Showing posts with label small forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small forest. Show all posts

Aug 24, 2025

post-growth


Prompt: Contentment is anathema to capitalism. 

Response: "Capitalism thrives on the idea that individuals will always want more, driving demand and innovation. Contentment can dampen this drive. (...) If people are satisfied with their current situation, they may not engage in the consumer behaviors that fuel economic expansion. (...) This dynamic raises interesting questions about the balance between personal fulfillment and economic systems." 

Prompt: Relation of contentment with the photo.

Response: "(...) The lush greenery suggests a peaceful retreat, promoting relaxation and a sense of well-being. Being surrounded by plants can enhance feelings of contentment, as nature often provides a calming effect. (...) The presence of a small table and chairs indicates a space for reflection or social interaction. Such environments can foster connections with oneself or others, contributing to a sense of fulfillment. (...) Spaces like this encourage mindfulness, allowing individuals to appreciate the moment and their surroundings, which is essential for cultivating contentment. (...) This serene setting contrasts with the hustle of urban life and consumer culture, highlighting the beauty of simplicity and the joy found in small, everyday moments.

Prompt: You said "This serene setting contrasts with the hustle of urban life" and yet this is a city balcony. 

Response: "(...) the setting is indeed a city balcony, which adds an interesting layer to the discussion of contentment. The balcony serves as a personal retreat amidst the urban hustle, allowing individuals to escape the noise and chaos of city life, even if just temporarily. (...) Incorporating plants in city living can enhance well-being, providing a connection to nature that is often lacking in densely populated areas. (...) The ability to create a serene space in an urban environment reflects a conscious effort to cultivate contentment, balancing the demands of city life with personal well-being. (...) The arrangement of plants and seating suggests a thoughtful approach to living, where individuals prioritize moments of peace and reflection, even in a bustling city. 

Prompt: Do you think it is a good image for what post-growth can be? 

Response: "Yes, the image can effectively symbolize the principles of post-growth. (...) Emphasis on Sustainability. The lush plants represent a commitment to sustainability and ecological balance, key tenets of post-growth thinking, which advocates for living within ecological limits. Quality of Life Over Quantity The cozy balcony setting emphasizes the importance of quality of life and well-being over material accumulation, reflecting a shift away from consumerism. Connection to Nature. The presence of greenery highlights the value of integrating nature into daily life, promoting mental health and a sense of community, which are central to post-growth ideals. Intentional Living. The serene atmosphere encourages mindfulness and simplicity, suggesting that fulfillment can come from small, meaningful experiences rather than constant growth and consumption. Urban Resilience. The image illustrates how urban spaces can adapt to promote resilience and sustainability, showcasing a vision for future living that prioritizes harmony with the environment.

Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC), August 20, 2025.

Aug 2, 2025

Garden design as Art


"(...) bear in mind that garden design as it is studied by the one nation which really understands it - the Japanese - takes many years of serious application to reach perfection. It is a very high art". Frances Wolseley (1919). Gardens: their form and design. Found and suggested by paula simoes' blog. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC), July 13, 2025.

PS - The Countryman's Log Book

Nov 25, 2024

The real thing


"there’s a particular kind of disappointment when you begin to admire a bouquet or a blossom at a distance and find out closer up that it’s fake. The disappointment arises in part from having been deceived, but also from encountering an object that is static, that will never die because it never lived, that didn’t form itself out of the earth, and that as a texture coarser, dryer, less inviting to the touch than a mortal flower.” (Solnit, 2020, Orwell’s roses). That's what I think about chatGPT, artificial things, and fakes. When everything is automated, human interaction is precious. More than ever, the natural, the handmade, the imperfect, becomes the real luxury. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC). November, 2024.

May 16, 2024

Biodiversity

«Biodiversity is the driver of the farm. If I'm asked "What do you grow?", I say "Biodiversity". The vegetables are a by-product. (...) What I'm trying to do here is to copy the forest." To make farming work, "we need to restore a forest soil ecology, aligning farming with the original ecosystem. (...) Small farmers around the world are seeking such solutions, and have come together to build a global agroecology movement." George Monbiot (2023). Regenesis: Feeding the World without devouring the Planet. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) May 12, 2024.

Mar 30, 2024

sugar and oxygen


"Carbon dioxide plus water combined in the presence of light and chlorophyl in the beautiful membrane-bound machinery of life yields sugar and oxygen." Robin Wall Kimerer (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2024.

Mar 22, 2024

March


O tempo oferece palcos onde vamos esculpindo vidas. A nossa e a de outros seres que se entrelaçam na nossa. O tempo, esse grande escultor, de Marguerite Yourcenar. No das plantas e no meu, recomeça um novo ciclo. Juntas, vamos esculpindo o tempo. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2024.

Feb 21, 2024

February


"Beauty is not only formal, and lies not only in the superficial qualities that are appealing to the eye or ear, it lies in patterns of meaning, in evocations of values, and its connection to the life the reader is living and the world she wants to see." Rebecca Solnit (2022). Orwell's Roses. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2024.

