Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["linda" <lindai81@comcast.net>]

Permaculture aside, Paul, it is a start, teaching people to tear out their
lawns thereby reducing the need for so much wasted water usage, teaching
them organic methods of growing thereby reducing the usage of synthetic
fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and whatever else "icide" can only add
benefit to the environment particularly on a local basis. Besides, it is a
process of ongoing consciousness raising...you have heard that term I am
sure from the '70's. One small thing can bring another awareness and then
another. Gandhi said, "Whatever you do will be insignificant and it is very
important that you do it." I think I have heard that Emelia Hazelip also
didn't find the permaculture way was workable because people didn't know how
to form that type of community. I agree with her. I think Gloria could add
to that too. But I do not think that the Food Not Lawns idea is dabbling. We
have to start somewhere with people and hopefully as they become aware of
how their own behavior impacts their own environment they will begin to
broaden their horizons. I think the fees being paid for the permaculture
workshops and seminars is a really big rip off. But I can't even get our
permaculture community to consider giving free workshops, forming teams to
go out and help people reclaim their lawns and paved driveways and put in
things that are easier and healthier. I have no disagreement with the
underlying things that you are talking about, we are on the same page, just
that I think that as well as tackling the larger problems fighting the
powers that be, we have to meet  people where they are  and get them to
change and then we will make more allies to help us in our fight against
industrial farming, both agricultural and animal factory farming. At the
very least should peak oil, or whatever, hit us maybe more people will be
able to sustain themselves with their own gardens and perhaps supply a few
neighbors too. I don't think we should minimize the impact that the person
can make, however small, because it is really only individuals multiplied
that will change things.

And the permaculture group here, although they aren't reaching out for the
"civilian," are indeed growing gardens in sustainable fashions to feed
themselves. A large sector is really a back to basic, simplify community.
The idea of Food Not Lawns is important. If someone wants to tag it to the
permacultural movement and side step it I think they are missing out on a
one important aspect to a disastrous problem that is already upon us at this
very moment. It isn't a disaster that is out there, years down the line, but
something that is in the here and now. It is literally in our faces.
linda
linda's organic gardens: http://photos.yahoo.com/womyn47

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>>
I just sent the link on. Others may disagree of course, but to me the whole
> lawn garden thing based on permaculture, so called, strikes me as useless
> dabbling in something they treat as a trendy hobby. Sincere people read
> those books but seldom realize they're just paying money for a philosophy
> instead of learning the nuts and bolts of survival growing. I mean
survival
> growing is the broadest sense. Sustainably growing in a lawn for food is
no
> different from growing for market, if done efficiently. We're heading off
a
> cliff with fresh water, soil loss, fuel, and industrially farmed food. Any
> number of informed sources warn us with irrefutable evidence we're using
up
> our resources, and we won't have to wait for our children's generation to
> feel the crunch. It's almost upon us. Permaculture is an idealistic
> philosophy that has little to do with sustainably feeding the world right
> now. Feel good seminars are bogus.
>
> I won't read it (and certainly not Hemenway's book) so let us know your
> impressions when you're finished. But I'll maintain that one person alone
> can't turn a neighborhood into a community. Not any neighborhood I've
heard
> of.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
> On 3/30/2007 at 5:56 PM linda wrote:
>
> >Ah, yes, this I know about! H.C. Flores recently published a book called,
> >"Food Not Lawns: How to turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your
Neighborhood
> >into a Community" with a forward by Toby Hemenway, another wonderful
> >author.
> >Heather (that is for the H.) lives right here in the same town as I.
> >Getting
> >people to turn their lawns into food production systems is a high
> priority.
> >I have her book, but haven't finished reading it. I have scanned it and
> >thought it good enough to buy. If I remember I will have a comment on it
> >when I am done.
> >linda
> >linda's organic gardens: http://photos.yahoo.com/womyn47
> >
> >----- Original Message ----- 
> >From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
> >> Food Not Lawns is a loosely affiliated cluster of grassroots gardeners
> in
> >> and around the Willamette Valley, just West of the Oregon Cascades. We
> >work
> >> together toward an ecologically, socially, and perpetually thriving
> >> bioregion, using theories and techniques derived from permaculture,
> >kinship
> >> gardening, ecological design, and biodynamics. We also develop and test
> >our
> >> own ideas, and offer a wide range of educational, organizational, and
> >> hands-on services
> >
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