Can Permaculture sustain us?

     Toby Hemenway is one of the best-known Permaculture advocates available. He is quite knowledgeable on the subject, and gives talks and teaches courses over there on the west coast. An article from his website was probably the best gardening article ever written, which is to say most horticultural information is content-milled. That article really inspired me to find out what is native and useful here, and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

     But can Permaculture really sustain us? Some people think of it as more of a religion rather than an agricultural technique, which is definitely a problem. And the answer, which Mr. Hemenway sidestepped a bit, is that it cannot. Unless we change every aspect of our lives to really coexist with the planet. That would include less future children, and not more. Less fossil fuels, not more. Less air conditioning and heating, and not more. Less can be more with proper design, hence, permaculture.

      It really comes into perspective when you attempt to figure out the acreage it would take for a family to feed itself. More than one acre, for sure. At least one adult working  full-time on that acreage to plant, harvest, and maintain production. Families would be forced to to move to be spread out in order to have that land for use. The surface area of the arable parts of the planet is known and can be calculated. The calculations do not add up to the population numbers that we have now.

     That's sad, right? Not really. I can't even tell you all the people that I've met that never want to have kids. They are a product of our industrial society, and they don't want to give up the luxury they would miss out on  if they had to raise children. Then there is also the fear that this industrial society isn't worth living in, that it would be a shame to bring a child into this. Personally I think that's why zombie flicks are so popular, because people secretly long for a less complicated life where the threats to your welfare are clearly visible. Children are an investment no matter what your ethics and religion, of time, energy, even patience.

     But that's just one aspect of how lives must be changed to have a future for our race. Toby Hemenway  forsees a potential future for us that he describes well in this video. What do you forsee?

Chicken Rules for Hernando

"A divided county commission voted Tuesday to allow chickens in residential areas but tacked on several restrictions that call for neighbor buy-in and assured residents the new ordinance doesn’t supersede existing deed restrictions.

They also capped the number of backyard chickens to four per household and required the owner keep the coop out of view from neighbors."

      According to my source (the chicken lady herself), the permits are $100 with an additional $25 inspection fee. Safe to say the people already keeping chickens illegally will probably not be wasting their time and money on the permits.

Easter Eggs Done Right

Technique 1: Get Some Eggs from some chickens.

     Boil the eggs in with your dye solution, generally with vinegar added to mordant the colors to the eggshell.  Let the eggs cool in the dye solution, overnight is ok. Wrapping onion skin around the egg will make a marbling effect. Secure any stickers or flowers by wrapping the individual egg in nylon or cheesecloth. Speckle eggs by adding oil to the dye bath.
     Pictured here from left to right: orange marbling with yellow onion skins, wrapped and boiled, yellow egg dye made with celery and Bidens alba / Tradescantia flowers, blue egg dye made with purple cabbage and Tradescantia flowers, orange and purple marbling with yellow and red onion skins, wrapped and boiled.

• Red Cabbage - Bright Blue
• Beets - Pink
• Yellow Onion Skins - Orange
• Turmeric/Saffron, Celery Leaves - Yellow
• Grape Juice - Bluish Purple
• Grass/Sedge Leaves - Green
• Cranberries - Pale Pink
• Blackberries - Pale Purple

Technique 2: Get your eggs from some rabbits.

Technique 3: After the rabbits hides your eggs, send the kids out to find them and then prepare Die Eier von Satan (Deviled Eggs).

Citrus in Florida

     Back when people first started moving to Florida in the late 1800's (No AC, what were they thinking?), they tried planting groves of the different trees over the entire state. I'm pretty sure Swingle and Dancy cultivars were created here. Since then, years with freezes have slowly been driving the industry to the areas south of Tampa and Orlando. It's still a multi-billion dollar a year industry, employing thousands of workers.
     Pest pressures, like fungi and insects, make our oranges unsightly, so bland eating oranges usually come from California or Arizona, while Florida's tasty oranges usually go to make juice.
     Here in west central Florida, just north of Tampa, I have been having a lot of success with loquat (sort of a citrus). The other varieties of less cold sensitive citrus are Meyer lemon and tangerine/mandarin. Key limes can't handle the cold. Ugli fruits are even more tender, Americans sometimes import them from Puerto Rico and further south.

     Over the years I have watched my father struggle with trying to grow citrus here. He's tried every variety, all different kinds of planting situations. He's tried planting on slopes. He's tried planting near a pool (heat sink). He's tried planting near a south-facing wall. We've agreed to give up on oranges, particularly since the price of trees has gone up over the last few years to usually at least $35 per tree. Could it have something to do with this?
     The state was found to be at fault for the forced removal of 865,000 residential, dooryard citrus across the southern counties. They have been paying approximate $30 million in damages, to replace the removed trees.

"[Judge Robin Rosenberg] wrote that “exposed citrus trees, which were not determined to be infected with citrus canker but were located within 1,900 feet of another citrus tree determined to be infected with citrus canker, do not present an imminent threat to the public health, safety or welfare, or constitute a public nuisance.”

