Nothing exists outside a relationship because all things are in relationships. It is the relationships that define something as well as its own characteristics. Cut off from supporting resources everything is in decay. Systems break down and organisms die and mechanisms become obsolete. Ecologically integrated organisms are at balance with their surroundings and become part of the ecosystem. For each resource they consume, they supply another or cycle the resource via mechanisms of facilitation. Mechanisms of Facilitation describe species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neither (Stachowicz 2001).
Equilibrium Even with periodic disturbances nature seems to work towards a balance and equilibrium in all things. The resources are used at whatever state they exist and those organisms that can find a niche in the conditions establish a presence. An ecological niche is a site-specific location relative to weather, soil, sun, plants and animals that inhabit the space (Jacke, D & E.Toensmeier, 2007). It is a position within an ecosystem outside of which the organism will not thrive or survive. The first pioneer organisms in a niche begin to slowly change the environment to bring the area to higher levels of nutrients, nitrogen, and organic matter for other organisms. The pioneer's waste is a resource for more growth and the pioneer itself is food for another high organism, which then supports another as others establish a diverse ecology with early species being replace in succession. Whenever a new species enters a niche the resources are affected as the species attends to its needs. The niche may support another species or not. An ecosystem is continually building natural capital. A sustainable agriculture must also build natural capital. (Holmberg, J. and Robèrt, K-H. 2000). In the case of agriculture, humans have the ability to modify the niche beyond the scope of animals. But in doing so continually fights the natural forces towards equilibrium that built the niche. A sustainable agriculture system must work with the natural resources to keep the balance of input and output and at the same time produce abundant yields. It is not a self-supporting system, but depends on indigenous external resources as well as internal. Depleting and disturbing the soil sets back the state of a niche where the pioneer plants (weeds) return to build the soils up once more. Returning by germinating from an existing seed bank in the undisturbed soil. Either way the land will tend toward a steady state of succession. The purpose of agriculture is to supply human needs for food, fodder, fiber, and pharmaceuticals and in some cases fun (Jacke, D & E.Toensmeier, 2007). Whether the system of agriculture can sustain the outputs without excessive and diminishing inputs is the question in sustainability. Agriculture is a system like ecology; an integrative discipline that combines components and systemic functions that must produce a larger functional whole (Odum, P.2007). If agriculture outputs less than its whole input or depletes the very resources it depends on, its sustained existence is impossible. Its purpose is not being fulfilled since its purpose is to feed not only the present population, but also future generations and at the same time maintain its resources to produce the next crop. These integrated multi-functions and outcomes must be in real time and simultaneous, or the farmer (resource manager) will always be working to restore lost resources that are shipped off or washed off the fields (Holmgren, David 2002). While human agriculture is broken up into repetitive tasks with singular goals. The natural world demands each element be multifunctional and contribute to the natural capital. The truly sustainable agricultural system must also be multifunctional, integrated, and self-renewing in the same way.
Addendum The PHRE' Model of Sustainability
The PHRE’ model is a concept developed by Katherine Plowman and myself from the University of Minnesota and Ashley Reas and Shawn Edelan of Iowa State. We were asked to give a presentation in AGRO5999 on sustainability and chose to define it as a system of interdependent characteristics. Although it needs some refinement I found our model to help others in understanding the importance of integrating all aspects of a farm while assessing its sustainability or as we called it continuous viability. The draft model (below) shows the supporting interactions between resource based elements and relationship elements. This project instilled in me the importance of looking at the farm or any functioning entity as integrated systems not techniques. Considering the relationships between these components helps assess the viability of the farm.
Citations Stachowicz, J. J. 2001. Mutualism, facilitation, and the structure of ecological communities. BioScience '51': 235-246. Jacke, D & E.Toensmeier, 2007. Edible Forest Gardens, Volume 1 & 2, Holmberg, J. and Robèrt, K-H. (2000). "Backcasting from non-overlapping sustainability principles – a framework for strategic planning." International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 7 291–308. Eugene P. Odum, The Emergence of Ecology as a New Integrative Discipline Science, New Series, Vol. 195, No. 4284 (Mar. 25, 1977), pp. 1289-1293 Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science Holmgren, D. (2002). Permaculture: Principles & pathways beyond sustainability. Hepburn, Vic.: Holmgren Design Services.
Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries and The Green Revolution
How should the USA promote sustainable agriculture practices in developing countries?
We need to take a holistic approach to encouraging “developing” countries to better use their resources.I suggest that the term “developing” is filled with bias and assumption. I have never been quite sure what the country cited is supposed to develop, but I have some suggestions below where we could help.
Continuous Education
The United States should be supportive of programs for environmental and agro-ecosystem education. Use teaching techniques and practices for soil building, seed saving, water conservation and localized resource management, including the schools to empower the youngest children with the knowledge of good gardening practices.
Education allows people to advance socially and economically. It increases the capable labor pool for labor-intensive development, reducing poverty (Weaver, J. H., Rock, M. T., & Kusterer, K. C.,1997).
Practices
The US should promote low-tech solutions that use local materials, animal labor over machinery, integrated livestock with rotational grazing, and diverse crops. Conventional agricultural practices should be limited in any way they require outside inputs and increased overhead. Practices with the highest potential include: Intercropping, Crop Rotation, Agroforestry, Sylv-pastures, Green Manuring, Conservation Tillage, and Biological Controls with Integrated Pest Management (Conway-Barber, 1990).. Small farms should be encouraged to get the most people working the land and learning the skills needed to grow food on their own. Sustainable practices tailored to the ecology of the regions would teach the different solutions used for each type of terrain, climate and ecology.
Material and Resources
Material to build infrastructure is many times sold or imported from other areas. Sustainable practices should include the increased capacity of the local areas to become self reliant in raw materials needed for structures and facilities (Stuertz, Mark2002).A methodology should encourage using the materials that are locally renewable and the incorporate the skills to use them. Small and slow solutions would build a functioning community of skilled labor and empowered citizens.
