Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Points well taken, Linda, thanks. I paint with a broad brush and rely on
others to question. Hope you're right about consciousness raising. Surely
you're right about starting somewhere. Folks can't suddenly go from total
denial to getting the big picture and acting sensibly. It takes time for
hard facts to sink in, but it may be time we don't have.

Someone said, about changing the world, that in the end the only person we
can really change is ourselves. I for one admit I'm only partway there,
driving too much, using too much utilities; yet we're living in a second
hand mobil, buying at thrift stores, growing a commercial garden more
sustainably, and running a seven-year old computer on dialup - periodically
upgrading hard disks, replacing keyboards, mice, etc. 

Someone also said, make your battles small enough to win and big enough to
matter.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 3/30/2007 at 7:36 PM linda wrote:

>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
>> >