Privacy Policy
ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AGREEMENT
Holocia values its users' privacy. This Privacy Policy ("Policy") will help you understand how we collect and use personal information from those who visit our website or make use of our online facilities and services, and what we will and will not do with the information we collect. Our Policy has been designed and created to ensure those affiliated with Holocia of our commitment and realization of our obligation not only to meet, but to exceed, most existing privacy standards.
We reserve the right to make changes to this Policy at any given time. If you want to make sure that you are up to date with the latest changes, we advise you to frequently visit this page. If at any point in time Holocia decides to make use of any personally identifiable information on file, in a manner vastly different from that which was stated when this information was initially collected, the user or users shall be promptly notified by email. Users at that time shall have the option as to whether to permit the use of their information in this separate manner.
This Policy applies to Holocia, and it governs any and all data collection and usage by us. Through the use of Holocia.com, you are therefore consenting to the data collection procedures expressed in this Policy.
Please note that this Policy does not govern the collection and use of information by companies that Holocia does not control, nor by individuals not employed or managed by us. If you visit a website that we mention or link to, be sure to review its privacy policy before providing the site with information. It is highly recommended and suggested that you review the privacy policies and statements of any website you choose to use or frequent to better understand the way in which websites garner, make use of and share the information collected.
Specifically, this Policy will inform you of the following:
1. What personally identifiable information is collected from you through our website;
2. Why we collect personally identifiable information and the legal basis for such collection;
3. How we use the collected information and with whom it may be shared;
4. What choices are available to you regarding the use of your data; and
5. The security procedures are in place to protect your information's misuse.
Information We Collect
It is always up to you whether to disclose personally identifiable information to us, although if you elect not to do so, we reserve the right not to register you as a user or provide you with any products or services. This website collects various types of information, such as:
· Voluntarily provided information which may include your name, address, email address, billing and/or credit card information etc. which may be used when you purchase products and/or services and to deliver the services you have requested.
· Information automatically collected when visiting our website, which may include cookies, third-party tracking technologies, and server logs.
In addition, Holocia may have the occasion to collect non-personal anonymous demographic information, such as age, gender, household income, political affiliation, race and religion, as well as the type of browser you are using, IP address, or type of operating system, which will assist us in providing and maintaining superior quality service.
Holocia may also deem it necessary, from time to time, to follow websites that our users may frequent to gleam what types of services and products may be the most popular to customers or the general public.
Please rest assured that this site will only collect personal information that you knowingly and willingly provide to us by way of surveys, completed membership forms, and emails. This site intends to use personal information only for the purpose for which it was requested and any additional uses specifically provided for on this Policy.
Why We Collect Information and For How Long
We are collecting your data for several reasons:
· To better understand your needs and provide you with the services you have requested;
· To fulfill our legitimate interest in improving our services and products;
· To send you promotional emails containing information we think you may like when we have your consent to do so;
· To contact you to fill out surveys or participate in other types of market research when we have your consent to do so;
· To customize our website according to your online behavior and personal preferences.
The data we collect from you will be stored for no longer than necessary. The length of time we retain said information will be determined based upon the following criteria: the length of time your personal information remains relevant; the length of time it is reasonable to keep records to demonstrate that we have fulfilled our duties and obligations; any limitation periods within which claims might be made; any retention periods prescribed by law or recommended by regulators, professional bodies or associations; the type of contract we have with you, the existence of your consent, and our legitimate interest in keeping such information as stated in this Policy.
Use of Information Collected
One Rth does not now, nor will it in the future, sell, rent or lease any of its customer lists and/or names to any third parties.
One Rth may collect and may make use of personal information to assist in the operation of our website and to ensure delivery of the services you need and request. At times, we may find it necessary to use personally identifiable information as a means to keep you informed of other possible products and/or services that may be available to you from Holocia.
One Rth may also be in contact with you with regards to completing surveys and/or research questionnaires related to your opinion of current or potential future services that may be offered.
Holocia uses various third-party social media features, including but not limited to other interactive programs. These may collect your IP address and require cookies to work properly. The providers' privacy policies govern these services and are not within Holocia’s control.
Disclosure of Information
Holocia may not use or disclose the information provided by you except under the following circumstances:
· as necessary to provide services or products you have ordered;
· in other ways described in this Policy or to which you have otherwise consented;
· in the aggregate with other information in such a way so that your identity cannot reasonably be determined;
· as required by law, or in response to a subpoena or search warrant;
· to outside auditors who have agreed to keep the information confidential;
· as necessary to enforce the Terms of Service;
· as necessary to maintain, safeguard and preserve all the rights and property of One Rth.
Non-Marketing Purposes
Holocia greatly respects your privacy. We do maintain and reserve the right to contact you if needed for non-marketing purposes (such as bug alerts, security breaches, account issues, and/or changes in Holocia products and services). In certain circumstances, we may use our website, newspapers, or other public means to post a notice.
Unsubscribe or Opt-Out
All users and visitors to our website have the option to discontinue receiving communications from us by way of email or newsletters. To discontinue or unsubscribe from our website please send an email that you wish to unsubscribe to hello@holocia.com If you wish to unsubscribe or opt-out from any third-party websites, you must go to that specific website to unsubscribe or opt-out. Holocia will continue to adhere to this Policy with respect to any personal information previously collected.
