Guest guest Posted March 24, 1999 Report Share Posted March 24, 1999 >I take agricultural >extension officers advice with a grain of salt as they are dealing with >very sick soils. Bare earth agriculture in my opinion is not sustainable. >Your servant, Gokula das A very good policy. Tomatoes can be grown for nine years successfully as mentioned before. I have the documentation on this and can post at a later request. I will be away for a few days to see the Environment Agency in Cornwall.... >Fukuoko used >the same field for decades without a fallow period. This maybe a crossed reference here but this is a very interesteing point. How do varieties survive if they can't seed year after year in the same place? This is why his work is so interesting. A natural balance is what has to be achieved. I have used and let vegetables reseed themselves thye next year, but in nature they would not survive. It is like being domesticated. Another interesting point he mentions is that we are conditioned to certain tastes ( he is regarding the apple) but I think this point is very valid as far as we are concerned with health. SALT (sodium chloride) has been put into our food for so long that we become accustomed to it. This is know n to be harmful and stated by some if not many to be a prime cause of cancer. This product does not occur naturally in anyfood in nature in the degrees that we are ingesting it from processed foods. I think this is significant. So our desire for more salt is an unatural one...Prabhupada said a little to taste...to make palatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 1999 Report Share Posted March 24, 1999 COM: Gokula das (New Nandagram - AU) wrote: > [Text 2181927 from COM] > > > Why collect seeds? In cold climates sometimes seeds are ruined by snow > > and dampness. I have to collect marigold seeds if I want to be certain of > > getting any that will germinate. > > > > Second, what about plants that shouldn't be planted in the same place two > > years in a row, such as solanacea like tomatoes and peppers? Collect the > > seeds so they can be planted in another place next year. > > > > Comments? > > > > your servant, > > > > Hare Krsna dasi > > > Certainly climate may be a factor for many seeds, we only get a few frosts a > year so it is not a problem here. > As for solanacea we have self seeded tomatoes in the same part of garden > year after year with no problems, potatoes for three years but this year > some had hollow sections which I will have to investigate. I don't believe > that the same field cannot have the same crop year after year this certainly > happens in nature although in a polyculture setting. How would species > survive if they could not self seed in the same area each year? Fukuoko used > the same field for decades without a fallow period. I take agricultural > extension officers advice with a grain of salt as they are dealing with very > sick soils. Bare earth agriculture in my opinion is not sustainable. > > Your servant, Gokula das Thanks for your response. These are very interestings points and worth thinking about and experimenting with -- especially the point that in nature things grow in the same soil year after year. your servant, Hare Krsna dasi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 1999 Report Share Posted July 26, 1999 > > Oh my god! Thats what I was about to do! I mean I really like what I have > read about permaculture. What I like about it is the idea that you can > replenish the soil using various grain and grass crops etc. I am no expert on permaculture and probably have a lot of mis conceptions about it. Just my experience is that it has been neophyte gardeners who have promoted it, usually with the idea that somehow or other they are going to do this shortcut system that will mean no work. The "no work" ethic has usually resulted in failure. > > There is a lot of information regarding growing green manure crops with > grains, but I have not found anything much about growing such cover crops > with vegetables. Green manures can be used with anything, and are an excellent tool. Something like buckwheat can be planted after spring crops like peas, early cabbage, carrots beets, etc. My perspective is zone 5b, northern temperate zone, but buckwheat goes in around July 1, or even later. Also, a cover crop of turnips can go in as late as Aug 1. Rye can be planted anytime after Aug 1 until after frost, and still make good growth that can be turned under before planting crops after last frost date in the spring.We are just about to take delivery of the ' seed to seed' book. And > wherever possible we want to do our own seed saving. I understand that maybe > we will not be able to save all our seeds. You have to choose nonhybrid seeds and pay attention to separating like things by either time or space. > > > I should mention that while I admire the permaculture way, and eventualy > would like to fully embrace it, initialy I need to make some bucks from > veggies, (there is a good market here for them) so I can build my house, and > get some basic equipment for survival. At the same time we wil be going > organic, as naturaly as possible. In other words with minimum external > input. I just read an excellent article by John Jeavons on the role of > cereal crops in providing carbon for composting. So we will be incorporating > a bit of that too. > Mian thing is to go see what the older gardeners in your particular environment have been doing successfullly. Principle of living guru, blah blah blah. > > Can anyone reccomend systems of using cover crops with vegetable production, > so that the cover crops suppresses the weeds but does not stifle the > veggies. What are the fastest growing cover crops. We need quite fast > turnover. This is where you get in trouble. There is no magic cover crop that will surpress all weeds. A small clover like white dutch may be the closest thing, but will be weey until it is established and will never be 100%. We mulch for weed suppression and moisture conservation. We use black plastic on the gourds, just because of the scale we are on, but the common mulch we use on veggies and floweres is 4 to 6 layers of newspaper, covered with a light layer of hay. IF you are serious about getting into self sufficiency, and have limitations on your time and money, buy your vegetables the first year or so and concentrate on fruit trees, berries, and perennials like asparagus, rhubarb, comfrey, jerusalem artichokes and the like. They take time to get established , but the effect is cumulative year to year, whereas veggies you start from scratch yearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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