Jeff Moskovics here:

From Cyber-Security to Poetry: An Incredible Skill Share Night

There is something so energizing about bringing a group of passionate people together to trade knowledge. This past June I had the privilege of helping TTJericho host our community skill share event, and it was a deeply rewarding evening.

The amazing part about doing a skill share is its variety. The community brought with them their knowledge, questions, and eagerness to learn. Our neighbors and friends were not only the audience, but also the educators.  Here is a look back at how the evening unfolded.

A Little Bit of Everything: The Lineup

We had a range of sessions happening during two different windows. Attendees could hop between completely different worlds, including:

Gardening for Nutrition
Encounters with Animals
The Drum Circle
Adventures in Poetry
Practical Digital Hygiene
My Session: Demystifying Digital Hygiene

I had the opportunity to speak to one of my areas of expertise, cybersecurity. My session was titled Practical Digital Hygiene, focusing on how everyday users can transform themselves into "hard targets" against online threats.

I ended up speaking for about 40 minutes, and the crowd engagement was so good. There is always a slight worry when presenting on tech or security that people's eyes might glaze over, but everyone was genuinely curious and excited about the topic. We had a fantastic back-and-forth, with people asking great questions about password vaults, securing public Wi-Fi, and outsmarting social engineering tactics. It felt less like a rigid lecture and much more like a collaborative workshop for digital wellness.

From Teacher to Student: Adventures in Poetry 

One of the best perks of helping host an event like this is getting to step out of your own comfort zone. Once my presentation wrapped up, I took off my speaker hat, grabbed a notebook, and attended the Adventures in Poetry, given by one of my dear friends, Brandi Homan. https://brandihoman.com/

Going straight from the analytical, structured world of cybersecurity architecture to the fluid, emotional space of creative writing was the perfect mental shift. It reminded me exactly why we put these events on: to challenge different parts of our brains, embrace vulnerability, and appreciate the immense talent hidden within our own local community.

The Big Takeaway

Events like this prove that everyone has something valuable to teach and everyone has something new to learn. Whether you are hardening your laptop's defenses or writing your first stanza, community-led learning breaks down barriers and builds genuine connection.

A massive thank you to everyone who came out, engaged, clapped, drummed, and shared their space with us. I’m already looking forward to the next one!

Adam reporting:

​On May 18th, 2026, Transition Town Jericho was joined by small group at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library to hear from Lena Greenberg (they/them), co-director of Community Resilience Organizations (CROs). CROs is a small non-profit based in Montpelier, VT that emerged after Hurricane Irene in 2011. CROs is a grassroots organizing hub and technical assistance provider focused on helping communities build resilience and racial and climate equity. After the devastating floods in 2023 and 2024 in Vermont, CROs released their Resilience Hub Toolkit, which is what Lena came to discuss.
​YouTube recording HERE.
 
Lena began with some history, explaining that when CROs started after Irene, their founder kind of looked around and said:
 
"Hold on, all of the communities that are better connected…where people already have relationships, are much more able to thrive after disaster, not to mention survive and recover. Let's try to invest in those relationships before the next disaster so that we can be better equipped to meet the moment.”
 
That ethos drove their work into the Toolkit. For their part, Lena grew up in New York City and was there in 2012 during Hurricane Sandy. Their high school cafeteria and neighborhood flooded; people lost their homes and some lost their lives. This was a wake-up call for the city, like Irene was for Vermont. Lena began learning about how governments and communities respond to disasters in different ways. This was foundational for them.
 
Lena compared the recent flooding in 2023 and 2024 to the Irene flooding in 2011. Much of the work was the same: mucking and gutting houses, supporting local businesses, and filing burdensome FEMA claims. When government is slow to respond and climate impacts are expected to increase extreme weather events, we must learn to help each other. So, the question is, how do we take care of each other?

More coming soon.

Dave here:

There’s something special growing in Jericho this spring — and it’s more than vegetables. We’re excited to celebrate the fifth year with 10 inspiring young winners of the 2026 Transition Town Jericho Garden Contest! These enthusiastic gardeners, ages 6 to 12, are planting the seeds of sustainability, creativity, and community spirit right in their own backyards.  over the past 5 years, Transition Town team has delivered over 50 gardens to youth in Jericho and nearby towns.  Transition Town Jericho thanks those who have supported this program over the past 5 years, and looks to more gardens to more kids in the future!

