Alt Op # 5 for 2012, More about Geoff Lawton's DVD's

Well folks, this is the first of two weekends where you can find out more about some of this stuff I have been talking about. All you have to do is show up at ten in the morning at Community Seeds this Saturday and the Saturday after. This Saturday, the 11^th, I’ll be showing three DVD’s. One is “Introduction to Permaculture” and it gives a far better overview of the subject than I can usually communicate. Come and see it if for no other reason than to try to figure out how to get me to hush up about this subject!

            All of these DVD’s are from Australian Geoff Lawton, one of the pre-emanate Permaculture Teachers. The other two DVD’s I plan to show this Saturday are on building soil and harvesting water. Why should you be interested in that you may well be asking yourself? I’ll tell you. Modern agricultural practices have been degrading the soils our ancestors found when they first came to this area. Those big tractors have compacted the soil, the fertilizers and insecticides have killed off all or most of the beneficial bugs and other critters in dirt that make it rich and productive. Now days, in order to have just about any crop at all you must depend on both big machinery, lots of chemical fertilizer and lots of herbicides and insecticides. All of that stuff is costly and will only get more expensive as time goes on. Those costly things are why the old school “family farm” just can no longer work, unless at least one person living on it has a super high dollar job in the big city, a huge income from somewhere else, or is just plain filthy rich.

            The methods shown in these DVD’s work anywhere and everywhere. You just have to use your brain and modify them to your local conditions. Yep, most of the things shown in these are in Australia, so there are a lot of tropical and sub-tropical plants mentioned. To use these methods here you would just have to use local plants that do a similar job. That information can be found on line or even just ask a local nurseryman. Of course if you go from ‘normal’ agriculture practices to the Permaculture methods there will be at least one to two years where you will actually be doing nothing but rebuilding the soil on your land so that it can grow things. So that you are no longer doing what I call “in the ground hydroponics” where you and only you are responsible for supplying all the expensive nutritional needs of your crop.

            Yes. If you turn to the Permaculture methods of agriculture there is some start up cost and possibly even heavy duty earth working needed. But after that is done, providing adequate thought and planning have been put into it, there will be little more that needs to be done other than up keep, repairs, and management. Those would be things that can be done while you walk around gathering your breakfast, lunch or dinner if all you want to do is feed yourself and family.

            So come on over to Community Seeds and see what all the fuss is about. You might learn something new. See you there.