permaculture

[Leon Tongret <leontongret@yahoo.com>]

Lawrence,

Please remove me from the permaculture list.

I appreciate your putting me on the list, but I have found it to be of no 
value
to me.

Thought I would give you some updates of what has been happening around the
Tongret Farm.  It has been a very busy Summer.
 
It has been a very productive period
for me this Summer, and that I hope will continue for the foreseeable future. 
 I have been busy this past with a
number of fun and intresting projects that has finally brought my farm into
production.

It all began when an old acquaintaince who lives not far from us had his
property bought from him by the highway department.  They were planning a new 
highway exchange
that was to be built through the middle of his property.  He had an older 
home, barn
and some sheds that the highway department was going to just tear down and 
haul
everything away to a land fill.  
 
I was able to get the barn and shed
and anything I wanted from the house.  All I had to do was take
it down and cart it away.  The old barn was constructed of heavy, 1 inch
thick, 8 – 12 inch wide, 12 - 14 foot long oak and maple boards that would
cost a fortune to purchase these days if you could even find this size boards
any more.  They were heavy as the dickens.  
 
I also salvaged all the aluminum
twisted nails, hinges, door hardware, etc. that I removed from the boards and
the doors and saved then for future use.  I also got the 20 - 12' high, 4" X 
4" beams that
formed the structure for the barn, as well as all the supporting structure. 

The barn roof was made from corrugated  aluminum panels which I also
carefully removed as well as the aluminum nails.   It took me a solid
month of 10 hour days and 7 day weeks to carefully disassemble and cart away 
all the material.  What I got was a warehouse full of valuable construction 
material.  

From the old house, I also obtained 4 large full panel, double pane insulated 
glass doors
that I will use in my new green house.  I also salvaged many more
insulated windows, garden doors, hardware, nails, hinges, etc.  
 
It took me about a month of everyday
tearing down, loading into the van, hauling it home, stacking it and going 
back
for more.  It was easily 30 or 40 trips
or more over the month carrying what I felt was money in the bank.  

From all this material, I could have started my own hardware store.  I 
carefully removed all the nails and screws,
sorting each into containers marked with the type of nail/screw/hinge
contained for easy retrieval and reuse.

From all this, I built the following buildings and structures over this
Summer, and still have a lot of material still left for future projects.:

(1)  Food/Wine Root Cellar:   An old, still
active railroad line runs along the back edge of our property.  They store 
their old large stacks of 
railroad ties which they can no longer use at the edge of our property.  
I used a number these old timbers to form the the massive walls of my root
cellar.  

I began by digging a four foot deep hole in the ground  that was 8 feet by
8 feet in length and width.  I also dug stairs that lead down into the area 
using 
railroad ties for the steps.  

Then, I used the railroad ties stacked on top one another to
build the massive walls just like a log cabin.  I hand built a
thick door out of the old barn material and used the old hinges and latch. 
The roof was a steep "A" frame, topped with the old wood for tresses
and finished with the old barn roofing.  It was then insulated with the old 
rigid foam insulation donated by you.(Thanks).  

Then I added three layers of shelving on each side that will hold the
containers that will store the harvested food and canned items from the 
garden. 
One can walk into the cellar even on the hottest, most sultry days and find 
that the cellar maintains
a nice, even cool temperature.  It is so well insulated that all sounds
from the outside are blocked, and the silence is perfectly maintained.  

My next steps are to add wiring and lighting, and to construct a nice wine
storage area for the wines that I plan to make later this year, one of my next
projects.

(2)  Barn:   I next built a 12' X 14' barn
using the materials from his old barn, but I added a window on the back wall 
that faces
South.  Double large doors, which I constructed from the old timber,
provide a wide opening to easily allow entry for all types of equipment.  The 
roof again is the metal.

(3) Seed Starting Cabinet:  I built a large
cabinet for starting seeds.  I will add a temperature controlled heat
source for cold weather, and an automatic watering/spray system.  I
already have all the plastic trays ready to go which were also salvaged.

(4)  Raised Bed Garden:  I have prepared and
maintained my garden, which is about the same size as your current garden.

(5) Garden Supplies Area:  I next needed an area to maintain all my 
fertilizers, small garden tools, planters, and miscellaneous items so I built 
another covered area with multiple shelves to keep piles of newspapers until 
I could shred them for compost, area for my 15 - 60 gallon special containers 
for keeping various plant nutrients that use in the gardening a hydroponic 
operation.  



