permaculture

["RiverValley" <madhava@fidalgo.net>]

Kevin,

Could you give us more information about using animals for bacterial
inoculation.  Are all animal manures good for this?

thanks,
Daniel
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin email" <ktopek@houston.rr.com>
To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 8:13 AM
Subject: RE: [permaculture] Drylands-pantas instead of compost


> Dear Marsha,
>
> Try to innoculate the land with some animal manure/bacteria either by
> letting the critters browse or sprinking manure or compost with manure. It
> will make future fertility and productivity that much greater than if you
do
> not do it.
>
> !Feliz Navidad! Kevin
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: permaculture-admin@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:permaculture-admin@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Marsha Hanzi
> Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2002 9:07 AM
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [permaculture] Drylands-pantas instead of compost
>
>
> Bom dia!
> Some time ago I asked about sheet-composting in dry conditions, with some
> very useful feeback from the list.
>
> I would just like to give you the feedback that I came to the conclusion
> that the best way to kick-start restortion of really degraded land in
> drylands is planting Opuntia ( a cactus used for animal forrage here) one
> per meter. You could feel immediately that the field had gained life, with
> miniture wind-braks as well as a reserve of humidity. Now with the first
> rains we planted castor with each opuntia  , 3 cowpeas between each on the
> line, a cassava in the center ( one per meter), and  a cocktail of
> catch-crops ( sesame, amaranth, radishes, and a native legume) every 50cm,
> filling up the rest of the space with jackbeans.  In spite of very little
> rain, things have come up marvellously, and received enough rain, in a
> second downpour, to develop well.  These are occasional summer
> thundershowers, not dependable as are our rains of April-May, so we are
> playing in the lottery, so to speak...But even if the crops fail, a good
> amount of organic material is being  created onsite.
>
> Of course the areas ( a small portion) where I actually did manage to
spread
> the sawdust compost are reacting a bit better than the others-- one can
see
> a result , but the area I actually managed to cover is only about
one-tenth
> of the whole,  after days and days of effort, whereas I needed a team of
six
> workers for one day to plant the whole area with opuntia, and can myself
>  with a manual planter) do all the rest in two days time--
>
> The advantage of opuntia is that you can ( and should) plant before the
> rains come.  Another advantage is that it has a very high market value as
> emergency forrage for cattle during droughts, so the investment will
return
> in a years time ( I dont plan to have animals for the next two or three
> years...)
>
> Though you might be interested in this update..
>
> Marsha Hanzi
> Bahia, Brazil
> www.permacultura-bahia.org.br
>
>
>
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