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  • From: "Eugene F. Monaco" <efmonaco@comcast.net>
  • To: 'permaculture' <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Cold Frames
  • Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 15:23:54 -0500

Title: Message
Anybody care to share their experiences and techniques with cold frames:
when to set up, when to plant, what to plant, what not to plant, construction details, tips on using salvaged old windows, mulching around the edges, bed prep before hand, watering???
-Gene
 
 
Eugene F. Monaco
www.knoxherbs.com
(865) 609-9025
-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of mike greene
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 3:53 PM
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [permaculture] Research vs. Real World

This is impromptu writing and thinking and I do not expect replies or postings.

Permaculture is Research in my view, of the most valuable methods to

increase and maintain food production ecosystems with a minimum of

input.

Farming.

Farming today is either hugely commercial, 10,000 acre farms are common

in the USA or as in most of europe, much smaller but  bound and

limited by tradition.

Permaculture is innovative research, constantly looking for new crops

and new methods.

Thus only a very small percentage of those connected with food production

put any value to permaculture and its research. A "radical" approach.

By research, I include all individual research on individually owned farms

and such postings here of results and methods.

Amateur Research

A part of permaculture certainly and yet, also condemned by most or

all of academia.

Agro Forestry or similar fields are somewhat similar, and accepted

within academia as long as the research is published in science

journals which allow only those directly connected to universities to

publish.

However, historically, the experiments of one person, some of the

great scientists of history, even subjective reactions of those early

researchers using only themselves as test cases, have produced

some of the great breakthroughs in human and scientific knowledge.

In addition, academic research is hopelessly slow as the world

turns toward crisis level depletions of water, food and overwhelming

problems of contamination and pollution.

Scientists will still be debating whether global warming exists, as

the continents become deserts and people become desperate for basic

life needs.

Governments will not act in time either, for the same bureaucratic

reasons.

That leaves a very few "amateurs" who realize that growing and

testing food crops on a small acreage is at least as valuable

research as all other methods in view of planetary urgency.

 

The Real World.

The real world issues relevent here are massive poverty and starvation

which can benefit directly from permaculture methods.

In those poor countries, barriers continue to obstruct actual distribution

of methods and sometimes supplies.

However, we in the modern Western countries are heading toward a

similar situation.

I travel and see empty office buildings everywhere, abandoned storefronts

in all the cities in the USA, everywhere.

It is very possible that a severe economic depression is coming in the

near future.

In that case, permaculture groups should consider that food preservation

and long term storage methods should be examined now, on these

farms and information on this second stage of food  production

(i.e. the first stage being the growing and production of foods), the

storing of foods to maximize quality and food value, is at least as

important.

Marketing and selling foods as a source of income here in these

permaculture groups seems to take second place to workshops,

meetings and conferences.  That probably means that many members

can afford to devote most of their time to research of permaculture

methods.

Demand for quality food products will continue to increase I believe,

even as the economy falters, since evidence of widespread pollution

and contamination of foods and environment can only increase,

the public will look for the safest foods, etc.

Selling permaculture food products should be emphasized more here.

and as well, the techniques of storage in the event of long term

economic downturn.

 

 



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