My Own Coquille Permaculture Project - Since 2010

International Woman's Day

2012-03-08T09:28:00.001-08:00

To women everywhere,

May you be treated better then yesterday.
Happy International Woman's Day.

Namaste.

The Herb Spiral Update

2012-03-07T18:21:00.002-08:00

This is one of the first projects ever done here, and this is how it looks currently. From the inside outwards. This actually exists, and can be seen when pulling up to the main house.

Rosemary - culinary, companion planting
Oregano - culinary, companion planting
Thyme - culinary, companion planting
Chamomile - culinary, medical, cosmetic, companion planting
Sage - culinary, medical, cosmetic, companion planting
Fennel - culinary, medical, companion planting
Yarrow - medical, insectiary, companion planting
Tarragon - culinary, medical, companion planting
Egyptian Walking Onion - culinary, companion planting
Calendula - medical, cosmetic, culinary, companion planting
Feverfew - medical, companion planting

I got non-stop work!

2012-03-03T07:49:00.003-08:00

Tire foundation for the Aviary / Greenhouse has been laid out and earth ramming of the tires has already started yesterday. The gap between 2 tires in the front is where the fowl will exit from the aviary into the gardens of the property. The aviary will be connected to the shed via extension which will act as a 3 way gate system. Storage area, greenhouse area, and the aviary. Talk about stacking functions! Not to mention between the aviary & greenhouse the amount of heat for the house will go up. Lot more work to go.

Oh, and the long wide low bush in the background is St. John's Wort and marks where the property starts to drop in its terraced cliff system (another work in progress). Enjoy.... although I know it isn't much to look at.I am working on this in between cutting firewood from coppice trees for next winter, and planting the kitchen garden plots. This is certainly cheaper then riding a bicycle and going to work out at some gym on a stationary bike. ;)

In Mourning...

2012-02-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

In Mourning...

A friend of mine, a Sioux Pipe Carrier has died as of 5:31am today, I will be in mourning for several days thinking of all the good that has been done for "mitakuye oyasin."

12 different fruits on 3 trees

2012-02-24T17:29:00.002-08:00

I picked up 3 Espalier trees today with a minimum of 4 types of fruit per tree. These are all going in my Mandala garden along the outer edge.

The first tree is of multiple pears, mostly Asian types. They include Tsu-li, Kikisui, Chojura, Hosui, and Bartlett. Asian Pears in general are more crisp like apples and have aromas that range from pineapples, & brandy to butterscotch.

The next was a multi-apple. These include Spartan, Summerred, Cortland, & Red Macintosh.

Lastly was another of multiple pears, mostly European. This tree includes Bartlett again, Commice, D'Anjou & Flemmish Beauty.

So, in order to recap, I have a 30' Mandala made up of six fruit trees, where the chickens visit each tree every 12 weeks to fertilize and more. In front of these 6 fruit trees is a separate kitchen garden as well. All in all, very soon I will have so much fruit & vegetables I won't ever have to buy any chemical laden food again not to mention being a investment that is better than giving money to Wall St.

It's NOT a Fairytale! It's GREAT NEWS!!!

2012-02-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

Seattle is building the nations first public Food Forest. For details please review the link.

My question is, what can Coos County do to make this a reality for us?

Revisiting the Master Gardener

2012-02-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of the Master Gardener I met again today, whom I am now calling, "Ollie Everyman."

"Ollie" is the name I will now use when I refer to someone who has taken the OSU Master Gardener program, or someone that subscribes to the ludicrous notions of using petro-chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or any other -icides. Nearly anyone can become, "Ollie" at a moments notice.

So, while talking the other day, Ollie told me to spray my trees with copper sulfate because it is 'relatively' benign and it would kill the epiphytes on my plum and apple trees, "After all, every spot the epiphytes are is another spot the tree can't bud."

Benign?

While the internet isn't perfect, information about Copper Sulfate hardly benign. Wikipedia has this to say about toxic effects of Copper Sulfate.

Toxicological effects

Copper sulfate is an irritant.[22] The usual routes by which humans can receive toxic exposure to copper sulfate are through eye or skin contact, as well as by inhaling powders and dusts.[23] Skin contact may result in itching or eczema.[24] Eye contact with copper sulfate can cause conjunctivitis, inflammation of the eyelid lining, ulceration, and clouding of the cornea.[25]

Upon acute oral exposure, copper sulfate is only moderately toxic.[26] According to studies, the lowest dose of copper sulfate that had a toxic impact on humans is 11 mg/kg.[27] Because of its irritating effect on the gastrointestinal tract, vomiting is automatically triggered in case of the ingestion of copper sulfate. However, if copper sulfate is retained in the stomach, the symptoms can be severe. After 1–12 grams of copper sulfate are swallowed, such poisoning signs may occur as a metallic taste in the mouth, burning pain in the chest, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, discontinued urination, which leads to yellowing of the skin. In case of copper sulfate poisoning, injury to the brain, stomach, liver, or kidneys may also occur.[25]

Seems to me that is hardly benign, and if I am spraying this in the air it is going to get into my lungs! What a crazy nightmare, being taught to intentional poison myself so I can have extra bud space on a tree that is already giving me plenty of food!

Well, currently it is legal to poison yourself over a long period of time to get rid of a naturally occurring epiphytes, let me point out that the epiphyte has numerous uses around the home.

Usnea, the "Old Man's Beard" is a fungus that has been in use for over 1000 years medically. It is a potent antibiotic, and anti-fungal agent. It's high in Vitamin C & completely edible. It can be plucked off the tree and used as gauze to treat surface wounds when modern antibiotics and sterile gauze padding are not available. There are other medical uses and those are beyond the scope of this article. This is about how silly humans are. :p

Seems to me, I would rather NOT poison myself, and keep another edible here on the property that also has multiple uses, looks nice too.However, it also dawned on me that spraying this anti-fungal spray of copper sulfate would kill the fungus in the soil that is NEEDED to keep trees healthy. Trees have a very important relationship with soil fungi to the point of it being in a symbiotic relationship with nearly, if not every single tree in a forest.

In fact, the lack of proper fungi in the soil is what causes Blight, a fact gardeners & foresters have known this since before Ralph Waldo Emerson, so it is beyond me why anyone would want to use a chemical like this when there is no logical reason to. What was Ollie thinking? Maybe Ollie just doesn't realize.

Fedge, a way to deflect deer away

2012-02-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry for my shaking in the video, it's my first and I was nervous. :)

OSU's Disservice of Master Gardeners

2012-02-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

Thinking of changing how I blog today, too much doom and gloom. I can't save the world, no one can. All I can do is go out, garden without GMO's, without F1 Hybrids, without this new age chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.. the new age of chemical food growing is over, it just doesn't work.

I know students & teachers of OSU's Master Gardener program think it works. I got into a 5 minute discussion about how the program is not sustainable yesterday with someone who teaches for it. I doubt I changed their mind, but it did make me realize I can only do so much.

International Permaculture Day is Coming!

2012-02-17T10:44:00.000-08:00

International Permaculture Day is May 6th, I am wondering currently for ideas on how to help spread Permaculture and its agricultural benefits. So, I am looking for ideas, please share some if you have any!

I am going back out to work in the gardens and ponder this very thing.

I Actually Care About You...

2012-02-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

I spent the morning viewing the cruelty of humans in a video game. Nothing ever changes when you can't physically see the person. Some people just don't care who they hurt so long as they can't see them. I guess this is the same condition that allows us humans to ignore painful truths and reality about the world around us.

So, in order to turn my disdain on end, or my frown upside down I proceeded to work outside because as Geoff Lawton once said, "All the worlds problems can be solved in a garden." I got 10 new strawberry plants transplanted today. Red onions , beets, corn salad, and fava beans were planted. This time of the year we have so much to do as farmers. We need to sow seeds, transplant, & care for so many other things.

And that's really what it comes down to, caring. I care what I eat, what my family eats, what my friends and loved ones eat. I even care what the people whom have harmed me in the past, & future eat. I care that people I have never met have good healthy food because if I don't care, who will anymore?

We have been getting lied to for a long time...

2012-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

I was taught marijuana would make a person insane. A lie. I was told it was a gateway drug, another lie. Cigarettes, coffee and alcohol are greater gateway drugs by far. I was told marijuana causes cancer, now we know that's a lie with video feeds showing it shrinking cancer cells in the lungs.

Now I look at all the lumber being cut, the giant clear cuts and the landslides going into the Coquille river and so on... and I think to myself this.

Food for thought.

The bravest 11 year old I have ever seen...

2012-02-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

"I came here today to talk about what is wrong with our food system."

Charges of Bio-Piracy; India vs Monsanto

2012-02-11T18:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I do not need to say anything, the video does it for me.

I will not publish...

2012-02-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

Let the whole world know, I will not publish PRO-GMO rhetoric on my blog. I am decidedly against it in all forms just like I am the use of pesticides and herbicides.

If a comment from a viewer(s) is even remotely viewed as being in favor of any of the above, it will not be published here.

As Geoff Lawton said, "The age of Chemical Agriculture is over, it doesn't work."

Great News for Organic Farmers!!

2012-02-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

(NaturalNews) Purveyors of conventional and genetically-modified (GM) crops -- and the pesticides and herbicides that accompany them -- are finally getting a taste of their own legal medicine. Minnesota's Star Tribune has reported that the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently ruled that a large organic farm surrounded by chemical-laden conventional farms can seek damages for lost crops, as well as lost profits, caused by the illegal trespassing of pesticides and herbicides on its property.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033216_GMO_contamination_lawsuits.html#ixzz1lvp2G2Z7

Personally, I couldn't be happier. If someone contaminates my property, I get to sue the people who did it, as is right.

Memories of Willie

2012-02-08T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan persey of country music. I grew up with punk, and rap music, an odd mix to some, but it was very NYC in the 80's. From the Ramones and Blondie to Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh I listened to it all, and it was good.

However, one day, cutting school while my friends were in school I hopped to Downtown Manhatten and hung around the Ed Sulliven theater, right across from the "Miss Saigon" production on Broadway.

It was like any other day in NYC, people doing there thing, people shoved out of buildings in underwear running down the block. Pigeons cooing, and so on, but then I noticed a bus with a giant yellow rose on it, so I started sketching the rose on the bus.

Unknown to me at the time, I was sitting outside Willie Nelson's Bus and he was being interviewed by David Letterman, with the late Senator Sonny Bono. I had gotten up to stick the drawing I did on the doors of the bus when Willie Nelson came up to the door!

In shock, not knowing what to say I handed him the simple drawing, and walked off excited I met a famous star of music and the big screen. At this time of my life this was a huge and major thing to me, and the fact I handed him a drawing of mine, to his hand made it all the better.

All of this was by coincidence. Something I have learned to go with in my life, sometimes not well, but all in all I try very hard to take it in stride. However, something about Mr. Willie Nelson had me thinking last night as I laid awake with insomnia again....

The fight to save family farms isn't just about farmers. It's about making sure that there is a safe and healthy food supply for all of us. It's about jobs, from Main Street to Wall Street. It's about a better America. -Willie Nelson.

Well, if I ever meet Mr. Willie Nelson again, I hope he looks at the work I am doing or have done and gives me a thumbs up. We are all in this together, not just as Americans, but the food issue is now a global one and I can only hope we can work together simply like a teenager handing a drawing to a random person.

Will the US have a 2nd Dust Bowl?

2012-02-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

Is the US about to have a 2nd Dust Bowl and Black Sunday event? It seems glaringly obvious that in the Monsanto controlled agriculture in the world has dust bowl / dust storm events going on so large they are visible from space, and have been going on for years.

Now the US plains is having a drought again, and the soil is already dead thanks to constant chemicals being dumped onto the land. What will it take for the US to start adapting Regenerative Ag & embrace Permaculture?

