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  • From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Svar: autumn Seedballs?
  • Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:29:00 -0700 (PDT)

Martin,
 
I live in a hot and very dry climate.  The difficulty I have experienced is
that seeds germinate easier without seedballs then with seedballs.  In other
words, seeds inside seedballs need more rain than the naked seeds.  And
sufficient rain is exactly what we don’t have in this region.
 
You may have sufficient humidity but may experience different problems that
you will only find out about after conducting tests for a number of years. 
One problem I can see with autumn sowing of annual crops (if that is what you
intend to do) is that some seeds, instead of germinating in spring, may
germinate on a warm autumn day and than die during the winter, which will
result in the loss of your seeds.  In other words, you need to check minimum
germination temperatures for all your seeds and compare these with your
expected autumn temperatures.  But with uncertain climatic conditions, this
will still not safeguard completely against some seeds germinating
prematurely.
 
Thomas,
 
I have practiced Natural Farming for nearly 10 years and also followed
closely Natural Farming in Japan and elsewhere. Fukuoka has done a great job
of demonstrating his method and making it known through his writing.
Unfortunately, his methods are not being used in farming, not even on his own
farm or in parts of Japan where growing conditions are most advantageous. 
Among the few thousand farmers actually practicing Natural Farming in Japan,
most follow Kawaguchi’s methods, some Okada’s (the founder of Natural
Farming), others again belong to Shumei, which is a somewhat spiritually
oriented split-away group from the Okada school.  There are also different
schools of Natural Farming in Korea, the Philippines and other parts.
 
The problem with Fukuoka has been all along that his philosophical leaning
doesn’t address the practical problems farmers have to face.  Most who are
impressed by Fukuoka are non-farmers who take an idealistic approach to
farming, and who will all too often insist on a dogmatic interpretation of
his writing.  The few who actually try his methods usually give up after a
season or two.  I have seen this again and again over the years, and not just
in the West but even in Japan.
 
For Natural Farming to be successful we need to find a practical approach
that takes into consideration local growing conditions even if the method
chosen are very different from those used by Fukuoka.
 
Now I have a question for you relating to your field of study.  I have for a
number of years been interested in plant nutrition.  I.e, the question of
whether plants live on chemical substances absorbed via ion exchange (is that
the correct expression?) or whether they take up entire molecules that pass
through the cell membrane (endocytosis).  In other words, do they do the one
or the other? Or do they do both? Or do they do the one in preference over
the other?  Or do my questions not make any sense?
 
I have ploughed through a lot of scientific gibberish over the years, but not
being a trained biologist I can’t make out to what conclusion scientists have
come, or if science, today, even has any definite idea about plant nutrition.
I would be grateful if you could give us your view in terms that can be
understood by the layman.
 
I thing the answer is not trivial, because our way of growing food will
ultimately depend on our concept of the way in which plants take up
nutrients.  If they live on dead chemical substances there is no need to go
to the trouble of organic or natural farming.  If, on the other hand, plants
take up whole molecules which are the products of decaying microorganisms,
chemicals-based farming with all its toxic substances seems like a very
high-risk undertaking.
 
PS:  Did you read H.P. Rusch on Soil Fertility (Bodenfruchtbarkeit).  One of
his central ideas is the “cycle of living substances” between soil, plants
and humans.  Incidentally, he came to the same conclusion as Fukuoka that
soil must not be turned up-side down by ploughing.
 
Dieter Brand
Portugal




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> For Natural Farming to be successful we need to find a practical
> approach that takes into consideration local growing conditions even
> if the method chosen are very different from those used by Fukuoka.

hi dieter and all:

i totally agree on this necessary practical adaption of fukuokas
approach. i want to point you to the quite scientific works and
experiments of marc bonfils and emilia hazelip (both of which died all
too early). i thnk their results can be of great help to anyone trying
to get this adapted and going.

unfortunately i do not know of any web ressources of their material,
except german translations o my server:
http://georg.parlow.at/pk/wiweiz/
http://georg.parlow.at/pk/synag/

if anyone knows of the original english sources (including the species
recommendations in emilias paper), please let me know.

georg



Mit freundlichen Gr��en,

Georg Parlow
************
g.parlow@gmx.at
1230 Wien, Wohnpark Alterlaa B1/013
+43-650-8899345






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