Darren Doherty Keyline Design Part 2

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRK7WpUi-kGo&v=RK7WpUi-kGo&gl=US

Keyline Design at the Beach (1) Darren Doherty

Video now attached! Sorry! Darren Doherty is one of the worlds foremost experts on the keyline method of water distribution pioneered by P.A.Yeomans.  Its the future of agriculture  This is an excellent video showing how the water moves through the landscape and is part of a series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsWKyv9Hbak

Permaculture Keyline Water Systems: Tom Ward @ Wolf Gulch Farm

Here is another good keyline video.  I don't much approve of the pond liners but he explains it towards the middle of the video.  Other than that its a well developed, medium to large scale keyline system.

Permaculture Keyline Water Systems: Don Tipping @ Seven Seeds Farm

This is a great video on keyline design.  This is the future of homesteading and farming folks so pay close attention.  Multiple crops and superb drought resistance.

Some chicken now has more fat than beef and higher in bacteria counts!

Thank you production agriculture!  This is a direct result of the horrible conditions in which chickens are raised: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/health/2672776/Chicken-now-often-fattier-than-red-meat-rather-than-leaner.html

Ladies and Gentlemen - The Amazing Black Soldier Fly (BSF)

Some of you may know them as Phoenix Worms.  Imagine this, a 95% reduction in the weight and volume of any organic waste including putrescent meat, and 25% conversion to dry biomass that is 42% protein.  Testing has shown that their presence results in a 100 fold reduction in the presence of E.Coli and other bacteria.  As little as 1% dry matter added to foods completely stops the process of fermentation.

http://www.organicvaluerecovery.com/studies/studies_hermetia_antimicrobial.htm

They make EXCELLENT fish and poultry food, repel other fly species, self harvest, the adults cannot feed and do not spread disease, and one square meter of feeding area can consume 15 KILOGRAMS of waste in ONE DAY!  They are truly an amazing creatures.  Some animal farms have started using them to process chicken and swine manure.

http://www.esrint.com/pages/bioconversion.html

Please visit http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/ to read about how to care for and use black soldier flys.

Humanure and Pet Feces

Just hear me out!  I should start this off by saying that ANY time you are processing feces, you must be careful to keep it seperate from your vegetable garden until it is broken down sufficiently.  In addition, one must take care to account for the movement of groundwater.  So locating it next to an open body of water that is not sealed may not be a good idea either.  Also, processing feces directly up hill from or next to root crops like onions and carrots may not be the best idea.  If sufficient distance is provided, and it is being done on a small scale, then its been proven to work.  Septic tanks are common in residential areas so this method is not as outlandish as one would think.  If one wants a more sophisticated approach they could allways use a small scale leachfield like a Watson Wick.  This makes the nutrient more immediately available to plants than in a septic system where you may lose much of it.  One may want to fence it off to keep dogs and wildlife out:

There are more simple ways of handling feces.  As an example, in our yard we have a worm tower for dog waste.  Dogs are carnivores so this could be a good example.  Lets say you have a worm tower where the dog waste is processed.  Bacteria break down the dog feces and other material put into it, worms then eat those bacteria, then excrete feces of their own.  The worm manure is further processed by bacteria and taken up by the roots of a large maple tree.  When this tree sheds it's leaves, they are used to make compost or mulch.  The compost or mulch is then broken down by bacteria and made available to your garden plants.  So to recap the conversion goes something like this: Dog Waste - Bacteria - Worm Castings - Tree Material - Bacteria/Fungi - Compost - Veggies.  How many times does humanure (human feces) have to be processed before its safe for the garden?  Thats the Golden question!  But I think its quite clear that a system like this would be safe.  It just needs to go through enough processing that all pathogens and parasites have been removed.  This method is basically a small scale version of an outhouse, but without the house.  Everyone knows you don't place an outhouse anywhere near a body of water, a well, or a vegetable garden.  http://www.ecofilms.com.au/ has a great diagram of how a worm tower works.  Directly in the vegetable garden, only kitchen waste and other non-fecal components should be used.  Bear in mind that in a setting where feces are being consumed by the worms, this should be located as far away from leaf crops and root crops as possible: 

There are things called composting toilets which people can use to render feces safe for use.  http://www.ceres.org.au/cerescontent/watertrail/files/compost.html has an interesting system design for using worms to process human feces:

This method could work and keeps fecal leachate from entering the surrounding soil.  The leachate is then handled seperately by a wetland type water cleansing system.  Aritifical wetlands are becoming more popular in treating sewage on a larger scale. Of course, I would not recommend using the results directly on your garden beds.  It should be further processed by nature before the resulting material ever ends up on your garden bed.

There are also ways of dry composting feces.  Many of the composting toilets you have seen or heard about involve the use of sawdust.  One goes to the toilet and when they are done a couple handfulls of sawdust or pulverized leaves ect..  are thrown in as a brown to keep things dry.  When the container is full it is changed and brought to an area where it goes through a long term process which can take many months.  This would involve no interaction with the groundwater either.  On a small scale many people may not have the room or resources for this type of operation.  But a little creativity could produce a system that works for you.  The resulting compost can be used on fruit trees or plants that produce mulch to be used elsewhere.  It would not be advisable to ever use this type of compost directly in the garden although there are people that do it.

