Sweet Water Miniatures for the High Schools of America

We are in the process of consulting with an ever-growing network of teachers and students across Milwaukee and Chicago, advising how best to approach the construction, development, and maintenance of small scale aquaponic and hydroponic systems as inspired by the evolution of Sweet Water Organics.

The best first step would be for you and one of the key faculty who might be involved in the project fill out the following :

School Name:
School Address:
Name of Contact Person/People:
Email of Contact Person/People:
Phone # of Contact Person/People:

continued at…
http://www.milwaukeerenaissance.com/Main/SweetWaterOrganicsDevelopments

Sweet Water Educational Initiatives

• La Causa
• MSOE
• Bay View Special Ed
• Loyala Academy
• Texas Bufkin Academy
• Shorewood New Horizon School
• White Fish Bay Earth Club
• Kennedy King College
• Chicago State University
• MIAD
• MTEC
• Urban Food for Urban Schools

Executive Director’s Reports

Exec. Dir. Report 8/3/10

TELLING OUR STORY

This past month has shown a significant up-tick in Sweet Water tours,
both regularly scheduled and ad hoc. The Wednesday evening and Sunday
Noon tours are building our list of friends and gradually increasing
our cadre of volunteers, now numbering sixty-eight on our contact
list. Please tap-in to these people whenever you can.

Additionally, over the past month we have been visited by (to name a
few):

• Congressman Cleaver of Kansas and his retinue
• Group of “At Risk” seventeen-year-olds from Racine
(paid)
• Don Neureuther, Exec. Dir. Team Lift
• Pamela Schwalbach and Karen Puhl, Simple Hope
• Pamela M. Proulx-Curry, Ex. Dir. Wisconsin Campus Compact
• Michael Mervis, Susan Lloyd, Erin Frederick, Zilber Foundation
• MIAD Group (paid)
• Victor A. Mancinelli, CTB’s president and chief
executive officer and Tom Lippi, CTB, Inc. VP Business and Technology
Development

I also met with Rafael Acevedo of the Milwaukee Foundation at another
location.

Project updates:

Wisconsin African American Women’s Association:
July 20th we in-filled the garden with twelve tomato plants and did a
little selective weeding. Everything looked good.

CVI/NABVETS:

CVI has an opportunity to lease Lynden Hill, a City of Milwaukee Park
and arboretum. CVI has asked that we participate in a design process
for the park. I have transmitted our thoughts about a design “program” to
Michael Carriere of MSOE who is working with MSOE and UWM-SARUP. It
may be an appropriate “senior project.” We are also
working toward an Aug. 18th meeting with neighborhood leaders.

LA CAUSA:

La Causa has asked us to build a “hoop house” greenhouse
across the alley from the school on a vacant lot they own. I
understand that preparatory site work is underway. We learned from the
city that the international building code for membrane structures will
apply.

VGI, White Oak Farm

I met with Gretchen Mead and Sandy Syburg at the UEC on the night of
the massive rainstorm to talk about Milwaukee Community Composting.
Their focus is on creating composting centers throughout the city as a
way to avoid transporting compost-able materials long distances. I
told them Sweet Water agrees with this in principle. However, Gretchen
seemed most interested in knowing what our relationship will be with
regard to the Roundys Grant, should we get it. I explained that the
terms of the grant are likely to spur a significant increase in the
amount of compost we produce, and that we are committed to utilizing
at least a portion of the compost within Roundys area of operations to
address hunger issues. It is likely to include partners like VGI.
Sandy (White Oak Farm) already supplies compost to VGI.

Scooter Garden

I visited the Scooter Garden after the big storm. It looked fine. The
raised beds are somewhat under planted and the in-ground gardens need
weeding. Everything is growing well.

Ho

Exec. Dir. Report 6/29/10

ACTIVATING VOLUNTEERS

In order to get a handle on the wealth of volunteers who have already stepped forward to help us on our journey of discovery, I have enlisted a “volunteer” volunteer coordinator, Julie Courtright. Among other things, Julie is the genius behind BeGoodGoLocal.org, a website/blog designed to get people like you/me/us engaged in advancing our communities by doing good. What a concept!

Project updates:

Wisconsin African American Women’s Association:
Installation completed.

Jo’s Place: On Friday, Emmanuel and I delivered three planter boxes to Jo’s Place, a daycare center on North Ave. and Appleton Ave. They had tried growing sunflowers in the past, but just as they were about to flower the maintenance staff whacked them thinking they were weeds. Note: At some point we may wish to create a “Weed Mon” show designed to help fledgling gardeners identify common Wisconsin garden weeds and weed sprouts—so they know what to pull out and what to leave in the garden.

