Geoff Lawton From Prairie to Monoculture

[Shemaya]

Geoff Lawton, a leader in the permaculture movement. Great short clip that conveys the sicknes of modern food production/ farming. He calls monoculture a plant factory. "Monoculture is a way to convert fossil fuels into money through food."

Good resource if you are interested in transforming our planet back to the Garden of Eden she was meant to be.

[Bring4th_Austin]

I love Geoff Lawton! He is an inspiration for anyone who is interested or enthusiastic about alternative food production systems. It's hard to look at his field record of creating integrated permaculture farms in widely varying climates and say that permaculture is an unrealistic ideal for worldwide use. One of his main points he makes when teaching permaculture is that there is not really one set system of permaculture - each system must be designed unique to the surrounding environment. When he teaches permaculture, he emphasizes that he is not teaching techniques, but a way of thinking. The key is to be able to look at an environment in its infinite uniqueness and determine how it can be utilized and balanced in order to create a healthy and sustainable food source.

Here is a longer video tour of his Zaytuna farm in Australia. It seems like the kind of place that not only nourishes the body but the soul as well. It's interesting and inspirational.

[Shemaya]

Hey Austin!

Thanks for the video, it was a really good one to get a whole view of what he teaches. I loved the little papoose he walked around with, the child was just chattering away as Geoff talked.

I really liked the wildness of the land, so much is left to nature, and they are working in partnership with Nature. With both the plants and animals, the whole ecosystem works together and supports Life holistically. The animals "mow" (eat the grass) and help prepare the soil with manure and scratching ( of the chickens). This lessens the work for the human, less need for tilling or machinery to get food production. There is production on multiple layers vertically and horizontally. Large nut and fruit trees, root veggies and pumpkins that climb around the tree trunks, fields of kitchen veggies. The part where he pointed out the cherry tomatoes, that was awesome. The chickens ate the cherry tomatoes the prior season, the next year the whole field grew cherry tomato plants....so cool. The humans will harvest the tomatoes and all they had to do was feed the chickens while they free- ranged.

The animals provide food, eggs, milk, meat. And they are given a home and purpose. It could be done vegetarian style too, just using the eggs and dairy. A local permaculture farm near me just acquired sheep which they may use for wool. alpacas are another animal which are sheared for wool. I imagine as we progress to 4d society, the animals will no longer be used for meat.

Great video! I have a small property and want to create a food forest and sustainable food system hopefully starting this spring. It will be really cool to watch it evolve. The OCMD ( obsessive compulsive mowing disorder) will have to be cured or curbed though!

[AnthroHeart]

I read that there are more chickens than people in the world.

[Bring4th_Austin]

Great video! I have a small property and want to create a food forest and sustainable food system hopefully starting this spring. It will be really cool to watch it evolve. The OCMD ( obsessive compulsive mowing disorder) will have to be cured or curbed though!

It seems mowing is such an ingrained part of our culture, it is difficult to let go of for many people. Lots of people who try to adopt a permaculture system for their plots of land end up having trouble with neighbors who do not appreciate the overgrown look. I've always liked when nature was allowed to do it's thing more than mowing anyways.

Neat anecdote about that - my mom is trying hard to turn the farm into a permaculture system and she really had to try hard to convince my dad to stop mowing certain parts of the yard that really didn't need it (there's lots of yard space that could be utilized as part of the system). He was stubborn and it took a long time before he gave in.

My dad has always had a sort of love for birds, and his favorite bird by far is the American goldfinch. I'm not sure what it is about them, but he loves them. Once he let go of mowing a certain strip coming up their driveway and it grew out, it all of a sudden became an American goldfinch habitat! There seemed to be hundreds of them. Every day when he got home from work and drove down the driveway, he'd be greeted by tons of these finches flying around.

It was a great example of the type of thing we are missing in our perfectly manicured environments. The type of biodiversity in a patch of land that is allowed to express itself naturally is breathtaking.

[AnthroHeart]

We once had a small plastic birdbath. I wonder what happened to that.

[Shemaya]

My dad has always had a sort of love for birds, and his favorite bird by far is the American goldfinch. I'm not sure what it is about them, but he loves them. Once he let go of mowing a certain strip coming up their driveway and it grew out, it all of a sudden became an American goldfinch habitat! There seemed to be hundreds of them. Every day when he got home from work and drove down the driveway, he'd be greeted by tons of these finches flying around.

It was a great example of the type of thing we are missing in our perfectly manicured environments. The type of biodiversity in a patch of land that is allowed to express itself naturally is breathtaking.

Love it!

Yes, Earth is a crucible for Beauty. I love goldfinches too. They fly around my flowers, they really like echinacea.