I disagree with Weaver, Rock, and Kusterer’s book, Achieving Broad-Based Susatainable Development. It seems from the book and title, that the goal is not sustainable agriculture, but sustained development itself. “…rural industrialization is the key to agricultural transformation” (140). They focus on agriculture as a resource foot stool for bigger industry rather than the foundation for wealth and health. “Ultimately, most of them want to get out of low-income agriculture altogether” (141). This comes from economic forces and government policy, not tradition or culture.
Funding
Can the USA do anything without spending billions of dollars and in that sense actually manage the outcomes? It would seem most funding is a subsidy to the agricultural industry for machinery and chemicals and little goes into the education of indigenous people about their own land's indigenous capacity. Funding massive projects to achieve quick results only serves to delay the infrastructure needed to build self-sustaining capacity on the ecological level. The long term success I have seen has been achieved by individuals on a village level after learning techniques that slowly build resources that are self-renewing. Sustainable agriculture is self-funding in the way it builds capacity with the same resources used to start it.
In Thailand, the new Prince is encouraging the rebuilding of old terraces to put old fileds into production, but at the same time offers free of charge to the locals, saplings and fruit trees from his nursery. With the expansion of seashore development and the diplacement of locals to the inner hills, Thailand is using the displacedlabor force to build agricultural capacity (Chris Shanks,2009). The goals of the individual, village, state, nation and corporation diverge with each level of detachment and with that, increase the expense and investment. The individual needs food and modest income. The village needs commerce and community resources to trade or sale to businesses for a tax base funding community services of the most basic level (roads, public transportation, medical services, education, and local government).Each entity requires larger sums of cash and larger sources of revenue as they outsource to the next level. The small farmer is not in this picture as corporate farms supply the "tax” base and export revenue to the national treasury. Unfortunately for national exports (colonialism) the small farmers are better served to the nation as laborers rather than growers.
Corporate Oversight
In the early centuries of colonialism, European nations dominated the international export scene by subjugating weaker and source rich countries; exporting the resources on large ships while subverting the native people to their aims. Over time the multinational corporation has taken over that role, profiting from foreign policies, or lack thereof of their homeland and that of the nation state they engage. Governments and leaders make contracts with the corporations, returning little benefit to the citizens and many times put them at risk environmentally such as in Bhopal India with Union-Carbide or economically and physically like with the African cotton famine (L.E. Hall, 2007). Serious oversight and environmental policy needs to be addressed concerning multinational corporations and their business practices, but cultural and physical health of the people is the responsibility of the local government.
Research
Land Grant Universities have been researching agriculture since their inception. It can be stated that the majority of research is focused on plant genetics and chemical soil amendments. In the year 2000 the United States spent 3.8 Billion dollars on agricultural research (Pardey, P.G., 2006).Where as techniques have changed little with regards to use of larger machinery, capital investments are pointed towards large tracts of land being cultivated efficiently in less time. The research funds for perennial crops, soil restoration and small farm practices are minimal. Sufficient examples of small farm practices that have sustained soil health and fertility exist outside conventional farming, but do not support a corporate ROI (return on investment).I disagree with Weaver, Rock, and Kusterer’s book, Achieving Broad-Based Susatainable Development. It seems from the book and title that the goal is not sustainable agriculture, but sustained development itself. “…rural industrialization is the key to agricultural transformation” (140).
Critisism of the Green Revolution
Dependence on monoculture crops
The green revolution is dependent on a selective monoculture seed supply and their associated Agra-chemical compliment. Diversity is not a positive element in a commodity based agriculture system. Large harvests for an economy of scale, efficient transportation and processing require predictable and homogeneous shipments. Also the Green Revolution was not designed as a one size fits all solution. Green technologies imported to Africa failed. The natural and and labor infrastructure did not exist for large monocrop industrial agriculture (Weaver, J. H., Rock, M. T., & Kusterer, K. C. 1997).
Dependence on external sources of input.
The Green revolution needed many supporting elements to succeed. Especially after a soil was depleted, the crops did not renew fertility and a coercive dependence on externally supplied fertilizers made growers beholden to outside "experts" and produced copious amounts of toxic waste from agriculture chemicals. Through the transport, storage, manufacture and application of agricultural chemicals; wells, air and land was polluted with the byproducts and misapplied chemicals. Community resources were diminished as local knowledge was ignored.
Heavy indebtedness among subsistence farmers
In Mexico Cargill traded farmers their indigenous and open pollinated seed for the Cargill hybrid corn seed. In time the farmers were totally at the mercy of agra-chemical companys for fertilizers and pesticides as the new corn extracted higher levels of nitrogen and nutrients from the soil in its success.
In Pakistan, unexpected high yields effected availability of harvest, transport and storage facilities (Stuertz, Mark, 2002).
Potential exports raises local prices
In Venezuela, Cargill exports commodities and then sells it back to Venezuela buyers at a higher price. Exportation of goods is colonialism. (Carter Meland, Lecturer American Indian Studies UMN Twin Cities).Local farmers cannot compete with market prices set so low by corporate farms and fail due to economic pressure rather than social or proficiency. The citizens lose local resources at local pricing while the farmers lose on both sides paying more for inputs and getting less for crops.
Unsustainable Farming Practices
Long-term sustainability is questionable due to the external pressures for high yields and a shortsighted ecological view. Although Productivity is define as,"...the output of valued product per unit of resources input", (Conway and Barber, 1990), the real cost of production should included eroded soil, loss of fertility, and contaminated wells.The Green Revolution system promotes imports of resources via profit-based vendors. Cheap fossil fuels allow for transfer and development of chemical based agricultural systems regardless of the long term effects. The growing area is amended and used as a medium for combining the components for fertility rather than a maintainable source of fertility. Until the production of crops is seen as a closed loop of soil building crop cycles, the soil will continue to be depleted (Conway and Barber (104) 1990).
