Food Security
Food Safety
Food Cultivation
Food Distribution
Food Safety
Food Cultivation
Food Distribution
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tribe Village Community
Some people live in "rural areas" and some live in "cities" and some live on "farms".
For a long long time, people lived in small, extended-family groupings known as "tribes."
A settled semi-tribal area that had expanded into the countryside and established long-term housing and relationships between households in a particular area might be one way to describe a "village".
"Community" can be based on proximity to each other geographically or a sharing of interests or backgrounds or needs. We might talk about the LGBT community or the Jewish community or the community we feel in a Neighborhood or the community we feel talking to fellow Parrot companions on an online chat list.
Close-knit groups may provide stability, assurance, shared financial arrangements, companionship, opportunities to express and share and hear feelings and ideas, chance to learn and teach and contribute, gift sharing, etc.
Close-knit groups may also provide attitudes of disliking or distrusting or evaluating or judging other close-knit groups or identities.
The United States is perhaps the most ethnically diverse, and socially diverse, national grouping in human history. It is also large and regional geographically and geopolitically. It also has states, which are partly outlined by rivers or other natural boundaries, but are often outlined by - lines that have been drawn.
Bioregionalism is about living in accordance with regional watersheds and foodsheds, with regional geographies and economies.
Groupings are often great at providing synergy and giving people in the group elements they need or want.
Groupings can also be about bonding with members of the group against other members of the group or against other groups.
Even a community garden can be a place of shared interests or micro-turf battles.
How do we notice our sense of involvement with others in a Sense of Community?
For a long long time, people lived in small, extended-family groupings known as "tribes."
A settled semi-tribal area that had expanded into the countryside and established long-term housing and relationships between households in a particular area might be one way to describe a "village".
"Community" can be based on proximity to each other geographically or a sharing of interests or backgrounds or needs. We might talk about the LGBT community or the Jewish community or the community we feel in a Neighborhood or the community we feel talking to fellow Parrot companions on an online chat list.
Close-knit groups may provide stability, assurance, shared financial arrangements, companionship, opportunities to express and share and hear feelings and ideas, chance to learn and teach and contribute, gift sharing, etc.
Close-knit groups may also provide attitudes of disliking or distrusting or evaluating or judging other close-knit groups or identities.
The United States is perhaps the most ethnically diverse, and socially diverse, national grouping in human history. It is also large and regional geographically and geopolitically. It also has states, which are partly outlined by rivers or other natural boundaries, but are often outlined by - lines that have been drawn.
Bioregionalism is about living in accordance with regional watersheds and foodsheds, with regional geographies and economies.
Groupings are often great at providing synergy and giving people in the group elements they need or want.
Groupings can also be about bonding with members of the group against other members of the group or against other groups.
Even a community garden can be a place of shared interests or micro-turf battles.
How do we notice our sense of involvement with others in a Sense of Community?
What is a Neighborhood?
Is there such a thing any more ... as a Neighborhood?
Years ago people in a neighborhood often knew each other. Looked after each other's kids. Were connected by a common bond such as the country they came from before emigrating to the United States. By a common language or culture. By the displays that were culture-specific or neighborhood-specific in shop windows. By participation in the local Parent Teachers Organization. Or showing up at Fire Department pancake breakfasts.
Is a Neighborhood an attitude?
A collection of statistical information, such as how many households have children, couples, students, seniors, people of varying genders, people of varying economic backgrounds?
Is it a study of household income?
Of which and how many households have gardens?
Of what flowers or veggies or trees are grown in the gardens in that area?
Is a Neighborhood something designated on a map by realtors?
By government officials?
Do Neighborhoods have history?
Memory?
Character?
Is it acting like we're better in our neighborhood if we know we have characteristics or qualities or advantages that are different from in another Neighborhood?
Are we able to appreciate the special qualities we identify and love in our Neighborhood, while also appreciating that there are special qualities that others might identify and love in their Neighborhood?
Years ago people in a neighborhood often knew each other. Looked after each other's kids. Were connected by a common bond such as the country they came from before emigrating to the United States. By a common language or culture. By the displays that were culture-specific or neighborhood-specific in shop windows. By participation in the local Parent Teachers Organization. Or showing up at Fire Department pancake breakfasts.
