Mediterranean Understory & *Guild Plants for Food Forests – Part 1 « Green Bean Connection December 9, 2011 by Cerena Childress This is a great time to install native plants and fruit trees, so see if any of this info affects where and how you place them. A food forest can be anchored by a south opening ‘U’ shaped planting of trees that captures heat for growing veggies in its center area. *Guild plants are plants that grow well together. I am in hopes you will talk this up to your apartment owner, install it on your own property, model your veggie garden after it, share it with every gardener anywhere, of any kind that you know. It’s economical. Our list [SEE IT!] Linda’s List is intended for a Mediterranean climate like coastal Southern California has, one of only 5 in the world. SEE PART 2, the List! Like this: Like Loading...
Interview with Kultivator, an experimental cooperation of organic farming and visual art practice Images Kultivator from the series Wedding between art and agriculture I discovered KULTIVATOR a couple of years ago at Pixelache in Helsinki. The collective was founded in 2005 by 3 artists and 2 organic farmers in the village Dyestad, on the Swedish island of Öland. This cooperation of farming and visual art practice involves an organic farm with where pigs are raised, cows are milked, potatoes are harvested and linseed oil is pressed. But KULTIVATOR is also a space for artist residencies, exhibitions, performances, installations and screenings. And in between are activities that draw in both the artist and the farming community. Malin Vrijman, one of the founding members of Kultivator, was kind enough to answer my many questions: Wedding masquerade Dyestad farm pig In an interview for publik.dk, you said that there are many similarities between the way you live and work as artists and how an organic farmer live and work. But even more interestingly, what did you bring to each other?
Food Forest Open Source Hub Intentional earth stewardship by creating an abundant and productive food forest is, in our opinion, essential to comprehensive food sustainability and self-sufficiency. It is also foundational to regenerating our planet and One Community’s Highest Good of All philosophy. For this reason, we are including teaching, demonstrating, and open source sharing food forest creation and development as key components of our open source botanical garden, Highest Good food infrastructure, and model for self-replicating and self-sufficient teacher/demonstration communities, villages, and cities to be built around the world. As a species we have the ability to truly live in harmony and mutual support with nature and One Community will be an ongoing demonstration of exactly how personally and globally beneficial this can be. This page includes the following sections: A food forest is, as the name implies, a forest of food. Here’s a 7-minute video showing 7 years of growth: (Bb) = BAMBOO (Tp) = TROPICALS
Reasons Not to Stretch Brook Pifer/Getty Images Most of us grew up hearing that we should warm up with a stretch. Strike and hold a pose, such as touching your toes, for 30 seconds or more, we were told, and you’ll be looser, stronger and injury-proof. Phys Ed Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness. Fitness Tracker Marathon, half-marathon, 10K and 5K training plans to get you race ready. But anyone who follows fitness science — or this column — knows that in recent years a variety of experiments have undermined that idea. Now, two new studies are giving us additional reasons not to stretch. One, a study being published this month in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, concluded that if you stretch before you lift weights, you may find yourself feeling weaker and wobblier than you expect during your workout. Many issues related to exercise and stretching have remained unresolved. The scientists wound up with 104 past studies that met their criteria.
