PDA

View Full Version : At last a practical way to save the world.



wolf_rt
12th December 2011, 09:35
In the last 15 years I have spent a lot of time and energy, trying to find a realistic way to live.
In that time i have 'woken up' to no practical effect...
In fact i have only succeeded in learning a lot of nasty things.. And developed severe depression, due to my inability to find some way to actually make my world better.

Until Now...

Finally i have found something... A way for every individual to make a difference... FOR THEMSELVES.

In fact, if these concepts don't catch on in a big way, in one way or another, it spells certain extinction for humanity.


PERMACULTURE

sounds pretty boring hey?

possibly some sort of hippy crap?

Not at all...

Its nothing less than regaining our place as part of nature... It is our separation from nature that has lead us to our current dire straits. Only a return to nature will allow humanity to survive as a species... We are a part of nature weather we like it or not!

So is this about farming or living like a peasant? Not at all, although that is a route that many choose.

Permaculture is the art of designing systems that allow humans to live in abundance, in harmony with nature, with minimal work

These systems can be implemented in your house, apartment, farm or anywhere.

A system is considered to be working when more energy is conserved, stored or created than is used in the maintenance of the system. A far cry from the systems in place in the western world.


As a way to CHANGE YOUR LIFE this is unparalleled.

As a way to make actual change that will bring safety and life, no matter what happens to society, It stands alone.

In learning permaculture, you are likely to make connections to your neighbors and community, that will serve you well in crisis.

Not to mention you will have something of real tangible value to pass on to your kids.


Anybody who has read the Anastasia books will immediately understand the concept of permaculture.


I hope i have sparked your curiosity, and i truly feel that the concept and potential for action will resonate with avalonians.

Permaculture - A Design Manual, by Bill Mollison. Is the 'Text book' for permaculture, it is available online... if you cant find it, shoot me a PM.
I would be delighted to answer any questions to the best of my limited ability

spiritguide
12th December 2011, 10:06
Aboriginals around the world have lived this way for centuries. You are right in your assesment and we need to embrace this instead of hiding this way of life. We need to be stewards instead of owners. Just get greed out of the way.

:peace:

albativo
13th December 2011, 13:37
I think these (http://mediasite.online.ncsu.edu/online/Catalog/pages/catalog.aspx?catalogId=f5a893e7-4b7c-4b79-80fd-52dcd1ced715) have been posted on here before, hence why I have them bookmarked, but they are NC State University lectures on permaculture. I too want to implement this, but even after all of the reading and watching I have done I am still not sure where to jump in.

wolf_rt
13th December 2011, 14:00
Good link, thanks... I wasn't able to check out the videos, as my internet is throttled atm..

Start small, albativo... Store rain water, plant some veggies. Compost is one of the best ways to return waste energy into the system.
Or if you prefer a more technical approach, look at some solar tech... a solar hot water heater doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. A roll of black poly pipe lying in the sun will do.
Do you live in a suburban or rural setting?

Permaculture - A Design Manual, by Bill Mollison seem to be the best treatment of the subject i have found, also the original. Bill copyrighted the term Permaculture, so im not sure if NCSU is actually allowed to teach the subject?

Both the book, and the entire 80hr course is available on TBP, search 'permaculture'
Obviously if you can afford to by the book or coarse, do so... I am confident the money will be well spent.

Cjay
13th December 2011, 14:33
Quote - me


Permaculture can turn beach sand into paradise in a few short years

Or to clarify, permaculture can convert barren soil into hyper-fertile soil very quickly and with a minimum of effort. Nature does most of the work.



Geoff Lawton (the narrator in the following video) is a student of Bill Mollison. Geoff took over the managent of the Permaculture Research Institute (http://permaculture.org.au/) of Australia when Bill Mollison retired.

Permaculture - Greening the Desert Final (2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gPvsl9ni-4
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gPvsl9ni-4

wolf_rt
14th December 2011, 08:53
Here's a good video from ABC (Australian Broadcast Center) about creating a backyard permaculture garden from scratch.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-918331001764551597&hl=undefined#

Candor
14th December 2011, 09:19
OK, I'm curios, and listening. Keep talking.