Environmental
Less farmland is needed due to increased yields. Yet land continues to be cleared as the farmers transitioned to an export based income. Insentives from government and agro-chemical companies encouraged farmers to over extend their finances and natural capacity. Irrigation accounts for 91% of water use on Java (Conway and Barber (104) 1990). These non-native hybrids, monocultures and soil depleting practices required additional fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides from the suppliers. It should be said that most environmental damage (in east asia at least) is due to government pricing policies, which did not account for its total cost and ecouraged over use of fertilizers (Weaver, J. H., Rock, M. T., & Kusterer, K. C. 1997).
My Model
My modelis not very time senstitve. It is not government or corporate friendly, but it does take into account the massive needs of urban areas with little plantable grounds. It focuses on the local needs first and then the surplus crops being delivered to an ever expanding ring of community. I suggest small local farms delivering collectively within five to twenty miles depending on the infrastructure and soil capacity.
These small bio-intensive farms would grow vegetable crops with integrated livestock and use systems that are tailored to their niche. Farms would divide up their yields for maximum diversity in plants and output in annual crops and perennial plants, which need less maintenance. Seasonal planting would generate food, fiber, traditional medecinal plants, and fodder for livestock. Multilayered overstories would partition the sun, water and soil to decrease cultivated acreage promote tree crops. Rebuilding or establishing forests is the long-term goal and key to increasing the soil organic matter and watershed capacity.
Water collection and storage issues are problematic in many areas. Seasons of drought with intermittant rains require systems that will buffer the weather extremes during the growing season. Swales, keylines, pits, ponds and cisterns would be key design drivers in the planning a self-sustaining agro-ecosystem.
Seasons of rest for fields would allow for some crop harvesting, but center on the soil building necessary for prolonged and improved cultivation use legumes and nitrogen scavenging plants.
The human use of land includes the cultural aspects of the people. Traditions, ceremonies and ethics must be respected when building new agricultural systems. Principals may need to be taught, but solutions need to come from the indigeonous intellect. Empowering the local community to use their own creativity to solve problems and integrate with other communities will outlive imported programs and develop a new awareness for long-term sustainability.I would also include the principles of Permaculture (Mollison, B. C. 1988, Holmgren, D. 2002.).
Permaculture is a holistic approach to design and production of yields for human needs. It incorporates observation, integration and systems thinking to preserve and leverage existing resources. Permaculture has been the foundation for my sustainable design since my return to the land as a source of food, water and heat.Its principles are sound guidance at all levels of decision-making and implemetation.Using Permaculture, I am gardening to meet my needs while ensuring future generations have the resources to fulfill their needs. Native people can use the existing resources to build their capacity and sustainable independence.
References
Conway, G.R. , Barber, E.B., After the Green Revolution, 1990, Earth Scan Publications Limited, London
L.E. Hall, Starvation in Africa, 2007, The Rosen Publishing Group, NY, NY
Stuertz, Mark. Dallas Observer. 5 December 2002
Shanks, Chris, Conversation (2009,) Panya Project, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Weaver, J. H., Rock, M. T., & Kusterer, K. C. (1997). Achieving broad-based sustainable development : Governance, environment, and growth with equity. West Hartford, Conn.: Kumarian Press.
Pardey, P.G., (2006), Agricultural research: a growing global divide?, International Food Policy Research Institute
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Press Release on Design Competition for Vine Support Structures - Apply by December 31, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Design Competition: Trellis About It!
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, November 2, 2009 – Are you interested in sustainability, gardening, architectural design, or permaculture? How would you design a vertical growing system for melons and other vines that is low-cost, durable, and produces high quality fruit? Got an idea? Enter our juried design competition and help urban gardeners increase food production.
"This year's competition challenges our contestants to build a low-cost, durable, trellis system for growing melons and other vine crops in tight urban spaces," says Paula Westmoreland, Executive Director of Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) Cold Climate, which is organizing the contest. Permaculture is anecological design system with guiding values of caring for the earth, caring for people, and sharing the surplus.
Why melons? Lindsay Rebhan, who is helping organize the competition, explains: "They present a challenge not only because of their weight and the need to support each fruit, but also because their long growing seasons make them a gamble in cold climates."
Designs will be judged on their ability to not only support 50 pounds of melons and other vines, but also to create healthy microclimates for themby moderating rapid weather changes and incorporating companion plants. Contestants are encouraged to use recycled materials in their construction.
The top designs will be displayed at a public exhibition on March 13. The winning design team will be awarded $500 toward implementation at a public venue.
PRI Cold Climate, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing more sustainable strategies for living in cold climate regions, also operates the Backyard Harvest program that converted fifteen Twin Cities yards into delicious food gardens in 2009. Visit http://www.pricoldclimate.org for more information about our current events and projects.
My home is at the base of a small peninsula in the middle of an Oak Savannah wetland. Like a thumb folded in the palm of a giant hand, the avian oasis rises above the sea of cattails that surround it. This old island has seen the transformation in a performance passing eons of time. The rolling path I walk was perhaps a deep channel that filled in with silt and brush. The water is just below the thick carpet of grass and yellow dogwood. Wisps of air cool my sweat as I step deeper into the tangled vines of the forest edge. I move quickly where smarter animals would move more slowly with ears twitching. No trace of past ventures to show me the way. I cannot see the forest through the brush and trees, only my hands, with momentary sights between my fingers.
