1982 to "disseminate the ideas and practice of biotechnology and ecological sustainability throughout the world," Annals serves this purpose through the written word. The heart of Annals 1:1 is an enthralling series of articles on Ocean Arks' Ocean Pickup project. The Ocean Pickup is a one-ton, wind-powered trimaran designed especially for Ocean Arks as an appropriate boat, both in construction and in use, for ocean fisherpeople in the Third World. After the boat was first launched off Martha's Vineyard last year, an Ocean Arks crew set off for Guyana to see whether the Pickup could fill a niche in Guyana's fishing industry. We'll have to wait until Issue 2 to find out how the Pickup was received; Issue 1 covers its conception and birth, along with background information on Guyana. Other interesting articles in this issue are "Four Cultural Ecologies" by William Irwin Thompson, "Planetary Healing" by John Todd, and reports from Ocean Arks' correspondents in Costa Rica and El Salvador. Annals is another bright sign that New Alchemy is fulfilling its promise "to restore the lands, protect the seas, and inform the Earth's stewards." —JS Plenty, monthly, available with membership donation to: Plenty 156 Drakes Lane Summertown, TN 38483 Plenty is the journal of Plenty, a nonprofit international development corporation founded in 1974 by members of The Farm in Tennessee. Among Plenty's projects are free ambulance service and EMT (emergency medical technician) training in the South Bronx, reforestation and alternative technologies in Lesotho, soyfoods development in the Caribbean islands, and a fund to aid Guatemalan refugees living in camps in Chiapas, Mexico. The December 1983 issue of Plenty reports mainly on Plenty's Caribbean Project. In 1983, Plenty volunteers visited the eastern Caribbean islands in the Fri, a 105-foot sailing ship, distributing donated tools, supplies, and equipment to local groups on St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, and Haiti. They also dropped off a group of farmers and soy technicians on Dominica tobegin working on Plenty's second agricultural project in the Caribbean (the first is on Jamaica). The Caribbean Project Report is a fascinating account of the islands visited and Plenty's activities in the region. In addition, this issue of Plenty contains news on activities of the Natural Rights Center, an advocacy organization protecting fundamental human rights, and the Clinicia del Pueblo, a newly organized, free, bilingual healthcare clinic serving the poor, rapidly growing Latin American population of Washington, DC. Excellent reading. —JS Manna, bimonthly, available with membership donation to: lASA 1701 University Avenue SE, Room 202 Minneapolis, MN 55414 Manna is the newsletter of the International Association of Sustainable Agriculture (lASA), a nonprofit organization promoting "economically viable, ecologically sound, socially just and humane agricultural systems around the world." The inaugural issue of Manna, "January/ Febrero 1984," contains articles on the founding of lASA, the Rodale Research Center's Resource-Efficient Farming Methods workshops in Tanzania, sustainable agriculture in the Philippines, book and periodical reviews, and a calendar. Professionally done and well worth reading. —JS FROM: The Sclf-Suffidenf Suburban Garden Hortideas, monthly, $10/year from: Hort Ideas Route One Gravel Switch, KY 40328 We recently received the first issue of this 10-page beauty, dated January 1984. Hortideas' format is the main reason for my enthusiasm—short, information- packed pieces that Greg and Pat Williams, family farmers, glean from going through current technical journals in the Agricultural Library at the University of Kentucky. It's not at all as dry as it sounds— Greg and Pat do a wonderful job of packaging the info into digestible (downright tasty, even!) chunks. They've also included a couple reviews of recent important horticultural books. Hortideas is a boon to us information-overloaded gardeners who nonetheless want to keep on top of recent developments and discoveries. —JS The Self-Sufficient Suburban Garden, by Jeff Ball, 1983, 236 pp., $14.95 from: Rodale Press 33 East Minor Street Emmaus, PA 18049 This book is written for those who feel self-sufficiency and organic gardening are a little too "homesteady." The intent is to make self-sufficiency respectable by using technical management names, profit/loss statements, and a structured five-year plan to build toward self- sufficiency. Technically sound, this book is for basic gardeners who want to expand. The book contains good ideas on planning, which is the key to good gardening; however, garden lovers may not care for the approach. There is not much here for the advanced gardener. The title best describes for whom the book is written. —Collette Gardiner
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