Passionate Permaculture

August 24, 2001 By Reuters. RAMINGSTEIN, Austria -- In the coldest part of Austria, a farmer is turning conventional wisdom on its head by growing a veritable Garden of Eden full of tropical plants in the open on his steep Alpine pastures.
Amid average annual temperatures of a mere 39.5 Fahrenheit, Sepp Holzer grows everything from apricots to eucalyptus, figs to kiwi fruit, peaches to wheat at an altitude of between 3,300 and 4,900 feet. Once branded a fool, fined and threatened with imprisonment for defying Austrian regulations that dictate what is planted where, he is now feted worldwide for creating the only functioning "permaculture" farm in Europe. Permaculture, an abbreviation of permanent culture, is the development of agricultural ecosystems which are complete and self-sustaining.
"Once planted, I do absolutely nothing," Holzer told Reuters. "It really is just nature working for itself -- no weeding, no pruning, no watering, no fertilizer, no pesticides."
His 110 acres of land in the mountainous Lungau region in the province of Salzburg are classed by European Union directives as unfit for agricultural cultivation due to the steep gradient and poor soil. When Holzer inherited the farm - then 44.5 acres - 39 years ago, it was only used for the grazing of the family's cows and sheep. He carved terraces out of the steep inclines - like the ancient Incas and Maya of South and Central America - to stop erosion and trap rainfall. He rejected the use of pesticides and fertilizers, which he considered poisonous, and the concept of mono culture - the cultivation of just one plant type over an expanse of land - because he believed it sapped the soil of all nutrients. Instead he began growing a host of timber and fruit trees, shrubs and grasses all mixed up together.
"Everyone said I was mad and I had to pay numerous fines because the authorities said that it was illegal to plant such a combination," Holzer said. "When I bought this patch of land off a farmer, it was not fit for the cows and sheep grazing on it. People scoffed that I was neglecting my land -- but now they come to harvest cherries from June to October." "This is the worst type of soil, which just goes to prove that there is no bad soil, just bad farmers," he added.
PROOF IS IN EATING OF PUDDING Most of the plants Holzer and his wife Vroni grow at his "Krameterhof" holding are not meant to flourish in Alpine conditions, according to experts. In winter, the temperature can fall to below minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit and a blanket of snow lingers into May. Snow can even fall in the height of summer. Holzer said he found agricultural textbooks and his own years at agricultural college virtually useless. "I followed their advice initially, but my trees started dying off. I then realized that I had to eradicate from my memory all that I'd learned at college," he said.
Enlightenment came one winter during one of Holzer's routine moonlight strolls, when he noticed that the only apricot tree faring well in the harsh winter conditions was one he had forgotten to cut back according to ministerial regulations. Unlike the pruned trees whose main lower branches snapped off under the weight of snow, the "neglected" tree's branches were intact. Their unrestricted length had allowed them to droop with the tips touching the ground for support while the snow slid off, Holzer found. Allowing natural vegetation to grow around the trunk provided further support and nourishment for the tree. "If people would only realize that if one leads a life in cooperation with nature and not against it, then nobody in the world need die of starvation," he said.
LET NATURE TAKE ITS OWN COURSE
Holzer's philosophy is that nature knows best and needs negligible interference from Man. "We're born into paradise, but are destroying its foundation, the soil. The soil can look after itself, there's no need for Man to tamper with it." Giant stone slabs pepper the landscape and serve as incubators by absorbing the sunlight and giving off warmth. The trees do their part as well in keeping the ground warm. Fallen foliage helps keep frost from reaching the roots. Tree stumps dot the plantations to regulate irrigation. Like a sponge they soak up water and later distribute it. Animals too have a role in the Holzer ecosystem. Scavenging pigs till the soil in place of a tractor, while grass snakes were reintroduced to keep voracious slugs and mice in check. Holzer is modest about his achievement which has led to projects in more than 40 countries and lectures on "the elimination of poverty in agriculture." He has rejected suggestions that he should have his method of permaculture patented. "I would consider that as theft from nature. It's not my possession, I got it from nature and have an obligation to pass this knowledge on," the bearded 59-year- old said.
INSPIRATIONAL, BUT ECONOMICALLY VIABLE?
Holzer says his method of organic farming produces a much higher quality of crops than conventional farming, and at a fraction of the cost and effort. He says his rare strain of grain contains 12 times the goodness of conventionally grown grain and as a result fetches a price 100 times higher. His success means that he no longer lives directly off the crops in his sprawling garden, or the rare fish in his Alpine ponds and lakes. People pay to pick their own fruit from his land, experts visit to study "Holzer Permaculture," and the man himself regularly holds seminars when not in a far-off country such as Colombia solving chronic problems of the soil. And only one thing has so far stumped the man with green fingers. "Bananas," he said with a shrug of his burly frame. "They froze. It's no surprise as they need an average temperature of 30 degrees. But I'm still working on it."
Copyright 2001, Reuters