NABVETS:
Our discussion (for now) has focused on creating composting entrepreneurs. As you will recall, they are interested in developing “our own” urban ag./building restoration/job training project with them.

MTECH:
We met with the sustainability team at MTECH to discuss how to characterize our relationship with them, for purposes of creating a common vision and plan, and to facilitate funding requests. We are forging an MTECH, Matt Ray, Sweet Water partnership intended to foster curriculum creation at Sweet Water and sustainability education throughout MPS.

LA CAUSA:
La Causa has asked us to build a “hoop house” greenhouse across the alley from the school on a vacant lot they own. At present, the La Causa staff is finding resources to do some preparatory site work. We are currently developing a hoop house design that the La Causa kids can help to construct (with adults). I have enlisted the aid of an architect volunteer, who will investigate relevant building code issues and make certain we are in compliance therewith. We may build a prototype at Sweet Water.

Ho

Exec. Dir. Report 5/11/10

WHAT A WEEK!

Project updates:

Wisconsin African American Women’s Association has approved our proposal. David Mangen from the Inland School of Expeditionary Learning is helping us with the design fabrication of the planter boxes. Please let me know if you are available this week to assist with the installation.

Journey House: We are currently waiting for approvals by Susan Black, County Parks Director and Susan Lloyd from the Zilber Foundation.

Highlights:

I received a warm thank you from Janice Ward of the NEA Foundation for last week’s Sweet Water tour. Among other things Janice said, “The trip really showed me what our youth, our urban cities, and our communities can do if we really put our minds to it. Spending two days with all of you has me wondering if I should trade in my high heels for a pair of work boots!!!!”

Wednesday morning Tony and I met with Jackie Wells of the Milwaukee Center For Independence to discuss collaborations. I will meet with Jackie and Rachael Noe from MCFI on 5/18/10 for a tour of MCFI facilities with an eye toward possible healing/learning gardens, and to discuss some job shadowing on their part, to see if MCFI might use Sweet Water as a job training site for some of their client groups.

Wednesday evening Godsil and I traveled to Chicago with the Rishi Tea people to meet Chimpanzee Researcher and Environmental Goddess, Jane Goodall. At the event we made some great contacts with potential for collaboration therewith, including Martha Boyd of Angelic Organics and Naomi Davis of “BIG” (Blacks In Green).

Thursday morning we were visited and interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. The focus of the story is Sweet Water Organics, but spillage into the Sweet Water Foundation inevitably occurred when talking about the mountain range of compost outback. After the formal interviews were done, the reporter asked me if he might see “the rest of the place.” So I gave him a one-on-one tour, highlighting the message about turning waste into a community resource. He seemed genuinely enthused by the whole experience, which was encouraging to see since reporters can sometimes seem a bit world-weary. I anticipate that if his story gets past the editorial board it will be a very positive one.

More Outreach: If you still have anything in the tank after our board retreat on Sunday, my band, Embedded Reporter, is doing a benefit concert for Wellspring (CSA in Newburg) on Sunday evening from 7:00 ‘til 9:00 p.m. at “The Coffee House” on 19th and Wisconsin, just west of Marquette. It is on the ground level of Redeemer Lutheran Church (S.W. corner, enter from 19th). If you haven’t been to The Coffee House (longest continually running non-profit coffee house in the U.S.), or heard/seen Embedded Reporter, or both, you are in for a mind-bending experience. Those who have been exposed tend to come back anyway—go figure?

Ho

Sweet Water Foundation Executive Director Howard Hinterthuer Report: 4/27/10

Center For Veterans Issues: Our relationship continues with the
National Association of Black Veterans and their administrative
non-profit, the Center For Veterans Issues, Ltd. Executive Director
Dawn Nuoffer has asked us to help develop a jobs training program in urban
agriculture and related“green” building trades, designing a pilot program
in anticipation of applying for a larger jobs training grant next year.

Honey Creek School: Thursday, Earthday, April 22, 2010, we attacked
our first garden/teaching project at Honey Creek School. The weather
couldn’t have been better. The event was well organized from the
school side by Jamie Fraundorf. Students rotated through a variety of
hands-on learning experiences staffed by Sweet Water Foundation
volunteers, Sweet Water Organics Staff, Parents and Teachers.
Meanwhile, participants joined together to construct five raised bed
garden plots, fill them with compost, and begin the planting process.
I think we all departed saying to ourselves, “Wow! That was
cool.” It was our first project as a group. I hope you are as
pleased with the outcome as I am.

