GrowingSmart Permaculture

Year one of my Biodynamic Agriculture Diploma in the UK has been completed already. I finished up this year with visits to farms in the Berkshire area as part of the course.

This is Tolhurst Organic - which has 'accidentally' become a 'vegan' farm. No animals, and no animal manures.

There is so much going on in these pictures not obvious to the untrained eye...:

-The farm shop runs on a trust basis - customers shop and pay on trust.

-Agroforestry lanes have been set up, with clever crop rotation.

-For all brassicas instead of using cell-trays the farm raises seedlings in a nursery bed, and then simply pricks them out for transplant. 'peg' plants they're called.

-green manures are used exclusively for fertility

There is still so much to learn on my journey to starting my own human-scale co-operative farm, but I don't feel intimidated. We all start somewhere - just need to put some seeds in the ground, and go! The rest will sort itself out with time, care and persistence! 😃

Large organisations like the IMF and G8 may be well-intentioned, but too often fund initiatives to the detriment of 'ordinary' families. They are old school.

For example, in Malawi "each [international effort] has left its mark, but positive, lasting impact has yet to be seen – eucalyptus trees are typically used for draining land, hardly suitable for sub-Saharan Africa, while the G8 initiatives have seen huge areas of land handed over to commercial investment, leaving the average subsistence farmer with less than half an acre. "

Additionally:

"Synthetic fertilisers, hybrid seeds and the to***co industry might have once played important roles in the green revolution that has fed Malawi since independence, but in the face of a rapidly changing climate and declining soil health its people are now looking to organic farming, permaculture and agroforestry as sustainable alternatives, with promising results. "

We need more grass-root revolutions, and that is where something like permaculture is genuinely stepping in.

Super well done to Hull-based organic grocers Able & Cole, for initiating a process of empowerment for the local producers of Malawi, using permaculture, through the Kusamala Institute:

How permaculture is rescuing Africa farmers from poverty The Kusamala Institute has trained thousands of farmers in Malawi in permaculture to help them combat droughts and climate change

A lifestyle worth considering if you're fed up with it all, and wondering what an alternative could look like?

"Our household income is under $30,000 a year, which considered below the poverty line. And we feel we live extremely richly, because we have time."

Take a look here at how a family shifted their material priorities in Australia, and found a lifestyle that nurtures them in other ways : https://lnkd.in/gVvChW2

This lifestyle isn't for everyone and nor should it be. But neither is the current mainstream lifestyle, and nor should it be.

Permaculture challenges many aspects of our current systems and attitudes by offering a look at how life could be done differently - for those that wish to explore it. For many of us, it's time for a change. Permaculture offers insight into the how.

https://lnkd.in/gVvChW2

Living a Radically Simple Permaculture Life on 1/4 Acre | Creatures of Place Creatures of Place is an insight into the wonderful world of Artist as Family: Meg Ulman, Patrick Jones, and their youngest son, Woody. Living on a 1/4-acre ...

Refugees are you and me after events beyond our control have effectively destroyed our lives.

Permaculture for Refugees (P4R) was formed by an international collective of experienced permaculture consultants aiming to transform refugee and IDP (Internally Displaced People) settlements into ecological communities.

We are so proud that so many permaculture practitioners are working to help displaced people feel human and whole again, particularly as there is often a "de-humanising" agenda.

In this link, one of our most experienced permaculture teachers - Rowe Morrow - tells the story of a 3-week Permaculture Design Course that she was invited to teach in 2016, in the Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul to young people from 15 to 30 years old: https://bit.ly/3ib2Hf5.

As well as learning new and valuable skills, "The course provided distraction from fears and sad memories. During the 21 days of this course, all students reported valuing their time at the course regardless of their input and engagement. "

Find out how to be involved in this vital project here: https://bit.ly/2ZkseuN

Can there be such a thing as a "Rockstar Farmer"?

Well, yes there can, and there seem to be quite a few in our world! Let's take a look at Jean-Martin Fortier, of Quebec, Canada.

In his book "The Market Gardener" JMF describes how he was able to gross $100K USD a year (by year four) on just one and a half acres of cultivated land. He goes on to provide a very clear, and entirely possible to follow, "how to" book for doing the same.

Of course, there is more to the story including many years of interning and practice. However, this very open statement of what is possible in market gardening absolutely inspired the next generation of would-be market-gardeners who were not sure if they should take the leap or not.

JMF is now the farm director of Ferme Quatre Temps - https://lnkd.in/gKSibNj - a social enterprise which is shaking up the food system in Quebec. He is working with philanthropists to help provide essential training to cohorts of up-and-coming new ecological farmers.

There has never been a better time to get into ecological farming.

Find out more about JMFortier here: https://lnkd.in/gQPBdW8

Please STOP using w**dkiller in your garden.

The real impact on wildlife, and soil and water pollution, cannot justify its use especially as its not at all necessary.

Weeds are not w**ds - they are pioneer plants. They have a role and a purpose.

When soil is disturbed - what appears first? Pioneer plants (w**ds). Their job IS to appear first, and quickly, to cover the soil and prevent erosion. The seeds wait in soil for exactly this purpose.

Pioneer plants also appear where ground is compacted. Their deep tap roots help to de-compact the soil.

When soil is loose, pioneer plants with net-like roots appear to hold it together.

When specific nutrients are missing, the right pioneer plants appear to mine that nutrient and return it to the soil.

Because of this nurturing role, pioneer plants are also often highly medicinal.

So next time you have a 'w**d' - please check it up online. The chances are that instead of poisoning your garden with w**dkiller, you can pop the leaves in a cup of tea and improve your health instead.

By planting a patch of herbs and flowers around your w**ds, you can also create a beautiful wild garden.

If we must kill w**ds, we can use one of many natural techniques: https://bit.ly/351H25a

10 Non-Toxic Ways to Control Weeds Though it's tempting to use herbicides, there are important health reasons to avoid them. Here are 10 organic w**d control methods for your garden.

Can burning wood be good for climate change?

Please watch this fascinating documentary about lost Amazonian civilisations, and their incredible biochar legacy - terra preta - coming back full circle: http://ow.ly/dzkS50BgJ5n

Instead of burning wood 'normally' so that it creates smoke -releasing particulates and most of is carbon as CO2 - we can burn wood so that it doesn't release smoke and keeps hold of at least 50% of its carbon content.

We do this by creating .

Biochar is AMAZING: https://bit.ly/2QPj4Sn

It's created by using a simple combustion technique. We dug some cone-pits and layered the dry wood on top of the base fire. Much less O2 gets in and higher temps are created. Hose down when we see we have biochar charcoal, and before we see ash. Then lay out and crush with a car.

Biochar - once 'activated' and mixed into soil - creates habitat for microorganisms that doesn't wash away. This allows nutrients to be held, and multiply, in the soil. Poor soil is regenerated.

This means we can also stop slash-and-burning virgin forest to get new fertile farmland.

is the future.