Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Food Not Lawns

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Marty Kraft <martyk@allspecies.org>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Food Not Lawns
  • Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 08:37:01 -0500

I went to youtube and looked up permaculture. I had a great time looking at short video clips of people attempting to transform spaces to produce food, energy and enjoyment. Here is the URL.

Marty
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=permaculture&search=Search


On Mar 30, 2007, at 10:36 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





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page