After, James “The Worm Man” Godsil moved his traveling
worm circus to Deer Creek School and Nicole Rockweit assisted.

Scooter Foundation: On Saturday, April 24, 2010, in the pouring rain,
with help from Scooter Foundation volunteers and James Godsil, I
constructed four raised bed garden plots on the Scooter Garden site
across from Oliver Wendell Holmes School in Riverwest. Thanks to Josh
Fraundorf for assembling the needed materials and pre-cutting the
planks. The event brought together Scooter Foundation Board Members
and suburban families with a fairly large contingent of Riverwest
residents. In that regard it was a huge success. Logistically it was
also well coordinated. However, on site supervision seemed a bit
haphazard, although people stepped up and got it done despite the
weather challenges. Now we have two gardens on our resume.

Wisconsin African American Women’s Association has approved our
proposal. We will be designing and constructing the hardscape within
the next two weeks.

Journey House: Godsil and I have been consulting with Journey House,
Roundy’s, and Landlord Gary Kaufman about developing a raised
bed (20) garden on the Pic ‘n’ Save parking lot (National
Avenue). Everyone is on board including the city. However, water is an
issue. Our current thinking is to purchase or construct a water wagon
that can be filled at Pic ‘n’ Save and wheeled by hand
across the parking lot. Hoses crossing traffic routes are unacceptable
to the landlord. Our role will be to construct the garden then mentor
Journey House in managing the project.

The Domes/Mitchell Park: Meanwhile we met with Sandy Folaron,
Conservatory Director, Mitchell Park Domes. She has asked us to
develop a community garden on an approx. one acre site at the
Southeast corner of the park. There is a possibility we may be able to
create an “in ground” garden and also do onsite
composting. This is a fantastic opportunity that should be
aggressively pursued and seems likely to happen, but gardening
isn’t envisioned to happen until 2011. However, composting
should begin as soon as possible in order to have finished compost by
next spring. Once again, Journey House would manage the project with
mentoring by Sweet Water Foundation.

Nigella Commons: This group seeks to create a community garden in the
Harambee neighborhood. The vision is for Sweet Water to partner with
Nigella Commons to provide access to compost, building materials and
build/construction assistance. We will further support the project
through local networking and promotion.

Toward a 100 Job Urban Agriculture Project

The Sweet Water Foundation collaboration with Journey House, the Domes, the National Association of Black Vets, Core el Centro, 16th St. Community Health Center, the Wisconsin African American Women’s Center, the Victory Garden Initiative, La Causa School, Honey Creek School, Downtown Montessori School, and on and on, aims to develop the foundation for a 100 job urban ag project over the next 5 years.

And it all begins with harvesting urban waste streams and partnering with beneficial bacteria and red wriggler worms. That’s how Sweet Water Organics was launched.

Here is the start of my effort to outline how 10 jobs in the vermiculture/soil building piece might be grown.

Growing Clean Rich Soil for Urban Agriculture

Start with One Organizer and Volunteer Teams for Composting Piece

Here are some tasks for the organizer:

develop a volunteer work team(s) to organize the program

• find a site for medium to large scale composting
• design the compost site to control leachate(sp?) and avoid problems with officials or neighbors
• introduce composting to households in the target area through churches, schools, community organizations, barber shops and salons
• recruit and help some local householders to begin their own backyard composting
• develop materials and tool list for compost projects, sources for the tools, facilities and procedures to store, maintain, and repair tools
• establish relations with large, medium, and small sources of nitrogen, e.g. groceries, breweries, restaurants, institutions, households
• establish relations with large, medium, and small sources of carbon, e.g. landscapers, tree trimmers, cities with leaves and wood chips, local farmers

develop volunteer work team(s) to harvest nitrogen carbon for compost piles

• develop partnerships and contracts with sources of nitrogen and carbon
• purchase, store, and maintain a pick-up truck, 50 gallon and smaller barrels, pitch forks, and, for larger sites, occasional use of bobcat or other earth moving equipment
• training for delicate social/physical challenges of picking up nitrogen at various sites, more complex and delicate the larger the source
• training in mixing and tending of compost ingredients

monitoring of organizer’s progress with an eye toward providing paid workers to support/advance composting piece

Adding Vermiculture to the Project

to be continued

Formal Training for Aquaponics Career?