Is a Neighborhood an attitude?
A collection of statistical information, such as how many households have children, couples, students, seniors, people of varying genders, people of varying economic backgrounds?
Is it a study of household income?
Of which and how many households have gardens?
Of what flowers or veggies or trees are grown in the gardens in that area?
Is a Neighborhood something designated on a map by realtors?
By government officials?
Do Neighborhoods have history?
Memory?
Character?
Is it acting like we're better in our neighborhood if we know we have characteristics or qualities or advantages that are different from in another Neighborhood?
Are we able to appreciate the special qualities we identify and love in our Neighborhood, while also appreciating that there are special qualities that others might identify and love in their Neighborhood?
Sense of Place
What is "where I live"?
Is it my bedroom?
My office?
Where I entertain guests?
My garden?
My yard?
Where I play my piano?
Where I hide from the noise of my neighbor's music?
The quiet area away from my neighbor's loud talking?
The open windows feeling I get when I listen to the sounds of the city?
The shared feeling I get when I talk to my neighbor when we're both home?
The weather?
The trees?
The sky?
The shops and stores and restaurants nearby?
The highway that takes me where I really want to go?
The airport that takes me away on business, where I spend so much time?
Facebook?
My laptop?
My iPhone?
My iPod?
My memories?
My sense of being in the present moment?
The feeling I get that's hard to put into words when I notice my whole surroundings?
Is it my bedroom?
My office?
Where I entertain guests?
My garden?
My yard?
Where I play my piano?
Where I hide from the noise of my neighbor's music?
The quiet area away from my neighbor's loud talking?
The open windows feeling I get when I listen to the sounds of the city?
The shared feeling I get when I talk to my neighbor when we're both home?
The weather?
The trees?
The sky?
The shops and stores and restaurants nearby?
The highway that takes me where I really want to go?
The airport that takes me away on business, where I spend so much time?
Facebook?
My laptop?
My iPhone?
My iPod?
My memories?
My sense of being in the present moment?
The feeling I get that's hard to put into words when I notice my whole surroundings?
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Biodiversity * What and Why
Biodiversity is about the variety of animals and plants and habitats on the planet. For example, it's the fact that there are lots and lots of species of corn, not just yellow corn or so-called sweet white corn in genetically modified, standard industrial agriculture farmed, or organically grown varieties.
Why does it matter? There's a lot online about why it matters ... why we should keep the diversity of species that we have ... why protecting endangered species isn't what some people have framed it to be - it's not just about looking after animals vs. looking after people, and it's not just about protecting nature vs. saving jobs.
Back in the Cold War, when Russia and the US each stockpiled enough nuclear weapons to wipe each other out, the analogy was made that these two superpowers fighting each other with rhetoric was like two giants in a large room. The room is filled with gasoline. Both have matches.
Here are some reasons it can be really valuable to think about Biodiversity and look out to keep it. Admittedly some of this is in the realm of the 'subjective'....
ETHICS ... who are we to decide directly or indirectly whether whole species survive or not?
PRACTICALITY ... wipe out species, eventually we don't have the complex ecosystemic web that sustains ... us as humans ... we're in many ways also just learning about what ecosystems are and how they work together ... not helpful to ruin them first.
INTERCONNECTIVITY ... species we may decide we value ...
AESTHETICS ... more variety is more interesting and more beautiful.
HEALTH CARE ... species we wipe out often contain ingredients that can be used for medicines.
HEALTH OVERALL ... cleaner air and safer water are good for adult humans and children.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS ... human-influenced changes in climate show signs of stirring up negative effects such as - storms that have increased in number and intensity, and crop damage and crop loss that can result from staggered or shortened food growing seasons.
PSYCHOSPIRITUAL ... nature can be tough and challenging from extreme weather to erosion damage to volcanoes and earthquakes ... but a balanced and intimate sense of shared presence with nature seems to be universally agreed upon as peaceful and reassuring while also stimulating creativity and inspiration.
More on this topic in future posts! ...
Why does it matter? There's a lot online about why it matters ... why we should keep the diversity of species that we have ... why protecting endangered species isn't what some people have framed it to be - it's not just about looking after animals vs. looking after people, and it's not just about protecting nature vs. saving jobs.