The ancient lakebed hosts migrant geese and wood ducks that call small patches of open water their home. Small pitted water holes, only visible from the sky, appear with cold spring rains and disappear with summer drought. Giant cottonwoods ring the end of the woodland penninsula, their limbless trunks towering overhead until the crown of green and white fills the sky. I feel small, but fortunate. I strain to look up. My neck objects to this position having infrequent reasons to do so. Large branches torn away by unabated windstorms cross-stitch the advancing shore. These trees are sentinels of ages past and yet hold the eggs of small birds in their hollow seams. At night owls on knurled branches call across the darkness into my window. Though I try, I never see them. Even with my binoculars, I would need their eyes.
I stand at the fractured base of a tree and smell the scent of wild roses. raspberries and currants enmesh a history of lost limbs and failed saplings. The vines support each other with twining grasps. They hold strong as I try to pass. Catching my clothes like street vendors, they tug at my sleeve until I sample the wild sweetness. I pause to eat the fruits they offer. My senses are filled with red juices, sweet smells, the sights of new growth, and the silence. Memories of my mom flood back as I look down. Curly blossoms of Jack-in-the-Pulpit blooming in its brief visit to the world of light. Imperceptible hues of green and pink fade into white ribs, like a splash of foamy water, frozen in time, only to disappear with the night. It is so much more than I could know from the photo that hung on her kitchen wall. I stand in the middle of a strange cathedral occupied by the permanent residents that mat down the grasses. On hot days a congregation of animals rest in the dappled rays and cool breezes, only to return, snuggling deep in the grass when the winter drifts cover the wetland in white swells.
Here and there spiraling reeds of the grass are laid flat in large ovals. If I could only lay here a short while, feel the coolness of ground and enjoy invisibility to the world. I feel the tension leaving as I decompress. My back rests for a moment upon a large stone that rode the glacial till once forced to the sky. What far off land may it have come from? Its toothed granite gives no measure to my skin. Even through the thick flannel I can feel the edges' grip. Small hickory and acorn husks surround the rock’s base and pile to one side. As the rock disappears beneath, a wispy seedling reaches for light from its shadowed and mossy apron. Small holes appear from the rodent highway beneath my feet. So many lives have passed through here.
If trees could talk, would they ignore me? I sense foreboding adversity that comes from staying too long. I am just a visitor admiring the beauty; to stay would mean its destruction. I nod and smile to the land, turn my back, and head for home.
In the past three years I have been focusing on collecting heat for our home. Ground Source Geothermal mostly. I have three solar panels waiting to be installed, but they need to be pressure tested with some plan in mind. What is on my mind right now is water, This is the third dry summer for us. We have one catchment pond that collects our roof and driveway water, but that is used up by the small orchard we have. I have added another smaller swale system from our out building for fruiting shrubs.
Last weekend we started clearing another site for a catchment off the highway culvert that runs through our property. This will collect thousands of gallons more that we can divert to other dry areas across the property. I also believe that in the future the most water we catch will be from spring run-off, not rain. With our added ponds, nothing will leave the property over land, and we will have ample water stored in the ground to buffer the dry periods.
Catch and Store what you can.
Dan
Todd O Stockdale wrote: Dan, Are you catching water to use for non-potable uses in your home? This is something I am trying to actively research. I live in SE MN so red tape is likely to be enormous for alternative systems. Thanks. Todd
Hi Todd,
We are not doing that yet, but a friend of mine is doing that for all his water needs. Rainwater collection for in-home use is tricky for a few reasons. The storage needs to be protected from critters and freezing. Even non-potable water needs something to filter out, debris, grit and silt and some height or pressurized tank for distribution. Breaking the plumbing barrier is what municipalities are concerned with. Rain water use needs its own pipes. If I was to do this I would use a washer outside the house in summer and collect the grey water too. Many people in warmer climates have their washer on the porch.
I think a slowly implemented system that incorporates all these concerns would work well, but they are hands on, need maintenance, and a willingness of the owner to monitor the system.
Permaculture books and articles on the web talk of these systems at length. Starting at the top and working your way down insures clean water and a durable system.
You could even start by using a bucket to get water out or a rain barrel and trying a few loads of wash. Then start filling in the parts needed to make it easier.
Once we get a new roof I will look into this as a system for us. All that rain water could go through our house before it hits the gardens (via aquatic plant filtration) and do double duty. No to mention the periodic watering we would supply that it misses now.
A friend of mine just built a new house and the county REQUIRED a grey water system. This type of forward thinking in governments would start requiring residential designs to manage run-off and grey water. Another friend built two drain systems in his house. One grey, one waste. I am sure we all have creative solutions to our own situations. Let's have some fun.
Use cover crops when the garden will be left fallow for a season or after a growing season to rebuild soil fertility and hold the soil during winter winds, snow melt and spring rains. Gardening is not done when the last vegetable is picked. Then its time to start next years garden.
Medium Red Clover is the most widely grown of the true clovers. It is a short-lived perennial legume. Medium Red Clover is used for short rotation hay fields and include into pasture mixes with orchard grass & timothy or tall fescue. It is a perennial which acts as a biennial under usual farm conditions. Red Clover normally produces two cuttings during the hay year. Red Clover grows on soils with pH values below those necessary for satisfactory production of alfalfa and sweet clover. It best turned under during its second or third year when nitrogen and biomass production are at their maximum. For best results, sow in spring with an oat nurse crop. Can also be summer sown, or sown mid-winter for frost seeding.
Number of Seasons: Biennial Planting Depth: .5-1" Plant: Mid-Winter through Summer Cold Tolerance: Winter Hardy Seeding Rate: 8-10lb./acre or .25-5 lb. per 1000 sq. ft. Soil Type: Tolerates All Mix With: Oats/Buckwheat
Hairy Vetch is an extremely cold-tolerant, adaptable and vigorous winter annual legume. Plant in late summer to early fall. Slow to establish, but very prolific spring growth once soil warms up. Dense, viney growth habit, 2-3 feet high. It can attain greater height when supported by rye/oats/triticale. Contributes 80-250 lb/acre nitrogen and 3000-5000 lb/acre dry matter. The second-year growth of hairy vetch can be utilized as livestock feed. It is palatable as pasture, or can be harvested as hay or silage.
