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Anatomy of a photovoltaic battery system – Part 1
Gound mounted array of polycrystalline panels, Paynes Creek National park, Toledo Institute for Development and Environment Anatomy of a photovoltaic battery system – Part 1 Maya Mountain Research Farm was founded in 1988 in a remote area that had no electricity. In 1994 we built our first small stand alone 12 volt system which ran […]
Empowered Thinking for Deep Change
Empowered Thinking for Deep Change We’re so in the habit of controlling each other/being controlled that we’ve forgotten how to think for ourselves. We’re so overwhelmed by the challenges we face that we assume there’s nothing we can do (and it’s all our fault). And we assume that controlling each other is necessary and failing […]
Soil Testing: Why Is It So Vital For The Natural Environment?
Soil Testing: Why Is It So Vital For The Natural Environment? Improving productivity is the core goal of each farmer, and good soils assist to gain it. Soil structure, composition, and fertility are key aspects to consider while choosing crops to sow, fertilisers to add, and water volumes to distribute. Thus, testing becomes a crucial […]
10-Plus Edibles That Make Great Houseplants
10-Plus Edibles That Make Great Houseplants Herbs, Hibiscus, Citrus and more To be completely honest, I’m not usually that high on house plants. It’s for simple reasons really. I’ve done my share of babysitting them, and they tend to be high maintenance, requiring regular watering regardless of the weather, prime positioning around the windows, and […]
Beyond Eggs – Part 1
Beyond Eggs – Part 1 The Pros and Cons of Free Range and Mobile Chicken Pens Well-managed chickens can provide eggs and meat as well as composting assistance, sanitation and pest reduction, soil amendment services, and entertainment. But poorly managed chickens tend to focus all their talents and energy into very destructive pursuits, as you […]
Two Different Kinds of Healthcare–Part 1
TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF HEALTHCARE – PART 1 The doctor visit and the pharmaceutical prescription usually get us back on the job quickly and with a minimum of inconvenience. Modern pharmaceutical medicine is like the medical equivalent of fast food – it’s fast, it’s convenient, and too much of it erodes our health over […]
CRISIS, HOPE, AND PERMACULTURE
CRISIS, HOPE, AND PERMACULTURE A “Green New Deal” is on everyone’s lips, but how do we actually get there? Our brand new “Green is the New Silver (Lining): Crisis, Hope, and Permaculture,” (http://bit.ly/hope-permaculture) the first of 4 videos in our free-to-view “Permaculture Masterclass,” offers one possible answer. And if we do this right, we can […]
The Polyculture Market Garden Study–Results From Year 4–2018
THE POLYCULTURE MARKET GARDEN STUDY – RESULTS FROM YEAR 4 – 2018 HERE ARE THE RESULTS FROM THE FOURTH YEAR OF OUR MARKET GARDEN POLYCULTURE STUDY. THIS STUDY LOOKS AT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROWING ANNUAL VEGETABLES AND HERBS IN POLYCULTURES VS GROWING THEM IN TRADITIONAL BLOCKS. In this post you will find an overview of […]
How to Make Your Garden Have Less Weeds?
HOW TO MAKE YOUR GARDEN HAVE LESS WEEDS? In crop gardens, we sometimes get into a spatial race with weeds, and the solution is to replace the weeds with “designed weeds” to take up the space. This can be done with green manure mulches to fertilize the gardens and supply quality mulch. This is an […]
Saving the Planet
SAVING THE PLANET I have often found myself wincing as I hear people talking about saving the planet. It’s felt wrong! I can hear the voices of condemnation screaming at me now … ‘What a horrible person you are not to agree with saving the planet.’… but let me explain. I’m the same age as Geoff […]
Growing Grains at the Home-Scale Farm
GROWING GRAINS AT THE HOME-SCALE FARM I dream of growing grains, of being so far down the line in establishing a kitchen garden, a vegetable garden, a food forest, that time can be allocated to developing a system for handling the cereal part of the food supply. Well, let me put that differently: I aspire […]
Humanure Part 2: Dealing With It
HUMANURE PART 2: DEALING WITH IT In part 1(1) of this article I explored a little into why humanure is beneficial to the planet, including the need to replenish our aquifers and for people to have access to safe drinking water, the high phosphorous content of human poo compared to the finite and dwindling supply […]
Multi-Functional Living: Wood Heat
MULTI-FUNCTIONAL LIVING: WOOD HEAT This year Emma and I are taking something we did last year and making it more functional: We are heating with wood, full-time. Previously, we often had fires at night, giving the heating system a break and enjoying the atmosphere, but it was noncommittal. Some nights we didn’t bother. We used […]
Humanure Part 1: Why Should We Give a Crap?
HUMANURE PART 1: WHY SHOULD WE GIVE A CRAP? Permaculture is not just about garden design. Even if you don’t have land or access to land, looking at life from a permaculture perspective can help you to make life decisions and take actions towards upholding the ethics of permaculture in your daily practices. This article […]
My Top 10 Books That Inspired Our Project
MY TOP 10 BOOKS THAT INSPIRED OUR PROJECT At the beginning of 2017 Permanent Publications sent us an email expressing an interest to publish a book on our polyculture trials and experiences. I’d been thinking about writing this book for some time and responded with gleeful enthusiasm. I’m happy to announce that we have signed the publishing […]