Back in the Cold War, when Russia and the US each stockpiled enough nuclear weapons to wipe each other out, the analogy was made that these two superpowers fighting each other with rhetoric was like two giants in a large room. The room is filled with gasoline. Both have matches.
Here are some reasons it can be really valuable to think about Biodiversity and look out to keep it. Admittedly some of this is in the realm of the 'subjective'....
ETHICS ... who are we to decide directly or indirectly whether whole species survive or not?
PRACTICALITY ... wipe out species, eventually we don't have the complex ecosystemic web that sustains ... us as humans ... we're in many ways also just learning about what ecosystems are and how they work together ... not helpful to ruin them first.
INTERCONNECTIVITY ... species we may decide we value ...
AESTHETICS ... more variety is more interesting and more beautiful.
HEALTH CARE ... species we wipe out often contain ingredients that can be used for medicines.
HEALTH OVERALL ... cleaner air and safer water are good for adult humans and children.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS ... human-influenced changes in climate show signs of stirring up negative effects such as - storms that have increased in number and intensity, and crop damage and crop loss that can result from staggered or shortened food growing seasons.
PSYCHOSPIRITUAL ... nature can be tough and challenging from extreme weather to erosion damage to volcanoes and earthquakes ... but a balanced and intimate sense of shared presence with nature seems to be universally agreed upon as peaceful and reassuring while also stimulating creativity and inspiration.
More on this topic in future posts! ...
Permaculture Books
Here are four books that you may find to be - highly-readable and easily accessible - to start understanding more about what Permaculture is and how Permaculture works:
Permaculture in a Nutshell
Description at Albris Online:
"Permaculture in a Nutshell is a concise and accessible introduction to the principles and practise of permaculture in temperate climates. It covers how permaculture works in the city, the country, and on the farm and explores ways in which people can work together to recreate real communities."
Author is a leading Permaculture teacher in Europe and has written three Permaculture books total; Nutshell is a brief, concise book that people new to Permaculture seem to really appreciate for its quick overview of Permaculture's key ethics, elements and design principles.
The Basics of Permaculture Design
Description at Alibris Books online:
"'The Basics of Permaculture Design'," first published in Australia in 1996, is an excellent introduction to the principles of permaculture, design processes, and the tools needed for designing sustainable gardens, farms, and larger communities.Packed with useful tips, clear illustrations, and a wealth of experience, it guides you through designs for gardens, urban and rural properties, water harvesting systems, animal systems, permaculture in small spaces like balconies and patios, farms, schools, and ecovillages. This is both a do-ityourself guide for the enthusiast and a useful reference for permaculture designers."
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Description at Alibris Books online:
"Permaculture is a verbal marriage of permanent and agriculture. Australian Bill Mollison pioneered its development. Key features include: use of compatible perennials;non-invasive planting techniques;emphasis on biodiversity;specifically adaptable to local climate, landscape, and soil conditions;highly productive output of edibles.Now, picture your backyard as one incredibly lush garden, filled with edible flowers, bursting with fruit and berries, and carpeted with scented herbs and tangy salad greens. The visual impact is of Monets palette, a wash of color, texture, and hue. But this is no still life. The flowers nurture endangered pollinators. Bright-featured songbirds feed on abundant berries and gather twigs for their nests.The plants themselves are grouped in natural communities, where each species plays a role in building soil, deterring pests, storing nutrients, and luring beneficial insects. And finally, you--good ol homo sapiens--are an integral part of the scene. Your garden tools are resting against a nearby tree, and have a slight patina of rust, because this garden requires so little maintenance. You recline into a hammock to admire your work. You have created a garden paradise.This is no dream, but rather an ecological garden, which takes the principles of permaculture and applies them on a home-scale. There is nothing technical, intrusive, secretive, or expensive about this form of gardening. All that is required is some botanical knowledge (which is in this book) and a mindset that defines a backyard paradise as something other than a carpet of grass fed by MiracleGro."
Introduction to Permaculture
Description at Alibris Books online:
"Topics include: energy efficient site analysis, planning and design methods, house placement, design for temperate, dry-land and tropical regions, urban Permaculture garden layouts, land access and community funding systems, chicken and pig forage systems, orchards and home wood lots, how to influence micro-climate and a large section on selected plant species with climatic tolerances, heights and uses. Abundantly illustrated with detailed diagrams and line drawings throughout. Includes a listing of useful Permaculture plants with descriptions and uses, and a further species list in useful categories. The book is set out as a step-by-step introduction to Permaculture with detailed instructions."