Links to Other Websites
Our website does contain links to affiliate and other websites. Holocia does not claim nor accept responsibility for any privacy policies, practices and/or procedures of other such websites. Therefore, we encourage all users and visitors to be aware when they leave our website and to read the privacy statements of every website that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy Agreement applies only and solely to the information collected by our website.
Notice to European Union Users
Holocia’s operations are located primarily in the United States. If you provide information to us, the information will be transferred out of the European Union (EU) and sent to the United States. (The adequacy decision on the EU-US Privacy became operational on August 1, 2016. This framework protects the fundamental rights of anyone in the EU whose personal data is transferred to the United States for commercial purposes. It allows the free transfer of data to companies that are certified in the US under the Privacy Shield.) By providing personal information to us, you are consenting to its storage and use as described in this Policy.
Security
Holocia takes precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline. Wherever we collect sensitive information (e.g. credit card information), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a lock icon in the address bar and looking for "https" at the beginning of the address of the webpage.
While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers and servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment. This is all done to prevent any loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure or modification of the user's personal information under our control.
The company also uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) for authentication and private communications to build users' trust and confidence in the internet and website use by providing simple and secure access and communication of credit card and personal information. In addition, Holocia is a licensee of TRUSTe. The website is also secured by VeriSign.
Acceptance of Terms
By using this website, you are hereby accepting the terms and conditions stipulated within the Privacy Policy Agreement. If you are not in agreement with our terms and conditions, then you should refrain from further use of our sites. In addition, your continued use of our website following the posting of any updates or changes to our terms and conditions shall mean that you agree and acceptance of such changes.
How to Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Privacy Policy Agreement related to our website, please feel free to contact us at the following email, telephone number or mailing address.
Email: Hello@Holocia.com
Telephone Number: 512-497-2480
Mailing Address:
Holocia
3800 Tom Miller Str.
Austin, Texas
78723
Live-Work-Retail (LWR)
Live Work Retail units are generally located on the main streets and town plaza. They are 25’ wide and 50’ deep, with the entire lot developed. Some of them share walls. Units are generally 3 stories tall, and the full lot size is used for living and retail space. There is approximately 1,250 square feet (25’ x 50’) of space per floor.
Your participation as a Residential Homebuyer in this project is catalytic! You are helping the housing industry break out of a pattern of poorly performing real estate. Instead, your mortgage could be helping to regenerate your health, wealth, community, and planet. As a resident, you will be an exclusive beneficiary.
Key Information
Unique features of Nature Towns
Options such as larger lots, premium locations, and garden court homes
Groups of lots set aside for co-housing and intentional communities
Community gardens
Homesteading in community
This center of gravity for regenerative lifestyles is able to draw in larger traffic, perhaps from as many as 30,000 people to find a density of holistic products unlike anywhere else.
Artisans
Are you looking to set up an artisan shop or improve traffic to your store? Do you need production help with raw materials of higher quality? Are you looking for production partners so that you can have the time to ‘get-away’ so that you can live your lifestyle while not being tied down by operations?
Lets take Artisan Cheese Making as an example. Perhaps you have read the books by Giancaldis Caldwell on Small Scale Cheese Business or Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking.
Patrick with Author and Consultant Gianaclis Caldwell
Operations
Imagine that the regenerative farm is producing the highest quality grade A milk because of the unparalled investments in rain water reservoirs and soil quality. Each day, we are producing rich grass-fed goats milk. It could be delivered to several of the shops within the village, each making value added cheeses. You wouldn’t have to worry about the management of the goats and could take off for a vacation for 2 -3 weeks simply by closing up your shop. Your 1,000 sq.ft. retail location would have plenty of room for your equipment and retail space. To learn more about this or similar types of artisan food businesses, visit The Small Scale Cheese Business book for worksheets that lay out the financials.
Secure a timestamp with your membership purchase and get the earliest possible queue positon for choosing your preferred Live-Work-Retail lot (25' x 50') in Nature Towns.
Presentations at CNU32
Karin Ascot and Patrick Van Haren presenting to the #CNU32 design session, and to the National Town Builders Association #NTBA.
Check out the latest versions of our short pitches. Karin’s presentation for the Design forum is 5 min, and Patrick’s presentation to the New Town Builders Assoc. is 3 min
Karin Ascot of Holocia presenting Nature Towns to the design lab at CNU32
Patrick Van Haren of Holocia presenting Nature Towns to the CNU32 session from the National Town Builders Assoc. (NTBA)
Bioregional Finance Facilities (BFFs)
The Regenerative Impact Infrastructure Fund by Holocia thinks liek a Bioregional Finance Facility. It would work with Impact Investors interested in regenerative finance, to fund the distinctively regenerative aspects of new walkable communities. The focus is on providing bridge financing for qualified and commissioned assets that make a community truly regenerative. This can include both social assets such as Maker Spaces, as well as ecological assets such as compost facilities and community gardens.
The Regenerative Impact Infrastructure Fund would work with new walkable communities to provide bridge financing for qualified and commissioned assets that make a community truly regenerative. This can include both social assets such as Maker Spaces, as well as ecological assets such as compost facilities and community gardens.
Holocia is currently investigating the development of a Regenerative Impact Infrastructure Fund. If you would like to know more, please contact us. We are looking for qualified feedback. You can find our contact information at the bottom of this page.
We can’t beat the climate crisis without rethinking landuse.
