Tuesday 24 August 2010
Permaculture as a Guide?
Found another beauty of an article to share with you. Comes from The Oil Drum, who's mission is to, "...facilitate civil, evidence-based discussions about energy and its impact on our future."
The discussion in question on this occassion was from George Mobus, Associate Professor of Computing & Software Systems at the University of Washington, Tacoma, who asked, "Can we solve two problems at once - unemployment and preparing for power down?"
I draw this to your attention as Permaculture gets quite a mention in the arguments made:
"Over the next twenty years the US and the world will need to transition from an industrial agriculture model to one based on permaculture and more organic, labor intensive approaches to growing food. Oil is going to decline, meaning that diesel fuels to run tractors and combines will become increasingly costly. And natural gas, meaning fertilizers, will also go into decline. The era of agribusiness is coming to a close sooner than anybody might have imagined. And we are not prepared for what follows."
"Agribusiness has relied so heavily on the elements of the so-called Green Revolution, fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticides along with massive and complex delivery vehicles, all made from or run on fossil fuels. At the same time, the very use of these elements has depleted the natural capacities of regional soils. In some cases it has killed off soil microbes that are essential for natural ecosystems to survive and thrive. And that is the way we will need to understand our food production, as a natural, though assisted, ecosystem (the whole point of permaculture). Now that the soils have been so badly damaged it will take years of careful management to rebuild the natural capacities of these soils. And it won't be done with tractors so much as with compost, shovels, and horse-drawn wagons and plows"
"As another, even more valuable benefit to young workers in such a program, we could provide a free education in the technical and principled basis of permaculture. Our future society will depend on permaculture for not just sustenance but for intellectual guidance in how to live in the natural world."
I don't need to add anything really!
http://campfire.theoildrum.com/node/6877
The discussion in question on this occassion was from George Mobus, Associate Professor of Computing & Software Systems at the University of Washington, Tacoma, who asked, "Can we solve two problems at once - unemployment and preparing for power down?"
I draw this to your attention as Permaculture gets quite a mention in the arguments made:
"Over the next twenty years the US and the world will need to transition from an industrial agriculture model to one based on permaculture and more organic, labor intensive approaches to growing food. Oil is going to decline, meaning that diesel fuels to run tractors and combines will become increasingly costly. And natural gas, meaning fertilizers, will also go into decline. The era of agribusiness is coming to a close sooner than anybody might have imagined. And we are not prepared for what follows."
"Agribusiness has relied so heavily on the elements of the so-called Green Revolution, fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticides along with massive and complex delivery vehicles, all made from or run on fossil fuels. At the same time, the very use of these elements has depleted the natural capacities of regional soils. In some cases it has killed off soil microbes that are essential for natural ecosystems to survive and thrive. And that is the way we will need to understand our food production, as a natural, though assisted, ecosystem (the whole point of permaculture). Now that the soils have been so badly damaged it will take years of careful management to rebuild the natural capacities of these soils. And it won't be done with tractors so much as with compost, shovels, and horse-drawn wagons and plows"
"As another, even more valuable benefit to young workers in such a program, we could provide a free education in the technical and principled basis of permaculture. Our future society will depend on permaculture for not just sustenance but for intellectual guidance in how to live in the natural world."
I don't need to add anything really!
http://campfire.theoildrum.com/node/6877
Wednesday 4 August 2010
Peak Food?
A lengthy gem of an article I recently found, which raises serious questions about the future for human life on earth. What can YOU do, right now? What do YOU do every day to live more sustainably? These are interesting times, how interested are YOU in them?
"We will not treat the earth sustainably when we do not see it and feel it in our daily lives and know directly that what surrounds us is what keeps us and our descendants alive and healthy... There are too many of us to go "back to the land," but we must preserve the connection. In coming decades necessity will dictate that everyone produce their own food wherever and however they can, but more important, we must reconnect ourselves to the earth we have abused. You who put aside a little corner of your urban homestead where things green can flourish are preserving the connection as best you can, and must teach others to do likewise. You are preserving an essential thread to our past, which will, if we are lucky, allow us to have a future." - Nicholas C Arguimbau
(http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26064.htm)
More proof, if you needed it, that we must do all we can, now, to learn skills once passed down to us by our elders. A good paying job will not replenish the drying aquifers. A healthy bank account will not produce food for your kitchen table. Getting outside and reconnecting with nature, understanding her moods, learning to give and take from the earth in a sustainable manner is all we should really be doing.
"We will not treat the earth sustainably when we do not see it and feel it in our daily lives and know directly that what surrounds us is what keeps us and our descendants alive and healthy... There are too many of us to go "back to the land," but we must preserve the connection. In coming decades necessity will dictate that everyone produce their own food wherever and however they can, but more important, we must reconnect ourselves to the earth we have abused. You who put aside a little corner of your urban homestead where things green can flourish are preserving the connection as best you can, and must teach others to do likewise. You are preserving an essential thread to our past, which will, if we are lucky, allow us to have a future." - Nicholas C Arguimbau
(http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26064.htm)
More proof, if you needed it, that we must do all we can, now, to learn skills once passed down to us by our elders. A good paying job will not replenish the drying aquifers. A healthy bank account will not produce food for your kitchen table. Getting outside and reconnecting with nature, understanding her moods, learning to give and take from the earth in a sustainable manner is all we should really be doing.
Tuesday 3 August 2010
Seasonal Foods - August
Finding my feet again following the earth-shattering introduction of a new member to the Palmer-clan! Hopefully that'll mean more blogging time. Anywho (to use a Jessica-ism), August is still a hugely bountiful time of year so what's good?
