Under the Choko Tree By Nevin Sweeney

Taking the Choko Tree to the Next Level! (2015 Director's Meeting)

Over the last couple of years Linda and I have gotten into the habit of holding a “directors” meeting for the Choko Tree in spring. Sure, we talk about how things are going regularly but we put aside a couple of hours at this time of year to go through how were are doing, what is working and what isn’t, what will stay on the “to do” list and what comes off.

Anyway I had been thinking about holding the meeting for a while. We have both been working on the regular stuff pretty solidly and the place is working well I have to admit and is very productive, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. So I decided I wanted to take the choko tree to the next level, whatever the hell that means. I asked her to have a think about what that means and how we could do it and then suggested we sit down in a weeks’ time and compare notes.

So that’s what we did!

Today.

Framework

We had a bit of a discussion about what taking the Choko Tree to a new level was all about. We came up with three points which would set the framework for developing the plans for the actions and projects which would take us to that “next level” –

They must help us -

  • Make more efficient use of what we have, and/or
  • Increase our production capacity/reduce our consumption requirements, and/or
  • Make the best use of our available time

In general terms then, the actions we came up with would need to fit within this framework, but there were also other criteria which we would need to keep in mind when formulating actions and projects to take us to the next level. These criteria were discussed and approved –

  • Make maximum use of recycled and re-used materials
  • Keep costs low
  • Maintain amenity – we like the way our place looks and operates and new projects shouldn’t stuff that up
  • Recognise we are a demonstration facility and will need to show people how things work

The Nitty Gritty

OK, so now we had the framework in place we needed to get into the detail. The first place to start was with the existing To-Do list. There were quite a few items completed and crossed off (which was good!) but there were some remaining items to, some of which had been there for a considerable amount of time (years for some). We looked at those in detail and decided to keep some (like the paper log maker), that while some looked like fun they had technical difficulties (like sinking the well) or had too high costs associated with them (like the window quilts). So we took a number of actions of the list and deleted all completed items.

Next we looked at my list, which was mainly composed of actions around increasing our production in various areas, primarily food. I also had an action that we measure better what we produce and what we consumed. We grow and make a fair bit of our own stuff, but like everyone else there is still some stuff we need to buy. How much of want we currently buy could we ultimately produce ourselves or with the help of friends? We would have no idea until we got a feeling for what we actually bought regularly, hence the need for better measuring. It also helps to have an understanding of how much you are producing as well so you know you are producing the right stuff!

Once we had discussed my thoughts (and approved the actions!) we added them to the official “To-Do” list, now it was time to review Linda’s list.

One of the advantages of getting everyone’s input at a meeting (even if it was only a meeting of two of us) is that the other people’s viewpoint will be different to our own and so give a different slant on things. This proved to be true for us too. While I tended to be fairly project oriented, Linda took a more holistic viewpoint.

While her list did contain projects to complete and some valuable insights on increasing our productivity (Why didn’t I think of a dedicated sweet potato production area seeing as we eat so much of the things?) she also flagged where our attitudes and actions could improve things. Things like committing to using the solar cookers more, committing to making more of our own clothes and committing to turning the TV off more to help us make better use of our time. She also suggested things like “Learn a new skill night” and reinstituting a TV-free night, which had fallen by the wayside.

She also suggested looking at some areas which would require investment, like installing an active solar heating and cooling system (ala the sun lizard type of thing) as well as flagging the need to review the garden plan to see where we had some space. She also mentioned things like getting the car serviced to maintain what we have in good condition.

All in all our Annual Director’s Meeting went well!

I reviewed what we had discussed and then transcribed our agreed actions onto the official Choko Tree “To-Do List” and then ran it past my lovely co-director to make sure I had captured all actions agreed at the meeting. Once that was done I replaced the current list on the website with our new one and we were right to go! The Choko Tree To-Do list is accessible here and you can keep an eye on it to see how we are going with completing and crossing off the actions.

Please wish us luck!

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