permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 1/29/2012 11:20 AM, Chris Carnevale wrote:
> I have no personal experience with elephants as livestock, but I imagine
> they kick out an inordinate amount of manure--like a personal manure
> factory.  Manure can often be the best perk of keeping livestock--they can
> process green material and turn it into a form that will quickly
> incorporate into the soil and enrich it.  I cannot speak at all to the
> particular chemical composition of elephant manure, but presumably it could
> play a primary role in your soil building process.  I am imagining that you
> could use the elephant to eat vigorous plants that will quickly grow
> back--you may even want to plant vigorous feedstock plants like this to
> keep a constant supply of elephant food.  Another option, which I don't
> know if it would work or not but is worth considering, would be to use the
> elephant to clear land of vegetation, similar to how a goat can clear a
> weed patch or pigs can till up the soil.  While elephants might temporarily
> compact the soil due to their weight, they would presumably leave behind a
> lot of nutrient rich organic from their manure, which would provide the
> basis for a healthy soil building process.

That's a great idea.

In combination for land clearing and soil fertilization and tilthing:

Elephants and goats followed by pigs and poultry, then crops, in 
rotation as often as is needed. Have the elephant pull a 
hiller/beddder/tilther if you don't already use draft animals to do this 
(horses, mules or oxen).