First, just wow. $5,650! We’re overjoyed to be the recipients of so much support and generosity from so many folks who believe in this work. It really puts wind in our sails. Or maybe it’s fertilizer at our roots..

If you want to donated or just learn more about what the fundraiser is about, check it out here: gofundme.com/nutfundraiser

Though we haven’t reached our goal of $10,000 as of yet, the Nutty Buddy Collective is moving forward with development of nut cracking equipment.

Every fall, many thousands of pounds of native nuts fall around us and by nature are an open source food. Every year they are shuffled out of our yards and into the bins , bags, and bottoms never to reach their intended goal of being food. They are of a higher flavor and nutritional quality than foods brought in from afar, organic or otherwise.

The idea of harvesting, processing and selling native black walnuts and hickories is a currently obscure concept and hardly any research and development is out there. Wild native nuts are such a marginal economic crop that it is currently reachable by only one large national operator. It is part of the NBC’s mission to develop a model and open source all its accompanying technology so anyone anywhere can pick up wherever we are and improve upon it, share it, and create a perennial food collective.

In short, we are developing a model relying on social capital and innovation rather than debt bondage. We believe that if grassroots organizers collaborate, we can create small local models around the world of perennial agriculture that will produce food indefinitely, keep wealth in local communities where it belongs, and environmentally, humans will be a net gain for the planet once again.

Would you care to join us on the journey?