Kenya: Permaculture – Agriculture With a Green Touch
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News, Society, Urban Projects — by Rosemary Quipp November 2, 2011
Editor’s Note: This article appeared as the cover story for Kenya’s main newspaper — the Daily Nation — helping give top exposure to the just-established PRI Kenya. Warren Brush (see also) sent this through, and has been the main driver in helping get PRI Kenya off the ground, or onto the ground, as the case may be. The article also appeared on AllAfrica.com. Here’s hoping this new work in Kenya can help invigorate the real kind of ‘development’ that too many countries have detoured around in their search for happiness.
Click for full view
A green oasis nestles on the barren expanse that is Nairobi’s south-east end, somehow managing to blossom between kennels of barking dogs and the exhaust fumes of an auto garage.
Overflowing with colourful vegetables and flowers, the lush patch of garden breaks the grey monotony of concrete and barbed wire, and provides a home to a dozen rabbits, chickens and quail.
Owned and run by the security and courier company Wells Fargo, this garden is the brainchild of the company’s operations director, Ms Gai Cullen.
Comments (2)Cuba To Host Eleventh International Permaculture Conference (IPC11)
Conferences, News — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 27, 2011
Roberto Perez triumphantly rides a camel at IPC10,
while looking forward to hosting IPC11 in Cuba, November 2013.
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
One of the tasks for attendees of each International Permaculture Conference (IPC) is to hear bids for hosting the subsequent IPC, consider the best option and to vote on it. Cuba, ground zero for the largest peak oil rehearsal the world has ever seen, easily carried the day. So, all eyes now look to November 2013 for IPC11 — an IPC with a distinctly Cuban flavour.
If you didn’t catch it already, watch Roberto’s IPC10 conference presentation here. And, below you can hear Wes Rowe talking to Cuba’s Roberto Perez — representative of the Cuban Permaculture NGO, the Antonio Nunez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Humanity — about his thoughts on the winning bid:
Comments (0)The PRI Restarts the Permaculture Teacher Registry
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Education Centres, Networking Sites, News, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 19, 2011
Short Version
If you’ve been waiting to apply to be a PRI PDC Teacher, we are now ready to receive your application (English only at this point — but read the rest of the post below to find out more about other languages). To apply, simply log into the Worldwide Permaculture Network, ensure you’ve clicked on the ‘Click if you are a PDC Teacher‘ link on the right side of your profile, and then click on the ‘Apply to be a PRI PDC Teacher‘ link.
Long Version
In March 2010 Bill and Lisa Mollison’s Permaculture Institute (PI) ceased taking applications for their long-running permaculture teachers’ registry. As many immediately recognised, this left a gaping hole in the permaculture garment — one which needs to be filled if the movement is to maintain a reasonable standard of recognised education.
Accordingly, when the registry ceased, the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) was suddenly flooded with "What now?" emails, and requests that we step in and take over the role of processing and verifying applications from permaculture teachers. This call came because existing teachers, and prospective teachers, all want to ensure that their students have confidence in the courses they’re committing their fees to.
Before I share what we’ve sought to do to fill this void, I will try to expand a little more on the above about why we believe having a globally recognised teachers’ registry is important and why we’ve been working hard to answer the many calls to facilitate this need.
Comments (19)The Rodale Institute’s 30-Year Farming Systems Trial Report
Compost, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Food Shortages, GMOs, Global Warming/Climate Change, Health & Disease, Irrigation, Land, News, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 13, 2011
 The Rodale Institute’s 30-year Farming Systems Trial report (1.3mb PDF) |
The Rodale Institute has been, for a full 30 years now, conducting a long-term comparative Farming Systems Trial. Starting in 1981, when it was already abundantly clear that industrialising nature was creating far more problems than it solved, the Rodale Institute began documented research comparing organically fertilised fields and conventionally fertilised fields on its 330 acre farm in Pennsylvania, USA.
It’s the longest running comparative study of its kind in the world.
