Frank Woolf
07-13-2009, 07:36 AM
I am not an expert so I will describe it as I see it in simple terms:
Nothing goes to waste as all waste can be recycled just as it is in the rain forests.
Assuming you are using ground that has been used for monoculture or is otherwise depleted the first thing to do is plant nitrogen fixers like legumes (beans, peas, etc). These create nitrogen and leave it in the soil. This is great fertilizer for many plants. When they are over just chop the plants down and leave them covering the ground for mulch.
Add loads of mulch from corn stalks and leaves, coconut husks, etc. Grow stuff like comfrey in any spare corner then just chop it down and spread it on the ground. Comfrey sends down deep roots and draws up minerals etc that will feed the other plants when you chop it down to cover the ground.
Modern techniques have killed all the useful bugs in the ground in many places and unplanted soil gets baked by the sun so all ground should be growing something to cover the ground and have a layer of mulch. This makes it very difficult for weeds to grow and keeps the ground moist. This encourages worms and other underground life that is so essential for fertility. Digging in compost would of course help a lot but that is a lot of work and not usually necessary.
Permaculture is reclaiming land from deserts, ground that is rock hard and ground that has become dead by ploughing, growing single crops, from using chemical pesticides, etc. The basic idea is to copy the forests where the plants make the ground rich and fertile and where every plant is in some way helping other plants. Permaculture does this by copying the forest system, replacing forest plants with food plants and plants that help by producing natural fertilizers, attracting helpful bugs, repelling harmful bugs or are just used for ground cover, etc. Plants, chickens, wild birds, insects, domestic and wild animals and fish all help do the work for you if you plan it right.
Permaculture principles can be applied to aquaculture, building design, vegetable crops, etc. None use artificial fertilizers or pesticides. A simple example of using the fauna to help is chicken tractors. Chicken runs without floors are built that can be picked up and moved around. The chickens eat all the weeds and pests, scratch open the surface and fertilize the soil. Then you move them on to the next position where they repeat the process while you mulch and plant in the freshly cleaned and fertilized soil.
Small vegetables are grown in heavily mulched strips 2 meters wide so you can reach all of it without treading on it and compacting the soil. In between the strips of vegetables are 1 meter wide strips of wild vegetation. The predators of the vegetable pests live the wild strip and prey on the pests. Plants are also used to help plants. For example marigolds or calendula are planted close to tomatoes and similar plants as they deter the pests that like tomatoes. Mint and Basil will attract hoverflies that eat aphids while repelling mosquitoes.
There are few fixed rules and it is very adaptable. It is being used all over the world with the same result - multiple times the food for far less work. The hardest work is the initial design and ground preparation. After that it gets much easier.
Obviously a large farm needs a lot of mulch and natural fertilizer that has to come from somewhere but the large farm also has the land to seed fast growing mulch and probably already has a few tons of coconut husks, and leaves. It can also be done in stages so the owner continues with some cash crops while converting some areas to permaculture. Many of the cash crops like coconut need not be effected at all because a forest of food can be grown beneath them.
The bottom line is that modern agriculture destroys the land and is not sustainable. Permaculture (PERMAnent agriCULTURE) renews and makes the land rich, growing far more in less space with less cost and less labor.
Here are a few links to videos.
http://safecom.server265.com/permaculture.htm
http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/permaculture-design.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xShCEKL-mQ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpT6r370ik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyFaHg9HXls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38rwc7-puc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdBULyUR31Q
Nothing goes to waste as all waste can be recycled just as it is in the rain forests.
Assuming you are using ground that has been used for monoculture or is otherwise depleted the first thing to do is plant nitrogen fixers like legumes (beans, peas, etc). These create nitrogen and leave it in the soil. This is great fertilizer for many plants. When they are over just chop the plants down and leave them covering the ground for mulch.
Add loads of mulch from corn stalks and leaves, coconut husks, etc. Grow stuff like comfrey in any spare corner then just chop it down and spread it on the ground. Comfrey sends down deep roots and draws up minerals etc that will feed the other plants when you chop it down to cover the ground.
Modern techniques have killed all the useful bugs in the ground in many places and unplanted soil gets baked by the sun so all ground should be growing something to cover the ground and have a layer of mulch. This makes it very difficult for weeds to grow and keeps the ground moist. This encourages worms and other underground life that is so essential for fertility. Digging in compost would of course help a lot but that is a lot of work and not usually necessary.
Permaculture is reclaiming land from deserts, ground that is rock hard and ground that has become dead by ploughing, growing single crops, from using chemical pesticides, etc. The basic idea is to copy the forests where the plants make the ground rich and fertile and where every plant is in some way helping other plants. Permaculture does this by copying the forest system, replacing forest plants with food plants and plants that help by producing natural fertilizers, attracting helpful bugs, repelling harmful bugs or are just used for ground cover, etc. Plants, chickens, wild birds, insects, domestic and wild animals and fish all help do the work for you if you plan it right.
Permaculture principles can be applied to aquaculture, building design, vegetable crops, etc. None use artificial fertilizers or pesticides. A simple example of using the fauna to help is chicken tractors. Chicken runs without floors are built that can be picked up and moved around. The chickens eat all the weeds and pests, scratch open the surface and fertilize the soil. Then you move them on to the next position where they repeat the process while you mulch and plant in the freshly cleaned and fertilized soil.
Small vegetables are grown in heavily mulched strips 2 meters wide so you can reach all of it without treading on it and compacting the soil. In between the strips of vegetables are 1 meter wide strips of wild vegetation. The predators of the vegetable pests live the wild strip and prey on the pests. Plants are also used to help plants. For example marigolds or calendula are planted close to tomatoes and similar plants as they deter the pests that like tomatoes. Mint and Basil will attract hoverflies that eat aphids while repelling mosquitoes.
There are few fixed rules and it is very adaptable. It is being used all over the world with the same result - multiple times the food for far less work. The hardest work is the initial design and ground preparation. After that it gets much easier.
Obviously a large farm needs a lot of mulch and natural fertilizer that has to come from somewhere but the large farm also has the land to seed fast growing mulch and probably already has a few tons of coconut husks, and leaves. It can also be done in stages so the owner continues with some cash crops while converting some areas to permaculture. Many of the cash crops like coconut need not be effected at all because a forest of food can be grown beneath them.
The bottom line is that modern agriculture destroys the land and is not sustainable. Permaculture (PERMAnent agriCULTURE) renews and makes the land rich, growing far more in less space with less cost and less labor.
Here are a few links to videos.
http://safecom.server265.com/permaculture.htm
http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/permaculture-design.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xShCEKL-mQ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpT6r370ik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyFaHg9HXls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38rwc7-puc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdBULyUR31Q