Decarbonizing our electricity is a critical step to dealing with Climate Change but not enough. Our sprawl based communities will continue to require huge amounts of infrastructure to stay functional. We have to stop building these carbon bombs.
A wonderful article from the Brookings Institute came across our screens recently. It discusses US GHG goals and the approaches that we most frequently discuss, such as decarbonizing electricity (insufficient). What it decarbonizing electricity does not do, however, is solve the problems created by sprawl.
Real estate is designed to accommodate the automobile. Even if all of the vehicles are running on clean energy, the sprawl model still requires huge amounts of infrastructure to support the model, all of which has its own emissions in the maintenance of the model. Building materials, concrete, asphalt, piping etc. All of that material further stresses under increased temperatures.
See the link below. We have printed it out and are reading every sentence. If you want to know more about what kind of communities they are describing as the solution, read more on our website, and consider signing up to our newsletter. The Nature Towns model was designed using the same data set (CoolClimate Network) that was used in this report.
“That leaves the country with no choice. We must prioritize development in the kinds of neighborhoods that permanently reduce total driving and consume less energy.”
2024 Foodplan and Austin’s Sustainability
What is the plan to reduce local agricultural land loss in Central Texas, and increase food production? We have tremendous challenges for this fast growing region.
Adapted from the Austin Monitor. Link
The Office of Sustainability has published the draft of its long-in-development food plan for Austin and Travis County, which seeks to balance pressures of development and land use against the need to feed a fast-growing metro area. Released last month after more than a year of community input on priorities related to food availability and equality, the draft plan is available for comment until April 19. The first online discussion on the draft plan is scheduled for Wednesday, with those talks helping to shape a final plan that’s expected to go before City Council for approval this summer.
The draft plan is divided into nine major goals:
preservation of local farmland,
availability of agriculture resources to marginalized groups,
improving quality of life for food and farm workers,
making the local food system more resilient,
improving the local food supply chain,
expanding access to quality food,
decreasing food waste,
addressing environmental concerns related to food production and transport,
and increasing awareness of the impact of the food system in local quality of life.
Those nine broad goals have 74 total smaller steps the sustainability office and relevant groups have identified as key to making the larger food plan a success.
The push to create the plan came in the aftermath of the early 2021 winter storm that disrupted power and water service to major portions of the city and exposed the fragility of the local food system when thousands of residents saw their food spoil in their homes, then found store shelves empty for days when they were able to travel again.
As city staff and other community leaders began to study the realities of food availability and production in the greater five-county area, the weak spots became clear very quickly:
Every day, the city loses 16.8 acres of farmland located mostly in the fertile Eastern Crescent region that has experienced heavy development pressures for at least two decades.
Also only 0.06 percent of all food consumed in Travis County is locally produced,
and each day 1.24 million pounds of food is wasted.
That imbalance also opens up business opportunities for those interested in solving discrete pieces of the food problem, because research shows about $2.3 billion is spent annually transporting food to the area, with that cost baked in to the final purchase price of meals prepared in homes or area restaurants. While major producers of food products such as Tyson Foods operate in the state and supply huge amounts of local meat products or produce, local mid-sized farmers and livestock producers say the area’s food infrastructure is so lacking that it’s difficult to stay in business.
At a recent meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee that featured a presentation on the draft plan, members were supportive of the effort and expressed concern about the likelihood the city and Travis County would be able to address the many interconnected challenges related to keeping all Austinites fed. Sergio Torres-Peralta, a food and resilience coordinator in the sustainability office, said the time and effort given to the plan’s creation by community members and the many food-focused nonprofit groups in the area show there is a willingness to make the plan a priority locally.
“One of the biggest challenges is to find the right balance in between what our community members want versus what we can do and where we can actually write in the food plan,” he said. “Goal No. 1 talks about agriculture and increasing agriculture because we know that we’re losing land, agricultural land, at a staggering rate. We also know that we need to house people, so there is a challenge there. How do we make a solution that works for everybody that doesn’t create unintended consequences? We’re working very diligently to find those.”
Carbon Offsets Losing Favor
I was gratified to see an article today in the MIT Technology Review that reveals major problems with carbon offsets.
My gratification did not stem from a desire to see the planet burn up before my children reach adulthood. No, it’s precisely the opposite.
Probably most of us wish we could just continue living the good life, burning as much energy as we like (or can afford to consume), without having to change our ways at all. It would be nice if there were a magic bullet solution to climate change: Just spend enough money, and it will all be ok. And if most of us don’t have that money, surely we can finally get our politicians to see sense and make it happen somehow. We Americans can keep on driving, building bigger and better roads with bigger and better cars to go on them, and our collective conscience can be clean, if we can just pay for those offsets in some other country.
But this article confirms what many of us have suspected from the start: There are so many problems with carbon offsets that few such projects are worthwhile.
“In the fall of 2018, the University of California (UC) tasked a team of researchers with identifying tree planting or similar projects from which it could confidently purchase carbon offsets that would reliably cancel out greenhouse gas emissions across its campuses.
“The researchers found next to nothing. [...]
“The findings helped prompt the entire university system to radically rethink its sustainability plans. In July, UC announced it would nearly eliminate the use of third-party offsets, charge each of its universities a carbon fee for ongoing pollution, and focus on directly cutting emissions across its campuses and health facilities.”
Tree planting projects represent perhaps the best recognized method of offsetting carbon. But as the article details, a number of studies have found that projects often exaggerate benefits far beyond what they accomplish.