In time for their trial’s 30-year anniversary, the institute has put out a report outlining its documented observations. You can download this report via the link at right.
This report is one of several well-researched reports that have come out in recent years, including the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Failure to Yield report (which proves GMOs do not perform as claimed) and the IAASTD’s 400-scientist-strong, 3-year worldwide study (which concluded we need to quickly transition back to relocalised, diverse, agroecological methods).
Comments (5)Permaculture Featured on New York Times
General, News — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor July 29, 2011
We all know the world is looking for answers to very pressing questions — so it’s high time the mainstream media started to share them! As such, it’s great to see the following article on the New York Times website. Thanks to New York Times writer Michael Tortorello, and well done to Wayne Weiseman, David Cody, Scott Pittman and the many others involved in this piece:
As a way to save the world, digging a ditch next to a hillock of sheep dung would seem to be a modest start. Granted, the ditch was not just a ditch. It was meant to be a “swale,” an earthwork for slowing the flow of water down a slope on a hobby farm in western Wisconsin.
And the trenchers, far from being day laborers, had paid $1,300 to $1,500 for the privilege of working their spades on a cement-skied Tuesday morning in late June.
Fourteen of us had assembled to learn permaculture, a simple system for designing sustainable human settlements, restoring soil, planting year-round food landscapes, conserving water, redirecting the waste stream, forming more companionable communities and, if everything went according to plan, turning the earth’s looming resource crisis into a new age of happiness.
It was going to have to be a pretty awesome ditch.
That was the sense I took away from auditing four days of a weeklong Permaculture Design Certificate course led by Wayne Weiseman, 58, the director of the Permaculture Project, in Carbondale, Ill. — The Permaculture Movement Grows From Underground
As per the New York Times, "A version of this article appeared in print on July 28, 2011, on page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: Growing From Underground."
Comments (0)Jail Time for Planting Front Yard Garden?
Alternatives to Political Systems, Consumerism, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Land, News, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor July 17, 2011
This is by-law madness, and it’ll have to change…. I rather blatantly encourage everyone to disregard dumb rules like this which would stop you from increasing your resiliency and demonstrating better use of your lawn space. The more of us who rebel against absurdity, the easier it becomes to legalise sustainability. I just hope you’ll be smart enough to ensure that your lawn-liberation is done whilst keeping aesthetic standards high as well (i.e. don’t give people justifiable reason to complain!). Julie Bass’ nice tidy veggie planters, which you’ll see in the videos below, are a good example, and only reflect all the more poorly on the neighbours who have complained and the local government who are obviously wholly ignorant of where we presently stand in history….
Vegetables are most definitely suitable!
Comments (23)My Smart Garden
Courses/Workshops, Networking Sites, News, Social Gatherings, Village Development — by Sarah Lamshed June 2, 2011
Do you live in Melbourne’s Hobsons Bay or Moonee Valley City Council areas and like gardening but don’t know what more you can do… or are you a budding gardener and don’t know where to start?
Comments (0)Permaculture Comes to Aruba
Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, News — by Amber Bacca May 28, 2011
Editor’s Note: A former PRI Australia intern shares exciting news of efforts she has been successfully engaged in since her stay at Zaytuna Farm. Well done Amber!
A U.S.-based non-profit, Resilient Futures International, recently travelled to the beautiful island of Aruba to participate in the country’s first Permaculture Fair, which took place between April 10-20, 2011. Over the course of a week, RFI presented the permaculture concept and methods to around 700 participants from various sectors of Aruban society, including but not limited to businesses, the tourism industry, and local NGOs.
Frank Fekonia
News — by Ecofilms March 7, 2011
I was very sad to hear of the passing of a true legend and active member of Permaculture Noosa – Frank Fekonia. Husband to Elisabeth, Frank was a true maverick character who told me how he escaped from communist Slovenia in the early 1960s by stealing a canoe and paddling night and day for the shores of Italy. Exhausted by the journey, he was picked up by Italian fisherman when he tumbled into the water off the Adriatic Coast. Eventually, as a refugee, he made it to Australia. A frustrated musician and trumpet player who was more used to the traditional Jazz and Swing sound of the 50s, he became a builder instead when the Beatles, he said, ended his career as a musician.