Yet Another FDA / Monsanto Food Scandal

2012-01-29T08:17:00.000-08:00

Part of me would like to tell you it will be ok, things are going to be ok, but I cannot do that. In Europe where the EU has banned GMO foods a documentary was made that we here in the US are being blocked from seeing by Monsanto. They do not want you to know the truth, but as the show "X-Files" used to say in the credits, "The truth is out there."

http://youtu.be/DCFnx2W6CvY

However, that's France. Some people like them, some people don't. That is what makes America grand, differing opinions that spark intellectual debate (sometimes it happens).

However, Oran's Dictionary of Law has something interesting to say on the topic of treason. Treason is committed when a person, or group of people make war against, or severely injure a parent nation.

This is a text book definition of what Monsanto is doing to the US and World. However, the in the FDA, a federal government institution that is mandated to be, to quote Wikipedia:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), veterinary products, and cosmetics.

Well what happens when a corporation like Monsanto that has been caught lying to the Federal government & has someone INSIDE of the FDA promoting Monsanto agendas. Do you think it is not possible? Well you would be wrong. Have a look at this interesting article:

http://www.indiepundit.com/2011/09/0...d-safety-czar/

Monsanto’s Michael Taylor is the second highest-ranking official at the FDA, Food Safety Czar

Think about it a moment.

Do you see the problem? A corporation that has been lying to the goverment & people of the US for over 25 years is allowed to dictate policy. Monsanto has caused thousands of farmers to commit suicide. Monsanto has caused the destruction of farms across the world. Monsanto is promoting GMO seeds & crops that hurt you. Monsanto has created persistent herbicides that not only can go through an animals digestive system and keep working, but it works so well it is showing up in urine of humans across the planet.

It is obvious with just a little research by anyone that Monsanto has aims bigger then the US, they want to hurt everyone world wide, and as such, I view them as traitors not only to the US, but to the world at large.

We collective people of the United States of America need to get off of our collective assets and write our politicians and demand that we will not put up with this blatant destructive sour compost any longer.

Exercise your rights before Monsanto and others take them away completely.

Boy Scouts, Merit Badges and Doing What is Right

2012-01-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

Boy Scouts of anywhere are taught to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, brave, clean, thrifty and reverent.

It has come to this former scouts attention that there is no Permaculture Merit badge! Why not?

Permaculture is the most trustworthy way of growing food. It provides loyal constant nourishment for the family and community. It helps the family, community, state and nation at large in a friendly way. It's certainly more courteous and kind to not deal with the unlawful ways of Monsanto, GMO seeds and cloned meats.

It takes brave, cheerful, thrifty people with a reverence for the world and our fellow man to be obedient enough to pay attention to the Earths lessons in a garden but it will not only produce more food per acre with little more then chicken manure and elbow grease.

Why anyone would blindly follow the anti-Earth, anti-community, anti-nation, and down right terrorist like activities of Monsanto that would require vast tracts of land, endless oil reserves to run tractors, harvesters, processing, refrigeration, transport, retailing and distribution not to mention the need of even more oil for pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides.

The same herbicides that are now found in urine:
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/sh...people-s-urine

The same herbicides that are causing cancer and sterility:
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/sh...ancer-lawsuits

To quote the Boy Scout oath directly from http://usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsoath.asp

Before you pledge yourself to any oath or promise, you must know what it means. The paragraphs that follow will help you understand the meaning of the Scout Oath.
On my honor . . .

By giving your word, you are promising to be guided by the ideals of the Scout Oath.
. . . I will do my best . . .

Try hard to live up to the points of the Scout Oath. Measure your achievements against your own high standards and don't be influenced by peer pressure or what other people do.
. . . To do my duty to God . . .

Your family and religious leaders teach you about God and the ways you can serve. You do your duty to God by following the wisdom of those teachings every day and by respecting and defending the rights of others to practice their own beliefs.
. . . and my country . . .

Help keep the United States a strong and fair nation by learning about our system of government and your responsibilities as a citizen and future voter.

America is made up of countless families and communities. When you work to improve your community and your home, you are serving your country. Natural resources are another important part of America's heritage worthy of your efforts to understand, protect, and use wisely. What you do can make a real difference.
. . . and to obey the Scout Law; . . .

The twelve points of the Scout Law are guidelines that can lead you toward wise choices. When you obey the Scout Law, other people will respect you for the way you live, and you will respect yourself.
. . . To help other people at all times; . . .

There are many people who need you. Your cheerful smile and helping hand will ease the burden of many who need assistance. By helping out whenever possible, you are doing your part to make this a better world.
. . . To keep myself physically strong, . . .

Take care of your body so that it will serve you well for an entire lifetime. That means eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly to build strength and endurance. it also means avoiding harmful drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and anything else that can harm your health.
. . . mentally awake, . . .

Develop your mind both in the classroom and outside of school. Be curious about everything around you, and work hard to make the most of your abilities. With an inquiring attitude and the willingness to ask questions, you can learn much about the exciting world around you and your role in it.
. . . and morally straight.

To be a person of strong character, your relationships with others should be honest and open. You should respect and defend the rights of all people. Be clean in your speech and actions, and remain faithful in your religious beliefs. The values you practice as a Scout will help you shape a life of virtue and self-reliance.

Since this is the boy scout Oath that every single Boy Scout from the US to China, from Fiji to Cuba, they are all taught this. Well, with this way of being brought up, I can't help but think Boy Scouts and their leaders need to take serious interest in the health of the children and take action by making a Permaculture Merit badge. This former Boy Scout realizes how important this is for my nation, my community, and the over all health of my family & friends.

Monsanto at war with the USA & all other Nations?

2012-01-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

This is a shameless direct quote from another website. I am too pissed off at the apathy over this to come up with a decent & intelligent rant about how Monsanto (And its share holders) are literally at war with the USA and people worldwide.

Monsanto, and its shareholders, and employees have over the last several decades introduced a chemical called Roundup which is the most insidious biological weapon there is. Here is the quote.

If you're still not convinced that Roundup is a highly toxic and persistent pesticide, read on, while at the same time remembering the other contributions that Monsanto has made to society such as:

Saccharin, Astroturf, agent orange, dioxin, sulphuric acid, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), plastics and synthetic fabrics, research on uranium for the Manhattan Project that led to the construction of nuclear bombs, styrene monomer, an endless line of pesticides and herbicides (Roundup), rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone that makes cows ill), genetically engineered crops (corn, potatoes, tomatoes, soy beans, cotton), and it's most significant product to date; Lies, Factual Distortions and Omissions. Here's one of the distortions that Monsanto had on its website a while back. "Sustainability - the idea that the resources and people of this world are finite. That for any business decision we make, we must consider the effect it will have on us and our children. That the products we make must not use up all of a natural resource, or even worse, contaminate what is left behind."
Take a look at what Monsanto is doing to Canadian canola farmer Percy Schmeiser. And he's far from being the sole recipient of Monsanto's vengeful wrath. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of farmers around the world are being sued after Monsanto's police "find" their patented crops on the farmers' lands without paying for use of the technology. Also see the Monsanto Technology Agreement, in which farmers must sign away all rights in order to sow Monsanto seed

This was taken from: http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Monsanto-Roundup-Glyphosate.htm

I do understand this is only 1 websites opinion, one I happen to share. However let me expand upon this.

Roundup in your urine? If you live in a major city, you most likely already have it in your blood stream. Good luck with detox, here is the link:

http://naturalsociety.com/monsantos-infertility-linked-roundup-found-in-all-urine-samples-tested/

A recent study conducted by a German university found very high concentrations of Glyphosate, a carcinogenic chemical found in herbicides like Monsanto’s Roundup, in all urine samples tested. The amount of glyphosate found in the urine was staggering, with each sample containing concentrations at 5 to 20-fold the limit established for drinking water. This is just one more piece of evidence that herbicides are, at the very least, being sprayed out of control.

For decades, this company has told our government officials that they are not releasing dioxins into the atmosphere. IT WAS A LIE.

WINFIELD - Fifty recently filed lawsuits allege Monsanto and related companies are responsible for causing cancer.
...
"During the years that Old Monsanto was operating it's trichlorophenol plant, it adopted an unlawful practice of disposing of dioxin waste materials by a continuous process of open 'pit' burning," the complaints state. "This practice was largely denied by Old Monsanto whose representatives characterized the practice as an 'incineration process' when asked by regulatory authorities.

http://www.wvrecord.com/news/220565-mon ... r-lawsuits

Meanwhile, Monsanto seed division has been putting pressure on the USDA to streamline GMO seeds. This is occurring during a lawsuit in NY regarding GMO seeds, and now there is this:

Wikileaks Cables Show U S Threatening Retaliation if Europe Won’t Accept Monsanto Corn

themomu.wordpress.com

Retaliation? The citizens are suing the fuck out of Monsanto, people do not want this company to even exist and someone had the balls on behalf of all Americans to threaten the fucken European Union?! This American wants nothing to do with that sour compost!!!

I would think the last thing the average American wants is war with Europe. This is some serious insanity.

Honestly, I don't understand what we Americans are allowing to happen to our food & water supplies and the dangerous activities that the USDA, FDA, & EPA is allowing to occur. As I see it, these activities are putting at risk every single American & person on the planet, and as such IMO, Monsanto, it's employees and share holders are traitors worse then Nazi WW2 Germany & Hitler.

Roundup found in human urine in cities!

2012-01-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

I look out now over Winter Lake, Coquille. The rains have stopped and I feel the cold water influencing the general landscape of the area. However, all the water came from upstream where both Myrtle Point and Coquille are working on sewage systems. All the pollution from tourists dumped on 42 E / W, all the stuff people throw out the windows eventually goes into the water and downstream. We all know this, it's basic ecology from grade school stuff. ;)

Well, Roundup, which has been linked for over 25 years to damaging farms and making people sick to flat out destroying farms and causing lesions on people, pets and livestock. Well, now it has been traced to human urine in a city, on a large scale because it was found in the water.

You think you are safe here in America? You aren't. Monsonto has been using all of us Americans in one giant experiment. Take a look at this damning data:

http://gmwatch.eu/latest-listing/1-news-items/13549

The presence of glyphosate and its degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in surface waters means that drinking water quality and aquatic wildlife may be put at risk. Studies have shown many aquatic species are affected by the herbicide and its breakdown product, and there is growing concern about the safety of the product for human health.

USGS found glyphosate in more than 60% of air and rain sampled at three locations in Mississippi, Iowa and Indiana, with AMPA found in more than 50% of samples.

If you know people in those areas, I hope you impress upon them the idea of water filters.

Winter Lake Has Finally Arrived.

2012-01-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

This is what I woke up to this morning.

Unveiling the New Tractor for 2012!!!

2012-01-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

This 4 chicken powered tractor is on a "bench," which is essentially a large tier. As you can see from the labeled picture below I have blueberries and rhubarb growing on the bench above the current tractor position. In the background are a plum and cherry tree as well.

The tractor is 7' in diameter and has so far handled 30+ mph gusts like a champ! This particular model is made of 4' high rabbit fencing, wrapped twice, and then 1" chicken wire wrapped once & connected to 1.5" poly pipes with cedar handles. A roost, nest box with handle, food and water round out the model. This unique tractor costs us a whopping $31 to complete since most of the materials were here on the property just lying around being under utilized.

I want to see another farmer spend so little on a tractor that fertilizers, mows, and kills bad bugs like slugs without the use of any -icides or use of chemicals / petroleum products for cheaper!

Just snuck in...

2012-01-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Under the cover of darkness, I moved the chickens to their new home. Surprisingly, our golden laced polish squawked very loudly as if acting like an alarm. Rare and shocking at night since chickens usually stay fairly relaxed and sedated when you remove them from their roost at night.

The new chicken tractor is a 7' circle in diameter, with 2 layers of rabbit fencing, followed by a layer of 1" chicken wire. On top is wider chicken wire with supports for moving this incredibly light weight tractor.

In case you are new to this blog, the tractor moves every 2 weeks to the next vegetable bed. When I move the tractor on the 1st, I will explain how this all works.