Thanks to generous support from the Town of Jericho, along with the hard work and dedication of Jeff Coulson, Curt Belton, Dan Manz, and Brad Vietje, this year’s project blossomed into another unforgettable success. From building raised beds and hauling soil to delivering supplies across town, this community effort brought hands-on learning, excitement, and plenty of smiles to local families.

One of the best parts of the project was seeing the children greet their new 4x6 raised garden beds with pure excitement. Some sprinted outside with big grins and endless questions, while others carefully explained their garden plans like seasoned farmers. They proudly showed off sunny corners of their yards, hillside garden spots with mountain views, and creative plans for watering, weeding, and protecting their crops from hungry rabbits and wandering wildlife.

This year’s gardens are bursting with imagination. The young growers plan to cultivate everything from Vermont favorites like tomatoes, peas, carrots, beans, and pumpkins to towering sunflowers, sweet corn, colorful flowers, herbs, and pollinator-friendly plants designed to attract butterflies and bees.

Beyond the harvest itself, these gardens are teaching valuable lessons about patience, responsibility, adaptability, and the rewards of hard work. Every seed planted is a step toward a healthier, more connected, and resilient community.

We invite you to meet the garden builders and this year’s winners and explore their wonderful garden drawings below. 

Here’s to a summer filled with sunshine, discovery, fresh vegetables, muddy hands, and growing dreams in Jericho!

Adam here again, back with my second blog post.
​
On Monday, March 23rd, 2026, Ariel Burgess facilitated an “Eco-Resiliency Gathering " with a group of about 15 attendees (including Laura and I) at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library in Jericho.
YouTube Video HERE.

Ariel opened the Gathering by asking us to take a moment to close our eyes, or look at the floor, and check in with ourselves—ask ourselves how we were feeling emotionally and physically. Did we have a crazy day? Did we want a nap? And asked us to try to identify an emotion or feeling.

She followed that by introducing us to the Climate Emotions Wheel (see below), developed from the work of Panu Pihkala, a professor of environmental theology at the University of Helsinki. She asked us to pick an emotion from the wheel that matched how we were feeling.

As you can see, the Red group encompasses emotions of Anger, Purple is Sadness, Green represents Fear, and finally, Blue is Positivity. Ariel asked how many of us were in each category. There were three people in the Red, four from Purple, five or six in Green, and three in Blue. We began the night relatively evenly distributed and would return to this Wheel throughout the Gathering.

Before going further, Ariel introduced herself, explaining that she currently teaches interdisciplinary environmental courses at Champlain College. Her passion lies in eco-psychology and climate resilience, and she holds a Doctorate in the field. Ariel believes that the roots of the ecological and climate crises are largely psychological problems, but also that the solutions can be psychological as well.

So, what is eco resilience? Ariel defined it as “our emotional, psychological, and spiritual resilience in the context of ecological destruction and climate change.” This is about flexibility and growth, not the rubber band kind of resilience, as we might talk about an ecosystem snapping back to baseline after a disruption, like a storm that knocks over many trees. But our baseline is not stable; things are changing.

With that in mind, Ariel compared this to Leslie Davenport’s (a well-known climate psychologist) term “emotional resiliency,” meaning the “ability to remain present, open-minded, and empathic in the face of increasing stress” because of the changing climate. She explained that we should care so that we don’t get overwhelmed by negative emotions or experience the ongoing changes as trauma, specifically climate trauma, as described by Zhiwa Woodbury, which can push us outside our ability to respond, because the problem feels too big.

Ariel introduced a method to prevent that trauma, while making progress on the climate, called titrating. We had been practicing it throughout the night in the form of discussing hard or difficult parts of the climate crisis and then coming back together as a group to discuss our changing emotional states. Titrating is about tackling difficult things a little bit at a time, and then doing things we enjoy, including being in community, to recharge. The climate crisis will be there when we’re ready to go back to it.

Along those lines is also the concept of the “window of resilience,’ or window of tolerance. We want to remain within this window for our best psychological functioning. We don’t want to go too low, where we might get depressed and experience flight, and we don’t want to go too high, where we might encounter fight. If our arousal state is too low, we want to bring it up by engaging in energetic activities like dancing or playing sports. And if our arousal state is too high, we want to bring it down by engaging in calming activities like meditating or bird watching.