As you can see, there are perfectly safe ways of using feces to grow veggies, and I don't mean manure, I mean FECES.  One just needs to be aware of the proximity to vegetables, groundwater, and pests.  Complex processing systems that involve regular human intervention are going to attract pests so one must be aware of and make attempts to mitigate that.  Passive systems are sometimes the best on a small scale.  One has to remember that the area where the feces are processed must be a good distance away form the garden.  Perhaps an area where fruit trees or other perennials are located would be best since any nutrients that leach out of the are would be able to for use by the fruit trees.

While its not possible to create a truly closed loop system, this is a major step towards that outcome.  Many places do not allow this so proceed at your own risk.  But, think of all the nutrients leaving your property which can be turned right back into food again.  Not only is it wasteful, its stupid.  Lets try and push the boundary on these types of things and open a dialogue.  Lets change the paradigm.  We are part of nature and our manure belongs in the landscape as much as the next animal.

Fresh Pickles Made Live Culture

They turned out great. Yogurt whey to innoculate and brine with dill, garlic, and peppercorn. Filtered tapwater with no chlorine of course. These pickles are still alive with beneficial bacteria.

Grape vines back from the brink

Brought these grape vines on a small patio back to life with some proper pruning

Blaptica Dubia Feeder Roach

Even today, with a few exceptions such as bees, insects are more tolerated than encouraged in eco-based agriculture. Yes we encourage insects, but mostly beneficial insects which eat other insects in order to keep insect populations down. Nobody really harnesses the true potential insects have to offer. Why not culture insects as a food source for chickens and fish? Additionally, their manure makes a great soil amendment. These roaches are semi-social insects that live happily in large colonies. They eat just about anything. Insects are the forgotten livestock that that nobody seems to take advantage of. If you live in a small place like an apartment, they are a great replacement for chickens as far as processing excess produce. I even feed mine old eggs (hard boiled) and chicken scraps. They can be kept in a tote and the manure added to a compost pile. These are tropical and of no relation to common pest roaches. If roaches don't appeal to you, try darkling beetles (mealworms), carpet beetles, or any other of the many types of insect cultures available.

New raised beds for client in New York! they are going completely organic with all edible plants suited to the north east. This is going to be another great front yard conversion. fully organic. No fertilizers, no pesticides, just nature!

Perennial Grass VS Annual Roots

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:4_Seasons_Roots.jpg This comparison is simply amazing! Tell me which one prevents erosion and increases fertility!

You must click on the link to see the roots washed off and compared but this photo is great too:

How Aquaponics Works.

This is a great article to learn the functions of aquaponics.
http://www.localphilosophy.com/articles/aquaponics.html

The Survival Podcast

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/#top Jack Spirko had a GREAT podcast about edible weeds that aren't weeds. Jack is an incredible resource for ecological farming, survivalism, and sustainability. He demonstrates how these issues cross all political boundaries from the bush hippie to the survivalist doomsday advocate.

Rain water harvesting.

http://m.timesofindia.com/city/kanpur/Rainwater-harvesting-could-reduce-waterlogging-Experts/articleshow/15026097.cms

Project Proposal

18" castle stone retaining wall with backfilled terrace. +12" untreated douglas fir raised beds. Outside slots for greenhouse or protective net frame

Michigan DNR conducts raids on heritage pork farmers

Has anyone heard about this issue in Michigan?  Small farmers growing heritage swine breeds are being forced to destroy their pigs under the assumption that heritage breeds are responsible for the spread of feral hogs.  Of course, big AG production breeds are totally safe.  Not just farmers either.  Private parties who own pigs for their own personal use are being forced to euthanize their swine.  This is strictly a move by the agriculture industry to destroy their competition.  ANY breed of pig will readily go feral and revert to a 'feral' look within a generation or two.  It doesn't matter if its a pink 'state fair' looking variety or one with brown hair.  Instead of handling the situation by hunting or culling from the wild, they are profiling the TYPE of hog which has nothing to do with whether the hog is more likely to go feral.  This is a really dangerous precedent and we should all pay real close attention to how this turns out.  If agribusiness starts taking away our heritage and heirloom breeds, they will destroy our ability to feed ourselves and practice Permaculture.  Its being strongly pushed by the Michigan Pork Producers Association and other large agribusiness associations.  Why do THEY care about the feral hog problem?  Is it out of their concern for the environment? They don't!  This makes it automatically suspect.  The strange thing is that there are environmental groups in favor of this.  I can only think that they have been mislead or are not properly educated on the subject.  Here is a link...
http://www.foodrenegade.com/michigan-orders-slaughter-of-all-heritage-breed-pigs/

What Ants Do

Imagine what ants can do for your compost pile. This took a group of 25 or so ants 3 weeks to accomplish. If you don't want ants don't let it dry out. Obviously they aren't all bad.

Isolating Genes for Heirloom Characteristics?

I found this rather humorous and bizarre.  Why not just grow heirloom tomatoes?  I guess 'they' want the best of both worlds.  At the very least its an admission that the heirloom market is putting pressure on production agriculture.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628181729.htm