An aid for our forests

2012-01-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

I can't help but think this 8 part series would go a long way to helping the forests around here, and in turn eventually help the deer, & elk herds as well as the salmon runs.

Finished my homework

2012-01-10T23:03:00.000-08:00

Ethics PDC homework sent in. My only problem with ethics and philosophy through the ages is that so few people actually follow a set of ethics or honor.

It's hard to live an ethical, intentional lifestyle, but the first change has to begin from within, and that starts with myself.

The Permanence of Permaculture

2012-01-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

I am sure some people whom I have spoken to about Permaculture are wondering how it can possibly last without chemical intervention. To these new agers with their chemical inputs like you read about in Ag Weekly I have the following 2000 year old food forest to share with you. This forest is still in use & production and being worked by 800 families.

The same technology that created this food forest 2000 years ago has been replicated all over the world from places here along the Pacific Northwest, or Tasmania, to jungles in Vietnam, Australia & Hawaii. From the Finger Lake region of the Northeastern United States to all over Europe, Russia, and Africa. There is no continent and climate that this hasn't effected us already for the better.

Where are all the rootstocks?

2012-01-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

Why is it I can't find credible sources of rootstock for grafting? Sure I can descriptions, and I have found a whopping 2 sources of rootstock in America. One of which I don't trust, and the other I do.

Here's my list

Non trust here: http://www.cumminsnursery.com/antiques.htm ((Reason: This also happens to be the place the US has its Malus USDA scion repository, see the conflict of interest? I sure do, doesn't matter if he still works there or not IMO))

Lots of trust here: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/index.htm

My question is what am I doing wrong? Wrong keywords? Why is finding a source of Bud9 as difficult as legally exploring under the Sphinx in Egypt? Are commercial apple growers keeping it close to the heart to keep it out of the common gardener / farmer?

Permaculture has no metaphysics or other forms of spiritualism

2012-01-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

That's right it doesn't. No where is any religion, spiritualism, or metaphysics taught anywhere. It does however help with bringing a community closer together. Craig over at PRI has set forth exactly how I feel over this topic right here.

Permaculture is not, and should not, be directly associated with a particular set of beliefs. Permaculture can and should be implemented by every culture and by people from every spiritual or non-spiritual background. By directly associating permaculture with a particular, specific, belief system you are ruling out participation from all those with other belief-sets. You are marginalising permaculture, and saying that to be a permaculturist, you must agree with this subjective belief system.

It's a heated topic to be sure with over 100 replies at the time of writing this. To understand where PRI, myself and Permaculture is truly coming from, please read here.

Thats a lot of feces!

2012-01-04T15:40:00.000-08:00

Just came home from dropping off a mattress & box spring for a friend, & then I came home with zoo poo, or zoo doo doo, but Wildlife Safari, in Winston, OR calls it, "Zoo Doo."

In short, I came home with the around 1/2 ton of shit from over 500 animals, and 90 different varieties, already composted, filled with red wiggler worms. Some of it already went onto our kiwi, cardoon, artichoke and viola bed. The rest got tarped since it is starting to rain here.

Do I need to even mention the steelhead are running which means the stripers aren't too far behind as well.

Ethics is mmmostly done.

2012-01-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

I have one thought provoking question, and it is going to take hours to complete properly. Learning the Permaculture ethics has definitely gave me a lot to think about, even with me already thinking along these lines just from reading, and life experience.

I know one thing I take to heart already, our worlds soil and water needs to be repaired. Right now its like the Earth is in a hospital ER on life support, and we need to clean its blood (water) and repair its skin (soil) from chemical burns such as industrial agricultural practices.

1st Day Review

2012-01-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I want to get the most out of this course that I possibly can. My homework requires me to answer only 1 question, but I elected to push myself and answer all. I am about 1/2 way done with my homework and I have already spent three and three quarter hours at it.

The homework questions about ethics is making me look at things differently, much like the new television commercials which are saying basically buy local, not from overseas because of the mark up as well as our money and resources going overseas.

Well, back to it. Happy, Healthy New Year All.

Starting the New Year Right!!!

2011-12-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

I just got it confirmed, I have started my PDC (Permaculture Designers Course) training. I am starting the new year off right, and with high hopes. It is normally a 72 hour course, but I am doing it online, on my own time since there is always things to do around the property.

Have a happy and healthy New Year all, I am confident we will here.

Could Coos County ever be Sustainable?

2011-12-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

Could Coos County ever be sustainable for food and fuel? I am unsure. I do know this much, at current uses of fuel, it takes over 10 calories of oil to get 1 food calorie into the average citizen. That to me is a travesty, and yet this is the world we currently live in.

We cannot keep this up for long, what can you do to help make your family, your neighborhood, your county more sustainable?

For me, it is repair my soil, keep it healthy, & start growing my own food.

Jailed for having a kitchen garden & worse

2011-12-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

People please wake up. Between the current NDAA law in congress and people being jailed for having a kitchen garden there is a serious problem in the country.

A teacher in Memphis, TN on his own time, taught inner city youth how to garden, grow food, compost and so on. The teacher nearly lost his home. However this isn't the first time either a tragedy like this has occurred.

... in a similar case in Michigan earlier this summer when a mother of 4 faced a 93 day jail sentence for her garden.

Here is the link to the article.

Between this and the NDAA law, it's beginning to be like Pre-WW2 Germany.

Think about it, you or a loved one could be indefinitely held (against our Bill of Rights btw) against our will in a place like GITMO or worse, without trial, for any reason. That's what the NDAA law is all about. Scary times.

I hope & pray Obama has the courage Truman did when this similar bill was brought up during the McCarthy era.

2011-12-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

Still depressed about things I cannot change in my reality, but like the song, "Tub thumping" by the band, "Chumbawumba" I rise.

Yesterday I got a shipment of tires for use as retaining walls and other things. I should be getting more today and next week as well.

In case you didn't know, you can use tires for the following:

Planters
Retaining Walls
Heat traps
Housing Foundations
Ponds
Pond Islands

I am sure there are more uses, but that is what has come to mind on this foggy cold morning. It should be known that like this ad on Craigslist, I am looking for:

Used Tires with no rims, any size. I can accommodate a great many.
Rocks and concrete debris. Again, I can accommodate and use a great amount of tonnage.
Spoiled Straw
Cardboard, old news paper
Galvanized steel tubs
yard waste
A Wood Cook Stove
Scions from Rare /heirloom / heritage Apple trees

Have a great day everyone, or at least try to. ;)

Taking a few days off...

2011-12-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

Too much bad mojo surrounding my life at the moment, taking a few days off from everything. Meanwhile I am contemplating what to do with design of the property with taking into account possible future events to protect the property, my family, and the work we have done here.

I leave you with this informative YouTube video.

Heritage Apple Continued

2011-12-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

I got another e-mail this morning about the apple tree. I found out it came from Rhodhiss Community west of Hickory, NC. So, I decided to look up the community and its history, after all this apple tree which is now part of Coquille, OR did like so many others from the East Coast and came all the way to Oregon when many many others that came cross country got tired, bored, or lazy and stopped half-way to the paradise that is Coos County!!

Rhodhiss has a smaller (much) community then even Coquille. As of the 2000 census they had a whopping, Three hundred and Sixty Six people living in the community, however they have one remarkable (at least to me) interesting fact.

The material of the U.S. flag that astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin erected on the first visit to the Moon in 1969 was woven at Burlington Mills in Rhodhiss.

How is that for the history around a little tree that came out west?

Description of the New Heirloom Apple Tree

2011-12-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

I was scouring the Internet and came across this information about the new heirloom apple tree that arrived.

(Yellow Horse, Old Fashion Horse, Carolina Horse) - Horse was probably the most popular apple grown for home use in the South. Believed by some to have originated in Nash County, North Carolina in the 1800's, Horse was immensely popular for its many home uses including fresh eating, cooking, drying and cider and vinegar making. The tree is a late bloomer, a prolific producer and an early bearer. Fruit is medium to large, slightly ribbed with thick golden yellow skin. Flesh is firm, yellow, juicy and quite tart until fully ripe. Ripens July to August.

Although there is a metal tag on it labeled, "Chicago," I was told this is a "Horse Apple" variety.

What will it taste like in years to come? Will it be so tasty Morimoto-san or Jamie Oliver will want to show up and taste it? HA! Like I could ever be that lucky. I am lucky Tom Brown gave me such a versatile apple tree. It has a perfect home on the outer edge of the Mandala Vegetable / Chicken garden.

Thanks again Tom, and I look forward to doing business with you.

Heritage Apple Tree arrives in Coquille, OR

2011-12-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

1 heirloom apple tree is due to arrive today and take part in the Mandala chicken garden I have going. Thank you Linda Woodrow!! :) The heirloom apple tree variety is called, "Horse Apple."

At one point in America the US had an "Horse Apple" variant in nearly every county of the South, and East Coast. However times have changed for the worse with food over the last 100 years so I, and others are dedicated to bringing back healthy food.

Think about it, America alone used to have over 5000 varieties of apples, and in the Supermarkets you now see MAYBE 5 if you are lucky.

This is just one of the ways I am fighting back for healths sake.

I would like to thank Tom Brown of North Carolina for supplying me with this heritage breed of American apple tree. If you would like to see what Tom Brown is offering in terms of Heritage apple trees, visit him here at his website.

Eclipse!

2011-12-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

If you don't know and you are reading this, well, GET OUTSIDE if you are close to the coast. There is an impossible celestial event occurring. While the moon is going into eclipse RIGHT NOW, we will also be able to see the sun rise!

Get outside and view an event that is impossible, and amazing! For more details, go here.

A Christmas Example of Permaculture

2011-12-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I awoke in tremendous pain & I wondered to myself laying next to my wife what the local tribes from here to Ketchikan, AK would do for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), aka the Winter Blues or simply depression. Since I know longer live in a tropical climate, I am removed from the foods I know help with depression such as the king of all fruits, Pineapple.

As I wandered amuck in a daze as I do every morning I thought of the Native Alaskans I have met in my past & what they would have to do at this time of the year. When I remembered my friend in Juneau just told me she had 50" of snow last month, followed by several days in the upper 40's. & I got to work with making the morning fire. It's still below freezing at the time of writing this blog, feeling the blues myself, and then I read about someone giving away FREE Christmas dinners.

I became humbled by the owner of Monkey Business Food to Go's of Charleston, OR words,

"I think Christmas to a lot of people is a depressing time. Like when you have children, you never have enough. You think "I wish I could do more. I wish I could do more." So you are depresses. It's my solution to depression. There's nothing like looking at somebody and smiling and say, "Merry Christmas" and give them a hot meal.

Monkey Business will be giving away Christmas Dinners for the community again this year. Last year they shocked the Coos County community by doing it all themselves, this year they got support of Coquille Indian Tribe, and numerous private and corporate donations.

The whole article can be found here. What a wonderful example of a community coming together like they used to. It's an example of people working together, it's an example of Permaculture community values, it's an example of the holiday spirit.

This will keep me going till the Eclipse tomorrow morning.

Want to make your own chicken food and fertilizer?

2011-12-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

Want to make your own chicken food and fertilizer?

I take no credit for this idea, I am just passing it on to you. The following link will take you to a Permaculture Research Institute article on how to make a simple bird feeder, chicken food maker, compost maker, and compost tea maker easily! Sounds too good to be true? It isn't, it's just some good old fashioned American ingenuity.

Happy Gardening.

Disaster turns to Providence

2011-12-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well, this morning I was told the trees aren't available. That blows, however the nursery owner is sending me a special present which I will report on when it gets here.

On the flip side I started scrambling for what to do in order to have the trees for my Pacific Northwest Linda Woodrow type mandala garden.

Isn't that a mouthful? Need to work on the name of that, anyway, I wound up going to Fedco Trees and downloaded the catalog. After negotiating with my CFO (wife) we are going to save and purchase the "Small Yard Edible Landscape Collection"

Having an edible landscape is only 1 part of Permaculture, and it is the part most people focus on. Perhaps rightly so since good, healthy food is so important to survival.

