Documentary-permaculture

[bigriks300]

Sorry if this is the wrong forum but since it revolves around sustainable land usage and food production I figured this would be the place.

It's a short documentary on one woman's return to her family farm and the historic farming, modern farming dichotomy with the third choice she finds "permaculture".
After seeing permaculture in action and through this documentary I found so many correlations between it and what homesteaders do.

Also, given the nature of the U.S.'s current political climate, I was researching ways to "farm" that would reduce, greatly, labor, energy costs and make "farming" a sustainable lifestyle whereby one could produce much more than one needed without huge acreages.

If anyone has any research on this type of farming at all PLEASE post it as I found this documentary site by the purest of chance and to think they had a documentary on the very "farming" method I was researching; must be divine intervention.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/farm-for-the-future/

[BonnyLake]

I wasn't able to view the entire video so hopefully I'm not being redundant -

A lot of us with small spaces and even smaller budgets practice “permanent agriculture” - here's a useful quote "the most output for the least input".

I have a place with lots of angles and odd size areas and no guarantees of full sunlight when the garden needs it, so I am using several different permanent structures and methods to grow mini-gardens. For instance; large pots and containers for tomatoes and strawberries that are placed purposefully to capture rain and sun – using the same containers to grow fall or winter plants later on in a different locale. Window boxes for smaller light weight herbs that I can harvest from inside the house, and I can rotate the types every couple of months. And then some square foot gardening beds to make the most of the flat space I do have, and to help my knees and shoulders not get overwhelmed by attempting to reach beyond my grasp.

I've found a lot of information on Permaculture through my connections with "Urban Farming" or "edible landscaping" articles and websites. One of the basic concepts is that of using natural and devised symbiotic relationships to your advantage in producing food. And if you can plant something once to harvest repeatedly, why wouldn’t you. Here are a few examples and ideas I’ve kept in my notebooks:

1) graywater systems to irrigate automatically
2) roof runoff collection into ponds for livestock (my pond is the big bucket for my livestock of dogs & cats) - but hey! LOL
3) chickens for eggs, manure and pest control
4) using the naturally occurring terrain for gardens; like terracing, and not fighting what the land will do on it’s own (flood control, mudslides, pooling water)
5) using companion plants for nutrients and pest deterrents
6) composting
7) natural barriers like thorny blackberry bushes
8) planting nut and fruit trees for wind-breaks
9) using existing fences or small trees as a trellis for beans and peas
10) planting vegetable perennials – rhubarb; using the large roots to prevent mudslides. Then in ditches and rockeries – asparagus, horseradish, bunching onions, garlic, kale, etc.
11) edible groundcovers for preventing soil erosion – low shrub blueberries, cranberries (near water), huckleberries, parsley, oregano, mixed leafy greens (miniature lettuce varieties), etc.
12) clotheslines for trellising on the end caps

This is just the gardening aspect that I’ve needed to know for myself and I’m sure there’s a whole lot more.

I think it’s a fascinating subject because it reaches into self-reliance and sustainability on a smaller more manageable scale for my urban sidekicks and me and it's actually a reasonable and achievable goal.
Bonny

[bigriks300]

great information; thanks.

What really caught my eye was the couple was only on 10 acres and they couldn't even eat all that they produced on that small area.

I've been stuck for the last 3 years or so in my cubic thinking that I'd need at least 100 acres to be self-suficient and be a safe haven for my friends and family; nice to know I'm waaaayyyy wrong.

Oh, and the harvesting I saw from more permaculture examples were as simple as a horse, a cart and a sharp knife.

[Nancymw]

I just recently saw some information on permaculture and am beginning to research the methods. Thanks for the link. I tried to get a copy of Gaia's permaculture but out of print for a while.