Number of Seasons: Annual Planting Depth: .5-1" Plant: late summer/early fall Cold Tolerance: Winter Hardy Seeding Rate: 25-35lb./acre or 1/2-1 lb. per 1000 sq.ft. Soil Type: Tolerate All Mix With: Winter Rye
Kentucky 31 (KY-31) Tall Fescueis a cool season, aggressive, perennial bunchgrass that grows to a height of three to four feet. It has gained importance because of its ability to adapt to a wide variety of types of soils, including poorly drained areas. KY-31 has short creeping rootstocks that develop into a uniform, thick sod. It is robust, rather coarse, and long-lived. KY-31 has dark green leaves with a spreading seed head. It produces more on sandstone-shale based soils than other cool season grasses. Tall Fescue is one of the more drought resistant plants of the cool season group, and will maintain itself under rather limited fertility. KY-31 requires a moist, weed-free, firm seedbed. Fescue grown along with legumes can minimize the problems sometimes associated with pure fescue stands. To get the best results from fescue, it should be clipped after seed harvest is complete. Fescue will withstand closer grazing and more abuse than most cool-season grasses, but it can be overgrazed to the point that vigor and production of the next season is reduced. Use of rotation grazing has proven successful, by allowing the plants a period of regrowth after heavy grazing.
Number of Seasons: Perennial
Planting Depth: .5" Plant: Spring or Fall Cold Tolerance: Winter Hardy Seeding Rate: 7 - 9 lb. per 1000 sq.ft. Soil Type: Tolerate All
Buckwheat is a rapid growing, broadleaf, summer annual, and is a great smother crop for weeds. It flowers in 5-6 weeks and grows 3-6 ft tall. Good for building organic matter and increasing calcium and phosphorous availability. Plant spring through summer. Does well in poor soils. Matures in 10-12 weeks.
Number of Seasons: Annual Planting Depth: .5-1" Plant: Late Spring to Two Months Before Frost Cold Tolerance: Killed by Frost Seeding Rate: 50-100 lb./acre or 1.2-2.5 lb per 1000 sq. ft. Incorporate: Before Frost Soil Type: Tolerates All
Winter Rye is the most cold-hardy and productive annual grass and it tolerates a wide range of soil conditions. Plant any time from early to late fall. Germinates and grows quickly to a height of 4-5 feet. Its fibrous roots markedly improve soil structure. Commonly grown with peas or vetch to provide structural support.
Number of Seasons: Annual Planting Depth: .5-1" Plant: Fall Cold Tolerance: winter hardy Seeding Rate:80-115lb./acre or 2-3.5lb.per 1000sq.ft. Soil Type: Tolerates All Mix With: Hairy Vetch
This document was adapted from "So Easy to Preserve", 5th ed. 2006. Bulletin 989, Cooperative Extension Service, The University of Georgia, Athens. Revised by Elizabeth L. Andress. Ph.D. and Judy A. Harrison, Ph.D., Extension Foods Specialists.
In June 2006 we put in these huge swales. They are designed to catch water and keep it in the area of plant roots in the orchard. Otherwise the run-off would sheet off the ground down hill into the wetland and not soak in as much as is needed. The video is during the only downpour we had so far this summer. 1" in about 30 minutes. That is a lot of rain to catch in a short time. Swales are designed to do just that and are usually oversized for that reason. Also, in spring they fill with snow, ice and water as the ground is frozen. Spring is an important time to keep the moisture that has been building up all winter and would otherwise flow away over frozen soil.
The Stromme garden is flourishing after we sheet mulched it last fall (See Blog entry Oct.8, 2008) and planted it from a polyculture diversity design. Very few weeds and great production.
Using a laser level and tiller. a small swale set can be established in an afternoon. Careful consideration must be made for the overflow to each swale and the output if a large rain occurs. These swales will be planted with Currants and Beach Plum Polycultures.
I use a tiller for many purposes that need soil break-up and a controlled depth.
A keyline from the barn catchment moves the water to the swales.
These swales are small and will fill fast, but catch a small area.
A round shovel is used to excavate the tilled swale onto berms for planting.
Slowly planting the production areas each summer has built a manageable capacity. We are getting closer to complete meals and finding a rhythm to the daily harvest.
My first inclination is that the power to change through purchasing choices is the same problem that got us here and the inability for people to see new options. It seems people will not sacrifice or change their habits and insist on spending capital and buying more stuff. Even dynamic organizations can only think of selling to outsiders to bring them in. Merchandising our solutions is a bad idea.
Also, involving foreign countries in free-trade smacks again of the capitalistic and dominating nature of our economy and the single minded consumerism of America to solve others problems. So we buy their products with dollars and they use to money to what, build sustainability or buy foreign goods? It is a form of colonial economics not self reliance. Global markets are abused and energy wasted to transfer natural resources across oceans. Natural resources should not be exported and human efforts should be focused on self sustaining systems and self renewing fertility in the soil and minds of people.
This may be what we see in the city where it is expensive to exist. Everyone and every organization must be part of the economic system to survive for any length of time. Therefore they integrate with that economic model to survive and export that model as part of their organizational process.
Jul 30, 2009
Last week I surveyed two stores for their pricing on a typical shopping list.In researching the pricing of organic and non-organic (conventional) foods I found varying degrees of difference. Some items were similar in price. Organic Apples were comparably priced with conventional. Organic oranges however, cost 358% more than regular. Organic Olive Oil was 378% more costly than regular. Corn Meal was priced only 5% higher for organic. The commodities themselves and the ability to grow chemical free crops might be at play here. Oranges and Apples grow in different climates and have different pesticide regimes.