In this collection, Fedco will be sending me:

2 dwarf apple trees
3 blueberries
1 table grape
2 dwarf pie cherry trees
3 honeyberries (Lonicera caerula) - insectiary plants, and edible fruits
2 elderberry - insectiary, bird attracting, wild life attracting, edible fruits
2 large hipped rose - insectiary, bird attracting, edible, high vitamins & bioflavonoids

This should all arrive in Spring, and should plant 1/10th of an acre. I would get one of the other 2 collections, but proper design of the property must be done first!

ACK! The trees are gone!

2011-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well, very VERY sadly I will not be getting those heritage apple trees at this time from my supplier, he does not have them anymore! /cry

On the flip side, I am determined to get healthy food here to the farm, I am just gonna try harder I guess.

Maybe Fedco can help.

Rare Apple Trees Coming to Coquille Soon

2011-12-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Attempting to buy heritage / rare apples at the moment. I picked 2 varieties, and the owner picks 2 rare ones as well. Not a bad deal for money off per tree. Anyway, these are the descriptions of the 2 I picked.

Bushy Top---medium to large, round and slightly pointed, green with red stripes, slightly dry, tart, ripe September. Some of the top branches tend to grow vertically. This is the same type tree as the former largest apple tree in the eastern USA, the Handy Apple Tree (Bushy Top), which produced 110 bushels of apples one year..

Junaluska---medium to large, round to slightly flattened, dull yellow with streaks of russet, some occasional red blush, yellow flesh, ripe October. A historic apple associated with the famous Cherokee, Chief Junaluska.

I wonder what the owner of the nursery will pick?

Dear Fellow Farmers, Micro or Macro

2011-11-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

I have a question for you to ask yourself about your farm, no matter what kind you have to think about this winter, while you have time for design for spring. Can you say this about your property...

"Over its lifetime, it produces, enough energy to maintain and duplicate itself."

That's the definition of sustainable agriculture, that's the goal for this property. Why isn't it yours?

Scary world news about Food

2011-11-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

Go take out 4 quarters from your pocket, or wallet. Put them down in front of you, this will represent the world as you know it.

Now remove 1 quarter, put it off to the side, that represents how much of your world is degraded and can no longer supply food to you. Scary huh? It's the truth according to a new UN report.

ROME -- The United Nations has completed the first-ever global assessment of the state of the planet's land resources, finding in a report Monday that a quarter of all land is highly degraded and warning the trend must be reversed if the world's growing population is to be fed.

Scary to say the least. Here is the rest of the article.

If you are wondering how we got here, I suggest reading M. Fukuoka's book called, "One Straw Revolution" however to make it short, and to the point. The New Age practice of tossing chemicals on everything to help make it grow is what is destroying the human ability to grow healthy food.

Each time you buy a pesticide, herbicide, or chemical fertilizer, you personally make a choice to support the destruction of the planet, and remove just a little bit more food from your children's children.

Food for thought isn't it?

A Permaculture Poem

2011-11-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

As a surfer, I fully well know the climate has changed from the tropics to the polar caps. The animals & waves have shown it to me.
As an artist, I fully well know the climate has changed from the Tundras and glaciers I have seen, to the sea life bleached & dying underwater.
As a gardener, I fully well know the climate has changed, because each year, I see the changes.
As a human being, I fully well know things have changed in my life time, and not for the better.
As someone who practices Permaculture, I have hope.

Permaculture, Consumerism, and Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-25T08:39:00.000-08:00

Warning - If you are sensitive, you might not like what I have to say below.

As part of what has quickly become a world wide protest against the incredible bull shit of my life time, I, and the people who are currently here at the Farm this Friday all have refused to shop today, "Black Friday".

As I logged into the internet I saw photos of people rushing Macy's in NYC, and elsewhere in order to save a sawbuck or three. While I commend saving money in any form, I do not, and cannot in good conscious any more participate in Black Friday, and as such, I join the Occupy movement today by NOT SHOPPING.

I would rather do what people used to do on Holidays, visit with friends and family and share good times. I have nothing but sorrow for the sheeple drones that went into work at midnight, or earlier for the sake of the rich, thinking they could lose their job, or its better then being at work later today.

However all you drones that keep allowing these corporations run your life and take away your time off with friends and family are no longer free. You are a slave to your job, and the lifestyle you have picked as a result of it. When I was growing up no one worked yesterday, we didn't have to be into work because the store opened at midnight.

Scale down, stop sending you money overseas like a junky & learn to do for yourself, and your family instead. Take back your life and stop being a sheeple drone.

Thinking out problems with Permaculture Design

2011-11-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

I am currently working all be it painfully slowly on design for the property in its complete form, and I start to wonder about the time factor. How do I take into account for people who visit & impacts on grey water and so on. So many factors to consider when working from zone 1 outwards.

One moment a grey water wetland has to generally handle say 180 gallons, but someone suddenly visits and aren't very respectful you could be looking at over 250, or more, for a week, a month, 6 months, 1.5 years. It could happen.

Another threat to design is myself. What if I can hold classes here in the future, it could happen, unlikely, but it could. Impact of visitors to grey and black water change impact overall systems of the property. My point is, a person can plan and think of variables all the time to plan against, but if you go this route you stop living. There needs to be a point to plan for, go with, and then maintain or keep in balance.

To that end, time to get sketching and planning.

Apple Research

2011-11-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

Currently researching suppliers for "Kaiser Wilhelm" & "Landsberger Reinette" varieties of Apple trees. Both are suited to harsh climates such as high winds which is very much needed here.

Finding American suppliers for either of these has not been fruitful, so if anyone out there knows of any suppliers, world-wide, please let me know.

Permaculture community gets go-ahead in NZ

2011-11-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

A new settlement is being established near Auckland for a community of people interested in living sustainably using the principles of permaculture.

Here is the link, rejoice in sustainable living as I am.

We need more permaculture communities in America to teach farmers badly and remove our countries farmers from their new age chemical tendencies on the farms. For over 10,000 years our world was organic, & now we have all this new age chemicals made by oil and chemical companies that in the end do nothing but harm our planet, soil, and water supply.

How Not to Maintain an Internet Permaculture Forum

2011-11-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Some close people know I do not put up with curtailing my Freedom of Speech. Today, I was not only subject of it again on... http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums

The owner has a pension for committing libel without a care. There is no Terms of Service for public forums, & the owner / moderator changes & / or deletes posts without permission, and without letting the public know that a moderator or the owner changed the text.

As such, often, what is written by someone may or may not be what was accurately written. This fosters a negative community and is not something to be admired, but rather something to be concerned about. This is not Permaculture in action by any means. As such, here is a direct quote from the Permaculture Designers Manual over the ethics of Permaculture.

Principal of Cooperation (Chapter 1.1)
Cooperation, not competition, is the very basis of existing life systems.

The Ethical Basis of Permaculture (Chapter 1.2)
1. CARE OF EARTH: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply.

2. CARE OF PEOPLE: Provision for people to access those resources necessary to their existence.

3. SETTINGS LIMITS TO POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION: By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.

Last, there is even a Prime Directive a la Star Trek

Page 1, Chapter 1
The Prime Directive of Permaculture
The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence & that of our children.

As such, I will not be participating in the below forums until libel is no longer committed at that site.

li·bel/ˈlībəl/
Noun:
A published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.
Verb:
Defame (someone) by publishing a libel.
Synonyms:
noun. slander - defamation - calumny - aspersion - scandal
verb. slander - defame - calumniate - malign - traduce - vilify

Repurposing the Wood Shed

2011-10-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Moved all the wood out for winter and now taking measurements & figuring out how to re-purpose this west facing, attached woodshed into a greenhouse. This is going to be fun, and very useful since come February I need to start seedlings.

Fedge line work...

2011-10-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Just came in from working on a "fedge" line that will hopefully protect the main vegetable / chicken area from being ate up by deer. Currently using Boysenberry, Marionberry, Loganberry, Golden Raspberry, and 3 varieties of raspberry which transition into a huckleberry hedge-line. The idea is that one side I can gather food from, the other side deflects the deer away giving them a corridor to the road and my neighbors property.

Huffington Post article a lie.

2011-10-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

Let me first state, my sincere condolences to the family of the child that died from smoking plastic in Pittsburgh and couldn't survive a double lung transplant.

Now let me explain, and show the full article. Huffington Post, part of AoL, part of Time Warner News Corporation just utterly failed with regards to medical marijuana, marinol, and just general reporting in general.

Here was the head line.

Pa. boy, 13, ill after smoking synthetic pot, dies

Well, that was partly true.

Here is the article.

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania eighth-grader who became ill after smoking synthetic marijuana and had a double lung transplant has died.
The boy smoked the fake marijuana out of a plastic PEZ candy dispenser. The chemicals in the drugs caused extensive damage to his lungs. Brandon was put on a respirator in June and had a double lung transplant in September.
The boy's mother says anti-rejection drugs he'd taken since the transplants weakened his immune system and made him unable to fight a recent infection.
Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law outlawing such substances in Pennsylvania a few days after the boy smoked the substances. The ban took effect in August.

I would be all over this article if it was marinol that actually killed the child, but it wasn't. The marinol or what ever fake marijuana was used is not the issue here, it's smoking plastic that is, the same plastic our food comes in & everything else lately.

Think about it.

In over 11,000+++ years of use, no human has ever died from Marijuana (C. Sativa) it is literally just not possible.

Then again, in that same time span all food used to be organic and good for you, in the last 60 years we reversed that too.

Again, think about it.

Still Harvesting Around Here...

2011-10-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today I am out gathering more apples, huckleberries, and you know it, more eggs! Woohoo! I look forward to a few years from now when the trees planted in these next years also start bearing fruit. It's going to be busy busy busy around here and I will be healthier for it.

Sustainable Sawmilling?

2011-10-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

I know lots of Lumberjacks, they all think I am insane. They tell me there are more trees now, but I point out a desert is still a desert. So how can we all make this sustainable for our children's, children's, children's, children's, children's, children's, children.

Well, I was over at the PRI today reading over older documents when I came across this going on at Edenfarm.

Sustainable Portable Milling

Up to 20 million tons of tsunami debris headed for Bandon & Chareleston

2011-10-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Prepare for a garbage deluge.

An estimated 5 million tons to 20 million tons of debris sucked into the ocean during Japan's massive tsunami is due to hit U.S. shores, University of Hawaii scientists say. The wall of water struck in March, so that means the garbage should be here -- sometime in 2014.

Hey, it takes a long time to cross the Pacific Ocean if you’re a couch. Or a fridge. Or a piece of a house. Or a Coke can.

All this material is going to be radioactive, don't get your hopes up on getting a 'clean' new fridge or the like. I wonder how and if the Coast Guard is going to protect our waters & food supply from this incoming, preventable danger.

Ahhh, A Country Moment

2011-10-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

It was just moments ago when I started helping my wife lay down to go to bed when she noticed our rescued dog growling. My wife then noticed a rabbit dart under the dresser next to where the our dog's bed is.

Long story short, instead of dinner, we decided to let it go in the wilderness. Time for sleep.

My PDC cancelled...

2011-10-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Life sometimes blind sides you on a Tuesday morning over coffee. That's how I learned about a death in the family that kept me from starting my PDC. I did get to find out a family member saved 154 souls in the NYC harbor the day of 9/11.

This month has been extremely difficult for me, but I did manage to plant some garlic, as well as a new apple tree "Cripps Pink"

Starting My PDC!!!

2011-10-03T13:04:00.001-07:00

I am nervous and happy at the same time. While discussing weather or not our countries prison systems should apply Permaculture to the grounds and have the inmates work the premisses my wife surprised me with, "How would you like to get your PDC?" I was floored with happiness.

I thought this was an unattainable goal, but we found an online accredited course through the Permaculture Research Institute forums. I can only say I am beaming with happiness.

One Million Pounds of Food grown on 3 acres!

2011-10-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then I wonder how many words this is worth.

Wait for video, it's worth it.