August Vegetables
Artichokes, aubergine, beetroot, broad bean, brocolli, carrots, chillies, corgettes, cucumbers, french beans, garlic, kohlrabi, lettuce, leeks, mange tout, new potatoes, onions, peas, radishes, rocket, runner beans, spinach, sweetcorn.
August Fruits
Blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, loganberries, peaches, raspberries, redcurrants, strawberries, tomatoes.
August Seafood
Cockles, coley, conger eel, dab, grey mullet, langoustine, sea trout, squid, cod
crab, dover sole, haddock, halibut, herring, john dory, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, plaice, pollack, prawns, salmon, sardines, scallops, sea bass, sea bream, shrimp, whelks, whitebait
DAMN! Lots of choices this month, don't be frightened to send me a recipe or two to try from these lovely selections :~)
August Vegetables
Artichokes, aubergine, beetroot, broad bean, brocolli, carrots, chillies, corgettes, cucumbers, french beans, garlic, kohlrabi, lettuce, leeks, mange tout, new potatoes, onions, peas, radishes, rocket, runner beans, spinach, sweetcorn.
August Fruits
Blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, loganberries, peaches, raspberries, redcurrants, strawberries, tomatoes.
August Seafood
Cockles, coley, conger eel, dab, grey mullet, langoustine, sea trout, squid, cod
crab, dover sole, haddock, halibut, herring, john dory, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, plaice, pollack, prawns, salmon, sardines, scallops, sea bass, sea bream, shrimp, whelks, whitebait
DAMN! Lots of choices this month, don't be frightened to send me a recipe or two to try from these lovely selections :~)
Buildings & Structure
1. Review the assignment you completed in Section 4 when you chose a site to design and produced a site map, sector, and zone plans. Please submit: updated site, sector and zone plans based on the additional information you have acquired in the preceding sections. Also include a development plan (or staged plan) for the site. Show proposed or redesigned planting areas, structures, paths etc. Please include a rationale for your plan similar to the discussion provided in Appendix Five.
The site and sector maps are in effect combined and the first clear observation is the complete removal of the access track from the south-eastern corner that went up the left side of the property and bisected the middle of the property.
We are fortunate that our chosen site is relatively under-developed, so we don’t need to design around exhisting buildings or planting schemes. So in terms of potential costs, we are only having to budget for additions and minor remedial work.
The clients, Jessica & Tim, have a strong and determined requirement that as many eco-friendly elements be applied to all aspects of the site; including but certainly not limited to housing, utilities, energy supply, food production and habitat renewal. Since section 4 a number of changes have been made to the design of the entire site. The site is still straightforward 20 metre by 52 metre rectangle on a slope from Northwest to Southeast corner, roughly down the axis of the rectangle.
The positioning of the house has been moved in order to remove all of the access road as this was taking up between 5 and 10 percent of the entire property. On the western side of the site Leylandii shade a small section but certainly not enough that it would make that area an improbable planting site. A large rosemary bush offers privacy and a good wind break from the prevailing weather direction.
The northern end of the property has had fruit trees and bushes planted on it to help prevent run off on such a sloped site. The house will now receive almost full sun, year round, with the exception of the sunset which falls on the other side of the slope. The tree nearest the property offers a small amount of dappled shade.
The Zone Map (below)shows that we have selected a yurt to be our primary residence with additional pods added for the bedrooms. The flexibility of the yurt design means that the entire structure can be moved to better take advantage of the conditions. The main yurt is primarily made up of lounge, which gets much of the sunlight during the day. The kitchen enjoys early sunshine and above it sits a small mezzanine level which will be used for office and storage. The bathroom is limited in size but fu8nctional, it’s position being selected so that waste water can be used on the garden.
The two bedroom pods are positioned on the Northeast side of the yurt so as to offer a cool aspect for a more comfortable sleep. A small driveway is now located at the entrance to the yurt and goes out towards the Southern corner of the property, well clear of the prevailing wind direction.
The site and sector maps are in effect combined and the first clear observation is the complete removal of the access track from the south-eastern corner that went up the left side of the property and bisected the middle of the property.
We are fortunate that our chosen site is relatively under-developed, so we don’t need to design around exhisting buildings or planting schemes. So in terms of potential costs, we are only having to budget for additions and minor remedial work.
The clients, Jessica & Tim, have a strong and determined requirement that as many eco-friendly elements be applied to all aspects of the site; including but certainly not limited to housing, utilities, energy supply, food production and habitat renewal. Since section 4 a number of changes have been made to the design of the entire site. The site is still straightforward 20 metre by 52 metre rectangle on a slope from Northwest to Southeast corner, roughly down the axis of the rectangle.
The positioning of the house has been moved in order to remove all of the access road as this was taking up between 5 and 10 percent of the entire property. On the western side of the site Leylandii shade a small section but certainly not enough that it would make that area an improbable planting site. A large rosemary bush offers privacy and a good wind break from the prevailing weather direction.
The northern end of the property has had fruit trees and bushes planted on it to help prevent run off on such a sloped site. The house will now receive almost full sun, year round, with the exception of the sunset which falls on the other side of the slope. The tree nearest the property offers a small amount of dappled shade.
The Zone Map (below)shows that we have selected a yurt to be our primary residence with additional pods added for the bedrooms. The flexibility of the yurt design means that the entire structure can be moved to better take advantage of the conditions. The main yurt is primarily made up of lounge, which gets much of the sunlight during the day. The kitchen enjoys early sunshine and above it sits a small mezzanine level which will be used for office and storage. The bathroom is limited in size but fu8nctional, it’s position being selected so that waste water can be used on the garden.
The two bedroom pods are positioned on the Northeast side of the yurt so as to offer a cool aspect for a more comfortable sleep. A small driveway is now located at the entrance to the yurt and goes out towards the Southern corner of the property, well clear of the prevailing wind direction.
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