There are numerous ways for companies to cheat, or for other occurrences to cancel out the benefits. For example, if one timber company reduces logging to obtain carbon credits, another might increase logging to meet supply. And sometimes groups engage in double-counting: they sell carbon credits to prevent logging in areas that have already been designated for preservation.
Forest fires might also wipe out hard-won gains. This website offers some sobering statistics on the topic: If a single 50-foot tall oak tree of 12” diameter (DBH) were felled, 35 young trees would be required to make up its carbon capture equivalent. Not only that, but those 35 trees would need to grow for a full 26 years before they matched the old one. Such replacement rarely happens.
Barbara Haya led the in-depth research project on carbon offsets. She lists three main conclusions, in order of priority: “Don’t buy carbon offsets; focus on cutting emissions instead. If you must use offsets, create your own. If you can’t create your own, scrutinize the options in the marketplace very carefully and commit to only buy trustworthy ones.”
Camille Kirk, former director of sustainability at UC Davis, and now director of sustainability at J. Paul Getty Trust, says, “You can’t buy your way out of this.” Instead, we need to do the “direct work on decarbonization.”
Haya concludes, “We need to move away from the whole idea of offsetting. You can’t fly and drive and burn fossil fuels, and then pay someone else to do something and say you didn’t have an impact.”
The good news is that if we accept the truth about carbon offsets, we can start implementing actual solutions to climate change.
Of course I am a strong proponent of regenerative agriculture, which can use soil, as well as plants, to sequester carbon. Furthermore, every industrial ag farm that converts to regenerative methods also represents a great reduction in carbon emissions.
**There was one statement in the MIT article with which I took issue: “... some sources of emissions will continue to be difficult to eliminate directly for a long time to come, like those from air travel and cattle digestion.”
Somebody should write to the MIT Tech Review editors to inform them that cattle digestion is not inherently climate-damaging! This pervasive myth has caused a lot of harm, to the delight of the fake-meat industry. There is a lot of factual info out there on this topic, and we will post more about here it as well. In the meantime I just want to pose this question: If bovines are so harmful to the environment, how did the planet survive and thrive for all those millennia with the millions of bison pounding across the American continent?
That’s a topic for another day.
Moonshots
The risks and rewards of moonshots
A Moonshot. It means making a bet that takes a long time to come true.
Moonshots can be fraught with difficulty and challenge, and the odds of success at the outset are far to small for most entrepreneurs. Only the committed take moonshots, and they are often naive about some important aspects of the project.
It helps if the reward for succeeding in these efforts is big. Hopefully bigger than the effort needed to make the moonshot. Hopefully multiples bigger than that effort, because of the risk. You encounter enormous risk in the form of the opportunities you didn’t pursue in that time and their cumulative rewards, which would be compounding as well. So taking a Moonshot can have huge implications. Huge negative if you miss, and huge positive if you get it right.
Our moonshot, what we are calling ‘Holocia’ is to bring a reliable source of investment to the growth of nature. It is rural economic development. It is environmental finance. It is an ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) impact investment project with a huge triple bottom line cost to benefit.
What is it? Our vision is for walkable communities of 80 acres, 3,000 people surrounded by master planned parks or green infrastructure stewarded by professional managers operating in concert with livestock. Each community of approx. 1,280 homes funds $26 million or more in improvements to the 240 acres of regenerative agriculture (parks maintained by livestock).
Where did we validate our vision?
While we started our vision in 2013, we were able to validate it in 2017 when we discovered the village of Neuf Brisach in France. Neuf Brisach was build by in the time of Louis the 17th, by his architect, Vauban.
Reuteri and Gut Microbes
Click here to download our 3 page pdf as seen at the farmer’s markets.
L. Reuteri Superfood Yogurt
Source: https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/recipe/l-reuteri-superfood-yogurt/
Donna Schwenk of Cultured Food Life introduced us to the uncommon bacteria L. reuteri. L. Reuteri Superfood Yogurt is a cultured dairy product made with completely different strains of bacteria than conventional yogurt. This culture provides significantly better benefits and far higher probiotics than typical yogurts, especially those purchased in stores. If yogurts were priced by their probiotic contents alone, then L. reuteri would be a premium product.
Dr. Davis in Supergut states: “Modern life has eradicated this species from 96 percent of people in the modern world. Today, only 4 percent - fewer than 1 in twenty people – continue to enjoy this marvelous species.”
People rave about the flavor and texture of this culture. It has helped people suffering from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth), Candida, colic in infants, H. pylori, and is also known for increasing oxytocin, aka the love hormone, for its impacts on empathy and compassion!
Other symptoms that reportedly improve with L. reuteri include:
Leaky gut
Low energy
Loss of muscle and bone
Metabolic syndrome
https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/l-reuteri-superfood-starter-faqs/
Next Step UP!
Schwenk writes that when we mix reuteri with regular kefir, we create a super mix that can have some really interesting benefits. Benefits observed from careful observation by dedicated yogurt people are:
Increased muscle mass from workouts and exercise is easier with more results
Hair is thicker and longer, and grows like crazy.
Skin is moister and glows like never before
We all sleep harder and need less sleep and have a lot more energy.
Our emotions are more stable, feeling more compassion and a lot more joy, less obsessive thinking.
Lost about 6-7 lbs and haven’t done anything different but add this yogurt blend.