Dr. Oz falls short of the Apple Tree

2011-09-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

According to KCBY,

Dr. Oz accused of fear-mongering on apple juice.

EUGENE, Ore. - A popular juice is getting a bad wrap after TV show host Dr. Oz investigated different apple juice brands and found what he calls "high" levels of arsenic in the beverage.

Dr. Oz hired an independent lab to test five different well known brands of apple juice for the hazardous substance. The apple juices that were tested include Minute Maid, Juicy Juice, Gerber, Apple and Eve, and Mott's.

In my opinion, Dr. Oz is off the mark and didn't go nearly far enough with regards to health. He's worried about arsenic, something naturally occurring in apple seeds which will & has caused panic.

This is short sighted by far. He should of gone after High Fructose Corn Syrup, because, and to quote Huey Freeman, "High Fructose Corn Syrup, It WILL kill ya."

Recently there have been misleading corn sugar ads on TV about this. HFC will kill you a lot quicker and do more damage to your body in the long term then juice from apples will.

Dr Oz, you fell short, way short.

Still puttering...

2011-09-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

I am continuing to putter as I deal with a small bout of insomnia. Fedge design has been started to be implemented on the western side of the property where the chickens are working in the veg garden currently.

There are indications of clover, rye and the rest of my cover crops appearing on my terraces for winter. I already look forward to spring since I miss Summer at the moment very much.

9/11 - My path to Permaculture

2011-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

I must start by letting you know I have not had good REM sleep in over a week, I actually can't remember the last time I did. That's how this all started as well, in a dream.

I was dreaming next to my wife in California, it's early and I had just quit a very large video game company in Silicon Valley, won awards in the company etc. I was looking forward to working as an Art Director for a MMORPG created by Brinestone Entertainment. We had an amazing budget that included a motion capture studio, an art team with Maya software, etc. 10 years ago this was a dream job, with a 100,000$ a year salary. However, I suddenly started hearing screams in my dream, that so many screams I awoke.

My wife was still sleeping, in fact everyone in my shared apartment was. I flipped on the TV mumbling something is wrong, and there I saw it, my home, my city that I grew up in... ..on fire with a plane in it. Then suddenly, live, right before my eyes I saw the 2nd plane strike the tower and I thought we were at war. I started weeping like a child at what I saw. My family & friends live in NYC, I started calling people, but all circuits are busy, and all I can do is watch, hopelessly, without any chance of helping... ..I find out several years later two of my friends, Kirsten and Nathan went down to help. G-d Bless Them.

The WTC is a building I hadn't just visited once, I had dined at the top of the tower, worked inside building custom aquariums for managers in some of the larger offices. I knew people there, I knew a lot of people there.

About 2 hours after this tragedy I got a phone call. I just lost my job as Art Director, because my boss at Brinestone was a retired Sniper, and was called to active duty. To make this worse, the investors whom we were signing with to start the company were in the first plane. I have no job, no future, what the hell am I going to do.

Over the next few weeks I started working with other members of the company, rewriting story-lines, changing little things so we can keep working on it. However, like the WTC, it's gone, and I need to get on with making money to live.

It was at this time my wife suddenly could also no longer work. She some how had lost 3 discs of cartilage in her spine. I kept trying to work, but she kept needing me at the house. She couldn't walk, and more. We did what we had to survive, and that's all we did. Survive. No life, no pleasure, heck, at times we had $5 to eat for 2 people for the whole week!!!

Time passes, we are finally so poor, no stocks, bonds, nothing at all, that we get medical assistance for my wife. We spend weeks in and out of hospitals while I read about nutrition, and gardening and then I found an odd little video on YouTube about this guy called, "Fukuoka" and how he was growing vegetables under his fruit and nut trees, without chemicals. I had found Permaculture.

Time passes, and fortune smiles upon us, my wife was given a present, a down payment for a home. My wife and I talk, and learn about Permaculture, and finally move to Oregon trying to put the pain behind us, that was almost 3 years ago.

Now, I have fruits, & nut trees, vegetables growing, with my chickens. Deer walk through my property on a daily basis, and it is peaceful, however then TV and my loved ones started talking about 9/11 again.

I am not over it. I do not know if I will ever be over it, right now I just cry at the thought of it. I had friends join up to go fight overseas, they died. I had fellow highschool students go over seas as well, they died. We fight a war overseas about 9/11, but instead invade a country for humanitarian reasons. Now, as part of the same war, we are in another country where 90% of the worlds heroine is made, and the fields aren't being burned. So much for Nixon's war on drugs I guess.

As a result of 9/11, I grew emotionally and am doing something for my community, as well as my family on this property. Why hasn't our country? We have stepped backwards as a society and creating insecurity. I believe the only way to be secure as a country is to create more Permaculture and help our fellow man, not create situations like Rep. Charlie Wilson did which created the 9/11 tragedy.

Wilson was presented with the Honored Colleague Award by the CIA. He became the first civilian to receive the award.^[12] However, Wilson's role remains controversial because most of the aid was supplied to Islamist hardliner Gulbuddin Hekmatyar , now a senior Taliban leader and a supporter of al-Qaeda .^[13]

While the rest of my fellow Americans recount the tragedy and watch TV making companies rich by supporting the shows and their advertising, I am going to go outside, work in my garden, and find solutions to help my fellow Americans, & my fellow Earthlings.

Peace be with you today, and always...I can't write anymore about this today.

US Panel finds Gas Fracking Poses Serious Risks

2011-08-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Exxon / Mobil has been promoting gas fracking on tv in this area, meanwhile Bloomberg is reporting "Gas Fracking Poses Serious Environmental Risks, Panel Finds" Meanwhile South Tenmile lake is facing a toxic algae bloom due to unclean water. Think about how much more the water is going to get screwed up with the LNG planet coming to Coos Bay & the restart of the rail along the rivers.

It makes me think some people won't be happy till Earth looks more like Giedi Prime of House Harkonnen.

Largest Toxic Dump In The West, Fined $1 Million By EPA

2011-08-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Chemical Waste Management's Kettleman City Landfill, Largest Toxic Dump In The West, Fined $1 Million By EPA

[QUOTE]

FRESNO, Calif. -- Federal officials said Wednesday they have levied about $1 million in penalties on the operator of the largest toxic dump in the West for failing to properly dispose of waste near a community known for a rash of birth defects.

But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said there is no evidence these latest violations pose any health threat to the community or workers at the dump site.

The agency will require Chemical Waste Management, which runs the waste facility near Kettleman City in the San Joaquin Valley, to pay a $400,000 fine and spend an estimated $600,000 to replace its laboratory equipment, software and procedures.

[/QUOTE]

That's all they got fined? That's a slap on the wrist considering how much havoc they caused at the expense of children. I'm disgusted, very disgusted.

Thunder and Lightening with No Precipitation

2011-08-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

Thunder and lightening with no precipitation... that's what I am experiencing here at the ol' homestead. I can only be thankful for it since it is fixing Nitrogen into the soil and helping us farmers out. I do find it odd that this is occurring, the East Coast is bracing for a hurricane that could hit NYC, and the America's have had 4 news grabbing earthquakes in 2 days, 2 of which do not normally occur along their fault lines.

Edit - In fact it is downright sunny, but we here can hear it, and see the flashes.

Still can't find a local source

2011-08-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

Still can't find a local source for rare, heirloom, antique apple seeds, nor for dwarf fruit trees. So far the best thing I can find is http://www.applesearch.org/

If I was more commercial I would look to here. http://www.cumminsnursery.com/antiques.htm

It's not so easy fixing up the world from the damage our forefathers wrought across North America, but small steps will start to make a large difference.

Wal*mart Coos Bay Employees Prevents CPR

2011-08-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

It's well known I don't care for Walmart, but this is just reprehensible. Yesterday Walmart employees prevented an off-duty fireman from performing CPR on an elderly person who was choking. This is a direct prevention of the Good Samaritan law by a corporation.

"because no medics were on scene, her son tried to help before Walmart officials physically pushed him aside."

In Permaculture, things like community are stressed, helping one another and the planet for the better. This company, once again proves they are not for the community except in the guise of advertising. What they want is your money to pay for the goods being shipped from Asia.

Here is the full story from CBS News.

Permaculture for Victory!

2011-08-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

I remember growing up when I was a more aspiring artist in the NYC area where I became a spoiled foodie, the posters for Victory gardens as well as my favorite WW2 era poster art, "Grow Hemp for Victory". It seems to me now that our country can use those slogans again.

I tried today for over 1/2 an hour to find the guidelines at the USDA for Organic growers, what a nightmare. Considering we tax paying US citizens actually pay for someone to go around and spot check compost pile temps; I am more inclined to do for myself now. Then again those same yahoo's also legalized Roundup & other chemicals known to persist through animal waste, composting efforts, and then destroy full on farms. USDA is supposed to protect, and it fails in this case. I never did find those guidelines which, for organic farming you would think are fairly simple, yet I know of cases of organic farmers market growers that actually use Roundup on their farms.

With that result of my taxes, I feel my fellow Americans can once again use a slogan to help themselves, not just for the short term, but for the long term, and that slogan should be, "Create Permaculture for Victory!"

Harvesting in the heat...

2011-08-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

...just reminds me to stay hydrated. I have been harvesting Yukon Gold potatoes, Blueberries, Blackberries, Huckleberries & Strawberries today. It's hot work digging through heavy clay dry soil, luckily I borrowed a friends pick axe to make life a bit easier.

The Yukon Golds though are the true heroes of the day. They have been growing under neath an apple tree, 2 different plum trees, with nettle, nasturtium, & huckleberries around them Bugleweed was ground cover in the general area. surrounding them as well. They have not once been given water all season except whatever rain came in spring.

It's nice to see returns on low maintenance gardening.

Changes visual

2011-08-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Trying to adapt the Linda Woodrow system from the book, "The Permaculture Home Garden," a wonderful book about incorporating Chickens directly into your veg garden, safely. Image is not to scale with regards to the outer rings.

Incoming Changes...

2011-08-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

With my chicken tractor making it's first pass past 3 fruit trees, 2 nut trees, a patch of rhubarb, a huckleberry bush, a verbena, and a blueberry with assorted rhododendrons and other perennials I am marveled at that chicken waste, and scratching that has occurred. My once beautiful patch of crimson clover cover crop destroyed and composted right where it lied. Nitrogen now fixed into the soil & more humus created. Thank you chickens.

However, because of how much work & love we are providing each other, I will be changing their 10'x4'x4' tractor to a more easily managed 7' dome. I am also creating a perimeter fedge barrier around the veg garden. This will comprise of bramble berries, then a slightly inner circle from that of horsetail, comfrey, nettles and Sunchoke a.k.a. Jerusalem Artichoke., then a slightly inner circle from their that consists of various herbs and spices.

The purpose of this fedge is to make a barrier from not only deer, but also provide food, compost and most importantly stop grass from entering the veg garden area. Next inside we will have 6 new dwarf fruit trees, a 4' pond, and finally 6 veg beds. However the veg beds I decided not to establish till the fedge is in full swing. Cover crops will be utilized until then.

Another Reason not to shop for food at Walmart!!!

2011-08-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Many people know mega-corporations such as Walmart destroy communities by driving local businesses out of business. Some people say that's just the way of capitalism. That's an excuse.

Many people of Coos County, here in Oregon know that because of Walmart, that the supermarket, Albertsons had to close its doors forever. Shame too, they had a much safer meat supply then Walmart.

Well, now did you know it is possible you were poisoned? It's already well known that China has shipped the US tainted food and toiletries in the past, but that is all done with now right?

WRONG.

China has arrested 2,000 people and shut down nearly 5,000 businesses in a clampdown on illegal food additives, after a series of food safety scares. Here is the full story.

What bothers me about all this is that this is how companies like Monsanto and Dow make more money. It was bad enough that China lost a large amount of watermelons this year (hence the higher price) due to over pumping of fertilizers in a rush to get to market, well that same foods that get over pumped by chemicals does indeed effect you and your health.

