Oct 24, 2009, Multuply, Permaculture

I’VE FOUND THE PERMACULTURE FILM ON YOUTUBE !!!!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE….. even if you never manage to watch another documentary in your life watch this one. It will take a while, it’s an entire TV programme and lasts almost one hour. BUT, it is in 5 parts so you don’t have to watch it all together. This is the film I was raving about that I watched at my sisters (in this recent blog)
 http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/journal/item/433/Update_gardens_fruit_jam_planting_and_my_fish._
and said I couldn’t find it on youtube…….. well, I was wrong and here it is.
This is for every one who cares about gardens, plants, our planet, our food, our farms, our future, and our huge horrendous dirty great big eco-footprint.
BBC documentary on the present global farming and food crisis, filmed in the UK.
Featuring Martin Crawford (Agroforestry Research Trust), Fordhall Farm, Richard Heinberg and others.
Topics covered are the influence of oil on the food production, peak-oil, food security, carbon emissions, sustainability and permaculture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xShCEKL-mQ8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded

Tags: sustainability, permaculture

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delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Aug 29, '10, edited on Aug 29, '10 I think I have already seen these which is why I am feeling so excited to try some new gardening techniques. I want to practice with the co-op I live in. We already have some standard sized trees so I think I should start from fruit trees and work my way down. I have an area in mind and as long as the other members can be convinced that permaculture is the way for the future and we could try to provide food for our co-op. We can do a lot in a small area. Right now the hubby and kids are watching a movie so I'll have to wait to check out the video's at a later time to make sure I haven't missed one of them.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 30, '09 spiritwalkerr said These were great. Posted a note telling more folks to watch them. Thanks................I was impressed whenI first saw it, glad you liked it. I have a tiny plot of land but i've been thinking about the best ways of using it.

delete reply spiritwalkerr wrote on Oct 29, '09 These were great. Posted a note telling more folks to watch them.

delete reply spiritwalkerr wrote on Oct 28, '09 Hi Loretta, I'm hoping to watch these later this afternoon or tonight. I got raided by company. lol I'm also hoping that this is the one I watched a while ago that just knocked my socks off as far as the life that's hidden in the dirt alone, and how plants, soil, etc all live in communities.

delete reply spiritwalkerr wrote on Oct 27, '09 Im looking forward to watching this but probably won't be able to till Thursday as I have to work an odd schedule this week. Thanks for finding it.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 25, '09 mitchylr said For some unknown reason these clips won't stream properly for me. It's taken nearly 15 mins to get through the first two minutes of the first clip. Gonna look them up on YT, see if they will stream better directly from their site. Yeah weird things keep happening to me too but it's all on youTube anyway. OR..... sometimes if I have a problem I try swapping back and forth between Firefox and IE, sometimes if something doesn't work on opne its ok on the other. Hope you manage to see this cos its really worth the effort.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Oct 25, '09, edited on Oct 25, '09 For some unknown reason these clips won't stream properly for me. It's taken nearly 15 mins to get through the first two minutes of the first clip. Gonna look them up on YT, see if they will stream better directly from their site.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Oct 25, '09 Thanks, Loretta. This is one documentary that's worth watching again.

delete reply agnes128 wrote on Oct 25, '09 I was also very interested in the 'Victory gardens' concept. I think it is still up-to-date.

delete reply carolie38 wrote on Oct 24, '09 Very interesting Loretta

delete reply suzycute wrote on Oct 24, '09 very interesting videos, and it seems that we have gotten away from nature what was intended in the first place.....not much hard labor, but working along with nature at it's best.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 24, '09 agnes128 said watched all, thanks a lot, that's very interesting. thanks for watching the whole thing...............my garden is very small but like you I intend to do what I can with the resourses available, a water but is a fantastic idea, have been thinking of getting one myself and I know what you mean about the wild life, thankfully my garden seems to attract the birds and insects too and it is so lovely to sit and watch

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 24, '09 nemo4sun said the thought that kept going through my head was "well i knew that" yep..............I felt that a lot of the time but somehow having it all spelt out so clearly brings the message home and pulls every thing together

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Oct 24, '09 Beautiful food for thought, Loretta! I'm ready for a change, arren't you? Back to the Garden!

