permaculture

[venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 3/14/2013 11:30 PM, Lawrence London wrote:
> [an amazing essay published by resilience.org]
>
> When agriculture stops working: A guide to growing food in the age of
> climate destabilization and civilization collapse
> by Dan Allen <http://www.resilience.org/author-detail/1151372-dan-allen>,
> originally published by Resilience.org  | Mar 12, 2013
>
> *This is Part 1 of an essay in 2 parts. Part 1, below, outlines the issues.
> Part 2, offers 'Ten Recommendations for Growing Food in the
> Anthropocene<http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-03-13/when-agriculture-stops-working-ten-recommendations-for-growing-food-in-the-anthropocene>
> *
> When agriculture stops working: A guide to growing food in the age of
> climate destabilization and civilization collapse
> http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-03-11/when-agriculture-stops-working-a-guide-to-growing-food-in-the-age-of-climate-destabilization-and-civilization-collapse

A really fine comment on this essay:

"Showing 13 comments

Walter Haugen

It will be interesting to see the recommendations. Here are mine:
1) Staple crops - Think potatoes as well as alternative grains. Think 
kilocalorie value and complex of vitamins rather than protein. People 
need less protein than they think. Think sunchokes as a default crop. 
Native to North American and they grow like weeds and can be left in the 
ground all winter and harvested as needed. The stalks stick up through 
the snow. Grow lots of dry beans. I live in a maritime climate and I 
still get plenty of dry beans. Kidneys and cannellinis are especially 
good.2) Think semi-permanent grain. I grow wheat and triticale multiple 
years in a row because I just till the ground again after harvest. The 
grain that drops reseeds. This is still an annual grain but on the same 
piece of ground. Steven Jones and Wes Jackson (and their fellow 
researchers) are working on perennial grains but they are still "twenty 
years out." Semi-permanent wheat is an interim step.3) Eat more 
vegetables and do less cooking. The saying, "Cook like an Italian rather 
than a French person" means less preparation of better ingredients 
rather than complicated sauces.4) Do your own experiments. I currently 
grow 30 kinds of potatoes, 2 of which I developed myself using Burbank's 
seedball method. I am also working on 2 corn varieties that grow well in 
our maritime climate. The genetics are not that difficult to understand. 
A high school biology course, observation and experimentation are all 
you need.5) Most of all, get off your duff and actually DO something. 
Sitting at your computer and reading articles is just a preliminary 
step. Take your knowledge and actually put it into practice. There are a 
few of us beyond organic, small-scale farmers out there but not enough. 
You will have to grow at least some of your own food soon enough and 
farming is a skilled profession. Start now."