Not sure if you know this, but plants that get over pumped with chemicals during growth taste different & are potentially harmful. Here are 2 examples, seemingly unrelated but illustrate this point.

In CA, medical marijuana (which doesn't need to be smoked for therapy) now gets tested by a 3rd party usually in order to test for high levels of chemical fertilizers. This is because the marijuana itself cannot give you lung cancer, but the chemical fertilizers if pumped up too high can.

Ever taste a really bitter cabbage? Dole foods now has packages of chopped cabbage ready for coleslaw. Recently I had a package made here to go with lunch we made for friends. No one could eat the cole slaw due to how bitter it was. Again, this is due to over pumping of chemical fertilizers.

I miss the days of tasty raw foods. I miss having more then 5 types of apples in the stores, and I miss an infra-structurally sound America. Permaculture is the way to a sound America, more on this soon.

Would you like free chickens?

2011-08-03T10:14:00.001-07:00

Well Mother Earth News teamed up with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy & Tractor Supply Co. to literally give you FREE CHICKENS!!! Why not go take a look right now.

Win Heritage Breed Chickens

Deadline is Sept. 25

I make no money on this, I am in no way affiliated with Mother Earth News, Tractor Supply Co. or American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, I just realize this is very important in this day and age with the current stupidity going on with our economics and politics. In short, I am trying to help YOU out.

USDA at War With Americans? How to chop billions from the current US budget crisis.

2011-08-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

I will admit, I do not remember how, where, or anything else about how I got the below image but with the world wide financial crisis I can only wonder if the leaders of the USDA are scamming the American public.

Let's add to this equation the literal fact that the scientists in charge of determining weather or not a chemical is safe for the garden at the USDA have complained for YEARS about chemicals such as Aminopyralid.

Aminopyralid

...think of those gardeners a few years ago whose plants thrived for a while, then suddenly stopped growing and curled up like arabesque scrollwork. At first, no one knew what was happening. But gradually the syndrome was linked to residues of a new, hormone-mimicking pesticide manufactured by our old friends Dow Chemical, which was first approved in this country in 2005. It’s called aminopyralid.
It is used by farmers to kill broad-leaved weeds growing in fields of grass. It locks onto the cellulose in the plants, passes through the guts of the animals that eat them, and retains its potency in their manure, sometimes for two or three years or more. It is not believed to present a risk to human health.

The poisonings were a cruel cosmic joke. The people hit hardest by careless agri-business were the small producers and amateur gardeners trying to do the right thing, by using manure rather than chemical fertilisers. They had no idea there was trouble until it was too late, and, because of the remarkable persistence of the pesticide, no guarantee that the trouble would be confined to the year in which it was detected.

After a major fuss by gardeners, the government withdrew approval for the chemical in 2008. Farmers were allowed to use it again after “a stringent stewardship programme” was introduced. They would be permitted to spray it only on fields which would be grazed directly by cattle and sheep, rather than on fields where silage or hay is grown. All manure from animals kept in these pastures would have to stay on the farm. Horses could not be grazed on treated fields (because horse manure tends to be collected, rather than left on the grass). Farmers using the herbicide, according to Dow, “are required to confirm in writing that they have been instructed on product use, manure management issues and measures to reduce the risk of damage to flower-rich grassland”. These rules, the company says, “should allay concerns amongst gardeners and allotment-holders over using manure.”

Are your concerns allayed? They shouldn’t be. It’s back. (Source: Guardian)

That chemical was approved by 1 person, despite tons of complaining of farmers and other people, but it doesn't stop here. We now also allow without knowing all the true side effects open pollinated GMO foods even though currently they mess up human hormones like those needed for reproduction.

It is a fact that GMO food crops are designed to work with chemicals like the one above, in concert with herbicides, pesticides, and chemical based fertilizers, which essentially salt the earth and destroy all the good, beneficial life giving things that help plants grow. In short, Dow Chemical with the help of some people in the USDA appear to be salting our earth, destroying America's infrastructure on purpose under the guise of helping us.

Now let's add Monsanto and what they are doing to our food. Monsanto makes GMO foods, and has worked with GMO food crops for over 20 years in America.

NEW York: On behalf of 60 family farmers, seed businesses and organic agricultural organizations, the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed suit today against Monsanto Company challenging the chemical giant’s patents on genetically modified seed. The organic plaintiffs were forced to sue preemptively to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement should their crops ever become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed.

Monsanto has sued farmers in the United States and Canada, in the past, when their patented genetic material has inadvertently contaminated their crops.

A copy of the lawsuit can be found at:
(http://www.pubpat.org/assets/files/seed/OSGATA-v-Monsanto-Complaint.pdf)

This is very heavy stuff. So now I got 2 companies working with the USDA screwing up the soil, water, and very food we eat. Isn't this what happens in war? Have these 2 major companies declared war and the USDA is a pawn or at least been bribed to look the other way?

As I see it, these companies received aid from the USDA by getting their chemicals out in the market, deceived the American public, and intentionally acted against the well being of the American public, and have been doing so. If Congress, the Senate, the President and any other official wants to start cutting money they should look here at the USDA and the crazy shenanigans going on there.

Oh, and on top of all this, your tax dollars used in this financial crisis in our history also pays a person to randomly check the temperature of a farms compost. After all, the farmer most likely doesn't know how to make compost!

If you don't stand up for something...

2011-07-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

...you will fall for anything, and you are, right now. Your food supply from your local markets may not be safe for you, but that's ok, you can't see it. Radiation is like that, so is GMO foods.

Recently, the GMO food has been found to PUT toxins in your blood stream. So that nice little carrot you just gave your 1 or 2 year old could be potentially killing him.

(SALEM, Ore.) - A new medical study on the impacts of genetically modified (GM) foods, shows that toxins from GM crops designed to strike down pests are actually showing up in the bloodstreams of women and unborn babies.

The new study, "Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada" by Aziz Aris and Samuel Leblanc with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at the University of Sherbrooke Hospital Centre in Quebec, Canada, brings to light many of the fears that GMO food awareness groups and writers like our own April Scott, have been attempting to illuminate to the public.

The results of the study show that 93 per cent of blood samples taken from pregnant women and 80 percent of samples taken from umbilical cords, tested positive for traces of the chemicals.

This is highly problematic for Americans, where literally millions of acres have been taken over by these Monsanto generated crops. The GMO seeds carry a traceable blueprint and organic farmers whose fields have these non-natural crop seeds blow onto their land, are subject to lawsuit from Monsanto. You see, in this new game, every part is a victim except for Monsanto employees and shareholders.

This is the company responsible for Agent Orange
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/m...-toxins-tk.php

However, this is no surprise, I have mentioned this before. What is surprising is that now, another farmer I know has lost his organic farm business forever due to Dow Chemical. Think about that a moment. Contaminated food in our supermarkets, and farmers now losing their farms due to chemicals made by other companies! Your children eat this food and so do you! Tough for me to get my head around.

To quote a fellow farmer,

you may well ask what is that ....... I had no idea either until I read Monbiots piece at www.monbiot.com/2011/07/15/has-beans/

now it explains some strange Jerusalem artichokes we had last year

we use manure from the local riding school - and spread it all over our paddocks. We dont usually put it on food crops but we did in that garden last year ......... probably a lucky mistake or we wouldn’t have known about the contamination that is in our paddocks
Any animals that eats grass or hay ( or grain or ? ) with it on it or grass grown in manure with it in it passes it right through and into the manure killing some plants grown in that manure ...... of course the company making it say it is harmless to animals and humans ......... How can we be sure ? something that persistent really scares me

I don't blame him one bit for being scared, you should be too. If the farmers can't even get healthy food anymore, what chance do you have?

Busy as a beaver...

2011-07-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

...or as a bee, take your pick. Either way, I have little time to write. Yesterday I made a 4' by 8' raised bed that was promptly planted with again a polyculture of Early Corn, Mini Corn, Assorted Sunflowers, Crookneck Squash, Saltbush, Australian Butter Squash (pumpkin) Dragon Tongue Beans, and Acorn Squash.

I have decided to terrace and build raised beds with copper flashing around the top of the raised beds in my courtyard area. This will be my intensive zone 1.

NY Times Not So Zen Farm

2011-06-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

The NY Times has a current article called, "Zen Farm" which is a home & was a working Amish farm. I will admit the property of 150 acres is wonderful to look at for someone into Wabi Sabi, however, that is even incorrect for a description of the place since it breaks the principles of Wabi Sabi by not using what was around.

Yuppie decorating Feng Shui is another way to describe the property, which I don't mind. It's America, it's their place, but on page 17 of 22 there is an image and I quote,

Darrell Frey, a permaculture expert, is the Farm's property manager, resident philosopher and facilitator.

This actually upset me. Not one image showed ANYTHING dealing with permaculture, in fact, it shows the exact opposite. Everything appears to have been trucked in due to being bought off the internet. In a time Permaculture principles are, "Earth Care, People Care, People Share," doesn't mean you are supposed to go out and buy foo foo items to make your place look good enough for the NY Times Home and Garden. I guess this is the kind of depraved depths of Permaculture I will have to deal with in the future.

I utterly disagree with this property being a permaculture property, it's nothing more then someones fancy home, which is their right as Americans... ..and my right to whine about it on the internet.

Stay Free

Personally Sad Permaculture Solstice

2011-06-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

I had envisioned or had hopes for today being peaceful with celebrations for the solstice world wide. Be you pagan, or a Roman Catholic gaming in World of Warcraft all I had envisioned for today was that of one of peace.

Instead I found a very disturbing scientific article about the conditions of the ocean. First of which is a scientists warning of a massive die off in the oceans due to various reasons one of which is directly caused by you and I. However, nature has been through this before, so I have hope for the planet, not so much for mankind.

Here is the article.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/09/03/3001494.htm

However, this article links to another source, which has an even scarier article, one nations leaders should stand up and be concerned about, however it will most likely fall on deaf ears as usual.

According to scientists, the southern oceans of our world are nearly to a point where acidification will cascade in failure and cause a die off. I have already seen the die off in San Francisco's Bay, and the ecology it destroyed literally. Fishermen no longer can catch enough food for themselves let alone to sell at market. The crabs are gone, as are the sturgeon and salmon. Is this the future for all the oceans? The Mediterranean sea is already experiencing massive die offs in areas as well. What will it take for you to wake up to these problems? What is this world going to be like for your child, and his or her children if YOU keep up the destructive practices you are doing today?

Here is the article about ocean acidification.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/11/11/2415539.htm

Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology.
~Alan M. Eddison

A Win for Farmers & Earth vs. Monsanto!

2011-06-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

A Win for Farmers & Earth vs. Monsanto!

As of May 20th of this year, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a summary order concluding a long-standing lawsuit over the impacts of genetically engineered (GE) “Roundup Ready” sugar beets. As a direct and legally binding result, previous court rulings in favor of farmers and conservation advocates will remain!

This includes the order requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prepare a rigorous review of the impacts of GE sugar beets, engineered to be resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, before deciding whether to again allow their future commercial use!

This is important to all of us because this stops the increased pesticide impact on the environment and its directly caused Roundup-resistant “superweeds” epidemic in U.S. agriculture as well as world wide. The more US. and other farmers from around the world use petro-chemical products, the more the earth gets "salted" and the more difficult it becomes to grow. Prices will continue to rise also as a result of the price of oil. Do yourself a favor, admit your oil dependence and stop acting like a junkie before its too late.

Here's the article for you to read.

A North American jealous of South America?

2011-06-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, yeah! I was raised that we Americans are #1, Aces High, the cream in the coffee, the apple in someones eye. You get the idea. Well, wtf? Why the hell aren't we?

Yeah we got an impressive military as our economy and infrastructure crumble to the point of not even china would want us. However, a few years ago, Brazil declared energy independence from the WORLD, and no other country has since.