He eventually moved to Cooroy in Queensland and with little money built a three storey home – entirely out of concrete – from moulds he designed himself.
Comments (4)
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 17
News — by Oyvind Holmstad February 23, 2011
Welcome to round seventeen of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Comments (1)The Live Launch of the Worldwide Permaculture Network (WPN) is Now Underway!!
Aid Projects, Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organisations, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Social Gatherings, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor February 3, 2011
Dear People
After months and months of work, we’re now launching a new system — the Worldwide Permaculture Network (WPN) — which will enable permaculturists everywhere to:
- Put themselves on a clickable map, where people (permaculturists and non-permaculturists) can see at a glance the scope of the spread of permaculture worldwide
- Showcase their work as individuals, and the work of any projects they are administrating
- Be searchable according to many variables (climate zone, project type, and more)
- Network with other permaculturists everywhere
- Advertise their consultancy services
- Advertise their courses (for educational projects)
- Share knowledge, experiences, challenges, successes, and inspiration
- Help inspire non-permaculturists with the potential for positive, systemic change that permaculture design systems can bring
- And more…
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 16
News — by Oyvind Holmstad January 29, 2011
Welcome to round sixteen of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- Meco’Press Machine Makes LEGO Building Bricks From Mud. Perrocheau and his small team have designed a hydraulic press that transforms ordinary mud into structural building blocks. Since 2008 the team has distributed the Meco’press in France and Belgium, and they have recently seen an overwhelming interest from organizations looking to build in developing nations. The ingenious press offers a green building material solution that can function within the constraints of devastated areas.
- Organising Regional Gatherings: an excellent new resource. Transition Support Scotland have just produced a really good booklet called ‘How to organise a Regional Gathering’. This new guide offers a detailed overview of how to make regional gatherings memorable and successful.
- Towards a 21st Century Banking and Monetary System. NEF and Positive Money show why systematic reform of the banking and monetary system is urgently needed. See also.
- A Community-Run Seed Library – Shouldn’t Every Library Loan Seeds? (Video)
- TED Talk: Zoe Weil on Shaping The World Through Our Classrooms. (Video)
- Bioactive Compounds in Berries Can Reduce High Blood Pressure. The effect was stronger for blueberry rather than strawberry consumption. Compared to people who ate no blueberries, those eating at least one serving of blueberries per week were 10 per cent less likely to become hypertensive. See also.
- Organic milk is better for you, say scientists. Personally I’ve heard that for a cow to give top milk it needs at least 60 different herbs in its fodder.
- How To Eat Bugs (to save the environment).
- Sewage Eating ‘Poo-Gloos’ Clean Wastewater.
- Feds Yank GE Crops From All Northeast Refuges.
- New Light Shed on River Blindness Parasite. See also.
- New Farming Method Reduces N2O Gases, Increases Farm Yields.
- Transport for London sees big increase in cycling with Cycle Superhighways.
- Hydrogen & Wind Powered Zeppelin Could Revolutionize Airship Transportation.
- Elusive Cat Once Thought Extinct is Alive and OK in Borneo.
- Two New Species of ‘Leaping’ Beetles Discovered in New Caledonia.
- Incredible Cathedral Built From Salvaged Materials by a Single Man. Wow! Surely the mega churches (shopping malls) of the USA have something to learn from this man!
- Australian University to Ban Bottled Water.
- Stefanos Polyzoides plans to make cities more liveable. Architect Stefanos Polyzoides is a godfather of the hugely influential movement in architecture and urban planning known as the New Urbanism
- Huge majority oppose England forest sell-off plans, poll finds.