What comes to mind in observing these differences is the value of my own garden. One might compare the value of garden produce to that at Cub Foods, yet the quality of the food and organic nature (if grown organically) of the yield would be better compared to organics of a natural food store. I would price my garden produce at the organic rate. Another facet unrealized by many is the pretax nature of garden produce. If we shop at a food store, we have already paid taxes on the money we spend. From 15 to 28% has already come out of our pocket before we step in the store. That fact alone, of tax-free food, makes a personal organic garden even more valuable.
Talking with Travis at Seward Market I found he feels organic foods are more sustainable than convention foods. I questioned him on the growing practices of some organic farms and he admitted that many large organic farms in California are not sustainable but are still organic. This is a conflict in organic labeling where produce meets government requirements that are related to chemical cultivation and production rather than the care of the land. He stated that the produce is sometimes not as visually pleasing and has a shorter shelf life yet is better quality in taste and nutrition. He also stated that organic is more labor intensive than non-organic crops. Travis believes that the organic produce is better grown, better for you and tastes much better. I would suggest that picking time and soil ecology of produce affects the taste more than organic techniques. Picking green produce to ripen during shipping withholds the nutrition and flavor of crops better held in the field. However, local produce is usually picked at its peak for immediate sale.
Having eaten some great produce from my own organic garden, I know the value of good soil and the quality that comes from being a good steward of the land. Picking fresh tomatoes or beans taste far superior to anything in the store. As far as store bought organic food, I can only say it is slightly better than non-organic since the distance and handling is the same. Locally grown “farmers market” produce is the next best to my own. A CSA box (from a subscription with a produce grower) seems to come close to our garden quality, but the expense and inconvenience diminishes its worth. Our produce is tax free and here already. I do encourage people wanting to garden to try a CSA first and see what they might like to grow as the garden soil is prepared for the next season. This also helps them prepare for cooking garden produce they will grow. We do however prepare the spring garden area with soil prep and autumn sheet mulching.
Taking organics to the commercial level is a daunting task that has enticed many start-up farmers. In the nineteen-seventies organic gardening was the realm of the counter culture, which had rejected modem-farming techniques. Roger Browne, of Rising Sun Farms in Wisconsin, started his organic venture in the late seventies and today still farms a small acreage. He grows produce on a five-year rotation of crops on one acre. Roger’s reputation is well known in organic circles. He has one of the oldest organic farms in the Midwest.
Roger prides himself on his marketing for a descending order of consumers. His best produce goes to high profit retail sales at Farmers Markets. Restaurants take the slightly less perfect cuttings for a lower but predictable price. The family uses edible produce, not suitable for sale, and the least palatable items go to the chickens and compost pile.
Roger had a few observations from his years of farming. First, he said the price gap between organic and convention produce is narrowing due to transportation costs and the cheap labor in other countries. His price for organic produce is not going up and is driven by the buyers who advise him. Secondly, his expenses for organic farming does not include chemicals or fertilizer, but he counts 60% of chicken feed costs as a fertilizer expense since it ends up that way. Lastly, Roger sees integrating farm systems as his best technique in leveraging his resources. Roger found that stacking the functions of the chickens and the needs of the gardens reduced the inputs for the growing season. Previously He would plant Winter Rye and have to plow it twice in the spring before planting. Now he turns it once and then allows the chickens to eat the bugs, break up the clods and remove any errant seed. He has 50 laying hens, 100 meat chickens, and 40 turkeys doing the work. The Turkeys concentrate more on the insects and disturb the soil less.
Roger is a devoted organic farmer and would not change his techniques if prices fell to conventional levels. His production costs are minimal due to his integrated systems and the presence of interns and visitors willing to help and learn. Roger holds workshops and promotes systems thinking as all elements in his farm system are integrated, non-liner relationships.
The first principle in Permaculture is Observation. My first observation when we bought our homestead in 2003 was the loss of rainwater to our wetlands and the dry clay soils left behind. The topography had just enough slope to create sheets of flowing water during heavy rainstorms. Even though we were surrounded by wetland, the soils a short distance away was hard and dry. It was an opportunity to catch and store rain water with the classic swale and berm technique. The grassy hill would soon be filled with fruiting trees and shrubs.
We had a 50 x 150 foot area where the water flowed down a 30% slope and crossed our gravel driveway. Keeping that water on the land and using it for perennial crops was our goal. My local Permaculture Collaborative was also looking for a demonstration site for a summer workshop and implementation. With that we had expertise, resources and the energy of the members to make our goal a reality.
Sinks and Sources
In the realm of natural resources we have sources and we have sinks. The sources are sun, sky and soil. The energies of sunlight, rain water and soil biology. The sinks are where resources are lost or out of reach. It is the space between source and sink that we try and fill with functions. We try and keep these energies at work as long as possible. Putting the resource to work doing multiple functions we: Divert, Intercept, Delay, Absorb, Replace, Slow, Infuse, Infiltrate, Leverage, and Contain. The more times I can use water before it leaves the property, the less water I need to source. Catch and Store has become our most useful principle and at the same time incorporates all the other principles.
Our roof and driveway were our best collectors of rainwater. Gutters were added to the house and garage. These direct water to buried drain tile pipe, which brings the water to a 30x40x10 foot clay based pond. An overflow pipe off the pond fills the swales as excess pond water overflows. Three foot wide and eight-inch deep swales use six foot wide level spillways to deter erosion. Water a few millimeters deep spills to the next lower swale until it fills and spills to the next. The water in the swale soaks the ground and berms creating a water lens increasing the available water to plants over long periods.
To retain enough rainwater to supply our orchard we needed large swales to catch the now infrequent rains. Climate change is taken into account since long drizzling rains are infrequent and rain now comes as sudden down pours. We needed a system that can catch thousands of gallons of rainwater and store it for the many weeks of drought. Although the clay soil keeps the water from soaking in quickly, it also holds the water tightly. Surprisingly clay needs as high an infusion of water as sand. Sand drains away quickly and needs frequent watering, but clay requires a higher water volume for the water to be available to plants. The berms in the orchard, rich in organic matter, absorb the available water like sponges. The clay, rich in minerals, holds the water below for the deep roots to tap as needed.