One man in particular reported the following benefits after consuming the third batch:
Pullups and pushups increased by 20%
Experienced waves of empathy
20% boost in deep sleep and REM sleep as reported by his smartwatch
Increased libido in the morning.
Reuteri is commonly wiped out through the use of antibiotics, so consuming this strain in particular is a good post-antibiotic routine.
Lowers Blood Pressure
Lowers Blood Sugar
Reduces Acid Reflux
Reduces Allergies severity
Detoxes and balances the microbes.
Lowers Cholesterol
Calming effects on the nervous systems
Kefir
Regular
Strawberry
Mango
Deeper Sleep
Improved Skin Collagen
Reverse signs of aging
Oxytocin boost
SIBO / SIFO
Not for pregnant women 30d before birth
L. Reuteri
Oat (Allergen free)
&
Almond/Vanilla
Weight Loss
IBS
SIBO / SIFO
L. Gasseri
Inflammation
Arthritis
Muscle recovery for intense exercise
B. Loagulans
Viral Respiratory Illnesses
Shirota
Anxiety
Depression
L. Helveticus / B. Longum
Baby health
B. Infantis
SUPER GUT - A Four-week plan to reprogram your microbiome, restore health and lose weight.
By William Davis, MD Best-selling author of WHEAT BELLY
Week 1: Prepare the soil.
Week 2: Reseed your garden.
Week 3: Add water & fertilizer
Week 4: Grow your super gut microbe garden.
Goal
Species + quantity recommended by Dr. Davis in Super Gut
Smoother Skin with Reduced Wrinkles, Accelerated Healing
L. Reuteri - ½ cup/day
Deeper Sleep with extended REM
L. Reuteri - ½ cup/day
Reduced Inflammation and Arthritis Pain
B. Coagulans - ½ cup/day
Reduced Stress
L. Casei - ½ cup/day
Reduced Depression & Anxiety
L. Helveticus + B. Longum, possibly L. Casei. ½ cup/day
Enhanced Mental Clarity and Focus
L. Casei - ½ cup/day
Weight Loss, Visceral Fat Loss
L. Reuteri + L. Gaseri. ½ cup/day of each
Increase Muscle & Strength
L. Reuteri - ½ cup/day + Collagen hydrolysates 10 gr/day
Athletes: Increase Strength & Accelerate Recovery
L. Reuteri + B. Coagulans - ½ cup/day
Pregnant Mothers
B. Infantis - ½ cup/day
Enhanced Immunity
L. Reuteri + L. Casei Shirota - ½ - 1 cup/day
Super Gut SIBO
L. Reuteri + L. Gasseri + B. Coagulans. ½ cup/day
Ice Storms
The growing fragility of our electrical grid to freezing ice, and some personal history of ice storms.
The late January 2023 ice storm that hit Austin and central Texas was another eye-opener regarding how we might spend our future winters if we continue to rely on our existing infrastructure. Some people suffered more this year than during the winter storm of 2021, as they were without electricity for a longer period. But why?
Our electric grid was not designed for the types of winter storms that we now experience. The January 2023 storm could have been much worse, but temperatures only went down to 32 F, not zero, as they did during 2021. Imagine the combined effects if we had had freezing rain for two days, followed by near zero temps for two days after.
As a Canadian, I have seen what winter ice storms can do. The collapse of the Quebec electrical grid in 1998 (see the section - Impact) demonstrated the power of ice and nature. My friends who owned dairy farms waited several weeks to get grid-supplied electricity back online. In the meantime, they suffered through milking their cows twice a day using portable generators. When I was a kid, we had 3-day snowstorms and power outages more than once. Fortunately, we had a whole farm generator that we could connect to our 100-hp tractor (the power take-off shaft turned the generator on the back of the tractor. The shaft can be extended from the tractor to the generator. This would then generate electricity that could be sent up the wires into the farm’s electrical system. In order to do this, we would have to shovel a path through the snow and ice to get it hooked up at the electrical pole/connection. At least we were one of the fortunate families in the area - as long as our supply of winter diesel fuel didn’t run out.
Climate change means we will all need better grid infrastructure. Microgrids answer the extended supply chains of transmission towers and big power plants. Having a microgrid technical team on-site to adapt to the new challenge, and steward the limitations of fuels, space heating, etc., is what makes the microgrid tools successful.
If you want to know more, join us for an upcoming online discussion. For details, scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up for our Nature Towns newsletter.
DIY tree care before the next freeze?
Are your trees ready for the next ice storm? Foliar feeding of your trees is an excellent DIY tree care strategy that improves tree health and resiliency to the stress of ice storms. Check out the following DIY tools and ingredients to take better care of your trees, more affordably.
The collapse of Austin’s tree canopy during the winter ice storm of 2023 is a clear sign of the precarious state of our area’s trees. Some may call for drastically trimming tree limbs to reduce downed power lines in the future. Others may be more prudent and look towards the real problem for the trees, the lack of nourishment.
How are we feeding our trees, particularly those on thinner soils? While soil testing, composting, and mulching are all great actions, another option may have a faster impact at a lower cost. It is called foliar spraying, is best done between November and April.
What is foliar spraying?
Foliar spraying involves spraying nutrients such as molasses and liquid fish emulsion, and possibly additional microbes contained in, for example, whey, onto the surfaces of the leaves, branches, and tree trunks. When applied this way, the nutrients can be taken up by the trees much more quickly and over a broader surface area. This strategy should be seen as a complement to compost, mulch, and soil testing, not as a substitute. However, it must be done during the cooler months, as spraying on hot days can burn the trees and plant leaves.
