I also really respect the fact that he is out there actively putting permaculture theories into practice; instead of charging inflated prices for courses and writing books on the subject. No offense to anyone but I feel the term Permaculture is often bastardized by some folks. I think this guy, however, is the real deal and we need more people doing exactly what he is doing- GOING FOR IT.
Yep, and Mark says he's taught a number of sections of permaculture courses, too. If you're interested in broadacre permaculture, he's probably the best teacher in North America because he explains everything from his experience doing commercial permaculture in this place - a very unique and valuable perspective!
Masanobu Fukuoka has shown how to grow wheat, rice and barley without tilling the ground and while building up the soil. In the 1970s he wrote a book about it called the "The One-Straw Revolution". It can be done just need to get more people to apply it.
Amazing!! I admire the final ~1 minute (conclusions he makes) "Let's not tell everybody it's easy; the whole doom and gloom fear industry might go broke." hahahahah This guy is awesome and sees it all in very simple terms and sums up solutions adequately and fluently.
i never met him and i never knew him on a personal level but man i really miss steve irwin. so full of life and would generally make you happy just watching him.
since the present farming methods are Sheer Total Utter Poisoning It to Death (STUPID) I think some remediation is a good thing before planting a "zillion" plants and getting into the STUN phase of the journey. things like mineral remediation, seeing where the fertility of that section is versus where you would want it to enter the STUN phase. as Mark says the biological systems take freaking long and it is reasonable to invest a few years at the start (and maybe more than a few) in order to bring the soil up to snuff. :3
Charlie Durrant Hi Charlie, the nutritional delivery to humans by animals is a negative. and the environ impact is really really negative. I agree on using what is available to remediate the soil but not animals. :)
+towardthelight:) If you don't use animals to break down the biomass, what will? Our local metropark thought the same thing and ended up with a huge thatch layer and they ended up cutting and baling it(in a savanna setting), how green is that? How do you provide fertility for the soil, by making compost for tens of thousands of acres, show me who is doing it on that scale, please?
Hi Cheryl, I am interested in staying away from the present domestication co-dependence situation. Things do rot. But I am not against natural systems. :3
21:47 You math is off. If 1% increase in organic matter results in 10% increase in water retention, a 2% increase in organic matter will result in 21% increase in water retention, NOT 100% increase.
Does anyone have a scientific paper on that last number he threw out there? "A 2% increase in soil organic matter stores 100 times more water. You can go through a drought."
mark could you add KELP FARMING to your enterprises and ORGANIC VALLEY distribution? BREN SMITH of 3D OCEAN FARMING and GARY FREITAG of ALASKA SEA GRANT are your counterparts on the kelp side. yahooie!
Depends on your strategy. There are old people who are looking for successors to take care of their land, because their children don't want to or they don't have any. There are places that nobody wants - maybe because of contamination of the soil or poor soil. These are cheaper but will take more time to rebalance the soil or you might be forced to use raised beds.
@ 21:56 you state that 1% increase in bio mass gives a 10% increase in water retention. Then you say a 2% increase in biomass gives 10%x10%=100% increase in water retention.........? The two should be added not multiplied. (2% increase gives 20% water retention). Still a great thing. Thanks for the video. I am enjoying your book and I appreciate someone that practices what they preach!
He is completely wrong during his little rant of current expenses vs investment. Determining change in annual cash flow caused by a capital investment is exactly how to measure the decision. In finance its called capital budgeting. This guy has a self righteous attitude and he talks down to people. He doesn't know shit about finance and it makes me wonder if he knows as much as he thinks he does about everything else. Just say'in
