August/September 2005
Cultivating
Relational Intelligence
Nina Simons
Crimes
Against Democracy: An Interview with Thom Hartmann
Jim Guiness
Rebirth
in the Forest
Will Sears
Right
Living, and Surviving, After The Age Of Oil
John Darling
Permaculture
and Place
Steve Gabriel
Think
of Local Food First
Wendy Siporen
Sustainable
Living at Solviva
Anna Edey
Year-Round
Gardening in Home and GreenHouse
Jeffrey M. Smith
The
Greening of Cuba
Caroline Whyte
A
Path of Peace, Kindness and Compassion
Jody Woodruff
From
Hurt to Heart
Eryn Kalish
Epictetus'
Handbook Revisited
Gay Hendricks & Phillip Johncock
The
Sky of Now
Katie Davis
The
Complete Book of Raw Food
Reviewed by Rachel Bendat
Whole
Foods Companion
Reviewed by Rachel Bendat
Cosmic
Calendar
Salina Rain
Sustainable
Living at Solviva
By Anna Edey
In 1980 Anna Edey designed and built the Solviva Solargreen Home with the following goals: To maximize the use of solar power in order to minimize use of any other energy source; To manage wastewater without releasing nitrogen or toxins into the groundwater; To produce an abundance of vegetables inside all through the winter.
Furthermore, the goal was that the house must be beautiful, convenient and low cost to build and operate, and that the solar must not cause overheating in the summer. As Anna describes in her book, the results exceeded highest hopes. The news spread fast about the year-round sweet, juicy tomatoes dangling from the ceiling on 30-foot vines, and the warmth and comfort inside even on a blustery cold winter day.
Inspired by the success of the Solviva home, Anna designed and built the 3000 square foot Solviva Solar Greenhouse in 1983, with the goal of producing high yields of high quality organic food year-round, with no backup heat and no cooling fans. The heating would be primarily solar, with additional heat provided by little resident heaters: chickens and rabbits. Again, the Solviva designs exceeded the highest hopes, and the news spread far and wide. People came from as far away as Europe and Japan to see and to learn.
I had the privilege of visiting Solviva in 1991 and saw for myself the abundance of food growing during a typical New England winter. At that point I was inspired to share the Solviva technology with others here in the Northwest. Although my dream of building a Solviva greenhouse and teaching the techniques to others did not manifest at that time, it is with great pleasure that I now share Anna Edey’s discoveries with the following excerpts from her recently published book, Solviva: How To Grow $500,000 on One Acre & Peace On Earth.
Although it may seem strange to have a winter gardening article during the summer months, for those of us who do not yet have greenhouses for winter growing it’s never to early to begin planning. -Deborah Mokma, Ed.
• • • • •
Since 1977 I have accumulated evidence through direct experience on my farm on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, where I have been seeking to find ever more harmonious ways to live on Earth. The more I looked at the problems caused by our modern ways of living, the more I realized how profoundly these problems are all interconnected. My focus has therefore been broad and comprehensive with designs for more sustainable and economical ways to provide for the basic necessities of our lives, including heating, cooling, electricity, food, transportation, and management of wastewater and solid wastes. With my own versions of what I call solar-dynamic, bio-benign living design, these ongoing experiments have provided results that proved far more successful than I had ever imagined possible. For instance, who could have predicted that sewage can be filtered through leaves and wood chips and in five minutes be transformed into odor-free water containing 90 percent less nitrogen? I would never have thought it possible—until I did it. Who could have predicted that tomato plants could grow 30 feet long and live four years right in the kitchen, without any pesticides or normal fertilizers, producing superb-quality tomatoes continuously, even in the middle of winter? I certainly did not think this would be possible—until I did it.
Based on my experiences
and knowledge I conclude that with today’s technologies the following
is possible:
• We can manage our wastewater, from homes, schools, business and industry,
in ways that eliminate water pollution, thereby protecting our drinking water,
fishing industry, wildlife, ponds and harbors—and this can be done in
ways that save money, as well as irrigate and fertilize our landscapes and
forests.
• We can recycle 90 percent of our solid wastes in ways that save time
and money, energy and resources, and that greatly reduce pollution—while
creating more jobs.
• We can produce high yields of high-quality organic foods year-round
in any climate, in urban and rural locations, without heating fuels or cooling
fans, without toxic chemicals, and with far less irrigation water. Thus we
can greatly reduce the depletion and pollution of soil, water, oil and other
resources, as well as avoid the health hazards caused by conventional food
production methods.
• We can use solar power to provide most of the energy to heat and cool
our homes, schools and other buildings, with renewable plant-derived fuels
as backup. This can create more jobs and reduce by 80 percent or more the
cost, pollution and depletion caused by conventional methods that rely on
oil, gas, and coal.
• We can greatly reduce our consumption of electricity with various efficiency
technologies, and most of the remaining requirements can be satisfied with
small-scale solar, wind and water power sources.
There are many in the US and around the world who share my views that these goals are possible to achieve, but most find it unbelievable. I can understand this skepticism. After all, very few people have had a chance to experience such sustainable technologies firsthand. Instead they hear that solar was proven in the 70s to be ineffective, that recycling can never exceed 30 percent, and that eliminating pesticides would result in unpalatable food and global famines.
I am not saying that the transition to sustainable methods will be easy. There are formidable forces at work to maintain the current infrastructure, among them: inertia, doubt, lack of knowledge and experience, pessimism, fear, greed, and perhaps most obstructive, vast investments in the status quo and paralyzing regulations and bureaucracy.