What is essential to know is that a tree that has an increasing amount of energy is much more likely to resist diseases such as oak wilt than a tree with declining energy. Since many trees may have open wounds or weakened states from the freeze, foliar spraying acts like a quick pick-me-up or vitamin shot.
What is most intriguing is the cost of doing this practice. Backpack sprayers that are modified leaf blowers are highly efficient at spraying nutrients as a fog, up into the tops of your trees, creating a fine mist that falls on the leaves. With some motion, you can see the leaves turn and the mist is falling on both sides of the leaves.
Tools
I own a Stihl backpack sprayer and have sprayed many trees with it. For those with larger properties, there is also a dry fertilizer option that allows you to loft small pellets of fertilizer over your yard, spraying pellets over a radius of 30 or more feet. Since I bought my first Stihl backpack sprayer, prices have decreased considerably. You can now buy a Tomahawk backpack fogger leaf blower for just $400 on Amazon, with free delivery. Another option is the Italian-made Invatech sprayer at $335 (Amazon). Stihl makes an excellent higher-end sprayer called the SR450, priced at $750-$950.
Foliar Spraying Tools: Stihl SR-450, Tomahawk, Invaltal
What to put into your sprayers?
The first consideration is water. If you are doing just fish emulsion and/or blackstrap molasses, then the anti-microbial water from the city is just fine. If you add microbes like those in whey, effective microorganisms, or compost tea, you will want much higher-quality filtered water. You want to make sure that the chlorine and especially the chloramines, are either off-gassed or filtered out.
Another great option in some sprayers is the ability to spray out rock dusts such as Azomite powder, which can provide your trees with valuable trace elements and minerals (get it? The A to Z Of MInerals and Trace Elements = the name AZOMITE)
Rates?
You can add about ½ ounce of fish emulsion (about two tablespoons) to 1 gallon of water and spray up to twice per week. Here is an excellent third-party link about fish fertilizers, emulsions, and foliar spraying.
Microbes
EM
If you want to work with stable microbes, the best option is to use Effective Microorganisms (EM). We provide them at Austin area Farmers' Markets for $5/quart. A solution of 1% is recommended. You can apply them once weekly during the growing season, preferably in the evening when the sun won’t burn the leaves. During wet periods, you can increase that to 1-3 times per week. Surfactants or wetting agents can help. Click here for our EM product.
Whey
Whole Milk Whey and, even better, raw milk whey or the whey from raw milk kefir can be very effective with good soils. I have seen articles written for farmers recommending rates of about 1 gallon per acre. That means diluting the milk in high-quality water.
Compost Tea
Check out your favorite garden center to see if they are brewing compost tea for their own use. It was much more common to find local garden centers brewing compost tea back in the period 2008-2014.
Granulated minerals and soil supplements
Another great application for some tools that can do the job, is to place granulated minerals (see Azomite pelleted) into the hopper and broadcast the pellets in an distribution over your land. You can lob the minerals 30' out in any direction from where you are standing. It's like spraying painting for your soils. I know that you can do that with the Stihl SR-450, but check with the other models to be sure.
Pest Control
Sometimes, the bugs can get out of hand. A simple application of Diametaceous Earth can be the answer in a number of cases. These sprayers are able to provide a fine coating of DE dust to the soil and plant surfaces. Watch out however, that you can go overboard with this strategy. It can be like putting out an A-bomb and reverberating through your soil and plant’s microbial kingdom. Best to apply this strategy multiple times in small doses/areas rather than everywhere all at once.
Limitations
Microbes are crucial to the functioning of our plants, our soils, and our human bodies. It is one of the reasons that we named our farming company Microbial Earth Farms. However, important lessons have been learned about the use of microbes. If your soil is out of balance regarding nutrients, the microbes will only be able to perform as well as the limiting step. Thus a soil test is important for addressing those bottlenecks. In addition to minerals, you need to feed your soil carbon and nitrogen.
If you want to know more about soil testing, sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this page. We will be blogging more about this in the coming weeks.
Compost
Compost is an excellent addition to your soils, but it will pay for you to become a #soilsnob and seek out quality. The long-term impacts of feeding cheap food to your soil are trees that collapse during stress events, and those events are growing more frequent now. One Rth produces a very high-quality compost using quail droppings high in nitrogen (non-CAFO and non-GMO feed, unlike the vast majority of composts from the waste of the biggest CAFOs).
Climate Smart Compost
Some of the newest thinking about compost involves using the above-mentioned probiotics (EM) as an accelerant in the compost pile. The probiotics can significantly reduce the amount of methane produced by the compost pile. But where does that nitrogen go if it is not becoming methane? That is where the addition of biochar comes into play. If introduced into microbially active composts, the biochar can mop up surplus nutrients as well as provide very long-term housing for the microbes. The resulting compost is worth much more than the stuff that quickly degrades and leaves you needing to buy more from the store. Biochar is effective as a storage structure for the very long term (i.e., longer than humans live). #soilsnob type composts should be seen more as capital improvements to the soil rather than an expense. Like regenerative agriculture, residential soil owners must move on from the chemical party of the past.
