permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

On Fri, 9 Aug 2002 07:15:10 -0600, in alt.agriculture.fruit "Berkano
Berchta" <berkano[nospam]@netzero.net> wrote:

===============================================================
Primitive Sustainable Agriculture and Survival Research Project
===============================================================

=== AKA: The Berkano Project ===

Many people seem to be interested in the viability of a
lifestyle with minimum impact on the ecology and environment.
It is suggested by countless studies and hypotheses that more
reliance on agriculture and less reliance on sevice and
technology will actually increase the overall quality of life.

Mainstream research has been done on methods of farming,
sheltering, production, and consumption, and the common trend
is toward economic efficiency with little or no practical
emphasis on sustainability or gestalt ramifications.

I am dissatisfied with the data currently available and I
believe that too many issues are left empirically
unqualified.  Therefore I am beginning the documentation of a
lifelong study on sustainable and ecologically harmonious
living.  The purpose of this study is to gather the results of
attempts to live sustainably and publish those results for the
benefit of research.

This is a request for assistance from all parties interested in
the research, preparation, execution and documentation of every
stage of a Primitive Survival and Sustainable Agriculture
venture that I will personally execute. The full experimental
phase of the project will commence after I have gathered a
satisfactory base of information deemed cogent and thorough
enough to ensure the success of the experiment and to minimize
hardship to myself.  Please read on for clarification and to
determine if you can help or be benefitted by helping supply
the information I request.

There are many modes of obtaining shelter, food, healthcare,
and satisfying basic human needs.  Current human civilization
reflects myriad variations of means to these ends.  It is my
task to determine scientifically what means are the most
efficient from a total world view and from a total individual
view.

Current capitalist societies and economies seek to deliver a
maximum amount of goods and services to the individual, while
entirely ignoring the long-term effects on the individual when
supplying him/her with short-term goods and services under the
description of essentials for survival.  I believe that it is
necessary for an individual to test and experiment with all
means of production available for supplying all basic needs and
the maximum amount of wants on an entirely individual level,
using every sustainable means possible, with exacting attention
to the long-term cost/benefit analysis in every action and
transaction.

*** A. Experimental Hypothesis:

1. It is possible and desirable for the means of production to
remain based on agriculture with a minimum of technological
innovation.

2. An agrarian lifestyle is the most natural and healthful
lifestyle for the individual.

3. If one is to witness dramatic improvements in the
life-quality of the individual, one can generally assume that
the individual actions that promote that life-quality can be
applied to a group or society, if exported for social economy.

4. No society has lived a PURE agrarian lifestyle in recorded
history, with a handful of exeptions on which there is very
limited and obscured data.  Therefore, an individual living a
PURE agrarian lifestyle is stepping into rediscovered territory
that will cause effects on quality of life that are heretofore
unqualified by historians and researchers.

5. The definition of 'pure agrarian lifestyle' can only be
codified by the experiment itself.

6. Minimum discovery and emphasis on acute observation are the
order for successfully embarking on pure agrarianism, if it is
at all possible and sustainable on an individual level.

7. An individual can subsist in absolute self-sufficience and
self-reliance with the proper education and discipline.  Any
mode of living is generally learned by experience, example, and
trial-error.

8. A pure agrarian lifestyle will impart hardiness, health, and
longevity far in excess enjoyed by a technologically advanced
individual or group.  Less-than-pure agrarianim will not likely
have these benefits.

*** B. Control Group:

1. Society, including all people, businesses, entities, ruling
bodies, contracts, laws, mores, and everything that makes
society.

*** C. Experimental Group:

1. Myself, Berkano Berchta, all my ideas, beliefs, convictions,
actions and all input gained pursuant to this experiment.

*** D. The Experiment and Factors of Focus:

1. Goal: Live primitively on the land for a period of no less
than 5 years and gather data on all means of production and
survival during this period.

2. Restrictions: Subsist entirely via agricultural means
without the benefit of any technology above the stone age, with
a few exceptions that will be noted.  When enough skill with
stone age technology is obtained, dispense with any newer
technology and continue experiment.  Kill no animal of any kind
for food, clothing nor shelter.  Procure all necessities from
plant or earth sources.

3. Goal: Maintain optimum health without any modern medical
intervention, including treatment of possible injuries.

4. Goal: Attempt to limit contact with other individuals to
zero if possible.  Above that, take every reasonable measure to
limit contact and note the psychological effects.