I spent my Life looking for a similar silver bullet. So I think I might be interested if you can show me more than just bragging about it. Tell us all how it works so we can give it the "old college Try" and see if it flies.

Run it up the flag pole and see who salutes it.

wcfields

wolf_rt
14th December 2011, 12:22
It's not so much a silver bullet, as a framework that encompasses many existing principals and technologies, that allows us to lead a sustainable lifestyle.

By sustainable i mean that there is more energy 'created' or stored by the system (your property) than is used.

Yield can be:
Product- any material produced, above that required for maintenance of the system.
Energy- any surplus energy conserved, stored or generated.
Impalpable- Health. security, ect.

Living systems are the only systems that can provide continuous yield. All other systems are subject to entropy.

Ethics:
1. Care of the earth... unless we care for all life on earth, we cannot care for ourselves.
2. Care of people... Creating systems that support humanity in its desired lifestyle with as little work as possible.
3. Limits to population and Consumption... to make sure we can achieve 1. & 2.

Permaculture is not the only sustainable means of existence. But other than living wild in the bush, it does require the least work.

The idea is to encourage natural systems to do your work for you, making it easy to raise all your food, on site, without having to import energy in the form of feed, water, fertilizer, electricity, ect.

There is no silver bullet in permaculture, other than nature herself.

The details of any particular system are going to be different from person to person, property to property.

Permaculture isn't a whole list of things you have to do to be sustainable

It is a design tool, that you use to design a sustainable system for your exact needs.

There are people who will design a permaculture system for you for money, in my view this is never going to work as well for YOU as if you had of designed your system personally.

Hope this sheds some light on the idea for you. If you are interested in doing your own permaculture design, I'd definitely start with Bill Mollison's book.

I'm happy to outline some more of the core principals here, but I'm no expert, nor am i a qualified permaculture teacher. you would do better to go to the source.

if you have any specific questions i am happy to have a crack at them!

wolf_rt
22nd December 2011, 15:14
Just wanted to bring this awesome thread to the attention of anyone who may of missed it tucked over there in the 'Off grid living' section

Food Foresting
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?21565-Food-Foresting&highlight=food+foresting

Davy
22nd December 2011, 16:24
Wow, so this is what I have been doing and I love it! just didnt know it was called permaculture?? Last winter, I built a green house to start seeds for my garden. I had so many plants I give away a lot and planted as many as possible. i bought a canner, jars and a canning book and put up food this past Summer, Hopefully I will be able to do even better this year because it truly is a learning process, and I now understand that in order for your garden to be bountiful you have to reenergize the dirt and that can be done from using what you have, old kitchen scraps, leaves grass clippings ect. I have a compost pile of which I save everything that is not meat or dairy from my kitchen. I also have a working rain barrel for collecting water, so easy to do. I saved seeds from last year and this year I am expanding even more, my whole backyard is my garden I made small managable beds and moved dirt from the woods that was mainly decomposed leaves to build my beds, I recycled all my plants this fall back in to my beds and am continuing to build my compost to apply to the beds for this spring. Being connected to nature is such a wonderful thing, I have learned that there is so much to learn and the more I learn the better I will be at being more productive.

Kristin
22nd December 2011, 17:06
Permaculture is easy, effective, brings high yields in a small space and really make a realistic difference in terms of time spent digging in the garden. Here's the video that got me started on this. Great post!!!
http://documentaryheaven.com/natural-world-–-a-farm-for-the-future/
FRom the Heart,
Wormhole

Davy
22nd December 2011, 22:21
Permaculture is easy, effective, brings high yields in a small space and really make a realistic difference in terms of time spent digging in the garden. Here's the video that got me started on this. Great post!!!
http://documentaryheaven.com/natural-world-–-a-farm-for-the-future/
FRom the Heart,
Wormhole
I saw this documentary too a few months ago and it really is amazing and also inspired me to rethink some of my own gardening techniques by interplanting many different things, throughout the garden that will bennifit something else, and I am going to plant more perinials this year and fruit trees. I cant wait for spring, I have my Baker Creek cataloge and I am raring to go lol!

wolf_rt
22nd December 2011, 23:03
Yeah i would love to plant some fruit tree's but i dont expect to be at this house long enough to reap the reward, and grafted trees are hideously expensive..
I probably should just grow some from seed, doesn't really matter if i get to see a harvest... somebody will.

