Permaculture/Agriculture

This lady has been practicing permaculture for thirty years! Now let her drop some knowledge on you.
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Sustainable agricultural practices emit no greenhouse gases and actually sequester carbon!
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Great news for farmers in India! The Supreme Court has ordered a moratorium on GMO trail crops!
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Its people like this who I aspire to be: Guerilla Gardener extraordinaire, Ron Finley.
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Everybody loves permaculture videos! Especially since these are the top five most inspiring of them all. Whether that's true or not, they're still pretty cool.
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This is a nice heart warming story of an Indian student who is now practicing permaculture at an orphanage in India. Where did he learn his tricks? Israel!
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This week people gathered to protest Monsanto in 52 countries and 436 cities. This gives me a lot of hope that people are very aware of... just how evil this company really is. I am sorry. I hate using that word but there is mounting evidence that Monsanto's Round-up Ready products are destroying bee populations across the world. I can't think of anything more terrifying.

What's not so hopeful, or that surprising, is that the Senate overwhelmingly rejected a bill to label GMO foods.

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The Guardian brings another great article and discussion about the slow dissemination of permaculture. The author gives three reasons why permaculture has failed to catch the mainstream eye. I agree with her and I think permaculturists need to really work hard to combat these challenges.

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I loved this article because I think it is the places like Malawi where permaculture can make a huge impact because the people are still very tied to the land. There is still a huge rural population in these countries whereas in the Western developed countries people have all moved to the cities and suburbs.

Permaculture can generate farmers' income, restore ecological health and make a huge impact in countries like Malawi.

Good work, Kusamala Institute!
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This is an awesome project going on in Austin, Texas. This is exactly the small, local change that make the deepest impact. Watch the video and support the Food is Free Project.

Or build your own front yard garden and bring the resiliency movement to your neighborhood.

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This is a fantastic story about permaculture changing behaviors and helping solve malnutrition in Malawi.

I recently read "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind." It's a fantastic book but other than wind power, the reader learns a ton about life in Malawi. It's pretty tough. Especially you grow one crop of maize a year and drought is a continuing problem.

I am relieved to hear that permaculture is starting to make a real impact in Africa. It goes to show that sustainability is not just a developed world trend or fad. Its a great way to grow a variety of foods, get all of your micro-nutrients and improve your family's livelihood and income.

I believe that permaculture practitioners might have a lot more success in implementing permaculture in places like Asia and Africa because the people are far closer to the land and they realize when their is a new, more effective way to grow food. It took only four years for the community to realize that Luwayo Biswick was onto something whereas permaculture in the States is not nearly noticed as fast because most folks just buy their produce at the supermarket.
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This space will feature permaculture articles as well as any articles addressing food, organic farming, urban gardening, etc.

Check it! The Urban Homestead Act...

I scanned this article off of resilience.org but the original is above.

I can't tell how excited I got when I read this. Not just because an Urban Homestead Act is great idea but also because I feel like I discussed at length with best friend and brother Hudson Spivey. The idea stops seeming so crazy and impractical when one considers the absolute disaster most American inner cities have become. Nobody lives there! Taking the most well known example, Detroit, the urban population has declined by more than 25% in the last decade. This is no isolated case either its most notably happening in Milwaukee and Cleveland and varying degrees in urban areas all of over the country.

If cities were to enact an Urban Homestead Act I feel the positive ramifications would be huge. People would have a chance to own a home again if they improved the property after 5 years. Not only would we see a reinvestment in the abandoned inner city but probably a drop in crime. I wouldn't imagine the homesteaders would increase crime. Finally, it would be a great way to retrofit the urban area by increasing urban food production and community resilience. So right on, Gretchen Mead! Keep up the good work!