Tropical Soils: Less is More in Fast Carbon Pathways, but Only with Standing Forest
Courses/Workshops, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Education Centers, Fungi, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Structure, Trees — by Planet People Passion May 15, 2010
The Amazon rainforest is one of the most amazing displays of symbiotic relationships one can experience in the world. This complex and layered eco-system thrives through the many systems and cycles that interweave through the layers of canopy, creating one of the most bio-diverse displays of life on the planet. Nature designs the most magnificent Permaculture systems – it is quite an experience to spend time in this magical place and humbly observe her teachings.
Amazon rainforest boundary
Observing the thriving and abundant rainforest, it is hard for some to comprehend why neighboring agriculture in the region experiences quite the opposite affect, but the answer is quite simple – it’s all about the soil.
Comments (0)Greening the Desert II – Final
Aid Projects, Animal Forage, Biological Cleaning, Building, Compost, Conservation, DVDs/Books, Demonstration Sites, Education Centers, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Fungi, Irrigation, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Salination, Soil Biology, Swales, Trees, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh December 11, 2009
The Greening the Desert II video I shared with you recently was edited in Jordan. Now that I’m back at my desk again I’ve had time to edit it slightly. I’ve added the original five-minute Greening the Desert clip in to the front of it, to ensure viewers have context for Part II (and we’ve also had requests for both to be made available together), as well as cut a few minutes out of Part II to keep it flowing a little better. You can not only watch online below and embed on your own websites (click for embed code at top right of video screen), but it’s also available for download, so those who’d like to have a ‘hard copy’ to circulate are welcome to download, burn to disk or transfer to USB key, etc., and circulate freely.
Download: You’ll see the option to download the 913 megabyte MP4 file at bottom right side of this page.
YouTube: The video can also be watched on YouTube, in four segments, here, here, here and here.
Greening the Desert II (including Part I) – Greening the Middle East
(Duration: 36 mins)
Tips for playing: If it’s slow to load, turn off High Definition (HD) on the player.
If you still have problems, click play (on low or high def) and then after it’s started,
click on pause. The video will then continue to buffer into your computer.
Play once fully loaded.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank Kelly Kellogg at this juncture. Kelly donated initial funding that enabled the purchase of the land for the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project site (aka ‘Greening the Desert – the Sequel’). But, upon watching the Greening the Desert Part II video, Kelly was inspired to donate an additional $20,000. These gifts are very encouraging to us as we try to solve problems at source (teach a man to fish…). Others who may feel inspired to donate to help us move this work forward faster can do so here.
A little background on the video follows:
Comments (0)Dalpura Farm – Experiments in Permaculture Forestry
Conservation, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Fungi, Nurseries & Propogation, Plant Systems, Regional Water Cycle, Rehabilitation, Trees, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh November 8, 2009
Photographs © Craig Mackintosh
 Inter-row Eucalyptus saligna (Sydney blue gum) & Casuarina cunninghamiana (river she oak) planted in 2000 |
I recently had opportunity to visit a Permaculture site called ‘Dalpura Farm’, near Geelong, outside of Melbourne. Although (or perhaps, because) designed by Darren Doherty, the very well known Permaculture designer and teacher, it was dramatically different than your average Permaculture site. Rather than an urban edible garden, or a fruit-/veg-/livestock-oriented rural block, this 140-acre property was all about trees.
It’s an experimental agro-forestry project, aimed at finding the best way to produce a range of commercial products and ecological benefits from trees, with timber production being the primary focus.
I contacted Darren, the designer, and George Howson, the owner of the property, to see what it was all about.
Comments (1)Soil Food Web Course with Dr. Elaine Ingham
Compost, Courses/Workshops, Fungi, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology — by Owen Hablutzel November 7, 2009
October 30 – November 1, 2009
Orella Ranch, Gaviota Coast, California.
A wise person once said that soil is not only more complex than we know, it is more complex than we can ever know! The good news is humans have lately achieved a level of practically applicable knowledge and experience in soil biology to be absolutely capable of massive, positive impacts on sustainable soil use world-wide! It is undoubtedly true that we’ll never know everything, but no matter – we already know enough to get very, very busy!
Comments (1)Market Gardening and Catching Carbon
Fungi, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Structure — by Hugh Lovel October 4, 2009
After driving all night from my North Georgia market gardens I arrived just before seven in the morning at the Indianapolis hotel where the ACRES U.S.A. Convention was to be held. The lines at the hotel desk were so long I left my colleague, Lorraine Cahill, to check in while I headed for the restaurant. I needed a steaming mug of coffee and a bite of breakfast to start my day. Otherwise I was in danger of fading away. Growing market veggies for 26 weeks for restaurants, markets and box subscribers had, thankfully, just come to a close before driving all night to reach America’s most unforgettable and inspiring convention. I didn’t want to miss a minute of it, but I had a booth to set up when the trade show opened and I needed more push than I had at the moment.