Permaculture in a NutshellDescription at Albris Online:
"Permaculture in a Nutshell is a concise and accessible introduction to the principles and practise of permaculture in temperate climates. It covers how permaculture works in the city, the country, and on the farm and explores ways in which people can work together to recreate real communities."
Author is a leading Permaculture teacher in Europe and has written three Permaculture books total; Nutshell is a brief, concise book that people new to Permaculture seem to really appreciate for its quick overview of Permaculture's key ethics, elements and design principles.
The Basics of Permaculture DesignDescription at Alibris Books online:
"'The Basics of Permaculture Design'," first published in Australia in 1996, is an excellent introduction to the principles of permaculture, design processes, and the tools needed for designing sustainable gardens, farms, and larger communities.Packed with useful tips, clear illustrations, and a wealth of experience, it guides you through designs for gardens, urban and rural properties, water harvesting systems, animal systems, permaculture in small spaces like balconies and patios, farms, schools, and ecovillages. This is both a do-ityourself guide for the enthusiast and a useful reference for permaculture designers."
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale PermacultureDescription at Alibris Books online:
"Permaculture is a verbal marriage of permanent and agriculture. Australian Bill Mollison pioneered its development. Key features include: use of compatible perennials;non-invasive planting techniques;emphasis on biodiversity;specifically adaptable to local climate, landscape, and soil conditions;highly productive output of edibles.Now, picture your backyard as one incredibly lush garden, filled with edible flowers, bursting with fruit and berries, and carpeted with scented herbs and tangy salad greens. The visual impact is of Monets palette, a wash of color, texture, and hue. But this is no still life. The flowers nurture endangered pollinators. Bright-featured songbirds feed on abundant berries and gather twigs for their nests.The plants themselves are grouped in natural communities, where each species plays a role in building soil, deterring pests, storing nutrients, and luring beneficial insects. And finally, you--good ol homo sapiens--are an integral part of the scene. Your garden tools are resting against a nearby tree, and have a slight patina of rust, because this garden requires so little maintenance. You recline into a hammock to admire your work. You have created a garden paradise.This is no dream, but rather an ecological garden, which takes the principles of permaculture and applies them on a home-scale. There is nothing technical, intrusive, secretive, or expensive about this form of gardening. All that is required is some botanical knowledge (which is in this book) and a mindset that defines a backyard paradise as something other than a carpet of grass fed by MiracleGro."
Introduction to PermacultureDescription at Alibris Books online:
"Topics include: energy efficient site analysis, planning and design methods, house placement, design for temperate, dry-land and tropical regions, urban Permaculture garden layouts, land access and community funding systems, chicken and pig forage systems, orchards and home wood lots, how to influence micro-climate and a large section on selected plant species with climatic tolerances, heights and uses. Abundantly illustrated with detailed diagrams and line drawings throughout. Includes a listing of useful Permaculture plants with descriptions and uses, and a further species list in useful categories. The book is set out as a step-by-step introduction to Permaculture with detailed instructions."
Permaculture Agriculture Culture
I studied French dynamic biointensive gardening informally with a friend in the Midwest in the mid 1970s. Solar was starting to emerge as a known technology, hippies were going back to the land, and Earth Day was in full swing, inspired in large part by photos of the 'whole earth' from space by astronauts.
More recently, after hearing a lot about peak oil - the prediction that consumption demand would accelerate just as production capacity would greatly drop off - I got interested in studying Permaculture - an acronym meaning 'Permanent Agriculture' but also 'Permanent Culture'. The idea being that we as humans are the most appropriate and capable agents of restoring ecosystems, having for centuries and milennia being the most active agents of destroying ecosystems and planetary life support.
It started in many ways as a reaction against post-World War II practices of agriculture - the so-called 'green revolution' that fed a lot of people but did so with industrial methods that pumped pollutants into the air, soil and water, has ravaged topsoil that took thousands of years to create, wrecked life systems that had gradually co-evolved, and generally made a mess of things.