Natural farming Natural farming Natural farming, also known as Do-nothing farming or No-till farming was popularised by Masanobu Fukuoka, starting in the 1940s in Japan. The most essential aspect of natural farming is to let nature play a dominant role to the maximum extent possible. Hence, no-till, farm biodiversity, integration and symbiotic farm components and protection of soil cover all have a place in this method of farming. The seed ball technique for sowing has also been given importance by Fukuoka. The immense importance placed on no-tillage has led to natural farming also being referred to as No-till farming. In Japan, Fukuoka achieved yields similar to those of chemical agriculture. Related link on this website : Natural farming succeeds in Indian village To know more about Do Nothing farming and Masanobu Fukuoka, you may follow these links : You may also like to read on this website : Top
Bottle Drip Irrigation | I prefer to have the bottle standing right-way-up as I think it looks nicer and it keeps debris out of the bottle thus keeping the holes from blocking. The materials: * 2 litre plastic soft-drink bottle or water bottle * Sharp small screwdriver, pointed hole-maker or drill This can be used in container gardening, raised bed gardens and open vegetable gardens. Using your pocket knife, make 2 small slits in the bottom of your bottle. Dig a hole next to your tomato plant. This will slowly deep-water your tomato plants and most other vegetable plants. You can learn more about this on another website. Only two very small holes are needed at the lowest place on the bottle. I prefer to leave the lids off. Place bamboo stakes next to each bottle. Here I am making another hole slightly higher up the bottle. However, if I remove the lid, water will come out this hole as well as the holes in the base. You can make larger holes, and partly fill the bottle with coarse-sand or soil to slow the flow.
Food Forest Open Source Hub :: What | Why | How As a species we have the ability to truly live in harmony and mutual support with nature. This open source hub (and all the associated pages) will continue to evolve indefinitely as an ongoing demonstration of how to do that through food forest creation. It includes the following sections: A food forest is, as the name implies, a forest of food. The goal of this gardening and land management system is to mimic a woodland ecosystem with companion planting of edible trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals grown in a succession of layers. Fruit and nut trees are usually the canopy/overstory, while below is the understory of berry shrubs and edible ground plantings. Food forests mimic nature, are outstanding examples of earth stewardship, and arguably the most natural and sustainable food production method available. Creating the One Community food forest will begin in the first year and continue indefinitely through a process we will share in complete detail here. (Bb) = BAMBOO (Tr) – TREES
Pepsi's Bizarro World: Boycotted Over Embryonic Cells Linked to Lo-Cal Soda Last Updated Jun 3, 2011 10:11 AM EDT A bizarre controversy is unfolding over an impending low-calorie soda from Pepsi (PEP), which the company is creating with the help of the biotech company Senomyx (SNMX). Numerous anti-abortion groups have started a boycott of Pepsi products because they say Senomyx, which develops new ingredients intended to enhance sweetness and other flavors, has done so using embryonic kidney cells that were originally taken from an aborted baby. This accusation presents a two-fold problem for Pepsi. What Senomyx is up to Is this claim true? The company appears to be engineering HEK cells to function like the taste-receptor cells we have in our mouth. To non-scientists this may sound a bit strange, but the reality is that HEK 293 cells are widely used in pharmaceutical research, helping scientists create vaccines as well as drugs like those for rheumatoid arthritis. Pepsi is not alone Pepsi is hardly the only company working with Senomyx.
Russia to become an eco-village nation From the February 2008 Idaho Observer: Russia to become an eco-village nation? By William Klotke Putin has indicated full support of Dimitri Medvedev for the post of President of the Russian Federation. Medvedev, who is presently First Deputy Prime Minister has indicated enthusiastic support for the concept of eco-villages. Medvedev expressed his support of the concept of eco-villages in a March 5, 2007 online conference organized by the newspaper Izvestia and the internet portal Yandex and broadcast by TV channel "Vesti-24." The host stated that the question of eco-villages was brought up because he had received 5,000 emails from supporters of the "Kin Domains" concept before the show asking about the plan to give each Russian family a hectare of public land to create a Kin Domain and the allowance for them to be organized into eco-villages. Land offered "Thus the idea of Kin’s Domains in this regard is absolutely positive and it is related to the idea of low-rise construction. William H.