This Summer,  I created  4 foot wide
raised beds of various lengths that I made using the lumber I obtained from 
the
old barn.  I have a little over 1/2 acre which I prepared using only a
shovel and hoe.    The raised planting beds are four feet wide
with a 1 1/2 foot walking aisle between beds.  
 
The raised beds are each constructed
from the old timber.  The beds are 8”
high, a uniform 4’ wide, and the length varies from 8’ to 25’.  I try to 
maintain walking paths and
crossovers to make it easy to take my 2 wheeled garden carrier to any area of
the garden for taking supplies to and harvesting crops from the beds.

From this small start this Summer, I have already obtained a production of
tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, hot peppers, lettuce, celery, blue berries, etc.,
enough that we have cut down grocery expenses.  In the Spring, the garden
will be expanded to almost two acres.
 
This next Spring, I will expand the garden to a little
over 2 acres and add additional vegetables and fruits, which I will be selling
to some local restaurants, who I have already contacted,  including the
restaurant where my son works.  I will use my Chevrolet delivery van
(which I am outfitting with appropriate equipment) to transport the produce
cool and fresh. 

(6) Hen house:   I built a raised hen house and
enclosed fence area.  I barrowed from a
design that adds some nice looks and functionality.  It has a little glass 
window in the back of
there box where they can look out at us from the second level little
house.  Just below the window is a small
flower box where Jeanne maintains some pretty flowers for the chickens to look
at.  After all, a happy chicken is a
productive chicken.  
 
We  purchased four
hens (or at least there were suppose to
be four hens but two turned out to be rootsers) that have been giving us a
steady production of 2 eggs a day as well as manure for the garden.  They 
provide ongoing entertainment through
their antics as they scout the woods and lawns for good things to eat, quickly
chasing after anything that moves on the ground or flies within range.  This 
continues  from first thing in the morning, with broken
only by an occasional rush to get water from one of the watering tanks we
leaver for them, or by a passing flying bug that they all decide to chase 
after
as once.  They go from early morning when
the sun just breaks over the horizon and the the roosters wake us with their 
“cock-a-doodle-doo”
until the evening when their internal clock tells them it is time to get back
to their house before  the sun begins to
fade in the early evening .

(7) Tree House, Viewing Area, and Small Machine Storage:  Some time back I 
built a three level tree house for my son.  


On several trees next to the area,  I set up a hammock for leisurely swinging 
under the mature oak and elm trees. 

On the ground level, I made an area of our lawn mowers, weed whackers, gas 
cans, wheel barrows, and similar equipment.  


 Second Level - Sitting Area:  Walking up an inclined ramp, you pass a sign 
that proclaims that this is "Brians' Hideaway"  (my son) and at the top of 
the ramp you come to an area that has a build in seat and several free 
standing comfortable chairs and some planters.  It is a nice area for sitting 
on a warm summer day with the breeze blowing to just enjoy the weather the 
birds, and the view of our historic 1906 house, farm buildings, fields and 
streams.

Third Level - Tree Top House:  Continuing up, you climb a steep stairway and 
pass through a trap door and finally enter a 8 foot by 8 foot tree house that 
stands 10 feet at its peek.    The room is completely enclosed with heavy 
barn wood siding, a tin roof, and magnificent window views in every 
direction.  You clearly get a sense of being in the very tree tops. 


The large full window to the front is permanently closed, but the two side 
windows slide open to provide a nice breeze in nice weather, and the back 
window swings open to allow access to the pulley system that allows an 
attached large wooden contained filled with what ever needs to be brought up 
to the top  to be pulled via a block and tackle system up to the window and 
unloaded.

Small foldaway chairs provide comfortable seating, and a army cot unfolds 
from the wall to provide night time accommodations.  


Wiring is in progress and will soon allow a nice stereo system to provide 
appropriate music to fit the desired mood, and even a small TV for those of a 
mind.


Hydroponics:   In 1970,  as part of my senior thesis for my bachelors
degree at California State University at Fullerton, I wrote a research paper 
about
Hydroponics, an area of personal interest at the time.  As part of my
research, I learned that the  San Diego Zoo had recently begun using
Hydroponics to raise grass for their zoo animals.  I went to visit their
facility. 


They had a small building about 8 ft wide and 12 feet long with
growing beds along each side of a center aisle.  It was equipped with a
large number of trays and growing lights.  The lights were on timers that
cycled throughout the day.  In five days, they were able to take seed and
produce mature, fully grown grass the was sufficient quantity to feel  all 
the animals at the zoo that ate grass.  All that production from a very
small foot print.    It was eye opening and stuck with me ever since
then.  (I recently I learned on the internet that the San Diego Zoo was
the first commercial applications of Hydroponics in the country, and I was
there to witness this historic event.)