Agriculture has become a petrochemical industry, has created efficient methods of animal confinement and cruelty, etc. Not a pretty picture the closer you look at modern farming.
Meanwhile engineers have diverted water in ways that are helping lead us to a massive international water crisis. By focusing on moving water quickly through concrete drainage systems, instead of the time-honored ways that streams and creeks meander into rivers that meander and build into lakes and oceans, they have bypassed and disrupted the way things naturally unfold in order to build these culturally and economically rich but artificial environments we call cities.
As a result, many involved in Permaculture more or less question professional approaches to things, and long to restore 'comon sense' and a closer relationship to nature. Of course, there are civil engineers who are into Permaculture. Modern technology and scientific thinking are not necessarily at odds with recycling, reusing, restoring and replenishing the planet. But there are a lot of fundamental - assumptions - that may merit - questioning, inquiry - given the current state of economic and ecological systems that many of us thought were doing OK and aren't.
Permaculture emphasizes a positive human role as a kind of honest broker in natural plant, animal and food, interrelationships. For Permaculture, humans have had the power, skill, motivation and methods to re-do everything and create a lot of havoc along the way, and people also have the power, skill, and responsibility to come up with ways to do things more in harmony, more in balance, more in care for the present and the future.
An experienced Permaculture teacher recently talked to me about the 'foodshed' as analogous to a watershed. He rounded a stick on the ground and illustrated out the way food and people relationships have become terribly dysfunctional and need to be changed.
Sure we can get a whole lot of stuff at the supermarket, and sure a wholistic supermarket is an improvement relative to one that is not, and our present food system of big stores and lovely restaurants, does give us comfort and convenience, variety and nourishment - but with all the pesticides, petroleum for agriculture and shipping, tearing up of forest land, diversion of water, etc. we're contributing rapidly to destroying topsoil, species, and the planet in general.
But if we restore self-reliance and cooperation in taking care of self and family and community, we rebuild natural relationships with our food and each other. We start having a connection again to where our food is coming from. There is nothing more basic to life than the way we obtain or cultivate or share - our food.
So Permaculture isn't just about food, it's about whole systems, but Permaculture is also very much about whole systems - towards which regrouping our relationship to food cultivation and distribution, making it more a part of our lives, is a 'prime directive'.
More recently, after hearing a lot about peak oil - the prediction that consumption demand would accelerate just as production capacity would greatly drop off - I got interested in studying Permaculture - an acronym meaning 'Permanent Agriculture' but also 'Permanent Culture'. The idea being that we as humans are the most appropriate and capable agents of restoring ecosystems, having for centuries and milennia being the most active agents of destroying ecosystems and planetary life support.
It started in many ways as a reaction against post-World War II practices of agriculture - the so-called 'green revolution' that fed a lot of people but did so with industrial methods that pumped pollutants into the air, soil and water, has ravaged topsoil that took thousands of years to create, wrecked life systems that had gradually co-evolved, and generally made a mess of things.
Agriculture has become a petrochemical industry, has created efficient methods of animal confinement and cruelty, etc. Not a pretty picture the closer you look at modern farming.
Meanwhile engineers have diverted water in ways that are helping lead us to a massive international water crisis. By focusing on moving water quickly through concrete drainage systems, instead of the time-honored ways that streams and creeks meander into rivers that meander and build into lakes and oceans, they have bypassed and disrupted the way things naturally unfold in order to build these culturally and economically rich but artificial environments we call cities.
As a result, many involved in Permaculture more or less question professional approaches to things, and long to restore 'comon sense' and a closer relationship to nature. Of course, there are civil engineers who are into Permaculture. Modern technology and scientific thinking are not necessarily at odds with recycling, reusing, restoring and replenishing the planet. But there are a lot of fundamental - assumptions - that may merit - questioning, inquiry - given the current state of economic and ecological systems that many of us thought were doing OK and aren't.
Permaculture emphasizes a positive human role as a kind of honest broker in natural plant, animal and food, interrelationships. For Permaculture, humans have had the power, skill, motivation and methods to re-do everything and create a lot of havoc along the way, and people also have the power, skill, and responsibility to come up with ways to do things more in harmony, more in balance, more in care for the present and the future.
An experienced Permaculture teacher recently talked to me about the 'foodshed' as analogous to a watershed. He rounded a stick on the ground and illustrated out the way food and people relationships have become terribly dysfunctional and need to be changed.