Sweet Water, in its factory setting, is a first of its kind in an industry, i.e. aquaponics, that is, in the USA, very, very new. There is no question in my mind that their is “work” for anyone who would acquire degrees in the field:

• start a small aquaponic system in your own home, a neighbor, relative, or business partner’s “place”

• teach aquaponics at a school of community development center

• join the Peace Corp, Americore, or some NGO to set up systems in developing nations

• win employment at a place like Sweet Water, Growing Power, or an increasing number of urban agriculture enterprises also experimenting in what seems to me a 21st century industry of enormous possibility

All of these possibilities increase if you are very imaginative and strategic in your use of your time and energies. Joining list serves devoted to urban agriculture and aquaculture/aquaponics, volunteering and interning at dynamic places, recruiting people to advance your cause: some worthy actions that come to mind.

Were you to be the first aquaponics specialist to graduate from the UW-Milwaukee School of Fresh Water Sciences…

If you keep in touch with folks like me…

Check MilwaukeeRenaissance.com, especially side bar platforms called “Sweet Water India Conversations” and “Aquaponic Experiments.” There are some links in the first to Hawaii based aquaponics list servs that would be great place to start. Charlie Price of Sterling University most dynamic. You might consider recruiting hydroponics folks to broaden their vision.

Send me your resume, if you wish. Become my facebook friend.

To be continued…

Godsil

Earthday Edible Playground Installation Honey Creek School

Honey Creek School: Thursday, Earthday, April 22, 2010

We attacked our first garden/teaching project at Honey Creek School. The weather couldn’t have been better. The event was well organized from the school side by Jamie Fraundorf. Students rotated through a variety of hands-on learning experiences staffed by Sweet Water Foundation volunteers, Sweet Water Organics Staff, Parents and Teachers.

Meanwhile, participants joined together to construct five raised bed garden plots, fill them with compost, and begin the planting process. I think we all departed saying to ourselves, “Wow! That was cool.” It was our first project as a group. I hope you are as pleased with the outcome as I am.

After, James “The Worm Man” Godsil moved his traveling worm circus to Deer Creek School and Nicole Rockweit assisted.

Back to top

Sweet Water Organics Story at the KK River Village

The Story Sweet Water Organics at the KK River Village

The story of the Sweet Water Organics fish farm project is part of the story
Of the KK River Village.

Location of the KK River Village

The KK River Village is a vision of the future we will create at an old industrial site
Just to the east of St. Josephat’s Basilica, the KK River and the Amtrack R.R. line,
Just to the west of LuLu’s restaurant and the Wild Flower Bakery on KK,
Just north of Lincoln, just south of Beecher,
Near what I consider “downtown Bay View”(the intersection of KK and Lincoln),
Close to the intersection of Walker’s Point and the Third Ward,
Perhaps a 5 minute drive to Lake Michigan.

The Greenest Possible Development

Steve Lindner and his sister purchased this industrial site a couple of years ago,
With thoughts of a 10 year green housing development project,
Upon the foundation of their successful decade-long work rehabilitating
Fifty four houses with about 150 units, and Steve’s urban infill new construction in
Riverwest, the lower Eastside, and most recently in Bay View.

Steve asked his very close friend and business associate, Josh Fraundorf,
Co-owner of Community Roofing & Restoration, to brainstorm with Josh’s partner,
James Godsil, active in Milwaukee’s urban ecology and urban agriculture movements,
With an eye toward creating the most advanced, economically feasible “green transformation”
Over a 10 years process.

Godsil had worked with Professor Michael Swedish of MSOE on a semester studio project
That explored the many issues involved in transforming an old industrial building
Into a Will Allen Greenhouse Aquaculture System to raise tilapia.
Professor Swedish agreed to direct another semester studio project,
Organized with an eye toward providing Lindner with the central elements
Most suited for the greenest possible transformation with housing at the core.
Swedish’s class provided a detailed report which cost out such features as
Geothermal and solar energy sources, passive solar architecture,
Solar and other sustainable technologies, especially composting and
Family food and community garden plots.

The full Swedish reports on the Industrial Building Tilapia Farm
And the KK River Village Green Transformation can be found at:

http://www.milwaukeerenaissance.com/SweetWaterFishFarming/HomePage#toc7

Sweet Water Concepts Sparked by Friedman NYT Article

“We created a way of raising standards of living that we can’t possibly pass on to our children,” said Joe Romm, a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org. We have been getting rich by depleting all our natural stocks — water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land — and not by generating renewable flows.