Now, Peru, does something equally amazing in my eyes. They banned Genetically modified food crops for the next 10 years!!! Healthy food coming out of Peru for the next 10 years! No glowing tomatoes! No farms being destroyed by Monsanto corn! Why the hell isn't the US doing this?

Here is the article, read it for yourself.

http://www.andina.com.pe/Espanol/Noticia.aspx?id=RT87MrHPjyo=

Peru approves 10 year ban on GM crops
Wednesday, 08 June 2011 16:29

NEWS FROM LATIN AMERICA
1.Peru approves 10 year ban on GM crops - GENET-news
2.Brazilian commission changes its internal statutes to speed up approval of GM crops - GM-Free Brazil

NOTE: URGENT: help keep Bolivia GM free! Please act today: http://bit.ly/mx0LsZ
---
---
1.PLENARY SESSION OF THE CONGRESS APPROVED MORATORIUM OF TEN YEARS FOR THE ENTRANCE OF TRANSGENIC
via GENET-news

SOURCE: Andian, Peru
AUTHOR: Machine translation of the Spanish text
URL: http://www.andina.com.pe/Espanol/Not...d=RT87MrHPjyo=
DATE: 07.06.2011

SUMMARY: "The Plenary Session of the Congress, approved the opinion of the law project that declares a moratorium of ten years that prevents the import of Genetically Modified Organisms on the national territory for cultivation, breeding or of any transgenic production."

Lima, jun. 07 (ANDINA). The Plenary Session of the Congress, approved the opinion of the law project that declares a moratorium of ten years that prevents the import of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) on the national territory for cultivation, breeding or of any transgenic production. It was sustained by the president of the Agrarian Commission, Aníbal Huerta (PAP), who declared that in the face of the danger that can arise from the use of the biotechnology a moratorium must be approved to take care of our biodiversity. It received the endorsement of congressmen Elizabeth Leon (BPCD), Franklin Sanchez (PAP), Mauritius Mulder (PAP), Oswaldo Luizar (BPCD), Jorge of Castillo (PAP), Oswaldo de la Cruz (GPF), Luis Wilson (PAP), Yonhy Lescano (AP), Aldo Estrada (UPP), Hilda Guevara (PAP), Gloria Branches (BPDC) and Maria Sumire (GPN). From different viewpoints, they agreed in the defense of the national biodiversity due to our greater climatic diversity, but they differed with regard to the moratorium. Congressman Alejandro Rebaza (PAP), made some precisions to the opinion and, like the colleagues Sanchez and Estrada, proposed a technical commission of prevention and investigation that issues a report in two years. The legislators Raul Castro (UN) and Juan Carlos Eguren (UN) expressed themselves against the moratorium, because they considered that already we consumed transgenic products and that the doors to biotechnology could not be closed because the transgenic production, that is necessary for covering the food needs, has 70% more sale than the organic production. The parliamentarian José Saldaña (AN) remembered that the biologists have asked to file the project in debate because already exists a law on the matter, whereas legislator Yaneth Cajahuanca (GPN) suggested to leave the project for the next session. On the other hand, congressmen Luis Giampietri (PAP) and Édgard Núñez (PAP) said that it is not possible to close the doors to science and that it is possible to decided on a prudential moratorium of five years. Finally, the president of the Commission of Andean Towns, Washington Zeballos (BPCD), informed on the modifications to the opinion and that the term of the moratorium would have to be of ten years. The proposal was approved by 56 votes to favor, zero against and two abstentions and exonerated from second voting by 50 votes to favor, four against and three abstentions. The approved norm establishes a moratorium of ten years, determines as competent authority of the subject to the Ministry of the Environemnt and creates a Technical Commission of Evaluation and Prevention of Risks of Use of GMOs, that in two years will have to issue a report on the subject.
---
---
2.Brazilian commission changes its internal statutes to speed up approval of GM crops and hasten the release of modified beans
Update from the GM-Free Brazil Campaign
Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | June 07 2011

On May 17th a public hearing was held in Brasilia to discuss an application for commercial release of the first genetically modified bean variety. Beans are part of Brazil's staple diet, consumed daily by most of the population. The new variety was developed by Embrapa (the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) for resistance to the golden mosaic virus and is already just waiting for commercial authorization from CTNBio (National Biosafety Technical Commission, the official body responsible for evaluating and authorizing GM crops).

The hearing was held at the head offices of Embrapa itself, the state company making the application. This unprecedented event raised the prospect of CTNBio adopting the procedure of ‘consulting society’ at the premises of all applicant companies, with, who knows, the next hearing being held at Monsanto’s head office. The president of CTNBio, Edilson Paiva, claimed they had been unable to find another auditorium available in Brasilia, hence the choice.

The representative for the NGO Terra de Direitos questioned the confidentiality granted to various sections of Embrapa's report. CTNBio withheld more information than the areas requested by the company, a fact likely to hinder monitoring of the product’s impacts after its commercial release. In this case access to all the data was denied even to the member of the Commission responsible for reporting on the evaluation process.

Field studies were undertaken in just three localities over a two-year period. Interpreted generously this mean that the environmental impacts of the technology were tested in two biomes at most. Brazil's legislation requires studies to be undertaken in all biomes where the modified plant might be grown. As the Terra de Direitos representative pointed out, Embrapa is applying for unrestricted release of the new GM bean variety throughout the country, despite the lack of adequate data.

AS-PTA's representative also questioned the absence of data on the potential impacts of genetic modification on the common bean varieties already consumed in Brazil. All the tests were carried out on a single type of bean, rather than those consumed in the country on a daily basis. At the same time, various parts of Embrapa’s report themselves state that the test results vary according to the type of bean receiving the transgene. Despite these tests not being conducted, the application is for release of the GM variety for subsequent incorporation into other bean plants.

Even more revealingly, only two of the 22 transgenic events generated for resistance to the mosaic virus actually worked. As the evaluation report states, it remains unknown why these produced the expected results while the other 20 events did not. Indeed the report concludes that more studies are needed to understand the transgene in question. In other words, when in doubt, release it. This abandonment of the Precautionary Principle was highlighted at the hearing by AS-PTA.

The representative from CONSEA (the National Nutritional and Food Security Council) stressed that the human right to healthy and adequate food will be achieved through agroecology, not through the development of GM seeds. He cited experiments run by Embrapa over an eight-year period that showed considerable success in controlling the bean plant mosaic virus through organic farming methods and without any loss of productivity.

CTNBio approves changes to rules to speed up commercial releases

The day after the public hearing on the GM bean application, the monthly meeting of CTNBio also began in Brasilia. Opening the plenary session, the Secretary of Research and Development Policies and Programs of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Carlos Nobre, emphasized the importance of the Commission’s work and the need for risk evaluation to be based on the Precautionary Principle, much to the incredulity of many of those listening to him. As soon as the Secretary left the plenary session, the president of CTNBio announced that the vote would be taken on changing the body’s statutes. But after hearing the first question, he immediately announced that the process would be sped up to avoid the ‘obstruction principle.’

The regulations were set to be altered at the meeting following a court ruling that obliged CTNBio to introduce more transparent procedures and allow access to the information received for evaluation, except for data covered confidential business information.

The members of the Commission used the chance to alter the statutes to approve changes to the ritual of the evaluation process. They shortened the evaluation periods, meaning that GMOs releases will be even quicker in practice, reinforcing CTNBio's image as a rubber-stamping institution that has so far never refused a request for commercial release.

The vote to approve the release of GM beans is set to take place shortly.

Meanwhile, I am going outside, gonna plant more food, improve my soil, and enjoy some nice warm tea.

Can ancient ingenuity be more profitable?

2011-06-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Here is one man's view of how ancient technology has been more profitable & useful then more modern techniques, either way, it is food for thought. Have a look!

Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting | Video on TED.com

Permaculture Food for your mind.

Big Oil to Congress: Don't Fuck With Us

2011-05-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

That's right, while some people blame Democrats or Republicans, I blame the corporations that have had it too easy since Andrew Jackson. While I strive for clean healthy food, and energy independence, my taxes, and yours still have to deal with corporations that think they need free money when the CEO's make over, $20,000,000 a year.

Don't believe me? Fine, read it yourself.

Big Oil to Congress: Don't Fuck with Us

(Yes, you should be pissed off.)

Chooks have landed! Ahhhh!

2011-05-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was at Coos Grange with the Mrs and picked up some pullets. I have never owned living chickens before, but I am sure it won't be as hard as cranky Amazon Green Parrots or Macaws that I have met in the past.

We picked up 2 aracaunas (green or blue eggs), 1 buff orpington (brown eggs), 1 barred rock (brown eggs), & 1 golden laced polish, the kind with the big puffy hat (white eggs if a hen but this one could be a rooster as this type was unsexed). Eggshell color has nothing to do with what is inside, which tastes the same to 99.9999% of the population.

It's been nearly 24 hours, they are doing well in their new home. Later today I am going to be holding and petting them according to my wife, but for now, it is time for more coffee, and time to be a Perma-blitzer and get out on the land again & do some work!!!

Modern Agriculture verse Permaculture &/or Nature

2011-04-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking and reading lately about the differences between modern Agriculture verse Nature producing food, the differences are pretty amazing & the facts say a lot. Let's start about the fragility vs amount of food produced.

The typical farm is pretty fragile. Any single one problem can come in and wipe the farm out making the idea of a bank investing on someones property a pretty scary investment. It has no resilience in that many farmers bankroll the entire year and pray, hope, and spray every chemical under the sun to destroy everything living around the food. There is no diversity to help the soil lock nutrients for use by the plants. There is no diversity in the insect population, they are being killed, even the beneficial ones that help pollinate. The idea of a farm ecology is laughable at best since there is no degree of functional interconnection between the plants, and trees save one. In other words, a typical farm is a well maintained desert that can have a swarm of locusts descend upon it at anytime, or worse, RoundUp. If by the love & grace of something this farm survives the season after destroying everything around the farm and releasing carcinogens into the water table it has an over abundance of 1 type of food which needs to then be shellacked, waxed, or some other way preserved that appears fresh to get it to multiple markets to sell to a large amount of people to recoup all expenses of the year and save towards the next. Why on earth the USDA, & FDA thought this was a smart idea is beyond me. All it did was help destroy our country and its infrastructure.

With a typical edible forest as the model for a farm, if you can call Nature that in this case, you have the exact opposite values. It is a resilient ecosystem in one can grow on 7 different levels of food. It attracts many kinds of insects, both good and bad, same with plant life but it achieves balance. Yes, some food product will be lost, but entire crops are rarely if never wiped out because there is always more then 1, and that confuses all kinds of predators from diseases to deer. There is a great amount of diversity between insect life, and plant life. There is no one thing to take to the market, there is an over abundance in different foods produced year round. More importantly, the trees can make connections with other trees, and with other plants, creating a sound, healthy soil making everything that grows in it healthier over all. There is no need for bought fertilizers or the money needed to spend to ship them in, with proper design, the property will make its own, literally, using only the sun as a source of power. No pollution is caused, & very little property management is needed compared to the regiment of sprays caused in the typical farm. There is one downside. There will be no massive amount of food spiking the markets, there will be a slow, constant trickle of money, and it takes time, research, and patience to get there.

Do I have it in me to get there?

Can Boston Have Something to Teach Coos County About Apples?

2011-04-19T20:10:00.001-07:00

In an amazing turn of civic renewal I am proud to let you know about a little story I came across. It seems in Boston, a bunch of people are getting together and planting heirloom apples in the streets with a party planned for the harvest a few years from now!

Wow, what an amazing idea that could be carried over to the River Walk!!!!!

Here are 2 quotes from the article I found.

Art meets civic action in a project launched this month in Boston that focuses on community and environmental health -- and apples. The Boston Tree Party's goal is to improve urban areas by planting 100 pairs of heirloom apple trees across Boston with the help of citizen groups of all kinds. Participating tree party delegations -- faith organizations, schools, hospitals, businesses and other community groups -- receive an apple planting kit and access to apple experts, aka pomologists, to learn how to care for their mini-orchards. Groups that have access to land to plant partner with those who don't.