Sure we can get a whole lot of stuff at the supermarket, and sure a wholistic supermarket is an improvement relative to one that is not, and our present food system of big stores and lovely restaurants, does give us comfort and convenience, variety and nourishment - but with all the pesticides, petroleum for agriculture and shipping, tearing up of forest land, diversion of water, etc. we're contributing rapidly to destroying topsoil, species, and the planet in general.
But if we restore self-reliance and cooperation in taking care of self and family and community, we rebuild natural relationships with our food and each other. We start having a connection again to where our food is coming from. There is nothing more basic to life than the way we obtain or cultivate or share - our food.
So Permaculture isn't just about food, it's about whole systems, but Permaculture is also very much about whole systems - towards which regrouping our relationship to food cultivation and distribution, making it more a part of our lives, is a 'prime directive'.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Forest Gardening
In West England near Wales, Robert Hart pioneered the use of Forest Gardens in the West, but he was utilizing an ages-old method of gardening - instead of gardening in rows, plant as if creating a natural Forest Ecosystem with the enhancement benefits of Companion Planting.
In a Forest Ecosystem, falling leaves - also known as leaf litter, twigs, logs, bird droppings, worm castings, animal droppings and urine, dying bugs, etc. mix with the existing soil to create new soil. Microbes and mycelia (the underground fungal networks that fruit at the surface as mushrooms) digest these materials and create soil which has structure and nutrients that support and promote plant growth. It takes hundreds of years.
When we make Compost, we're imitating how this works in a forest, a field, a prairie, a river valley or a meadow - but a forest in particular. Much of the world's farmland was created by forests - then the forests were cleared away - and farms, then later housing developments, were put in place of forests - leaving us with a need to create new soil.
Forests - with their rich density and diversity of plant and animal life - have been our greatest soil creators. Now in many ways it's our job - through reforesting, through composting and sheet mulching, through growing and turning nitrogen fixing plants and encouraging a diversity of plant and soil microbial life.
In Companion Planting, we place plants near each other that get along well, based on varying root heights and root density, chemicals the roots put out to defend against predatory insects, etc.
In a Forest Garden, we're imitating a natural Forest Ecosystem and using Companion Planting to use both vertical and horizontal space effectively.
A Forest Garden - which is also known as a Food Forest - imitates a natural forest's 7 vertical layers of plant types. To create a Forest Garden - which takes about 4 or 5 years to get going in earnest - start by planting an orchard at normally accepted intervals between trees. There's the top layer, layer 1 going top down, the canopy layer. Next, layer 2, are dwarf trees, which hold fruit well because there is a nice ratio of plant weight to branch size. Next is layer 3 - fruiting shrubs (in simplest terms shrubs are like trees but smaller). Then layer 4, the herbaceous layer - non-woody plants. Next down, layer 5, the root plants aka the rhizosphere. Now we're down to layer 6, the ground cover. Now it's layer 7, vines and creepers and climbers.
Forest Gardens don't require weeding - just lots of mulching - and a lot of clipping - and a bit of pruning. Sheet mulching - the creation of topsoil by encouraging mulch, which would decompose into a soil in a few years on its own anyway, to become soil more richly and more quickly by using multiple layers, is material for another blog.
(Photo of Robert Hart by Fransje de Waard ... with the few tools he used to maintain his Forest Garden)
If you'd like to learn more, Patrick Whitefield is a fine writer whose work can be understood by people new to Forest Gardening or experienced, and How to Make a Forest Garden is based in part on conversations Whitefield had with Robert Hart. You can also visit Youtube for a video featuring Robert Hart describing how Forest Gardening works.
In a Forest Ecosystem, falling leaves - also known as leaf litter, twigs, logs, bird droppings, worm castings, animal droppings and urine, dying bugs, etc. mix with the existing soil to create new soil. Microbes and mycelia (the underground fungal networks that fruit at the surface as mushrooms) digest these materials and create soil which has structure and nutrients that support and promote plant growth. It takes hundreds of years.
When we make Compost, we're imitating how this works in a forest, a field, a prairie, a river valley or a meadow - but a forest in particular. Much of the world's farmland was created by forests - then the forests were cleared away - and farms, then later housing developments, were put in place of forests - leaving us with a need to create new soil.