At the end of the evening, we completed an activity. Everyone partnered up (Ariel and I partnered up). The first partner would continuously speak for 5 minutes, talking about what life is like in the present moment and what they’re doing to address the climate crisis, while the second partner would listen from the perspective of a descendant far in the future. For the last five minutes, the other partner would talk as a descendant, responding to their ancestor. After this activity, we checked in and found that more people had moved into the blue quadrant of the Climate Emotions Wheel, towards positivity, hope, and gratitude.

With that, Ariel left us with some parting words:

• Do this work together, in community, and check in with others.
• Remember the window of resilience.
• Titrate the hard stuff.
• Find the positive emotions - find the joy.
• Engage and be of service.

Thanks for a great gathering, Ariel!

​Laura here:

​Back stitch, whip stitch…which to use?! Nadine Demers has the answers, and led a dozen of us in repairing our torn jeans and other clothes in need of mending, on Feb 16 at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library. Nadine, owner of the business Crescencia, is also a Jericho resident.

With a background in environmental science, Nadine said mending clothes lessens the waste stream via less throwaways. She said for every five repairs, four new purchases are avoided. Nadine envisions a circular economy, where items are designed for longevity, unlike the current more linear, disposable economy.

Coming from a family of immigrants, as a child she was taught skills such as hemming pants, sewing buttons, and repairing seams. And as the mother of two young children, she’s often mending; Nadine brought examples of her kid’s pants, some of which had been fixed more than once, and looking better than new!

Having a sewing machine is not necessary, Nadine said and sewing skills are accessible to all. Plus doing it yourself, you can add some flare and character to this or that patch. She said that doing your own mending and repairs “creates value on care rather than consumption”, less reliance on the system and increases self resiliency.

Nadine stressed the value of natural fibers, saying they are much more long lasting. One must be wary of mixed fibers; for example, denim nowadays has elastic which makes it less durable.

Once we were set up with sewing our various projects, the room was filled with the busy rustling of handiwork and murmured  conversation. Indeed,  it felt like stepping  back in time!

Nadine’s website: www.crescenciaVT.com

​

Dave here:  

As social and environmental problems get worse, it's becoming clear that our current economic system isn't working well for most people or the planet. Dr. Josh Farley, an expert in ecological economics, joined Transition Town Jericho to explain why we need a new kind of economy—one based on cooperation and helping each other, rather than constant competition.

On December 8, at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library, 24 people joined Josh Farley to dig into the topic,  “Rethinking Economics: Evolution, Community and Transition Towns”.  MMCTV was also there, recording the presentation. The video link is at the end of this blog.
 
Josh asked, what is the traditional goal of the economy? Growth, of course!  But nature is not part of the equation and we have to realize that the economy is a subsystem of all of nature.

Since humans outweigh all other life by 90%, there are less resources available for the rest of the beings on earth.  How is this sustainable when we use micro economics which is “egocentric’? Alternatively, we can be “ecocentric” and support ecological economics, prioritizing the relationship between humans and the rest of nature.

The question was posed; can we adjust to new ideas?

​We’ll first need to create the following new rules:

• Ecological sustainability
• Social justice
• Efficient allocation with minimal ecological impact.

Then we’ll need to manifest the new rules in the following ways:

• Common ownership of wealth created by nature and societal as a whole
• Collective decision making that accounts for future operation
• Renewables, non-renewables

Josh showed us how ideas from modern evolution support us in working together, and how community traditions like Ubuntu and Territories of Life point to healthier, more sustainable ways of living. One real world example is a project that turns ordinary grass lawns into edible, native gardens that support both people and the environment. Josh shared various examples of such gardens.

​Link here to the presentation:
https://youtu.be/tnd5OkdQc10

​

Adam here, with my first blog post since joining the Transition Town Jericho Steering Committee in January!
​
Last Monday, October 27th, 2025, TTJ hosted Brian Tokar from the Institute of Social Ecology (ISE) at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library for a talk titled “Social Ecology: A Vision of Positive Change in our Towns.” The link to the recording from MMCTV can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-5rQpqKq20

Brian has been living in central Vermont since the 1980s, about 10 years after the Institute’s founding, and has been involved with the organization since. Brian has written broadly about environmental justice and social ecology, and taught for 15 years in the University of Vermont’s Environmental Program (my alma mater). Brian presented attendees with an overview of social ecology, movements the philosophy has inspired, and how it can be applied in our towns, with time for questions.
Brian arranged his overview of social ecology through the following slide:

Brian began by talking about his mentor and teacher, Murray Bookchin, from whom much of the theory of social ecology evolved. Bookchin began by 1) critiquing politics as usual, having grown up in the Great Depression and labor movement of the 1930s, and having witnessed the limitations of the old Left. The focus of his critique emerged through the understanding that the environmental problems we face are fundamentally social and political in nature. Bookchin was critical of a technological fix, since he believed that our social system, with its history of social domination and hierarchy, was more to blame.