TargeT
22nd December 2011, 23:07
Finally i have found something... A way for every individual to make a difference... FOR THEMSELVES.

In fact, if these concepts don't catch on in a big way, in one way or another, it spells certain extinction for humanity.


PERMACULTURE


I get 4 hours of sunlight for most the winter....

are you sure this solution is for "everyone" ?

wolf_rt
22nd December 2011, 23:12
If you cant grow food in your local area, or hunt animals, what are you going to do for a feed when TSHTF?

This site may be of some use to you.
http://akpermaculture.ning.com/

Sepp Holzer has a sucessful permaculture farm at 1500m in Austria which is covered in 4ft of snow all winter.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/930/The-Agro-Rebel

TargeT
23rd December 2011, 02:01
snow isn't the issue, i can deal with snow, no light is the issue.

I'm a part of several survivalist groups, canning is my option and I've exersized it,, hunting will not be an option in my area as the population density is too high for that to last more than half a day..

www.zombiesquad.com is my survivalist hang out ;) I'm also the vice pres. for the chapter up here.

wolf_rt
23rd December 2011, 03:35
well can you grow the food that you can?

Not coming from a cold or dark climate myself, how is not having light to grow different to all your plants being under 4ft of snow?

TargeT
23rd December 2011, 03:56
well can you grow the food that you can?

Not coming from a cold or dark climate myself, how is not having light to grow different to all your plants being under 4ft of snow?


Green houses can do a lot, permacutlure (aquaculture, fishyculture are my specialites) has plant matter composting in the rear of a green house (generaly) to provide heat for the facility in the winter, this melts snow & keeps the plants happy...

but if there's not even any sunlight reaching the plants they wont ever be happy; now combine this with a free (cheap) energy solution and I'm on board!

Valley
23rd December 2011, 04:50
Yeah i would love to plant some fruit tree's but i dont expect to be at this house long enough to reap the reward, and grafted trees are hideously expensive..
I probably should just grow some from seed, doesn't really matter if i get to see a harvest... somebody will.

Or, if you planted the starts in big enough pots... you could take them with you when you go.

Thanks for starting this thread. Hopefully folks will start taking their own actions right away in response.

And I wanted to ask if you know of some good youtube or similar videos which might be really tasty in this field?

wolf_rt
23rd December 2011, 05:03
but if there's not even any sunlight reaching the plants they wont ever be happy; now combine this with a free (cheap) energy solution and I'm on board!

Fair enough... didn't consider greenhouses.

here is your cheap free energy solution as requested :-)
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/showthread.php?12069-Looking-for-cheapest-Trompe-Designs

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q117/wolf_rt/trompePDM.jpg

Valley
23rd December 2011, 05:15
Green houses can do a lot, permacutlure (aquaculture, fishyculture are my specialites) has plant matter composting in the rear of a green house (generaly) to provide heat for the facility in the winter, this melts snow & keeps the plants happy...

but if there's not even any sunlight reaching the plants they wont ever be happy[/QUOTE]

What if you used a series of mirrors to redirect sunlight more brightly into the green house?

wolf_rt
23rd December 2011, 05:22
What if you used a series of mirrors to redirect sunlight more brightly into the green house?

http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/sun-will-finally-shine-in-viganella-during-winter/

here that idea is applied to an entire town.

Valley
23rd December 2011, 07:33
What if you used a series of mirrors to redirect sunlight more brightly into the green house?

http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/sun-will-finally-shine-in-viganella-during-winter/

here that idea is applied to an entire town.

That's pretty nice... a whole town, albeit a very small one, now getting sunshine in the winter (84 days worth) when they never have before.
:high5::clap2::violin:

wolf_rt
24th December 2011, 03:44
So what do you think of my free energy solution TargeT? only useful if you have some running water though i guess.

If there's anybody with some engineering know how, come and help us out at http://forums.permaculture.org.au/showthread.php?12069-Looking-for-cheapest-Trompe-Designs