I have built several smaller buildings in which I will be growing 
hydroponically under growing lights.  This will allow me to grow year round 
regardless of
outside weather or temperatures, and also add considerably to amount I can 
grow
per square foot of growing space.    This system will allow me to grow
about 5 times more produce per square foot of ground space compared to a
conventional garden.  So I as gain experience with them, I plan to expand
with many more unites which will quickly out produce my outdoor garden.  
Assuming this occurs,  I may stop maintaining the outside garden,
and devote my energies to the more productive hydroponic system. 

I am also analyzing  the feasibility and payback of solar panels both for
water heating and solar energyin addition to supplies to electricity to charge
storage batteries for  powering
electrical power within the house.  This Eco system would power my growing
lamps for the greenhouse as well as our home and work shops during large
portions of the year.  The cost of the units is coming down dramatically
and the panels are becoming much more reliable and with shorter payback
economics.  I would like to get off the utility grid as much as possible,
both to save money, and become more self reliant.  In addition,  the power 
company pays you for any extra
energy that you generate and feed into their system.  With this
combination, we would be pretty much be off the grid.

The most important thing for me is that I have created and maintained the
garden from scratch with nothing except a shovel and a hoe.   I also have the
additional benefits of virtually eliminating and keeping under  control weeds 
virtually everywhere on our property, and I don't have contaminants 
(oil/antifreeze/grease) from machinery in the garden soil nor the expense of
purchasing nor maintaining this farm machinery.  My total outlay for 
everything over this past year has be less than $50 (to be exact I
have spent exactly $49.27 because
I keep very careful records)  and
that includes all my building materials, seeds, etc. mainly owing to all
massive amount of valuable used building supplies and materials I received 
from
my old neighbor.

I finally feel that my background in farming and my upbringing on the farm as 
a
child has allowed me to tackle projects that I might otherwise would never 
have tackled.  I hated the work sometimes back then as a young man of age 11 
up
until I graduated from High School, but  Iam
thankful for it now.

That's all from Tongret Farm for now.

Best of luck and best regards,

Leon Tongret
Tongret Farm
 



________________________________
From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Fri, November 6, 2009 1:27:10 AM
Subject: [permaculture] [Fwd: [pchealth] Lawrence London's Health & Nutrition 
Firefox Browser Bookmarks]


I have put online all my current health and nutrition links, stored in
my FireFox browser's bookmarks - personal bookmarks folder. There is a
lot of useful and interesting information here though some may be of
marginal value; there are lots of BBC Health news items, all well worth
a read with each article linking to much related reference material and
other BBC news articles on the same subject.

Lawrence London's Health & Nutrition Firefox Browser Bookmarks
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/HEALTH&NUTRITION-LINKS.html

You can actually copy and paste this page source code into your own
bookmarks file.
_______________________________________________
pchealth mailing list
pchealth@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/pchealth


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Subject: [permaculture] Tell the Senate HELP Committee to Protect
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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] Tell the Senate HELP Committee to  Protect
Sustainable and Organic Family Farms in the Senate Food Safety Bill
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:26:32 -0800
From: Tracy Lerman <tracy@OFRF.ORG>
Reply-To: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group

Friends,

Please find OFRF's most recent OFAN alert below and at this link:
http://ofrf.org/action/ofan/091112_alert.html

If you would like to join the Organic Farmers Action Network,
you can do so here: https://ofrf.org/subscribe/ofan.html.

Organically yours,

Tracy Lerman
OFRF Policy Organizer


November 12, 2009

Tell the Senator HELP Committee:
Food Safety Bill Must Protect Sustainable and Organic Family Farms

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee will take
up the Senate's version of major food safety legislation (S. 510) on
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009. While this bill would strengthen the safety
of the food supply, it also contains several provisions that could seriously
harm small scale and organic farmers, local and regional food systems, and
conservation and wildlife habitat. The National Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition (NSAC) and the National Organic Coalition (NOC) have put forth a
set of proposed amendments to address some of these concerns.

Your Senators, Kay Hagan and Richard Burr, sit on the Senate HELP Committee.
Please contact them TODAY and ask them to support the amendments to S. 510
proposed by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National
Organic Coalition. Specific talking points and Senate HELP Committee members
and their contact info are below.