- Bjork Protests Energy Deal Armed With 47,000 Signatures. Since the deal was made, the public has been fighting it, demanding a vote on the privatization of the country’s natural resources.
- Mindfulness Meditation Training Changes Brain Structure in Eight Weeks.
- Smaller corals take the heat. New Australian research has found coral reefs will survive warmer ocean temperatures brought on by climate change – but they will be very different.
- Avocado fat boosts good cholesterol (HDL).
- 6 of Haiti’s Lost Frogs Rediscovered.
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 15
News — by Oyvind Holmstad January 15, 2011
Welcome to round fifteen of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- More Farmers’ Markets Expand To Year-Round.
- Co-Management Holds Promise of Sustainable Fisheries Worldwide. "Community-based co-management is the only realistic solution for the majority of the world’s fisheries and is an effective way to sustain aquatic resources and the livelihoods of communities depending on them."
- The Ecosystem Engineer: Research Looks at Beavers’ Role in River Restoration. Also read the dam letter.
- To Fight Global Warming, Eat Bugs!
- Measures to Save Ozone Stemmed a Lot More Global Warming. New studies show that had humanity not cut this pollution, Earth would have experienced as much as 1.5ºC of additional global warming by 2070. Moreover, the new projections show, CFC pollution would have thinned the layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere, which blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation, even more than scientists expected, as a result of an unforeseen "feedback" effect.
- Mother’s Milk Improves Physical Condition of Future Adolescents, Study Finds.
- Massive Energy-Generating Wind Tower Proposed for Japan.
- The eddy Wind turbine. Though large windmills are more resource efficient to make, they might give some problems with noise, glimmering shadows and ice flakes thrown 300 metres away crushing your skull. All these problems are said to be solved with this new, spiralled windmill.
- SolSource: Sustainable Collaborative Design for and by Himalayan Nomadic Communities.
- The Bamboo Bike Kit Lets You Build Your Own Bike!
- Rare monk seal colony found in the Mediterranean.
- U.S. Ship Sunk to Create Reef.
- Protective Properties of Green Tea Uncovered.
- First "Transition Slum" Launched.
- We can feed 9 billion people in 2050. Further: Housing 9 billion people won’t take techno-magic.
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 14
News — by Oyvind Holmstad December 28, 2010
Welcome to round fourteen of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- The BBC covers permaculture again. See also.
- Wild food crop relatives to be ‘rescued’. Scientists have announced a plan to collect and store the wild plant relatives of essential food crops, including wheat, rice, and potatoes.
- New Study Shows Walkable Neighborhoods Make People Happier. See also.
- End of Suburbia Director to Launch ResilientCITY – the Future of Our Cities (Video).
- Community Supported Beer: Cooperative Brewing, Baking and Farming for Local Economies.
- West African farmers have succeeded in cutting the use of toxic pesticides, increasing yields and incomes and diversifying farming systems as a result of an international project promoting sustainable farming practices.
- Permaculture is more relevant than ever!
- Protecting the Amazon Rainforest: Extensive Inventory Forms Basis for Legislation Governing When Trees in the Brazilian Rainforests Can Be Logged.
- Restoration Activities Speed Seagrass Recovery in the Florida Keys.
- Fish Thought to Be Extinct for 70 Years Rediscovered.
- GM Cotton Fails – Insect Pests Thriving on Indian Plants When They Should Be Dead.
- TED Talk: Systems of Sharing About to Revolutionize Consumerism.
- Matchmaking for Vegetables. A new website lets gardeners find partners with whom to swap their excess produce.
- Plastic Bag Ban Starts in New Year in Italy.
- New tropical mistletoe just in time for Christmas – one of many new discoveries from Kew this year.
- A video describing Lands Council’s plans to store water in Washington State, with beavers!
- Carbon-Neutral Sail-Powered Cargo Ships Scheduled to Return to European Waters in 2012.