Farmers Go Wild by Abby Quillen Going beyond organic, a new generation of farmers is nurturing nature as well as crops. posted Feb 06, 2012 Jack Gray of Winter Green Farm outside of Eugene, Ore., is committed to farming without harming surrounding wildlife and natural ecosystems. “Frogs are an indicator species,” Jack Gray explains, leaning over a small, muddy pond to look for tadpoles. Here on the 170-acre Winter Green Farm, 20 miles west of Eugene, Ore., Gray has raised cattle and grown vegetables and berries for 30 years. It’s a sunny April day, but water pools in the pastures, evidence of the rains this part of Oregon is known for. Gray is in his mid-50s and agile from decades of working outside. They envision a landscape where farms meld into the environment and mimic the natural processes that surround them. Cows graze in a field behind him; wind whispers through a stand of cattails, and two mallards lift off. Gray, his wife, Mary Jo, and two other families co-own Winter Green Farm. The Mountain Lion and the Lamb
Grow a 100-Year-Old Self-Sustainable Food Forest in Your Backyard in Just 10 Years Do you dream of a mini-forest in your backyard? What would you need? A minimum of 100 sq. m. plot. Most of the world we live in today was once forest, our natural habitat for millions of years. Now surrounded by cities and agriculture, humans are no longer living in their “natural” habitat, argues a forest-building engineer named Shubhendu Sharma. But we can recreate little chunks of that habitat in just ten years our own backyards, workplaces and public spaces, he explains in the Ted Talk below: Shubhendu Sharma was an industrial engineer for Toyota hired to offset some of the carbon emissions of the company’s factories. His solution was to plant mini forests right next door. Sharma’s forests grow 10 times faster, are 100 times more biodiverse and 30 times more lush than typical reforestation projects. He used his model for manufacturing as many cars as possible per square feet of factory space and applied it to growing trees. “We start with soil. You can follow us on Instagram HERE
flavor technology. regulations. Senomyx Provides Additional Information Regarding Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) Determination for Sweetmyx S617 On March 11, 2014 Senomyx, Inc. issued a press release announcing the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) determination for its new Sweetmyx S617 flavor ingredient. The press release was accurate; however, one of the statements in the release was misinterpreted by some members of the media, who reported that FDA made the GRAS determination and/or approved its use. To clarify, the GRAS designation for Sweetmyx S617 was determined by the Expert Panel of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States (FEMA). The FEMA Expert Panel GRAS assessment program for flavor ingredients has been in place since 1960, following the 1958 Food Additives Amendment to the U.S. Regulation of Flavor Ingredients Flavor ingredients intended for use in foods and beverages in the United States are regulated under provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Hakka walled village A Hakka walled village is a large multi-family communal living structure that is designed to be easily defensible. This building style is unique to the Hakka people found in southern China (Hakka is "Kè-jiā" 客家 in Mandarin Chinese). Walled villages are typically designed for defensive purposes and consist of one entrance and no windows at the ground level. History[edit] The Hakka were originally immigrants from northern China who settled in the southern provinces. From the 17th century onwards, population pressures drove them more and more into conflict with their neighbours (called punti in Cantonese). Features[edit] An interior view Hakka walled villages can be constructed from brick, stone, or rammed earth, with the last being the most common. The architectural style of Hakka forts is unique in China and around the world. Tu lou[edit] Guangdong[edit] A hakka complex of houses Jiangxi[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
The transformative power of Permablitz At the Permaculture Design Course we just finished in Sydney, Adam Grubb got everyone truly inspired about the power of Permablitz. A good permablitz is an valuable opportunity to participate in design, community, digging, growing and learning, all in one day. Following on from Adam’s excellent ‘How to run a Permablitz really well’ talk that he gave during his visit (video of the talk is below), there’s been a few videos come to light that really help understand just why a permablitz is so darn cool. So I thought I’d share them with you… A great timelapse from a November 2011 permablitz in Brunswick, Melbourne: The ‘How to run a Permablitz’ Talk that Adam Grubb gave in Sydney recently: And a great Permablitz at Angel Street Community Garden, Newtown, Sydney, in 2008: A lovely slideshow of a blitz in a small backyard at Reservoir, Melbourne, in 2009 For more info on how and why to run a permablitz, start at