We have the best of both worlds.
With Permaculture designers Paula Westmoreland, Guy Trombley and the visiting Aussie Geoff Lawton, we devised a regenerative system to catch the rainwater and at the same time build the soil to contain it. Plant Polycultures, ala Paula, filled the three 150 foot berms with 45 fruiting trees and shrubs, perennials and ground cover. Geoff and Guy supervised and guided the 20 ton excavator as it dug the pond and level swales I had staked out the previous week. The swale soil was mounded and shaped along the downhill side for the berms. On the second day of the implementation 24 Collaborative members descended on the site for a “Work & Learn” workshop. Geoff and Guy gave presentations explaining the earthworks and Paula and I described the plant guilds being used. By evening all the plants and micro-drip irrigation was installed and the hill was covered with mulch.
The third season for the orchard is upon us. After the initial installation, rainwater would seep from the hill for days after a rain. The second summer no water left the hill over land. The pond continues to build ecological diversity. Turtles frogs, toads and other life live in the pond and spend their days in the orchard assisting us in managing insects. The fish survive winter in the frozen pond’s deepest section under a foot or more of ice. This past winter it was –30F some nights and 0 F for weeks, but each spring they appear swimming about as in the fall.
Catch and store and the other principles this week can be applied to many areas of our lives. What we need to store is energy and the energy encapsulated in the things that are natural vessels. Holmgren describes these well.
1. Water is a huge energy source. From mountain peaks to the ocean's abyss. 2. Soil holds the energy to our survival and the plants we need. 3. Seed is the perfect energy catalyst. From seed comes great energy resources.
Energy flows through us in all these forms. When we stop and store the energy, we increase our capacity and create strength against adverse forces in change and threat.
Limiting Consumption gets lost in all our efforts to be efficient. Here are some hard rules to test out.
1. Buy nothing in a package that cannot be composted. No plastic, foil or glass. This includes fast food containers. Ever tried a shampoo bar? Burt's Bees sells a paper wrapped bar of shampoo. It works well and is what people used to use before liquid soaps.
2. Buy nothing in a bottle. Even if it can be recycled. Nature does not recycle, it cycles. We must cycle things through our lives with the end in mind, not just a bin. By the time it leaves us it should be totally broken down by worms or the soil.
3. Plan the second life for all purchased items. What will you do with the package, wrapper...? Most bags in packages are sterile inside and can be shaken out and used again. They are too expensive to throw away. You paid for it. A co-worker at a job did not even know there was such a thing as wax paper, let alone baggies until she was in college. Her mother reused all the wrappers and bags from packaging for their bag lunches and storage.
4. Perimeter shop for food. Only shop outside the aisles in fresh and bulk foods. The aisles are bad news, economically, nutritionally and environmentally. (Except for some baking products). Try using your own containers for bulk purchases. Buy concentrates (soaps, cleaners, and extracts) as much as possible.
5. Live like you do not have a trash can, garbage disposal or recycling. Reduce your need.
6. Start cooking from scratch and buy ingredients, not packaged foods. Or make the original scratch in the soil as you plant seed and grow your own food.
No till, ridge till or reduced tillage practices can increase the organic material in the soil by allowing crop residue to remain in place holding the soil and slowly releasing nutrients to soil organisms.
On a recent trip to an Iowa farm conservationist equated soil erosion to leaking sunlight. He said since the plants were not in place to use the sun, it turns into water that leaks from the land, causing a loss of nutrients, soil and the capacity of the land to grow crops.I thought is a fitting and creative allegory. Cover crops do not compete with the main crop but contribute to its health and the soil's supporting structure.
Legumes especially build the soil as long as they are turned into the soil and not harvested. Clover and other low profile cover crops can cool the soil, retain moisture and also generate a considerable amount of condensation on their leaves that contributes to the soil moisture. The plant itself deflects the falling rain and protects the soil. It slows down the run-off and allows for longer lasting infiltration. Again, the soil is protected, enriched and allowed to transmit and store nitrogen and nutrients through mycorrhizal fungi. Cover crops increase the available water capacity of the soil for the cash crops and reduce their susceptibility to drought.
Intercropping is labor intensive depending on the proximity of the plants. Hand planted gardens or fields can be closely intercropped with early harvested plants making room for later as with SPIN farming or biointensive practices (Jon Jeavons) where plants are rotated through as the season progresses. Forests are highly intercropped with many layers of plants from canopy to understory, to shrubs and ground covers. Even the soil is intercropped as it is partitioned with roots of various types. Again the distance between like plants limits the access to herbivorous insects and disease. Aromatic confusers such as dill, Nasturtium and onion can separate plants and deter insect damage, as more energy is needed for the pests to find the plants. With the Three Sisters plant guild the intercropping facilitates the growth of each plant using its natural mechanisms. Corn being the overstory, Squash being the ground cover weed suppressor and beans being the nitrogen fixing vine and understory; a common intercropping technique. Plants in close proximity can benefit from mutualism; a benefit each derives from the association with the other. This system requires little maintenance.Less cultivating mean less compaction and erosion, more N.
Using quality seed from a vendor or personal stock is important for viability. Choosing seeds for planting starts far before it is time to plant. Specific plants are grown for harvesting seed. Locally produced seeds are tested for the climate. Blending different seeds in planting takes careful consideration of the relationships between the plants. Selection is influenced by species, cultivar, planting date, planting rate, fertility and soil type, winter conditions, and growing region.