But I believe most people are good at heart and want to do their best to help ensure the well-being of all, for now and for the future. Unfortunately, we are not yet at the point where all the better alternatives are easily available. There is a Catch-22: the sustainable technologies will not be mainstreamed into society until masses of people want them, and masses of people will not want them until they are mainstreamed. There will be a phasing-in period before these technologies become widely and easily available, and are thus able to reach their astonishing cost-effective potential.
As more and more people learn about better ways to live and have a chance to experience firsthand that these methods decrease costs, pollution and depletion and are beautiful, reliable and convenient, then a critical mass of this knowledge and understanding will be reached. When this happens, hope for a better future will be rekindled, and with it the will to spread sustainable and harmonious living systems—like a blessing around our planet.
With the publication of my book Solviva I hope to greatly increase general public awareness of what is possible for us to accomplish with today’s technology. I wish you an inspiring journey through the words and pictures therein, and happy envisioning, planning and action for a better future for us all.
Contact Anna
Edey at RFD 1 Box 582, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568, (508) 693-3341, e-mail:
solviva@vineyard.net, or go to www.solviva.com.
Solviva:
How To Grow $500,000
on One Acre & Peace On Earth
Paperback, 155 color illustrations
and photographs, resources,
appendices, glossary, index
8.5 x 10, 232 pages
ISBN: 0-9662349-0-1
Trailblazer Press, $35
“Greenhouse
GOLD”
- Organic Gardening Magazine
“The beauty in Anna Edey’s work opens up people’s hearts and minds to many alternatives which they had not previously considered or even imagined being possible.” - Robert Sardinsky, Rising Sun Enterprises
“Solviva
fascinates people because it is both ecologically and economically efficient.
This combination renders pointless the traditional battle pitting economic
development against ecological preservation. Solviva is a revolutionary project
because it dissolves the traditional categories we use to evaluate industry.”
- Andrew Rodwin
“Your book Solviva is magnificent! I am always pleased to see someone carrying on good and true environmental and ‘right living’ work. You’re one of the best!” - John Shuttleworth, founder of Mother Earth News
“This exciting book is the most talked-about guide to green living in print, and battered copies turn up at every organic farm and greenhouse I enter. The Solviva solutions to common problems are elegant, simple and incredibly efficient, as well as economically sound. Anybody who dreams of living a simpler, happier, less environmentally costly life will read this book to shreds. Joyful rather than didactic, direct rather than theoretical, it combines the distilled wisdom and experience of a lifetime into one enchanting book.Green gardeners will not be able to put it down.”. - Ann Lovejoy
“Every time I look through the Solviva book I feel so inspired and encouraged to make changes in our lifestyle. I’ve probably read through almost every single book there is on solar design and solar energy, and there isn’t a one of them that brings such sense of ‘right living’ along with such common sense stuff as this book.” - Karen DeYoung
Solviva
is about one woman’s vision and commitment to learning to live sustainably
and in harmony with life on Earth. Since 1976 Anna Edey has made one astonishing
discovery after another, developing methods of sustainable living under the
name Solviva Solar-Dynamic, Bio-Benign Design. The results of her experiments
and methods have again and again exceeded highest hopes and expectations.
Solviva describes
the exciting trials and triumphs of her journey and offers convincing proof
that we can, with today’s technology and knowledge, live in ways that
reduce pollution and depletion of resources by 80 percent or more, and at
the same time reduce the cost of living and improve the quality of life in
urban and rural locations. With 155 color illustrations and detailed instructions
and recommendations to help others along their own journeys toward living
sustainably Solviva is a detailed guide to growing food for a family or as
a business enterprise.
Anna Edey’s
work has been featured on television and radio, and in newspapers and magazines
around the world. She has lectured and consulted widely in the United States
and has received awards from the United Nations Environment Program, Renew
America, Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, and Aveda Corporation.
Solviva includes
information on Heating, Cooling, Wastewater Management, Food Production, Solar
Electricity, Construction and Maintenance of the Solviva Greenhouse and Farm.
Also included are chapters on Greenhouse Design describing Foundation, Framing,
Ventilation, Paths, Growing Beds, Hanging Growtubes, Watering Systems, Solar
Heat Storage Systems, Backup Heating System, Glazing, Pitch of the South Roof
and Greenhouse Management.
Because it is
not possible to convey in a book all the knowledge that is required to be
successful detailed designs which have been developed over the last 20 years
and offer sustainable ways to live are also available. Most are drawn to scale,
but are not architectural plans. Experienced people should be able to build
from these drawings. Many detail options for windows, joinery, glazing etc
are left up to the wishes of individuals. The various Solviva designs can
be modified to be larger or smaller than shown. Consulting and custom design
are also available.
Some of the designs
available include: Solviva 3000 square foot Greenhouse (aka the “Solviva
Winter Garden”); Solviva Backyard Food Factory: 15 x 24-foot home-scale
energy-self-sufficient greenhouse, with space for chickens or other warm-blooded
animals; Solviva Mini-Greenhouse: 12 x 24 feet; Solviva Solargreen Homes (4
types) Solviva Graywater Purification/Irrigation System.
For information
about designs contact Anna Edey at RFD 1 Box 582, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568,
(508) 693-3341, solviva@vineyard.net, www.solviva.com