5. Compare all results to the results obtained by general
modern society and try to explain the differences and
similarities via evidence.

6. The survival experiment will take place in a remote and
rugged region in the Rocky Mountains, situated near the alpine
level where rainfall is normally at least double that in the
arid lower valley and chapparal regions.  Shelter and farming
will commence in close proximity to a clean, natural water
supply.  I will plant staple foods and attempt to live as best
as possible without any type of cooking, and without heat
preservation of food.  The winters are long and harsh, while
the summers are short and alternately hot and cool.  It is
generally a cold climate but farming is possible and not too
difficult.  Emphasis on food will include subsisting as much as
possible on the local edible wild plants, and farming will be
more for winter foods than spring and summer foods.

*** E. Precursory Data Mining: (Here is the area where other
individuals can best assist).  Any suggestions for the
following queries will be greatly appreciated.  When posting to
the Usenet, please courtesy copy to
berkano[nospam]@netzero.net, as some Usenet servers are
unpredictable and do not reliably propogate posts to and from
other servers.

1. What wild plants will serve as food sources, and during
which seasons?

2. How are plant food sources identified?

3. How are poisonous plants avoided?

4. What are the best methods for harvesting wild plant food?

5. What are the best plants for winter food storage, and how
are they preserved?

6. What varieties of garden vegetables and fruits will grow
best in the enviroment, and which ones are least likely to
upset the local wild ecosystem?

7. What varieties of garden foods are best for winter storage
in primitive conditions without using fire heat to preserve
them?

8. How can one increase resistance to cold to minimize the use
of firewood for heat?

9. How can clothing be made from plant sources without tools?

10. How can tools be made from natural, non-animal sources?

11. How can well-insulated shelter be made without tools?

12. What are the best fruit and nut trees for high-elevation,
cool climates?

13. Which fruit and nut trees have the fastest yield time?

14. What are some methods for preparing soil for seed?

15. What are some useful natural methods of pest control to
minimize crop damage?

16. What types of domestic animals can live in the Rocky
Mountain Climate with a minumum of human care for their feeding
and upkeep (such as work animals for plowing or animals for
companionship)?

17. Can any indigenous creatures be tamed, and are any good for
productive use other than using them for food?

18. How can natural paper, ink, dies, and cloth be made in the
region?

19. What medical issues such as prevention, treatment, and
medicines can be explored?

20. What location (anywhere in a mountainous region of the
Western United States with afforesaid climate) could be best
for this experiment, and why?  What is the best way of
minimizing costs for a land purchase?

*** F. Summary:

Basically, I will be taking a minumum of supplies, such as
seeds, first aid equipment, and writing paper to a remote, wild
area and will attempt to live as primitively as possible for as
long as is feasible.  Therefore it will be necessary that I am
equipped with a wealth of information and skills for
accomplishing this.  I did a similar stint of about 6 months,
but that was for fun, not for gathering data.  I expect to do
this for several years unless some emergency or disaster
requires me to quit the project.

One can expect me to live in a sturcture analogous to a wigwam,
tent, teepee, or yurt, depending on which will be best suited
to the situation.  Although I do know how to build a log cabin
from the ground up, I do not anticipate doing this as it would
be very, very labor intensive and time consuming.  I want
instead to focus on attaining the maximum amount of simplicity
so I can devote attention to the agricultural and health
aspects of such a lifestyle.

Please submit as much feedback as you feel compelled to offer.
I will attempt to answer all questions as soon as possible.
Please be sure to post to Usenet and email me a courtesy copy
of any posts, to ensure everyone can see the discourses on this
subject.

I have started a website to chronicle this project, but it is
under construction and hardly worth looking at at this time
because I am still trying to code the look and feel of the
site.  The URL is http://www.veg.101main.com.  In the futrure
the site will have a page and discussion forum for this
project.

Thank you,

== Berkano Berchta ==

berkano[nospam]@netzero.net

Usenet Key
[8447-5678-7005-5160-6695-3495-5165-4486-8557-3358]

Re: Gardening, Horticulture, Pomology, Herbology, Veganism,
Vegetarianism, Wholistic Health, Natural Living, Live Food,
Survivalism, Primitive Survival and umpteen other subjects for
data mining for the project.