    There is something to be said for planting the trees in the appropriate microclimate. Sepp Holzer, farming genius, can supposedly grow them in snow. If you use blankets and Christmas lights to keep your tree warm, do be sure they are the old fashioned incandescent type, as LEDs won't make heat for you. My father has used the blankets and lights trick successfully, but in my not-so-humble opinion, it's really not worth the effort. There are so many other kinds of good fruit trees to plant, why try to baby one to keep it alive? Spend electricity on plants? What?
     Always beware that due to pest pressures a lot of citrus are grafted onto root stocks, and a particularly tough freeze cycle may kill your citrus but the root stock may survive to provide you a less than desirable fruit. One of the most common is sour orange, which is actually a pretty nice fruit. Tart like a lemon, but orange flavored. I made sour orange meringue pie one year with it.

Chrissy Speaks at Chicken Meeting

     First, I would like to thank all the county workers for the excellent job they are doing in light of the decreased property tax revenue. County services do not seem to be diminished in the least.
     I would like to remind everyone present that not every household in Hernando County is going to be keeping chickens. I estimate that it will be less than one household per block, especially considering the high numbers of vacant houses and rentals.
      I would like to publicly remind everyone that the City of Tampa and the City of St. Petersburg have had chicken ordinances for years and years, without causing any additional noise or pollution.
      My family and I would ask that the requirements and restrictions for the chicken coops be left deliberately vague, providing that no existing building codes are violated. We would like to creatively confine our hens to promote the best health and sanitation practices. Confinement is absolutely necessary to protect hens from predators, but it does not mean hens should be disallowed from exercise and sunlight. Creativity in coop building is key.
     I feel that if a community wants to restrict chickens then they should come together to form a homeowners association.
      We are also wondering why only four hens are allowed? In addition to my husband and daughter I have two sets of elderly parents and many elderly neighbors here in Spring Hill who will not be able to care for chickens, but I can. Perhaps a special permit could be possible to allow more hens.
     Fresh, locally produced eggs are a gateway to good nutrition for our most vulnerable populations - small children and the elderly.

   I was also wondering if the commissioners would be opposed to a gardening group planting young trees to beautify our public schools? Some of our schools are decidedly devoid of shade and beauty.

Board of County Commissioners Regular Meeting 2/26/13 09:00 am Scroll to 33:00.

Follow-up email:

To the Hernando County Florida Board of County Commissioners,

I was shocked to hear the disapproving comments of the construction and realty interests regarding the decision to allow chickens in residential areas of Herrnando. They could bring no proof whatsoever that chickens will, in fact, be detrimental to property values in Hernando County.

I, on the other hand, can absolutely prove that chickens will be a boon to Hernando County. Rural King will be moving into a vacant eyesore of a building, and renovating it, and providing jobs to 60-80 employees. That's about 70 people who will be able to provide for their families, something West Hernando desperately needs. The business will be generating sales taxes to fund our critical infrastructure. It will also be drawing business from West Pasco and West Citrus, as these areas are underserved by feed and supply stores.

The Hernando County farmer's market is a wild success, and it is a place where locals can come together to sell home-grown products. There are many booths there selling home-baked or crafted goods, again, good for our economy and providing income for the unemployed.

Perhaps the construction industry could view the new ordinance as a revenue source. There will, no doubt, be many households that will want hens for nutrition reasons but will be unable to build an appropriate structure.

Some of the realtor's concerns focused on deed-restricted communities. I do not live in a deed-restricted community, but if I did, I would insist on having a Home Owner's Association to protect my property from any neighbor who might want to build an ugly structure. But, I say again, there is no evidence that a few well-tended chickens lower property values.

Again, the city of St. Petersburg, Tampa, Ocala, Orlando, Melbourne, Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach, Escambia County and many other areas allow backyard chickens. These areas do not have issues with vermin, odor, or noise. All require the chickens to be confined at all times.

The cost-to-feed ratio: Assuming the hens are mature and laying, and assuming one egg per 6 ounces of feed, you can get approximately 133 organic eggs from one 50-pound bag or chicken feed, which is approximately $15 from Rural King. 133 organic eggs will cost you at least $35, if not more. And the eggs will not be fresh; time does degrade the quality of the nutrition.

Texas A & M fact sheet about Backyard Chickens shows that backyard eggs have more  poly-unsaturated fat (healhy fats like Omega-3s) and anti-oxidants than regular eggs.

Cambridge Study about Organic Egg Nutrition Content.

It was mentioned in the meeting that there are places in the county to buy farm-fresh eggs, and that is true. However, the locations mentioned by the woman do not exist. There are no farmer's markets on County Line Road that sell eggs. There are no farmer's markets, farm stands, or CSA locations at or near grocery stores serviced by THE BUS. There are no grocery stores in the county that sell farm-fresh, local, organic eggs. Auro community gardens is not near any residential areas with a high population. Most of the population of Hernando County lives in greater Spring Hill and Brooksville, outside of gated communities.