I don't know about you, but that sounds like an excellent way to give everyone access to free healthy food while at the same time preserving a national heritage. Well, there's more, it concludes...

The Tree Party does not end with planting. Five years from now, a harvest festival is planned, where nature and community will be celebrated with the sweet fruits of this project's labor.

I toast my apple cider to their success!

Bye Bye Clean Water in the USA

2011-04-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

In the wake of Texas trying to sue an Oklahoma Native American reservation 150 miles north of Texas for water, this suddenly comes up.

WASHINGTON -- Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005-2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday.

The report said 29 of the chemicals injected were known-or-suspected human carcinogens. They either were regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act as risks to human health or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Methanol was the most widely used chemical. The substance is a hazardous air pollutant and is on the candidate list for potential regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The report was issued by Reps. Henry Waxman of California, Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Diana DeGette of Colorado.

The chemicals are injected during hydraulic fracturing, a process used in combination with horizontal drilling to allow access to natural gas reserves previously considered uneconomical.

The growing use of hydraulic fracturing has allowed natural gas production in the United States to reached levels not achieved since the early 1970s.

However, the process requires large quantities of water and fluids, injected underground at high volumes and pressure. The composition of these fluids ranges from a simple mixture of water and sand to more complex mixtures with chemical additives.

The report said that from 2005-2009, the following states had at least 100,000 gallons of hydraulic fracturing fluids containing a carcinogen: Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Wyoming, North Dakota, New Mexico, Montana and Utah.

States with 100,000 gallons or more of fluids containing a regulated chemical under the Safe Drinking Water Act were: Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Mississippi and North Dakota.

The report said many chemical components were listed as "proprietary" or "trade secret."

"Hydraulic fracturing has opened access to vast domestic reserves of natural gas that could provide an important stepping stone to a clean energy future," the report said.

"Yet, questions about the safety of hydraulic fracturing persist, which are compounded by the secrecy surrounding the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids. This analysis is the most comprehensive national assessment to date of the types and volumes of chemical used in the hydraulic fracturing process."

Well, there is certainly no reason to give Texas any water from Oklahoma, it's all unsafe to drink because of short sighted greed, and yet despite various news sources, blogs, etc, people remain apathetic thinking these problems can't happen to them. WAKE UP AMERICA.

Grow Your Own Car? Why Yes it's Possible!

2011-04-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

You did not misread that. It is now possible (thank you transitive process from math) to grow your own car. Essentially, that is what the 2 car designers Kenneth Cobonpue and Albrecht Birkner have done making the "Phoenix"

The Phoenix is a real car made of bamboo. And if you didn't know, bamboo is stronger then steel. Is there anything that can't be solved in a garden? The vehicle comes in at a little over twelve and a half feet long or some where between 3 and 4 meters.

Inhabitat.com has the full story.

Open Letter from Sepp Holzer

2011-04-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Herr Sepp Hozler is someone I admire. He is a true farmer in the best, & truest sense of the word, but I prefer to think of him as a caretaker, or Warden of the Earth. The man farms unlike any other I have ever seen, and it works better then any industrial agriculture, on a hillside, in the alps of Austria.

On Herr Holzer's website he has put up for all to see:

Short abstract:
Open Letter to Members of the Political, Economic and Scientific Communities.

The presenting problems and my proposal for their solution:
We come into the world, usually in a sterile hospital where immediately, our natural roots are cut. We are then inoculated and nursed with a chemical cocktail and begin our journey into and through an unnatural world, increasingly severed from Nature and from natural processes. Instead, would not a natural birth in the circle of one's family and a natural childhood be the correct start for the future life of a young person? And should not every planetary citizen have the birthright to their own piece of earth upon which they could develop and maintain their essential need to be nurtured and sustained by their natural environment? I maintain that a land reform which confirms these realities is long overdue. By growing up in insulation and isolation from Nature and our Mitlebewesen, the creatures co-existing with us, we lose the natural relationship to our environment. Growing up in symbiosis with plants, animals and humans, however, enables an experience of meaningful belonging and sharpens the task and ability to act as a thoughtful individual, the task of mastering the challenge of Directing rather than Fighting. By observing the life all around us, our Mitlebewesen, do we discover that Nature is perfect already and that Creation has considered everyone; that everything is in relationship one with the other and that there is nothing to improve.

The whole letter you can find here >>

That is one powerful abstract. The entire letter is equally powerful. I can't but help agreeing with it after I have learned all I have in life. My entire life experience has led me here, from learning marine biology, building ponds & large scale aquariums, terrariums, and vivariums as well as the lighting and filter systems... ..and that was prior to college... ..to learning about Mr. Fukuoka & trying his techniques for several years in a ghetto in California. Sepp is dead on IMO with what changes are needed world wide, but will we listen.

Herr Holzer's website in English can be found here.

Permaculture Design Certificate Course DVD Collection

2011-04-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

If anyone ever wonders what they could donate to me, this would be it. I am currently saving, for the recently released Permaculture Design Certificate Course DVD Collection available from Powells Books here in the Northern Hemisphere. Tagari publications partnered with them in order to cut down on postage, and thus fossil fuels in the atmosphere as well.

Here is a quote from the Publisher about the DVD collection.

The Permaculture Design Certificate Course was filmed in September 2005 at The University of Melbourne. Using a professional production team. The entire course is presented by Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. Each disc has (+/-) 4.5 hours of content, 58.5 hours total for the set. The last disc finishes up Chapter 14, student questions, the design assignment, graduation, round table and conclusion to the course.
There were 13 hours of the course devoted to students producing their designs (2 hours with Geoff mentoring, students also worked after class hours to complete their designs) the student design presentations (7.5 hours, big class! ), the graduation day, round table, conclusion, and the where to from here? discussion ( 6 hours). The entire footage of these 13 hours is reduced to a delightful 60 minute (+/-) collage for the viewer.

Sounds like a valuable resource for the future. I look forward to reviewing it someday.

Tomato Companion Planting, a.k.a.Tomato Polyculture

2011-04-09T17:51:00.001-07:00

I was researching some plant things a little while ago when it occured to me that I need a polyculture for my tomatoes!

Here is the list I am going to try and use this year since they are all companion to tomatoes:

Carrots
Basil
Lettuce
Asparagus
Borage
Celery
Chives, Onions, Leeks, Garlic
Marigold
Dill
Scarlet Runner Bean
Marjoram & Oregano
Nasturtium
Parsley (Both flat and curly)
Yarrow
Parsnips

Many of these plants will provide insects for pollination and to take care of enemy insects that would harm the tomatoes. While I may grow them all together, it is also a good idea to have many of these plants simply near by, or at the base of the tomato plant.

A gift was given yesterday...

2011-04-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

...I.. ...I feel like the richest man in the world after answering a Craigslist ad for free seeds. I was given several heirloom variety of seeds, some of which have very interesting stories behind them. For example, Victory Seeds, ((an Rare, Open-pollinated & Heirloom Garden Seeds company that signed the Safe Seed Pledge guaranteeing they are not treated with chemicals, hybridized, or GMO)) had this to say about Coyote tomato.

50 days, indeterminate — This variety was given to heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier by Maye Clement during a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Harvest Fair show, as a cluster of fruit on the vine. She indicated that it grew wild in her home country of Mexico. It is a tiny cherry tomato that ripens its prolific crop to an ivory, translucent yellow color, shading to darker yellow at the shoulders. Flavor is superb.

Heirloom seeds are wonderful, and generally have much better flavor, and resistance against various ailments in nature. Given that so many things are grown together here, I have little worry about diseases at all on my property as the soil gets better every year with my worm army.

So what is that Safe Seed Pledge really? Well, here is another quote for you from Victory Seeds .

The Safe Seed Pledge

"Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundations as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between genera, families or kingdoms, poses great biological risks as well as economic, political, and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds. Further, we wish to support agricultural progress that leads to healthier soils, genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems and ultimately people and communities."

Council for Responsible Genetics
5 Upland Rd, Suite 3 Cambridge, MA 02140
Phone: (617) 868-0870 Fax: (617) 491-5344
Email: crg@gene-watch.org

http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org

Do I support this? Hell yes I do! Our food sources is not something that should be messed with for profit. People everywhere have the RIGHT to healthy food, and my life will be happy in that pursuit of happiness!

So, with all that said, I am beyond happy and deeply humble and thankful to my benefactor of seeds so that my family and friends can have healthy food this year, and with any luck, more years to come. Blessings upon them, and to you... ..stay green!

Are you keeping track of your garden?

2011-04-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

I will admit, I am not great at this. However, I realize the importance of seasonal changes that have been occurring. For example, according to the USDA zone system, we are zone 9, and our last frost date is the 6th of this month. Great, we had frost this morning though on the 7th, and it is predicted for tomorrow the 8th.

Weather or not you believe in global warming is not relevant. What is important is that we as gardeners keep track of our successes, and changes in the weather, and most importantly our failures. How else will you and others learn?

So WTF is Permaculture ya damn Hippy!

2011-04-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

I have been wracking my brain on how to explain the difference between modern USDA agriculture and permaculture. I knew I could tell someone it is not a fad, religion, cult, army, or pseudo-science. However, that quintessential difference between permaculture farms and modern farms was hard to explain till today when I found someone who summed it up beautifully.

From all that I have learned, I believe it sums up this way:

Modern Industrial Agriculture is nothing more than Hydroponics with Dead Soil as the growing medium. Crops do not tolerate adversity well.

Permaculture builds the soil and nutrients, making them easily available when needed. Plants can tolerate adversity better.

Modern Industrial Agriculture tends to grow Successive Monocultures. Chances of complete crop loss and complete financial loss are high when adversity strikes because you are all in and usually financed your expenses for the year.

Permaculture, the majority of the land is planted in polyculture. Rare to lose all of our crops/produce, so rare you would lose the farm from losing one crop, given you did not have to bet the farm.

Modern Industrial Agriculture focuses technology on creating solutions to issues they create, and kill everything and everyone (including you) in the process. (molested seeds, chemicals for fertilizer, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, fruiting, flowering, ripening, irradiation, pasteurization, homogenization... They are raping and pillaging the farmer, turning all food into a commodity crap, killing the land and bankrupting the farmer at the same time. You have to give them credit for going a good job.

Permaculture focuses technology on better ways to reduce work and get better produce. It looks for multiple uses for everything. If I can not harvest something, livestock can.

So Modern Industrial Agriculture gives you the chance at all or none for the price of your soul and all the wealth of you have.
Permaculture gives you an opportunity to build multiple crop productions over time, reducing risk and saving souls and wealth. -Dr. Temp

That sums it up for me. However Permaculture itself is more then just farming. Its about being practical.

Hey you! Wake the *@# Up!

2011-04-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

That's right, WAKE UP. I know you are reading this but you aren't awake. Your awarness level of what is going on around you is a joke. Your goverments are taking away your freedoms, or at least trying to.

http://www.naturalnews.com/031919_seed_day_farmers.html#ixzz1IHveqmAo

Many of the goverments we have been 'helping' we have actually been hindering. For example, we just helped Iraq over throw its tyranical nazi trained leader Saddam, but now thanks to the State Department and Monsanto we did this to them...

...administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Paul Bremer has already issued and signed Order 81, a heinous bill that completely eliminates Iraq's traditional "free-to-little-regulated" seed supply system and replaces it with, you guessed it, a system controlled by multinational biotechnology companies. CPA was set up after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and Bremer was tasked with "overseeing the country's reconstruction"...

Wait, isn't India also our allies? Didn't we send them a ton of American jobs in the 90's and early 00's? Oh wait, our State Department has pressured them to use GMO foods, and now this.

...Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) threatens to eliminate people's right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed, and even eat the food of their choice. BRAI will seize control of food from the people and hand it over to multinational biotechnology companies. India's State Agriculture Minister Ramakrishna Kusumaria actually said to The Hindu that the implementation of BRAI "will enslave our agriculture"...

How long before you think it happens here?
WAKE UP AMERICA