permaculture

[robyn@permaculture.com.au]

Theres aNatural Farming system that is gaining popularity in parts of  
Asia, had a few folk doing PDCs in Taiwan the past few years into one  
of these new NF systems. they dont "believe" in use of compost, mulch,  
worms, animal manures, legumes or crop rotation, you plant the same  
plant  in the same place year after year and the plant is supposed to  
magically create the perfect conditions for itself. Followers are  
quite dogmatic that organic practices using the above are anti nature.
I always now specify Fukuoka systems and no longer use the term  
Natural Farming as i dont want Fukuoka or permaculture for that  
matter, confused with such a limited and flawed approach.
Robyn
Quoting Rob Crook <crookkohler@bellsouth.net>:

> Dieter,
>
> Very well said.
>
> Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org  
> [mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dieter  
> Brand
> Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2012 5:53 AM
> To: permaculture
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] fukuoka_farming mailing list needs aco-moderator.
>
> Frances, I don?t have to consult a dictionary to understand the  
> meaning of traditional farming.  I grew up in the 50s on a small  
> family farm in the North of Europe.  I can?t remember if there was a  
> tractor in the village at that time.  But we certainly didn't have  
> the money to afford one.  Nor did we have money to buy fertilizers  
> or herbicides.  My grandfather cultivated the land like it had  
> always been cultivated.  Today, I live in a poor region in the South  
> of Europe.  My land has never seen a tractor or any other heavy  
> equipment.  The previous owner cultivated the land with a donkey  
> like generations before him.
>
> So, the meaning of traditional farming and what it was like to  
> produce most of what you needed for life is still in the living  
> memory, even though it seems totally incomprehensible to most  
> contemporaries who have lived all their life in an industrial society.
>
> I appreciate Permaculture for its emphasis on practical solutions,  
> yet I think there is a basic approach in NF that isn't very well  
> reflected in PC.  As I said, it is impossible to exactly copy NF  
> methods from the Far East, yet I do find inspiring the examples of  
> some NF pioneers who have farmed their land for decades without  
> mechanization and without fertilizers or any other external input.   
> Even if we cannot use their exact same methods, it demonstrates that  
> we can, under certain circumstances, do without any external inputs,  
> and that it should not be our first priority to soak our land with  
> all kinds of amendments.
>
> Cheers,
> Dieter
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