Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Elephants in Permaculture

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk" <wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Elephants in Permaculture
  • Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 06:52:05 +0000 (GMT)

I did a bit of volunteering at the Elephant sanctuary and it was a
fascinating experience, although I am not sure that the volunteers have
enough influence over the owners to make any long term permaculture changes
to the site, even though it desperately needs it. Still, I made some
proposals so we shall see what happens.

The elephants themselves were fascinating and unbelievably intelligent. I
reckon that this will be the first species that we will be able to verbally
communicate with once we start treating the animal kingdom with the required
level of respect. I also think that they have massive potential as therapy
animals.

The dung was very interesting. An elephant consumes up to 300 kg of food per
day and excretes about fully half of this. In many parts it is used to make
high quality paper. As manure it would fit in nicely to one of Jo Salatin's
schemes.
Most curious of all though is the prevalence for magic mushrooms to spout up
in their dung. Thailand is not famous for this kind of fungi but the seem to
appear almost by default on elephant dung piles as if there is some internal
process that encourages them. I will have to write to Paul Stamets and see
what he knows about this.

One question.
The tilthing machine is a great idea but why is it so expensive?

Chris

--- On Mon, 1/30/12, Lawrence F. London, Jr. <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
wrote:

> From: Lawrence F. London, Jr. <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Elephants in Permaculture
> To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Monday, January 30, 2012, 12:38 AM
> 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).
>
> _______________________________________________
> permaculture mailing list
> permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> subscribe/unsubscribe|user config|list info:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
> message archives:  https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/permaculture/
> Google message archive search:
> site: lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture
> [searchstring]
> Avant Geared https://plus.google.com/116100117925365792988/about
> permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
>




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page