Mulch
All of those dead limbs and wood chips have to go somewhere. Get ready for an abundance of offers for mulch. Whether you can get someone to deliver is another question, but the coming spring should be an excellent time to protect your trees with mulch, and, just as importantly the microbes around the roots of your trees.
Remember, the microbes transition your soil’s nutrients into the food the roots can consume.
Micro-Livestock
Finally, you might want to consider the role of micro-livestock on your property. OneRth is developing some new thinking about how we design the penning to capture the nitrogen benefits of manures and enable micro livestock (quail, rabbits, chickens) to exercise their ecosystem services, such as improving our soil fertility. We need to start seeing micro livestock first as tools for improving our environment, not as the source of eggs or meat with messy droppings.
Great Quote
“The major problems of the world are the result of the difference between the way nature works and the way people think” Gregory Bateson
“The major problems of the world are the result of the difference between the way nature works and the way people think”
Gregory Bateson
Kefir Milk & Cheese
Kefir milk, cheese and whey, loaded with 30 or more unique probiotics and super healthy for you. Please find us at Austin area farmer’s markets.
Just how good is Kefir? And what is it? Is it cheese, milk drink, whey, or water drink? Yes!
Some people are just crazy about kefir. They make websites like this (Yummy Kefir yummykefir.com/) dedicated to the different recipes. Kefir recipes can be done with milk for sweet rolls or water kefir for slushies and ginger beer. What a great way to add probiotics in many different ways and flavors to your diet!
What is Kefir?
Kefir is fermented milk, much like yogurt or cheese. The word Kefir is believed to be Turkish and translates into “good feeling”. It looks much like yogurt but with a slightly more tangy or sour flavor. However, Kefir contains different types of beneficial bacteria (approximately 30 unique species) that Yogurt does not have.
Nutritionally, Kefir is an excellent source of the mineral Magnesium. Kefir is a good source of Vitamin C, Calcium, Vitamin K, Folate, and Phosphorous.
Kefir Cheese
One particular site boasts 43 ways to use kefir cheese such as fermented Jalepeno dip, Kefir dressings, kefir ice-creams, etc., etc.
GMO & CAFO free compost!
Soy, Corn, GMO and CAFO free compost from Quail. The best compost in Austin!
Where do you get your compost? And what is, in your opinion, the best compost? What about the source of your compost? Is it from a CAFO and does it come from animals fed GMOs, corn, and soybeans?
To order, check out the goods link above. Limited quantities (first come, first serve) are available for pickup at our farmer’s market locations. To be certain, you can easily order online/pre-order for pickup at any of our locations, including our downtown location on Friday afternoons.
Regenerative Places
We have a problem
Few people recognize to what extent real estate and our patterns of land use planning have influenced our quality of life over the past 50 years or more. Typical sprawl real estate design has had unintended consequences that have created or worsened numerous crises. Our health (public and individual), wealth (national economy and individual), communities (social networks), and planet (local environments and global planetary health) have all degenerated in recent decades. All of us will pay the price, whether we become ill from toxins and poor food, or are forced to pay much higher taxes to recover from climate-change induced disasters.
At Nature Towns, we believe a major part of the solution lies in building the right thing: Regenerative Real Estate.
“If those who are able to do it don’t, we will all fail. Is failure an option?”
Karin Ascot
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
Solution
Before defining solutions, a goal must be set. At Nature Towns we promote Regenerative Lifestyles to simultaneously and equitably regenerate our:
Health
Wealth
Community
and
Planet
Support For This Idea
Support for walkable communities is broad. At an international level, this idea is recognized as following the traditional pathway that still supports the majority of development around the world.
National Level Support
Organizations such as the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a national network of cross-disciplinary real estate and land use experts, and the American Planning Association (APA) and their Healthy Places initiative support walkable places. Strong Towns also emphasizes anti-sprawl and compact development. The Nature Towns concept lies squarely within the vision of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) as well.
Practitioners
Numerous nationally recognized architects, planners and economists are aligned with this type of work, including Duany Plater Zyberk (DPZ), Ross Chapin, Randall Arendt, Charles Marohn of Strong Towns, and Sinclair Black.
If this is such a great idea, why hasn’t it been built yet?
Similar developments have been built, but the approaches taken so far have failed to design holistically from the start. That has created successful developments, but poor farms. Consider the research by the Liberty Prairie Foundation which found that the farm should have been designed prior to the housing in Prairie Crossing near Chicago. The ULI reports that there are more than 200 agrihoods in the USA, but many suffer from the same problems acknowledged by the Prairie Crossing project leaders.
Nature Towns avoids that critical problem by designing the farm first, from the point of view not only of the physical design, but also for the economics and cash flow. If the farm operator cannot make a reasonable profit, the project is unsustainable in the long term. Furthermore, the project must deliver economic, environmental and social benefits to the community over the long term.
What are Nature Towns?
Nature Towns are places that give you the highest quality of life at the lowest cost.
These are complete communities where everything you need is within walking distance. You can pick up your kids, your groceries and your (organic!) dry-cleaning, all while you walk the dog.
Residents have easy access to nature because the compact, 80-acre town is surrounded by a greenbelt. The town is small enough for you to walk across it in 15 minutes, but large enough for about 3000 people in 1300 households, including about 200 live-work-retail buildings with your neighbors’ businesses on the ground floor.
Neuf-Brisach, France, inspiration for our pilot project near Austin, TX.
