Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:22 pm Post subject: French Intensive/ Biointensive
Supposedly the french intensive/ biointensive organic method of farming can produce yields similar or better than industrial agriculture, without pesticides or fertilizers.
They use companion planting, successive planting, composting, transplant seedlings to increase yields. The beds are not flat, but slightly rounded, increasing the square footage by about 20%, allowing more crops to be grown. They claim that enough food for 1 can be grown in about 1000 square feet, or 2000 sq feet to be grown sustainably (ie using cover crops and crop rotation).
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 1:33 pm Post subject: learning to farm
anyone got an suggestions on learning to grow your own grains and vegetables? i'm living in ohio right now, near the city. not the most ideal place if i want to start living a basic lifestyle, but i figure i will make gradual changes. i want to know where i can learn some practical stuff, and food is the first thing i think will be important.
Joined: Oct 19, 2004 Posts: 108 Location: Carlisle, PA
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 1:42 pm Post subject:
I originally started gardening in pots on my balcony in a city apartment. It can be done. Though I don't recommend it, hauling all that topsoil and manure up the stairs was a pita!
I've read scores of books on gardening and hundreds of web sites. Here are my recommendations:
Square Foot Gardening - the one utterly indispensable book for growing in small spaces
Four Season Harvest - the author of this book harvests food year-round in Maine
The Encyclopedia of Country Living - this book has less garden-specific info, but lots of basics on how to cam dry and root-cellar food and also includes info on raising grains, orchards and food animals.
Organic Gardening magazine - grab all the old copies you run across. I got about a hundred at a yard sale a couple years ago... I'm almost done my first read through of them all.
The best website for specific questions is http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/ - note that it mostly covers non-food gardening, but it's so huge, you can find almost anything you need.
Joined: Aug 18, 2004 Posts: 694 Location: SF Bay Area, Calif
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 3:50 pm Post subject: resources for learning gardening
I think you're smart to start where you are, jo. Better to learn and make your mistakes on a small scale, rather than get in over your head.
Once you start looking, you'll find scads of good books. Try the library and used bookstores. Sometimes the older books are better -- there were lots of good things written in the 70s. jpatti had some excellent recommendations.
The Internet too is full of articles, forums, and online courses. One unique resource is 25 online lectures on gardening by Univ. of California agricultural experts.
Plug into the local network of organic gardeners and farmers. It's more fun and less frustrating with real human contact. Look for classes, stores, conferences, and organizations. If there's a Master Gardeners program in your county, ask them for help. For an intensive dose of green, try a Permaculture Design Course.
If you like the self-sufficient homestead idea, look at the works of John Seymour (UK), Scott and Helen Nearing (New England), and Gene Logsdon (in Ohio like you). Logsdon is a folksy interpreter of the local farming tradition; I find him a delight to read.
If you lean toward "extreme" organic gardening, look up permaculture. I've compiled a page of permaculture links
Joined: Oct 23, 2004 Posts: 488 Location: Canada/Quebec Province
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 9:12 pm Post subject: Re: resources for learning gardening
bart wrote:
If you lean toward "extreme" organic gardening, look up permaculture. I've compiled a page of permaculture links
Best of luck!
I got the permaculture designer manual from Bill Mollison ..i have to admit i didn't read it all yet,this is HUGE and don't have the time right now,but did have skim a bit !
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:11 pm Post subject: Permaculture design is not extreme, it's practical
I totally agree about reading anything by Bill Mollison or David Holmgren.
But even better, do a short intensive course in permaculture design yourself and just start on a scale that suits your circumstances.
I plan to do that soon myself.
If you search on the Internet there is definitely someone doing stuff in your area.
I live in a very small rented house in suburban Tokyo and have built myself a 3 sq m vegetable garden and planted fruit trees and berry bushes. when we move out someone will probably just rip it all out, but it's definitely better than living on the 20th floor of an apartment block.
Good luck!
p.s. if you want more extreme, go for the philosophy of Masanobu Fukuoka.
This 90-year-old man rocks!
Joined: Oct 23, 2004 Posts: 488 Location: Canada/Quebec Province
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:37 pm Post subject: Re: Permaculture design is not extreme, it's practical
tokyo_to_motueka wrote:
I totally agree about reading anything by Bill Mollison or David Holmgren.
But even better, do a short intensive course in permaculture design yourself and just start on a scale that suits your circumstances.
I plan to do that soon myself.
If you search on the Internet there is definitely someone doing stuff in your area.
I live in a very small rented house in suburban Tokyo and have built myself a 3 sq m vegetable garden and planted fruit trees and berry bushes. when we move out someone will probably just rip it all out, but it's definitely better than living on the 20th floor of an apartment block.
Good luck!
p.s. if you want more extreme, go for the philosophy of Masanobu Fukuoka.
This 90-year-old man rocks!
Not sure if i will be able to do it where i am ..
Masanobu Fukuoka,this name remember me something..it is the one who use ducks !?
Didn't read seriously on him yet,but Mollison talk of him in one interview .. I will try to find some infos,but do you have some links ? Could help me a lot,i'm a bit new to permaculture ...
Joined: Aug 18, 2004 Posts: 694 Location: SF Bay Area, Calif
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:47 pm Post subject: permaculture extreme?
Schneider wrote:
I'm truly curious,why you call it [permaculture] "Extreme" !?
Permaculturalists explore the frontiers of sustainable living, trying out any crop or technique with promise: forest gardens, swales, urine as fertilizer, etc.
A non-organic gardener sees snails on his lettuce and goes to the garden supply for poisons.
An organic gardener, goes out at night with a flashlight and picks the snails off the plants.
A permaculturalist builds a cage for the snails, feeds them for a week on corn meal then eats them. Or he buys ducks which he fattens on the snails.
Bill Mollison wrote:
You don't have a snail problem. You have a duck deficiency.
*****
About Fukuoka, tokyo_to_motueka can probably say much more. You can also see the
Fukuoka Farming website
Joined: Oct 23, 2004 Posts: 488 Location: Canada/Quebec Province
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 9:30 am Post subject: Re: permaculture extreme?
bart wrote:
Schneider wrote:
I'm truly curious,why you call it [permaculture] "Extreme" !?
Permaculturalists explore the frontiers of sustainable living, trying out any crop or technique with promise: forest gardens, swales, urine as fertilizer, etc.
A non-organic gardener sees snails on his lettuce and goes to the garden supply for poisons.
An organic gardener, goes out at night with a flashlight and picks the snails off the plants.
A permaculturalist builds a cage for the snails, feeds them for a week on corn meal then eats them. Or he buys ducks which he fattens on the snails.
Bill Mollison wrote:
You don't have a snail problem. You have a duck deficiency.
*****
About Fukuoka, tokyo_to_motueka can probably say much more. You can also see the
Fukuoka Farming website
Thank you for your reply bart !
Now,i better understand you AND permaculture..He he,i like the idea about the snails..
Didn't eat them since a while,but it was good if i remember well ..oh and about the ducks ---> YUMMY !
Finnally,permaculture seem to be a good way for post-peak oil..Could even make a job of it ...
Just wanted to chime in on the Square Foot Gardening. I stumbled over a used copy of the book translated into Swedish yesterday, have read about half so far and it is very very interesting indeed
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