Newspaper Pots

You've probably seen one or another version of this potmaker. I wanted my husband to try making me one, and then I started looking at the soupcans I have been saving and realized it was the perfect shape for a potmaker! So I made some newspaper pots tonight and they were SO easy to make. I just cut long strips of newspaper about 4 or 5" wide, cutting through the length of the paper, through the centre fold. Then I wrapped the strip around my can leaving an overhang on the bottom. I wrapped 3 layers, and then folded the bottom in like I was wrapping a present, pulled out the can, and voila! instant pot for a seed to be planted. Best part is all of our newspapers are printed with non-toxic inks and they biodegrade quickly in soil, so the roots will be able to penetrate the pot and I can put these directly into my garden when the soil warms up. And if my seedling outgrows this size of pot before my garden is ready, I can just pop it, pot and all, into a larger sized newspaper pot (thinking I'll use the 454 mL size that tomatoes come in). As soon as seedlings get their first 'true leaves' they need to be moved into a larger pot -- my grannie always told me this is the key to getting a real head-start to healthy plants. She used to put a fan on her tomato seedlings for 10 minutes every day to guarantee strong plants. So tomorrow I'll be rummaging for crates to house all of these pots before I can plant them up. The key is to keep them all pushed close together in a crate, supported so they stay upright and don't squash down while the roots are making them firm and easier to move around. Also, I mustn't let them dry out.
AND, I read about using toilet rolls (I knew I was saving them for SOMEthing!) for planting earlier seedlings, like sweetpeas. They don't even need a bottom, just pop them into a container (I'm using a waxed paper ice-cream container that I've been trying to find a good second use for), fill with pre-moistened soil, pop in the seed to the required depth (I use an old wooden chopstick for making the hole) and water from the bottom up. When the seedling grows the roots will hold in the soil. And again, you can just pop the seedling inside the paper tube into the ground, eliminating root damage in the transplant. Sweetpeas and poppies and nasturtiums hate to have their roots disturbed, so this is a perfect solution. I usually plant all these directly outside, but if the ground is too wet the seeds will rot, and if its too cold they won't germinate so this gives me a head-start.
I'm wishing I'd asked people to save me their single-serving-yogurt containers as those would make perfect seedling planters too... aah well, there's always next year!
And here's an excellent re-use for plastic 4L milk containers. That will be my next project.

Birdseed Bag Mini-Greenhouses

Do you grow tomatoes in the summer? Do you feed the birds in the winter? Perfect!
Now's the time to start saving birdseed bags to protect your small tomato plants when you set them out. You slit open the top and bottom of the bag, slide it over the tomato cage until the weather warms up a little, and you get a jump on the growing season. After you're finished with the bags, you can store them for next year or find another use for them or recycle them. Just make sure they're clean before you put them in recycling. I've heard terrible rumours about recycling depots throwing away tonnes of recyclables because they were dirty.

New Use for Golf Bag on Wheels

Yesterday things were melting fast and furious around here and I couldn't help but lift up the mulch and peek under to see what's stirring... Gardening season will soon be upon us and here's a great idea for carrying all our tools around the yards.
I read about this in a Harrowsmith magazine (a favourite of mine).
A golf bag on wheels (added to my list of what to watch for at spring garage sales or thrift stores!) makes a great tote for gardening tools You can carry your rake, hoe, shovel and all your other long and short tools where the golf clubs used to be. The side pockets are great for tucking in twine and garden tags and gloves. Your kneeling pad can hang on the handle and you can strap your weedbucket to the side. Everything right at your fingertips, and easy to store neatly as well!
Brilliant!

Shower Curtains

Okay, first of all, don't buy vinyl shower curtains! They off-gas the plasticizers they're made of and these VOC's are endocrine disruptors, which means they mimic natural hormones like estrogen and may interfere with a developing fetus. VOC's are eye-irritants, central nervous system damagers and possibly cause cancer. You can buy really tightly woven fabric curtains instead (I bought mine at Sears) or nylon ones which don't off-gas. They last indefinitely and you can wash them in your washing machine. But if you already have vinyl shower curtains, here are some ideas from Trash Talk on how to reuse them:
"Vinyl shower curtains reused make good drop cloths for painting projects. In the garden they can be used as row covers for tender spring plants (when a cold night threatens). Like costly landscape fabric use curtains to control weeds in garden beds. Cut an X at each plant location, plant, then close the X around the plant stem. Cover the entire sheet with rocks, gravel or bark mulch."
They also suggest using them as ground covers under your tent when camping, using them as liners in the trunk of your car, or cutting into big rectangles and securing at the shoulders with clothespegs as craft smocks.

A Great Tip from Trash Talk: Cardboard Reuse

Cardboard works great for weed control in the yard or garden. Lay out the flattened cardboard first making sure to overlap it by at least six inches. If the weeds are very established or if your weeds are more like small shrubs, do a double or even triple layer to ensure nothing grows through. We found that it is best to wet the cardboard with a sprinkler to soften it before applying the top layer of bark mulch or gravel so the cardboard will settle in and smother all the weeds completely. In as little as one year the cardboard will have composted into a rich loamy soil while the weeds have been killed off by lack of sunlight and air. Simply top off the bark mulch periodically as it too breaks down over the years.