Specific Talking Points

The bill should provide small and mid-sized family farms that market
value-added farm products
with training and technical assistance in developing food safety plans
for their farms.


The bill should narrow the kinds of farm activities subject to FDA
control and to base any regulation
of farms on sound risk analysis. (Current FDA rules assume, without
specific scientific evidence or
risk analysis, that all farms which undertake any one of a long list of
processing, labeling or packaging
activities should be regulated.)


The bill should integrate the FDA standards with the organic
certification rules. FDA compliance should
not jeopardize a farmer's ability to be organically certified under
USDA's National Organic Program.


The bill should require that FDA food safety standards and guidance will
not contradict federal
conservation, environmental, and wildlife standards and practices.
Farmer should not have to choose
which federal agency to obey and which to reject.


Farmers who sell directly to consumers should not be required to keep
extra records and be part of a
federal "traceback" system. All other farms should not be required to
maintain records electronically
or records beyond the first point of sale.

Senate HELP Committee Contact Info

Senator                                  Phone                         Fax

Democrats

Tom Harkin (IA)                 202-224-3254          No fax
Chris Dodd (CT)                 202-224-2823          202-224-1083
Barbara Mikulski (MD)         202-224-4654          202-224-8858
Jeff Bingaman (NM)            202-224-5521          No fax
Patty Murray (WA)             202-224-2621          202-224-0238
Jack Reed (RI)                            202-224-4642          202-224-4680
Bernie Sanders (VT)           202-224-5141          202-228-0776
Sherrod Brown (OH)           202-224-2315          202-228-6321
Bob Casey (PA)                  202-224-6324          202-228-0604
Kay Hagan (NC)                 202-224-6342          202-228-2563
Jeff Merkley (OR)               202-224-3753          202-228-3997
Al Franken (MN)                 202-224-5641           No fax
Michael Bennet (CO)           202-224-5852           202-228-5036


Senator                                  Phone                         Fax

Republicans

Mike Enzi (WY)                   202-224-3424          202-228-0359
Judd Gregg (NH)                202-224-3324          No fax
Lamar Alexander (TN)         202-224-4944          202-228-3398
Richard Burr (NC)               202-224-3154          202-228-2981
Johnny Isakson (GA)           202-224-3643          202-228-0724
Orrin Hatch (UT)                 202-224-5251          202-224-6331
Pat Roberts (KS)                202-224-4774          202-224-3514
Tom Coburn (OK)               202-224-5754          202-224-6008
Lisa Murkowski (AK)           202-224-6665          202-224-5301


Let us know if you contact Senators Hagan and Burr.
Email Tracy Lerman, OFRF Policy Organizer at tracy@ofrf.org.

Background

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will mark
up S. 510, the Senate version of major food safety legislation next
Wednesday, November 18. The House of Representatives passed similar
legislation, HR 2749, last July. Both bills focus on foods regulated by the
Food and Drug Administration, not meat and poultry which is regulated by
USDA.

S. 510 includes several key reforms that would put real teeth into federal
regulation of large-scale food processing corporations to better protect
consumers. However, the bill as written could also do serious harm to
organic and family farming, local and regional food systems, and
conservation and wildlife protection. The good news is the HELP committee
can fix those problems with the adoption of some common sense provisions.

The proposed amendments from NSAC and NOC would retain the crack-down on
corporate bad actors without erecting dangerous new barriers to the growing
healthy food movement. Safer food systems have small and mid-sized family
farms, sustainable and organic production methods, and more local and
regional food sourcing.

More Information

NSAC's talking points on S. 510

NSAC's Policy Brief Food Safety on the Farm

OFAN Policy Alert for the House of Representatives' Food Safety Bill, HR
2749, which passed the House last July

Join the Organic Farmers Action Network today:
https://ofrf.org/subscribe/ofan.html

[ Privacy Policy] | [ unsubscribe here]
Organic Farming Research Foundation, 303 Potrero St. #29-203, Santa
Cruz, CA 95060
tel. 831-426-6606, action@ofrf.org, www.ofrf.org.

Tracy Lerman
Policy Organizer
Organic Farming Research Foundation
PO Box 440 * Santa Cruz, CA 95061
p: (831) 426-6606 x 108 * f: (831) 426-6670
www.ofrf.org <http://www.ofrf.org/>  * tracy@ofrf.org

"Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our
deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner
sense of justice than we do."  - Wendell Berry

Join the Organic Farmers Action Network today! For more info, visit http://
<http://ofrf.org/subscribe/ofan.html> ofrf.org/subscribe/ofan.html.