permaculture

[Cory Brennan <cory8570@yahoo.com>]

Chris,  Would be interested in getting a copy of this paper. I'm sorry, but 
your email address is not showing through. 



> 
> At 08:26 PM 4/9/2011, you wrote:
> >Not everybody has access to coconut fibre, but you may
> be interested 
> >to learn that the windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei)
> will grow 
> >very well in cold climates and at high altitudes. 
> It does very well 
> >in my own preferred locale in the Tibetan foothills
> where is has 
> >been used for millenia as a source of coir type fibre.
> >I was recently given a very interesting paper on the
> many uses of 
> >this plant in Chinese history by Frederick Essig,
> Professor Emeritus 
> >of Biology at USF.  I you send me an email off
> list, then I would be 
> >happy to share a copy with you.
> >
> >Hope that this helps
> >
> >Chris
> >
> >--- On Sun, 4/10/11, David Muhl <dmuhl65@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > From: David Muhl <dmuhl65@yahoo.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [permaculture] Eliot Coleman's seed
> starting mixture
> > > To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > > Date: Sunday, April 10, 2011, 3:14 AM
> > > True...the import/export of coir
> > > around the world is (mostly) a byproduct of
> coconut
> > > plantations of various sizes, and it's pretty
> obvious that
> > > monocrop agriculture does not lend itself to
> > > biodiversity.  However, for those that live
> in climates
> > > where coconut palms grow, it can be a renewable
> resource if
> > > harvested as needed at the local level for local
> use, and
> > > not treated as merely an export commodity. 
> This is not
> > > currently an option for many of us, but it is for
> some.
> > >
> > > For anyone that might be feeling guilty about
> their
> > > "commercial" coir use and orangutan habitat
> destruction, it
> > > should be clarified that 90% of the worlds
> coconut coir
> > > production occurs in India/Sri Lanka.  Coir
> is made
> > > from coconuts, and since "Oil Palms" don't
> produce coconuts,
> > > people need not feel guilty about their coir use
> affecting
> > > orangutan habitat in Borneo and Sumatra. 
> My
> > > understanding is that the damage in these areas
> is due
> > > primarily to timber and "oil palm" production
> (followed by
> > > rubber, cacao, coffee, cinnamon, and mining
> operations).
> > >
> > >
> > > > On 4/8/2011 2:18 PM, Paul Cross
> > > > wrote:
> > > > > I've often wondered why people seem to
> think coir
> > > is
> > > > ecological. It is
> > > > > produced as a byproduct of industrial
> agriculture
> > > that
> > > > destroys
> > > > > rainforests and plants monocrops of
> palms. As
> > > > permaculturalists we have
> > > > > to recognize that any outside input
> impacts the
> > > site
> > > > from which it was
> > > > > taken. Maybe in our accounting that is
> > > acceptable, or
> > > > maybe it is not.
> > > > > We can think we're doing good by
> washing our
> > > dishes in
> > > > coconut oil soap
> > > > > instead of petrochemical detergents,
> growing
> > > seedlings
> > > > in coir instead
> > > > > of peat, but the orangutans who lost
> their
> > > habitat to
> > > > palm plantations
> > > > > don't see it that way. We're always
> causing
> > > impacts.
> > > >
> > > > To back you up on this here's something I
> picked up
> > > on
> > > > recently:
> > > >
> > > > "The biggest problem agriculturally is that
> the most
> > > > profitable crop
> > > > here and in Indonesia is palm trees for palm
> oil, the
> > > > universal cooking
> > > > oil in this part of the world. 
> Problems are that
> > > palm
> > > > oil is hideously
> > > > viscous and overwhelms anything cooked in
> it.  In
> > > > addition, there is no
> > > > life form that can survive in a palm oil
> forest.
> > > Zero
> > > > ecological balance."
> > > >
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> > > > Texas Plant and Soil Lab
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> > > > and paul@richsoil.com
> > > >
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> 
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