- New book! The Post-Carbon Reader. The Post Carbon Institute has gathered 29 of the world’s leading experts to point the way to a more resilient, just, and sustainable world. The Post-Carbon Reader is a comprehensive, in-depth examination of the inter-connected sustainability crises humanity now faces.
- Frogs across Australia and the US may be recovering from a fungal disease that has devastated populations around the world.
- New species of lemur discovered in Madagascar.
- Polar bears can be saved by emissions cuts, study says.
- Russian tiger team hails success. How a team in Russia is working to prevent critically endangered Amur tigers from being killed in "human-tiger conflicts".
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 13
News — by Oyvind Holmstad December 11, 2010
Welcome to round thirteen of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- Invention Awards: A Box That Keeps Plants Hydrated in the Desert. In 2006 Hoff took 25 Waterboxxes to Morocco’s Sahara desert, and after a year, 88 percent of the trees he treated had green leaves, while 90 percent of those watered weekly (the traditional local method) died under the scorching sun. In Scientific American he argues that planting 5 billion acres of trees – about 2.5 times the surface area of Canada – would be enough to offset annual emissions of 10 billion metric tons of CO2. Visit the manufacturer’s homepage here. See also this + this.
- "Blue Carbon" – Buried Treasure for Climate and Communities. Carbon sinks along the world’s coast lines, including mangroves, sea grasses, and tidal salt marshes, store massive quantities of carbon for centuries at a time, and could provide an immediate and cost-effective tool to counter the impacts of climate change. See also this + this + this.
- ‘Greener’ climate prediction shows plants slow warming.
- The fight is on to save Kenya’s green lung. "If the Mau Forest is destroyed, Kenya will die." This is the stark message of the scientist and Nobel Peace Prizewinner Professor Wangari Maathai from the University of Nairobi. See also.
- The new book Unplanning by Charles Siegel goes straight against the strict and bureaucratic planning practices of modernism, which has ribbed our lives for life and meaning. Recommended by Prof.Nikos Salingaros!
- New Shark Sanctuary Declared in Indonesia. This is surely needed! Regional studies have shown that when shark populations crash the impact cascades down through the food chain, often in unpredictable and deleterious ways.
- Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Launches New Investment in Caribbean.
- Expressing Gratitude Is a Powerful but Underused Force, Scientists Say. See also.
- Are We Predisposed To Give Back? New Studies Examine Why We Help Others.
- Faith communities around the world are taking action – both personal and political – as the moral implications of climate change become more apparent.
- Why Not Eat Insects? Marcel Dickes’ TED Talk. Personally I would prefer to eat insects than frankenfish. I’ve heard that all insects were able to multiply unchecked, they could within a year make a 0.5 meter thick layer covering all the Earth. Do we really have a food problem?
- New Approach to Blocking Malaria Transmission Developed.
- Lower Occurrence of Atopic Dermatitis in Children Whose Mothers Were Exposed to Farm Animals and Cats During Pregnancy. One more reason to support small scale dairy production.
- A Straw Bale Rebuilding Solution for Haiti. This is a much better solution for the climate than using concrete! See also.
- Small house, big movement. To build small is the easiest way to build energy efficient too. Also, read this article!
- Food Not Lawns Wants to Replant Your Yard. Food Not Lawns is a combination of how-to practical wisdom and neighborhood-building.
- Gardens are able to sustain a greater number of bumblebee nests than farmed land, a study involving genetic analysis and modeling has suggested. See also.
- New Tech Could Revolutionize Recycling. First-of-its-kind technique recovers pulp and plastics that were otherwise unrecyclable.
- "Peak Fertilizer" To Make Manure A Valuable Commodity. Half of the 15 million tons of phosphorus exploited each year ends up in the oceans, much of this flushed down the toilet. Hopefully we’ll see a change.
- Sumatran Tiger Population May Be Larger Than Believed – Second Only to India.
- Mountain Gorilla Population Increases 25% in Central African National Parks.
- A critical breakthrough has been made in efforts to save the giant panda, one that could kick-start attempts to reintroduce the animals to the wild.