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Oct 24, '09 Wow -- great find! I just linked off to 350 -- never could find a local event going on .... just know it's out there somewhere. Right now the sun is shining, all day breeze is blowing and it's raining!

delete reply agnes128 wrote on Oct 24, '09 I watched all, thanks a lot, that's very interesting. I had to look for permaculture. I try to do something like that on the balcony by composting (about 40 kgs waste/year for 1 person that don't travel to the dump), using rain water as much as possible. My next big thing will be a rain water tank for watering the plants. I already bought the hoses at a bargain. Also, like the lady in the movie, each year, I'm astonished how much 'wild life' visit the balcony : goldfinches, robins, house sparrows, blue tits (I know, the name is quite ridiculous but the critter's so cute ;-D) black birds, sometimes crows and magpies to drink from the water through, ladybugs-ladybirds, butterflies, spiders, snails and slugs (I wonder where those come from?) caterpillars, bees... It is also very comforting to see that Nature claims back the land when possible. Not as fast as we'd like but...

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Oct 24, '09 Thanks for finding it. Gonna have a look later on.

delete reply josettey wrote on Oct 24, '09 I've had a quick look at this interesting blog and I think you should post this to Jungleblogs as well me dear.All my farming neighbours have second jobs, one is a long distance lorry driver simply because he can't make enough money to live on by running a very busy farm-animal food prices have (at least) doubled in the last 18 months and vet fees are mind numbing and these are just the tip of the iceburg problems that face the farming community today. 'I'm going into the garden to eat worms.' xxx

delete reply agnes128 wrote on Oct 24, '09, edited on Oct 24, '09 I only watched #1 (yet) but already one thing makes me mad. Those people are the farmers who gives us the food we eat and they can't earn a living form their farm? Where have we all gone wrong that someone working hard physically can't earn as much money as someone in an office? Or was I wrong about the sustainable farm part? Watched #2 and #3, my, do we have a lot to worry about. We sure have to stop the plain worry thing, we'll have to act.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Oct 24, '09 that was very interesting my grandson's future will be different then mine the thought that kept going through my head was "well i knew that" but that thought got me wondering "how?' i grew up in a housing development shaped like an oval all around this was old farm fields and woods the fields had mostly gone back to scrub these scrub fields and woods were my playground besides tarzan swings, skate-ponds and play battlefield grounds it was a place to explore i watched birds and animals i ate wild fruits and nuts i tore apart dead logs and searched under leaf litter to find the bugs within i climbed the trees to see the secrets up high the bird and the wood louse were my friends i knew all that the people in this show were talking about i have seen it and it makes sense :)

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Oct 24, '09 Thanks. I'll watch it.

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Oct 24, '09 Brilliant!!!

Oct23, 2009, Multiply, fruit, jam, planting, fish

A Brief Update

My trip to my sisters was marred by the darn virus but we managed to get out and about a couple of times. It’s always good to see her, we live 500 miles apart and only get together a couple of times a year so we need to make the most of it.
Found this pretty forgetmenot broach in a second hand shop and just knew it destined to be mine.
There is a park with ancient woodland and it’s only a 20 minute drive from her house so off we went to walk her two dogs. Despite the chill in the air it was a beautifully clear, dry day and the autumn colours were beginning to come through. It was lovely way to spend the morning.

