The Zeitgeist seems to have developed an obsession with agriculture. Observe:

• Crop-mobbing – collective and collaborative action on small farms; community-building through sharing of labour [via Howard Rheingold]
• Guerrilla gardening, a.k.a. urban agricultural action-at-a-distance – buy flower grenades online, or keep it cheap and cheerful (and probably far more effective) by picking up a seedbomb from a vending machine in San Francisco
• Farming the mall – if the temples of commerce are echoing and empty, why not fill them with organically-grown food? [via Douglas Rushkoff]

Ecological fashion trends or economic necessities? I’m thinking a bit of both, and wondering how long they’ll last… hopefully for a while.

Speaking of sustainable living and community development, Futurismic fiction alumnus Douglas Lain (author of the grimly excellent “Resurfacing Billy”) plans to write a “radical self-help book” called Pick Your Battle, which will be…

… a book that will explain and explore urban gleaning, situationist theory, and unschooling while telling the story of my own and my family’s attempt to revolutionize our everyday lives. It will support efforts to organize local foraging, community gardens, psychogeographic field trips, and a confrontation with the current system.

He’s got a funding drive running on Kickstarter; if a mash-up of science fiction, situationism and sustainable living sounds like your cup of tea, why not go pledge Doug a dollar or two to keep him fed while he writes it? An interesting topic, and an adventurous funding model for creative writing.