111 ~ Going low tech (institute)
I'm proud of many things Wisconsin - the Green Bay Packers (natch), Frank Lloyd Wright and Taliesin, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, American Players Theatre, the Driftless Area, effigy mounds, native brook trout (and also that a Wisconsin U.S. senator cast the sole, courageous 'no' vote, 1-99, to Senate passage of the "Patriot Act" in the frantic panic following 9/11, a bill which unleashed domestic spying on Americans).
Here's another point of homey pride - the Low Technology Institute (LTI), in Cooksville (Rock County, south of Madison).
LTI is the brainchild and 'baby' of the remarkable Scott Johnson. Before embarking on a career showing us how to live sustainably, with the land (echoes of both Leopold and Wright), Scott was an academic and a scholar of Mayan antiquity (and the author of books such as Translating Maya Hieroglyphs and Why Did Ancient Civilizations Fail?).
Now he's the founder and driving force of LTI. He started the institute with the premise of asking - and answering - the question, "How can we live without fossil fuels - something we will have to do someday?" And he brings to the task his deep knowledge of how the Mayans did it, and also his own work of raising food for his young family. Check out LTI here, and also this profile of Scott and his work.
I met Scott in early 2022, when we both spoke at the Wisconsin Garden and Landscape Expo, and I felt an immediate connection (after all, he and his family had recently gone a year without grocery shopping, just to try it). I also soon felt in debt to him: I attended an Expo talk he gave on growing grains (such as wheat and rye) in the home garden, something I had in mind to try. His presentation quickly disabused me of the notion. It can be done, but I learned it's a lot of work. I still owe him for the hours of futility and sweat he saved me.
Scott demonstrating the advantages and feasibility of thatch roofing. - photo courtesy of LTI
LTI periodically sponsors some very cool events and workshops. Sign up for their newsletter to keep in the loop, which you can do here.
In fact, on the weekend of August 23-25 LTI will host an interesting series of talks and workshops, as host of the Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence (I’ll be part of a panel on Saturday evening). You can learn more here.
Scott's a good man doing good, remarkable things, and LTI is very much worth checking out.