From there, Bookchin began exploring 2) the anthropological and historical roots in Western society of the notion that humans were (and are) separate from nature and must dominate the natural world, but in fact, discovered that that’s a myth. Humans can’t actually dominate nature. Our belief in this myth evolved from a tendency towards hierarchical social relationships at different times throughout history. Bookchin also discovered that earlier human societies (and contemporary indigenous cultures) had a focus on interdependence and reciprocity with each other and the natural world, and believed in the unity of diversity, which is a core ecological and social cornerstone. Economically, these early societies believed that ensuring everyone's needs was paramount. Bookchin did this deep dive into history and anthropology not out of nostalgia, but as he concluded in his book, Ecology of Freedom, so we could learn from those cultures and elevate human freedom.

With this background, Bookchin moved toward 3) philosophy in His book, Philosophy of Social Ecology, looking at the birth of consciousness through evolution, social evolution, and the differentiation of first nature, meaning the natural world, and second nature, human societies. Murray saw Social Ecology as having the potential to lead to a free nature, one that transcends those divisions, and saw natural evolution as moving towards abundance and increasing complexity. These deep reflections led to 4) a political strategy that came to be known as communalism, which was inspired by the Paris Commune of the French Revolution, that sought to reclaim decisions that affect our lives through decentralization, direct democracy, and confederalism, of free cities and towns working together.
​
Brian concluded his overview with 5) a Long Range Vision, which is about restoring human harmony with the natural world and involves practical utopianism through experiments in permaculture, greening of buildings and cities, and renewable energy. Some of these took place at the original home of ISE at Cate Farm in Plainfield, VT.

​After this overview, Brian moved into discussing movements that have been inspired by social ecology. The first such movement, emerging in the 1960s, was the anti-nuclear movement, which embraced the politics of direct democracy to oppose the development of nuclear energy.

​The 1990s saw attempts from left-wing environmental groups to shut down Wall Street, followed by protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization, and then protests against the International Monetary Fund, or IMF.

​The turn of the century, in the early 2000s, saw the development of the anti-GMO movement. In Vermont, 85 towns passed resolutions against GMOs, and in 2010, the Legislature passed a GMO labeling law.

​The 2010s saw the Occupy Wall Street movement, which demonstrated popular assembly.

​At the end of the presentation, some attendees had questions. The first question was about communities out there that have successfully utilized the principles of social ecology. Brian pointed to the book Practicing Social Ecology by Eleanor Finley, which explores Kurdish regions of southern Turkey, Barcelona, and the permaculture movement of Western Massachusetts. Then, even here in Vermont, there are many groups working towards a Better future.
​
In the second question, I asked about the current thinking around opposition to nuclear energy. The opposition, Brian said, has to do with energy sovereignty and community choice over energy sources, cost, safety, and claims from the nuclear industry that have yet to be realized.

Another question was about how social ecology would respond to this era of mistrust in science. Brian pointed to the anti-intellectualism pervasive in American society and understanding who is spreading misinformation and why. A final question explored economic alternatives, like Cooperation Jackson and Cooperation Vermont.

Dave Here,
With a frost in the coming in 36 hours, the squash needed to be pulled out of the field and covered up before distribution to the local agencies.  I am always impressed with the people of Jericho to assist, as we were able to get a team of 10 people together to get the squash picked before this frost hit.  It took me less than 24 hours to get the team together from the email lists of Transition Town Jericho, The Jericho-Underhill Food Hub and FPF listing.  With that many people in the field, we were able to be done in less than an hour.  Thanks to our volunteer pickers:  Anne Clift, Bill Butler,  Mary Bibb Carol Bahr Benita Lord, Vanessa Farley, Laura Markowitz, Marjorie Hollocher and Jim Morris (Dave Clift taking the picture)

A special thanks to Tucker Andrews of Bone Mountain Farm for growing the squash and making it available to TTJ to pull from the field and distribute.  Thank you for continuing to support the Extra Row Project.  It has become something that the food shelves look forward to each year.  Believe it or not, this was the fifth year that we have been doing this good work!  And over that time period, it is estimated that Tucker has provided about 10,000 pounds of food to people in need in Jericho, Underhill, Essex, Williston, Essex Junction, Colchester and Burlington.