Sep 10, 2023

September


"The demand for urban nature-based solutions can be expected to rise exponentially, as greening cities is the best measure to address the accelerating urban heat island effect". European Investment Bank, Hudson, G., Hart, S., Verbeek, A. (2023). Investing in nature-based solutions – State-of-play and way forward for public and private financial measures in Europe.

Photo: Temperate part of, probably, the smallest garden in the city. Taken in august 2023 by Monica Pinheiro. Free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Jun 25, 2023

June


June 18, 2023. Photo by Monica Pinheiro, free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Jun 8, 2023

June


Estimates suggest that a garden of 1,000 square meters could sequester one ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year [see entry from November, 2019]. Miyawaki forests, or tiny forests, are even more efficient sequestering CO2 due to their greater biodiversity and vegetation density. I wonder how much COam I sequestering in my little páteo high density forest (around 25 square meters)?

Even small, little apartment forests help to clean the air, reduce water runoff, lower heat, feed bees, attract birds (and free manure!), reduce the garbage produced (by composting and mulching), lowers stress, brightens the day and fills the space with ever-changing beauty. 

Unlike «things», Nature does not repeat itself. One never knows what flower will open next, what new plant will show up, or what culprit will eat the fruits that we longed for :)

May 2023 photo by Monica Pinheiro, free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Mar 15, 2023

March

"A garden is what you want (and can manage and afford), and what you want is who you are, and who you are is always a political and cultural question. It's true even of vegetables gardens (...) though more so with pleasure gardens." Rebecca Solnit (2022). Orwell's Roses. Photo by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Dec 11, 2022

December

"An unplanned exercise in cooperation is taking place, with animal and plant, fungus and microbe, competing and collaborating in complex ways. This is an ecosystem discovering itself, and it is here that the fundamental patterns of life on land are been established." Thomas Halliday (2022). Otherlands: A World in the Making. Photo by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Jul 18, 2022

July


"Beyond our material limits (...) lies another world. A place worth visiting. An investment worth making. A destination worth reaching. Tomorrow is another country. They do things differently there. Beyond the limits to affluence lies an affluence that only limits can reveal to us. Limits are the gateway to the limitless." Tim Jackson (2021). Post Growth: Life After Capitalism. Photo by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Jul 14, 2022

February


"Love appears as the most unlikely pinnacle in an entire universe of improbability. It's the most spectacular victory in our ongoing struggle to bring order out of chaos." Tim Jackson (2021). Post Growth: Life After Capitalism. Photo by Monica Pinheiro free to use it if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

July


"Is art resistance? Can you plant a garden to stop a war? It depends how you think about time. It depends what you think a seed does, if it’s tossed into fertile soil. But it seems to me that whatever else you do, it’s worth tending to paradise, however you define it and wherever it arises." Olivia Laing cited in Maria Popova «Gardening as Resistance: Notes on Building Paradise». Makes me want to read the book Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency (2021). Photo by Monica Pinheiro free to use it if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Apr 1, 2022

April

"Ser brava é a gente firmar-se naquilo que está a fazer, no que está a dizer e naquilo que quer ser." Written on the wall of «As Bravas» exposition. Photo: «Small Forest in the City», March 21, 2022, by Monica Pinheiro. You are free to use it if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ). Brave is also a web browser that respects the right to privacy.

Mar 12, 2022

March

 

"Turning points in a life that seemed set on a predictable path suddendly emerge. (...) a reality check sets in. Once past certainties have collapsed, one begins to look at the world with different eyes. Emotions change. (...) The cunning of uncertainty lets in the unexpected. It makes room for the new, even if the new is often made from clever and unexpected recombinations of already existing elements. Poised on the threshold between the present and the unknowable future, it invites us to join the dance." Helga Nowotony (2016). The Cunning of Uncertainty. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Sep 13, 2021

strings

It all started with a string (a) and pieces of wasted biomass (b). Then creating little tensions (c), expanding one bit (d) at a time (e), and allowing infrastructure to grow (f) to shape natural (g), negative carbon shading for my home (h). Unlike artificial shading infrastructures (i), nature-based solutions become better with time (j) and go on sequestering carbon dioxide, cooling (k) the environment (l), and greening our cities (m). If they cease to live, they are still precious as colour pallets (n), compost or biomass for energy (o). Thinking (p) how can I expand the platform to this city balcony small forest... Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Aug 28, 2021

all shades of green

Between «all or nothing» there are thousands of green variations. Green washing, like inaction, is not green. Its a waste of time and resources that could be applied in more green. None of us can do everything, but each of us can do a lot of green different things. And we need more of these different green things to get the Planet back on track. To sustain all life. Our life, also. We must carry on with green and keep on doing whatever more green we can do. Reducing what we can reduce. Reusing, recycling, composting, gardening, planting, trying some veggies of your own, offering plants, and seeds. Slowing down consumption. Exchanging surplus and ideas with neighbours, family, friends, colleagues. All shades of green are beautiful, fun, healthy, fair and good for the environment. 

Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC )

May 28, 2021

Cooling


Green Up to Cool Down: United in Action, webinar registration. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)