While away I watched a TV documentary about ‘Permaculture’, which fascinated me. In a nutshell Permaculture seems to be the practice of growing food in a way that does not require vast quantities of fossil fuels. Apparently conventional farming with all the high tec, fuel hungry farm machinery plus processed animal feeds and fertilisers means modern farming pollutes rivers, kills the land, burns fossil fuels, generally accelerates global warming and creates a massive eco-footprint. The ecological cost of our food is dangerously high but……. the good news is; there are other ways of doing things.
Seems we need to think smaller and more back to basics. Wandering ducks and chickens fertilise the land so efficiently manufactured fertilisers are not needed (free range duck eggs are a bonus), a wild life pond full of hungry frogs gets rid of slugs and snails, no more nasty insecticides.  Native trees with berries encourage song birds;  and allowing native wild plants (weeds to conventional farmers) to flourish ensures bees and butterflies return to the land in abundance.  Once there they pollinate and keep the whole thing ticking over nicely. 
The film also encourages what it referred to as ‘’vertical growing’’ as opposed to ‘’horizontal growing’’. Basically this seems to mean allowing fruit and nut trees to grow and then growing other things in layers downwards.
As well as maximising the use of land this prevents soil erosion and top soil blowing away. I have the film on DVD and if I had the faintest idea how to do it I would post it in YouTube for all to see. There are other short clips on YouTube about Permaculture but from what I can see they are not as good as the film I watched.
Anyway……………. I was inspired and had some small fruit bushes delivered almost as soon as I came home. How fortunate that this is the time of year to plant fruit. I have planted blackberries, blueberries, white currants, red currants and strawberries. I also have some tiny saplings bought back from my sisters garden, two Victoria plum trees and one damson Tree. When I say ‘’tree’’ I use the term optimistically; these saplings are barely two inches tall at the moment.
While out in the garden I had quite a lot of tidying to do before I could plant the fruit. There were fallen leaves every where AND; I couldn’t help noticing how well my small raised garden was looking, maybe you remember this was just a pile of rubble in the summer and look at it now.
Now I’m on the look out for a hazel nut tree, hazel nut seems to be the native nut tree that is the fastest growing and produces the best crop. My plot of land is tiny, but I’m going to give it a go.
I’ve already made blackberry jam this year (subject of previous blog) AND I picked a whole load of Rowan berries and made some quite sharp but delicious Rowan marmalade. I was a little concerned about using the Rowan berries due to their bad press and supposedly being poisonous. Seems the truth is that Rowan berries are indeed poisonous to humans in their raw form because they contain parasorbic acid, however…. Cooking the Rowan berries converts the toxic Parasorbic acid into harmless sorbic acid. And lets face it………….nothing gets cooked as much as a pan of jam on the stove!!
Anyway, my thinking is to get a Rowan berry tree of my own because you can never be sure what the wild berries are exposed to. The blackberries I picked this year came from the side of a railway line and the Rowan berries came from the same area. Soon I hope to be picking them from my own garden and away from any possible pollution from the trains.
One of my sisters has set up a fish tank and I told her once home I would take some pictures of my fish and send them to her, and here they are.Thought a couple of shots of my fish would be a good way to finish.  And that concludes my ‘update’. I’m now almost over the cold or what ever it was and back at work, life has returned to normal and I’m
 already counting the days until the Christmas holidays.

 

Tags: garden, sustainability, plants, permaculture, fruit, jam, fish

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delete reply madisonpooface wrote on Oct 26, '09 I love all the photos. Everything just looks so wonderful

delete reply veroniquemariquita wrote on Oct 24, '09 Hazelnuts grow wild here at the edge of wooded areas. As a kid I always tried to see how many I could gather before the squirrels got to them.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 24, '09 For every one who who wants to watch the film.... I've found it on youtube http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/journal/item/436/A_Farm_For_the_Future....._HAVE_FOUND_THE_MISSING_FILM If you're interested in gardening, farms, food, wild life................sustainability watch this film.

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Oct 24, '09 Hazelnut is my very favorite, but I'm not sure they can grow here. We have tons of pecans, though, yummy! Your gardening & fish culture looks to be going great guns! I'll keep a good thought turning for you & for those fruit seedlings, too!

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Oct 24, '09 I'm counting the days until Christmas too even though I've only been back to work less than a month (October always seems to be a log month to me). Anyway, Loretta I think you've written your blog for Blog Action Day in this post. It's good to see you enjoying your new camera.

delete reply secretcorners wrote on Oct 23, '09 Good luck on all of it.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Oct 23, '09 Glad to hear you're over your illness. Fascinating blog. I'd like to see that DVD, I rather like the principals you outlined of Permaculture.

delete reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Oct 23, '09 What a blog, girl! Oh yes, the forget-me-not pin was meant to be yours! Glad you got out and about despite the virus. So lovely where you are, I could feel the cool air in the trees. Fascinating as always. You can upload to youtube in parts, not sure how that works, probably ahve to upload to your computer first and possibly reformat to .avi. I've been wondering about that, too. Have a great weekend. xo

delete reply spiritwalkerr wrote on Oct 23, '09 Sounds like you had a good time, minus the virus, and learned some cool things too. Yah!

delete reply starfishred wrote on Oct 23, '09 interesting

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Oct 23, '09 very interesting :)

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Oct 23, '09 very inspiring, indeed! wonderful blog, it's so nice to hear what's growing on in your world. the garden is looking fab. ; D

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Oct 23, '09 Wonderful blog, very inspiring! The brooch was a great find too! Have fun with your planting.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Oct 23, '09 The brooch is a perfect find for you /:-) Love the eco ideas... oddly the Cheasepeake is dying from farming run off as far away as PA and NY....

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Oct 23, '09 I love your pictures!! I am so glad your daughters got you a camera. The forest picture is so beautiful - haunting, like a fairy place. And making jam - I do remember when I made jelly and jam and vinegar from the black raspberries in my garden. Very nice. I missed you so much.

delete reply nessiek wrote on Oct 23, '09 Hello Busy Bee! Lovely pictures - its so lovely to gather the fruits of your labours eh? I love the brooch - its so you! :o) Nessie x