For 2025, 366 butternut were harvested, 167 Delacata squash was gleaned, and 55 misc types of squash was gleaned and distributed, estimated to be over 1,100 pounds.

The following Food Pantries received squash:

Aunt Dots in Essex - 100
Heavenly Food Shelf in Essex Junction - 150
Essex, Jericho, Underhill Ecumenical Food Shelf, in Jericho  160
The Family Room, Old North End of Burlington  - 148

After completing the spring garden deliveries, the Transition Town team—Dave, and Laura—set out to reconnect with the young gardeners to see how their gardens had fared. They were eager to learn about the children’s gardening experiences, including what they grew, how their plants thrived, and whether they enjoyed managing their own gardens. We successfully followed up with 6 of the 12 contest winners, discovering a rich tapestry of gardening stories filled with both triumphs and challenges. These reflections echoed the common ups and downs of gardening that we all experience.

A follow-up discussions covered important seasonal preparations. The team offered advice on how to "put their garden to bed" for the winter, helping the young gardeners plan for the off-season and ensure their gardens are well-prepared for the next growing year. This proactive approach will set the stage for a successful and vibrant gardening season when May arrives in 2026.

Elizabeth
Had a good summer in the garden.
Her garden had a lot of bees this year.  She wanted to grow a lot of flowers.  The garden was overrun with the delicata squash and found a good size carrots in amongst the squash leaves.  She loves to eat the carrots and put them in her salad. 
Had to put a fence around the garden to keep out the rabbits.  There are a lot of flowers on the cucumber patch and talked about the male and female flowers.  The fruit under the flower indicate the “girl” flowers.  Talked about the cucumber beetles and how they can infect the flowers on the cucumbers.
Looked at the delicata squash and determined that many of them are ready to eat. Mom makes a “squasage” for dinner which is not Elizabeth’s favorite.
Had some corn that was undeveloped for this late in the year, so won’t produce much.
Next summer will pay attention to spacing and not grow things so closely.
 
Eila-
The garden got a slow start this year.  The starts did well, but the seeds did not germinate very well.
Eila grew edible flowers, cherry tomatoes, basil, ground cherries, carrots, and chard
Planning on using the basal to make pesto.
Nesturcians, Merigolds, but some of the animals helped themselves to the foliage
The ground cherries are small, and be sure to take the “wrapper” off and eat the cherry inside
Next year she will not plant chard and may try zucchini.
 
Isaac
Had good summer that flew by. He and his Grandpa worked together on the project.
Carrots were still growing and have yet to pick them.  The animals got to the radishes early on and ate them.  The garden overall got a slow start.
The beets were growing well.  Summer squash did also did well.
Isaac liked the project and spent once a week in the garden during the summer.
Did not like the fact that he had to weed.
He would do growing next year and do pretty much the same thing as this year
  
Dominique and Adriana
Got most of the planting done in May soon after the garden delivery.  The peppers were small for the length of time in the soil.    Also planted green beans, basil, carrots and melons.
There was some mildew blight on the melon leaves, and talked about how you can prune the infected leaves and keep the mildew at bay.
Talked about garlic for next season and that planting time will be in the late fall.
Adriana also planted Zinnias for cut flowers.  Also grew some sunflowers that the bees really liked.  Talked about the sunflower seed and using them for eating or seeds for growing next year.
 
Oscar and Wallace
Oscar planted Cherry tomatoes in the garden this year.  Also had carrot and basil which was very big.  Also grew beans and Marigolds.  The tomatoes looked very healthy as they were spaced out and branches were thinned to allow for good air flow and keeping the leaves dry.
Had a very slow start to the growing season, so plants were on the small side.
Was challenged by the lack of rain and being away a lot for the summer.
Lesson learned to space out the carrots and thin them when they got bigger.  Will want to add more soil to the garden for next season.