Nature Town Features
Inside the town boundaries you’ll find:
single-family homes
garden court homes
human-scale 3-story apartment buildings (multiplexes)
playgrounds
pocket parks
dog parks
large central plaza, the public gathering space
much more!
See link for a full list of features.
The majority of the greenbelt around the town is operated as a regenerative agriculture farm. This farm comprises 75% or more of the entire Nature Town site, a minimum of 240 acres.
It’s all walkable!
Before the advent of automobiles, just about every place was walkable. This changed as planners redesigned cities with wider roads and vast parking lots to favor the car.
Neuf-Brisach in the Alsace region of France: Built in the 1700s, it is approximately 320 acres in total, with an 80-acre walkable town in the center. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The photo to the right shows Palmanova, Italy. The green star represents the outer limits of the town. As in Neuf-Brisach, the ‘greens’ comprise approximately 75% of the total area while the town makes up the remaining 25%.
Palmanova, Italy
Today, new walkable towns surrounded by green infrastructure in the form of regenerative agriculture present an exciting solution to multiple challenges. In Nature Towns, the outer, green ring is no longer designed to repel invaders, as in the citadels and star forts of earlier times. Instead, the regenerative agriculture amenity (farm) functions as a buffer that produces the most nutrient-dense food available, while sequestering carbon and protecting residents from wildfire, drought and flooding.
This protection from climate risks also protects residents’ property values, making their lifestyles more affordable, convenient and resilient.
This land use pattern is the only one we know of that holistically integrates a community with green infrastructure in such a way as to protect the residents who live there. In Nature Towns, the greens are owned communally by the residents and operated by a master steward, who is responsible for achieving regenerative goals (such as tons of carbon sequestered) on an annual basis.
Properly designed, Nature Towns are regenerative places that support regenerative lifestyles. A regenerative place allows you to regenerate your health, wealth, community and planet simply by moving in. No extra effort required!
Comparable Concepts
Comparable concepts include:
Sir Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City Movement and other places originally planned as self-contained communities with greenbelts. Note that most of these places no longer exhibit the pattern of a garden city, as the greenbelts have been paved or otherwise developed.
P.A. Yoeman’s City Forest
Star Forts, Gallery – these were all designed as military fortifications, starting in the mid-1400s in Italy.
Pre-Ordering
Please save this page to your links. It will enable you to pre-order some of our items. Simply order, pay online and pick up at the farmer’s market of your choosing:
Temporarily suspended till March - Friday afternoons (3-6 pm) at Circle C Community Center - 7817 La Crosse Ave., Austin TX 78739
Saturday mornings (9-1 pm) at Barton Creek Mall - 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy, Austin TX 78746
Sunday afternoons from 10-2 pm at Bee Caves Farmers Market - 127700 Hill Country Blvd., Bee Cave, TX 78738
Please click on any of the following links. They will take you to our digital storefront, where you can specify size, flavors, etc., along with your preferred pickup location and payment preferences.
Unfortunately, due to the software limitations of two separate platforms, you can not simply add items to your cart. For each button below, you will need to make a separate purchase. We, therefore, recommend, for expediency reasons, that you save your account info, enabling faster repeat orders in the future. If you are looking for any further options, please don’t hesitate to send us your suggestions at hello@OneRth.us
Please Note: The following buttons belong to a different website. Unfortunately, you cannot combine items, but you can save your personal information to that store and it will appear with each purchase, making additional items or repeat purchases a breeze!
Yogurt!
One Rth is now selling Yogurt! Made with Richardson Farms rich Jersey milk that is higher in butterfat than Holstein cows, this makes for a super creamy style.
We have both thicker (i.e. Greek style) and thinner versions.
Our initial flavors are: Blueberry, Strawberry, Mango and Plain.
Please bring us your suggestions for new flavors.
These are hand-made batches in City approved kitchens, and we have a desert manufacturing license from the State as well.
Holocia’s Newest Locations
Please note that since July 2023, we have halted our farmer’s market activities. Please sign up for our newsletter to see how we will be re-engaging with our marketing and sales!
Holocia is now selling at Circle C Farmer’s Market and Bee Caves (Lone Start) Farmer’s Market.
Holocia is now at Circle C (Fridays 3-6 pm) 7817 Lacrosse Ave. Location link
We are the exclusive vendors at these markets for Yogurt and Pickled Quail eggs for the holidays. We also have free range GMO free chicken eggs at those markets.
Now at Lone Star Farmers Market in Bee Caves (Sunday’s from 10-2) Location link
We are selling all of our products listed above here as well.
Weekend Market Reps Wanted
Hi, and thank you for clicking on this link. As mentioned, we are looking for Weekend Market reps to sell our products at the Austin farmer’s markets. We pay a competitive wage commensurate with sales experience.
Duties include:
Pick up of products at our downtown location either Friday afternoons or Saturday mornings early.
Setup and close-up of the market booth consisting of the tent, weights (40 lbs each), tables, and marketing materials, both Saturdays and Sundays.
Sales of the various products, including Pickled Quail Eggs, duck eggs, chicken eggs (where allowed), and our line of quail pet treats.
We are also keen to market soil improvement products, but this will take more training and education.
Completion of the sales report and management of cash transactions.
You will need a vehicle to hold the tents, tables, and weights. Pickled eggs can be transported without coolers, in milk crates (40 lbs each), usually 4 crates/event.
If you are interested, please click here to send me an email, and I will get back to you shortly.