Comments (0)Six Ways to Save the Planet with Mushrooms
Fungi, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Erosion & Contamination — by Craig Mackintosh July 28, 2009
No, we’re not talking about your average portobello mushroom here, found on pizzas the world over. The topic of this discussion is:
mycelium noun the white threadlike mass of filaments forming the vegetative part of a fungus
Whilst sounding tiny in both size and significance, it is not:
Is this the largest organism in the world? This 2,400-acre (9.7 km2) site in eastern Oregon had a contiguous growth of mycelium before logging roads cut through it. Estimated at 1,665 football fields in size and 2,200 years old, this one fungus has killed the forest above it several times over, and in so doing has built deeper soil layers that allow the growth of ever-larger stands of trees. Mushroom-forming forest fungi are unique in that their mycelial mats can achieve such massive proportions. – Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running
Watch the clip to learn more about these fascinating fungi – organisms totally ignored by industrial agriculture, but which are incredible allies as we seek to decontaminate and restore soils and other habitat.
Duration: 00:18:18
Comments (0)Phosphorus Matters II – Keeping Phosphorus on Farms
Fungi, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition — by Marcin Gerwin July 23, 2009
Editor’s Prelude: Peak Phosphorus barely registers alongside it’s more gregarious, attention-getting bigger brother, Peak Oil. Yet, the implications are even more dramatic. While both peaks are associated with massive food shortages, unmitigated Peak Phosphorus would easily win the award for best disaster.
The latest research tells us that Peak Phosphorus is an issue we cannot afford to ignore any more:
… a global production peak of phosphate rock is estimated to occur around 2033. While this may seem in the distant future, there are currently no alternatives on the market today that could replace phosphate rock on any significant scale. New infrastructure and institutional arrangements required could take decades to develop.
While all the world’s farmers require access to phosphorus fertilisers, the major phosphate rock reserves are under the control of a small number of countries including China, Morocco and the US. China recently imposed a 135% export tariff on phosphate rock essentially preventing any from leaving the country. Reserves in the U.S. are calculated to be depleted within 30 years. Morocco currently occupies Western Sahara and its massive phosphate rock reserves, contrary to UN resolutions. – Western Sahara Resource Watch
Marcin, the podium is yours.
Keeping Phosphorus on Farms – by Marcin Gerwin (the sequel to ‘Closing the Phosphorus Cycle‘)
 Lupines. Photo: Carol Mitchell/Flickr |
“Next to clean water, phosphorus will be one the inexorable limits to human occupancy on this planet” wrote Bill Mollison in Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual more than 20 years ago (1). It is that important that we design phosphorus recycling into our food systems. Phosphorus is an essential element for growing crops and no porridge, chocolate bar or cherry jam can be made without it.
Comments (2)Nitrogen Fixing Trees – The Multipurpose Pioneers
Animal Forage, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Fungi, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Trees — by Craig Elevitch September 29, 2008
The myths about the wonders of nitrogen fixing trees are many. Craig Elevitch (see bio at bottom) and Kim Wilkinson explain how to use them effectively.
Nitrogen Fixing Trees for Permaculture
 Flowers of the leguminous tree, Kowhai, the national flower of New Zealand |
Nitrogen fixation is a pattern of nutrient cycling which has successfully been used in perennial agriculture for millennia. This article focuses on legumes, which are nitrogen fixers of particular importance in agriculture. Specifically, three legumes (nitrogen fixing trees, hereafter called NFTs) are especially valuable in subtropical and tropical permaculture. They can be integrated in a permaculture system to restore nutrient cycling and fertility self-reliance.
Comments (0)Humanure Handbook – Free Download
Community Projects, Compost, Conservation, DVDs/Books, Fungi, Insects, News, Potable Water, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Waste Water, Water Contamination — by Craig Mackintosh September 18, 2008
With chapters like ‘Crap Happens’, ‘Deep Shit’ and ‘A Day in the Life of a Turd’, this is sure to be an interesting book, albeit possibly not one to read over lunch?
With this wonderful substance piling up in all the wrong places (after all, we’re running out of clean water, and yet we’re crapping in it…), this taboo topic deserves a lot more attention than it gets. Enjoy the book – and special thanks to the author Joseph Jenkins for making this freely available (warning: 22mb PDF – if you want to download chapter by chapter, scroll down on this page, or just read online here).
Comments (0)Greening the Desert
Demonstration Sites, Fungi, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Swales, Trees, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh August 4, 2008
This is just one example of how permaculture can transform the environment, and, in so doing, dramatically change lives. By evidencing the dramatic transformation possible in the world’s worst agricultural scenarios, we hope to make people stand up and listen.
Big Agribusiness would convince us that continuing with fossil fuel dependent monocrop systems and genetically modified crops is the way of the future, but with fuel, transport and fertiliser costs skyrocketing, and growing evidence that genetic tinkering is causing far more harm than good, we, instead, advocate tried and tested methods of working with nature for the benefit of man.
Below is a behind the scenes look at Greening the Desert.
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