Forests - with their rich density and diversity of plant and animal life - have been our greatest soil creators. Now in many ways it's our job - through reforesting, through composting and sheet mulching, through growing and turning nitrogen fixing plants and encouraging a diversity of plant and soil microbial life.
In Companion Planting, we place plants near each other that get along well, based on varying root heights and root density, chemicals the roots put out to defend against predatory insects, etc.
In a Forest Garden, we're imitating a natural Forest Ecosystem and using Companion Planting to use both vertical and horizontal space effectively.
A Forest Garden - which is also known as a Food Forest - imitates a natural forest's 7 vertical layers of plant types. To create a Forest Garden - which takes about 4 or 5 years to get going in earnest - start by planting an orchard at normally accepted intervals between trees. There's the top layer, layer 1 going top down, the canopy layer. Next, layer 2, are dwarf trees, which hold fruit well because there is a nice ratio of plant weight to branch size. Next is layer 3 - fruiting shrubs (in simplest terms shrubs are like trees but smaller). Then layer 4, the herbaceous layer - non-woody plants. Next down, layer 5, the root plants aka the rhizosphere. Now we're down to layer 6, the ground cover. Now it's layer 7, vines and creepers and climbers.
Forest Gardens don't require weeding - just lots of mulching - and a lot of clipping - and a bit of pruning. Sheet mulching - the creation of topsoil by encouraging mulch, which would decompose into a soil in a few years on its own anyway, to become soil more richly and more quickly by using multiple layers, is material for another blog.(Photo of Robert Hart by Fransje de Waard ... with the few tools he used to maintain his Forest Garden)
If you'd like to learn more, Patrick Whitefield is a fine writer whose work can be understood by people new to Forest Gardening or experienced, and How to Make a Forest Garden is based in part on conversations Whitefield had with Robert Hart. You can also visit Youtube for a video featuring Robert Hart describing how Forest Gardening works.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Gardens Where People Live
This new blog is to explore what gardens can do and be where people live ... and what living means for people when gardens are nearby ... in cities or suburbs or exurbs or small towns or big farms ... or people's imaginations.
Is a garden about flowers and beauty?
Is a garden about fruits and nuts and vegetables?
Is a garden about a gathering place for people to meet and greet?
And talk about gardening?
Is a garden a way of imposing humanity onto soil?
Is a garden an antidote for industrial farming and petroleum based food distribution?
Is a garden about food and herbs?
Are herbs medicine?
Are people part of a garden?
Does a gardener create a garden?
Does a garden create a gardener?
Is a garden a place to wear gardening clothes?
Are any two gardens alike?
Are some gardens miniature farms?
Including gardens in dense urban areas?
Are farms large gardens?
Are gardens a way we greet nature?
Are gardens compatible with lawns?
Are lawns a way of gardening?
Are questions a path to answers?
Are questions a way of inviting imagination and conversation?
Do "many hands make light work"?
Do "too many cooks spoil the soup"?
Are gardens a way to make ingredients for soup?
Do we make gardens or do we allow them to come into place?
What is the place that has a garden?
What is the garden that has a sense of surrounding relationship to place?
~#~
Is a garden about flowers and beauty?
Is a garden about fruits and nuts and vegetables?
Is a garden about a gathering place for people to meet and greet?
And talk about gardening?
Is a garden a way of imposing humanity onto soil?
Is a garden an antidote for industrial farming and petroleum based food distribution?
Is a garden about food and herbs?
Are herbs medicine?
Are people part of a garden?
Does a gardener create a garden?
Does a garden create a gardener?
Is a garden a place to wear gardening clothes?
Are any two gardens alike?
Are some gardens miniature farms?
Including gardens in dense urban areas?
Are farms large gardens?
Are gardens a way we greet nature?
Are gardens compatible with lawns?
Are lawns a way of gardening?
Are questions a path to answers?
Are questions a way of inviting imagination and conversation?
Do "many hands make light work"?
Do "too many cooks spoil the soup"?
Are gardens a way to make ingredients for soup?
Do we make gardens or do we allow them to come into place?
What is the place that has a garden?
What is the garden that has a sense of surrounding relationship to place?
~#~
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