Incompatabilities / Compatabilities
Certain families of plants compete or deter growth. For example, Brassica and Nightshade are two plants not to be interplanted due to the chemicals in decayed roots of Brassica. Lettuce and Potatoes plants are specifically susceptible to Brassica.On the other hand Naturtiums and Coriander can reduce Potato Beetle Larvea (Carr, 1995) and Horseradish is reported to build disease resistance. The growing plant also deters potato eelworm. (www.pfaf.org).
Plant database files shoe many plnats families that are incompatible while interplanting others will enhance production, flavor, nutrient uptake and resistance to disease and insects.
Form and Rooting
Interlanting considerations include root structure. Seeds of similar root type will compete for resources. Partitioning the soil with diverse root ypes will ensure available water and nutients. The form of the plants above ground must be also compatible. Columnar plants will reach high while lower ground covering plants will cover bare soil and deter weeds.
Disease loss concerns
Although interplanting increases biodiversity, properties of the individual plants can have both positive and negative effects. Some plants harbor the pathogens that damage other plants. Barberry, Berberis thunbergii, harbors the Wheat Stem Rust fungus, Puccinia graminis (USDA). Cedar trees tolerate spores causing Cedar Apple Rust, Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae (the cultivar Delicious Apples are immune), YODER AND BIGGS, 2008, West Virginia University.
In an agro-ecosystem design using diverse seeds in planting filed crops, the pattern the seeds are planted is important for maximum yield. Homegeneous mixing of the seed is less efficient than patchy dispersal allowing groups of plants to germinate together.Patchy patterns slow the spread of disease better than intermixed plants in close proximity. (Field Crops Research Volume 110, Issue 3, 28 February 2009, Pages 225-228)
A farmer may not have the equipment to plant seeds of differing sizes or harvest differing plants. Germination periods, phenology and the mear dynamics of planting two or several species in a field may be beyond the capacity of a farmers experience or time. Seperating the harvest may also be problematic.
Anecdotally, I heard of a farmer who planted winter wheat. In the spring the wheat did not sprout again so he planted peas (I believe).The two crops quickly grew together with mutual facilitation and flourished to the surprise of the farmer. At harvest he had two crops with little yield loss and mechanically seperated the two.
Herbicidal seeds may present a problem when mixing seed. The hybrids may cause damage to other species or be mutually destructive. Plants that take differing nutrients may deplete the soil even faster unless diligence is taken to ensure the soil fertility through one of the plants used. A nitrogen fixing plant would well be one of the participants.
With all these techniques, a diverse and adaptable regime helps to adjust for the changing conditions in and above the soil. Cycling Nitrogen through the soil is best when it brings the elment back into the soil and stored in reach of the plants. Nitrogen out of reach from tillage. leeching and erosion requires more to be added to the soil through additional plants, chemicals and the expensive fuel to make it happen. Cropping systems that conserve Nitrogen, conserve resources.
Interested in energy-efficient, comfy, low-cost building? Project designer and AIA Associate Adam Jonas offers a two-part workshop on straw bale and cement plaster building. Many of you saw his brief slideshow at our recent Perennial Gathering, and he is back by popular demand. Sign up for either the Friday night lecture or the entire workshop (including the lecture and a Saturday morning hands-on workshop).
Straw Bale and Plaster Building Lecture and Slideshow
If only the First Little Pig had put stucco on his straw house.
Please join us Friday, July 17 to learn all about how that Little Piggy could have been saved from the Big Bad Wolf as well as many other anecdotal adventures in straw bale building. Myths will be dispelled, pros and cons will be defined, and many lessons learned as we hear the construction story of a wee bale-building that surpasses many LEED standards.
WHEN and WHERE: Friday July 17, 7-9 PM at MCAD (MN College of Art and Design) Auditorium, 2501 Stevens Avenue, Minneapolis
Straw Bale and Plaster Building Hands-On Workshop -- Limited to 15 people
Think you can out-build the First Little Piggy? Then on Saturday July 18th, come get your hands dirty with us and put forth an effort to beautify North Minneapolis. Many of the building techniques and construction details introduced at Friday's lecture will be put to practice by sculpting, sawing, slicing and stuccoing straw bales benches…(We promise they won't blow down)
WHEN and WHERE: July 18th, 9 AM - Noon at 1203 Morgan Avenue North, Minneapolis
How to Register: Go to PRICOLDCLIMATE.ORG
Click the Straw Bale Workshop on the right and Choose Friday night only ($5 members OR $10 non-members)
or choose the Workshop Kit ($40 per person), which includes Friday's lecture and Saturday's hands-on experience.
Note: Please select the GOOGLE CHECKOUT button (below the Checkout button) when you are paying, as we will accept On-Line Credit Card payment only for this event.
Sponsored by PRI Cold Climate and Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Permaculture and Polyculture Consulting and Design
Getting to know your property, the plants you have and those you can grow, is a fulfilling endeavor. With most I am the steward of the land. I give them good soil biology and they do the rest. If I group them in cohesive plant communities, they respond with greater yields. If I encourage the micro-organisms (Fungus and bacteria) , the roots obsorb more nutrients making a pest and disease resistant plant. A stronger plant that gives us more organic food and takes less energy.
Daniel Halsey, Halsey Creative Services, Inc.
Forest Garden and Homestead Design and Consulting
Prior Lake, 44th Parallel, Minnesota, United States
What I offer:----------------------
On-Site Consultations -------------
Land Use Surveys ------------------
Site Assessments ------------------
Base Maps -------------------------
Concepts and Designs -------------
Whole Farm Planning --------------
Edible Forest Gardens ----- -----
Land Steward Training -----------
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Care for the Earth, Care for People, and Sharing the Surplus. Thanks to Paula Westrmoreland, Guy Trombley, Bruce Blair and the members of the collaborative.
WHEN and WHERE: Friday July 17, 7-9 PM at MCAD (MN College of Art and Design) Auditorium, 2501 Stevens Avenue, Minneapolis