Sweet Water does not deplete our natural stocks. Sweet Water is blazing new trails in ecological industrial parks that generate renewable energy flows!

“You can get this burst of wealth that we have created from this rapacious behavior,” added Romm. “But it has to collapse, unless adults stand up and say, ‘This is a Ponzi scheme. We have not generated real wealth, and we are destroying a livable climate …’ Real wealth is something you can pass on in a way that others can enjoy.”

Sweet Water is generating real wealth with methods in harmony with nature’s ways.

Over a billion people today suffer from water scarcity; deforestation in the tropics destroys an area the size of Greece every year — more than 25 million acres; more than half of the world’s fisheries are over-fished or fished at their limit.

Sweet Water supports efforts to cleanse our rivers, lakes, and seas. In the meantime we are sparking an industry that will provide fish raised in clean waters in response to our need for environmentally friendly high protein foods.

“Just as a few lonely economists warned us we were living beyond our financial means and overdrawing our financial assets, scientists are warning us that we’re living beyond our ecological means and overdrawing our natural assets,” argues Glenn Prickett, senior vice president at Conservation International. But, he cautioned, as environmentalists have pointed out: “Mother Nature doesn’t do bailouts.”

One of those who has been warning me of this for a long time is Paul Gilding, the Australian environmental business expert. He has a name for this moment — when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once — “The Great Disruption.”

“We are taking a system operating past its capacity and driving it faster and harder,” he wrote me. “No matter how wonderful the system is, the laws of physics and biology still apply.” We must have growth, but we must grow in a different way. For starters, economies need to transition to the concept of net-zero, whereby buildings, cars, factories and homes are designed not only to generate as much energy as they use but to be infinitely recyclable in as many parts as possible. Let’s grow by creating flows rather than plundering more stocks.

Sweet Water living technologies contribute to “net-zero” growth, i.e. buildings, cars, factories, and homes are designed to be as “infinitely recyclable” as possible. This is growth by “creating flows,” not plundering our stocks.

Gilding says he’s actually an optimist. So am I. People are already using this economic slowdown to retool and reorient economies. Germany, Britain, China and the U.S. have all used stimulus bills to make huge new investments in clean power. South Korea’s new national paradigm for development is called: “Low carbon, green growth.” Who knew? People are realizing we need more than incremental changes — and we’re seeing the first stirrings of growth in smarter, more efficient, more responsible ways.

Sweet Water hopes to contribute to economic growth that is smart, efficient, resonsible. “Less carbon, green growth!”

In the meantime, says Gilding, take notes: “When we look back, 2008 will be a momentous year in human history. Our children and grandchildren will ask us, ‘What was it like? What were you doing when it started to fall apart? What did you think? What did you do?’ ” Often in the middle of something momentous, we can’t see its significance. But for me there is no doubt: 2008 will be the marker — the year when ‘The Great Disruption’ began.
When “The Great Disruption” began, Sweet Water was jump starting the transformation of old instustry slums into ecological industrial parks.

Sweet Water Visions Winter 2010

Fish

• revive tradition of Friday perch fish fries in Milwaukee
• over the years help repopulate our sacred, cleansing waters with perch
• make Milwaukee the urban aquaponic city of America and help other Great Lakes and

heartland cities transform classic factory buildings into fish vegetable farms and community centers

Plants

• grow plants like lettuce, spinach, arugula, basil, as tasty to young people as sugar

Compost

• turn wastes into resources, i.e. food tree lawn residues into clean rich soil for backyard, school, church,company, and community food gardens

Black Gold Worm Castings

• teach our children to grow the world’s richest soil witht he help of the worms

Art

• cooking and fine arts combined, i.e. “good food and beauty and the people will come!”

Sweet Water as art gallery and Green Room as workshops

Community

• over the years inspire 10,000 backyard farms, edible playgrounds, community, corporate, church, and food/art gardens

• provide a place community gathering

Jobs and Economic Development

• develop training programs that connect artistic, artisinal, and agricultural skill sets

Justice

• help develop healing gardens at the Soldiers Home and help save endangered species like the bonobos by supporting sustainable agriculture/aquaponics for the rain forest peoples

This is a Sweet Water Olde set of visions that will be improved upon, elaborated, and acctualized by the inspiring Sweet Water Younges!

Godsil

The Sweet Water Foundation
to be continued