Thank you for your consideration and open-mindedness in this matter. We plan on coming to the next meeting to hear what you decide.

Covert Urban Homesteading, Part 1: Plants

Covert - Adjective: Not openly acknowledged or displayed

Homesteading - Noun: an act or instance of establishing a homestead.

     My yard is the nicest place in the neighborhood, the main reason why no one has complained yet about the vegetable garden in the front yard. Of course, it would probably matter more if a person could actually see the vegetables growing in the yard, but since most people do not know what vegetables look like, I haven't heard any complaints about them yet. So I have the vegetables growing in the flower beds that came to me with the house, things like sweet potatoes, cowpeas, sorghum, flax, and sunflowers. Also cannas, which double as a survival food source and more distracting foliage and flower. The vegetables are planted in circles around the bases of trees or in-line with the edges of the circular flower beds, so they don't stick out. Sorghum even looks like an attractive variety of one of those decorative grasses that people are endlessly planting.
     There may come a time where you can grow a garden, but you will have to work within very strict standards for unsightliness. For example, some neighborhoods may not allow rain barrels or compost piles. Both of these can be buried into the ground. It may not be the most desirable thing, but it's better than having no stored water and no compost, right? Also all garden beds should be edged, mulched, and manicured at all times. Covert urban gardening takes more time than regular gardening, and isn't for everyone.
     After the front yard gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Orlando, Florida, made the news, I checked out our county codes to see what they said about front yard gardens, animals, and easements. I won't bother you with the details, but for the most part, pretty lax on gardens but strict on animals, at least for residential areas. It wasn't too much later that a guy in Oregon or somewhere far away got busted for having unlicensed ponds, and just recently a couple in Orlando got busted for a front yard garden. But their front yard garden doesn't look like my front yard garden, which just makes me think they were DOING IT WRONG.

So here are my techniques in five easy steps...

     Step 1: Check your regional municipal codes. Each state, county, city, and suburb probably has its own rules, and don't forget your deed restrictions printed right on your deed! Don't fall into the trap as these unfortunate people have. Know your rights, then use them. Preferably to grow delicious food.

     Step 2: Check out what other people have in their yards. This serves many purposes. For example, you will get a feel for what grows very well in your climate with little care. Is that a persimmon over there, un-pruned and un-watered? Is that a pear tree? Does that neighbor down the street have a lot of edible native plants? Do you? If everyone has front yard gardens, then you are in the clear. If everyone has vegetables growing in buckets, then either you have a lot of renters or the soil won't grow those vegetables well so the neighbor is using store-bought stuff. If the neighbors all have manicured grasses with expensive, nursery-grown landscaping, it would be safe to say that some jerk will probably be unhappy with your rows of corn.

     Step 3: Do it slowly, and do it right the first time. Put in plants with careful thought as to how it will look once it is growing. No one wants to look at potato plants dying down for the season, but maybe the okra or peanuts will be big enough so no one will be able to see the potato plants.  Leave the plants that need trellising, which is considered unsightly, for the back or side yards, or just don't grow them. If you are starting with bare dirt or open grass, then build largish, circular, raised beds around productive trees. Some people call these plant guilds, or three sisters gardens.

     Step 4: Add Flowers. Since most people don't know what vegetables look like, they will think you are doing a lot with annuals every spring. Encourage that. Also put in attractive, edible perennials, like roses. The leaves are fodder for animals and the rose hips are a good food. Even bulbs like tulips or amaryllis can be cultivated and traded or sold, and they will encourage people to not notice all the other plants you are growing on. There are a ton of easy, edible perennials. Some people call this Permaculture.

     Step 5: Maintain. Mulch like crazy, it's good for the soil, and it looks nice. If you have a lot of foot traffic in a spot so the ground cover turns to dirt, then put some pavers there to keep up the place. Keep the remaining grass well-trimmed, and pick up the litter that floats into your yard. Rake fallen leaves into the flower beds as mulch. Or shred and compost as is your preference. Stagger your plantings so that your front yard has a lot of life in every part of the growing season. Some people call this biointensive farming.

Squash Wine Recipe

• 5 lbs ripe Hubbard squash flesh, grated
• 2 lbs Demerara (or Turbnado) sugar (light brown sugar is a poor substitute)
• 11-oz can of Welch's 100% White Grape Juice frozen concentrate
• zest and juice of 3 Valencia oranges
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp finely diced ginger root
• 3 3-inch sticks cinnamon
• 6-8 whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp powdered grape tannin
• 6 1/2 pts water
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• Champagne wine yeast

Put water on stove to boil. Cut and remove seeds from squash. Peel and grate squash and place in nylon straining bag with zest, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Tie closed and set in primary. Remove water from heat and stir sugar and Welch's concentrate into water until sugar is dissolved and pour over nylon bag. Cover and set aside to cool. When cooled to room temperature, add citrus juice, tannin and yeast nutrient. Stir and add yeast in a starter solution. Re-cover and stir daily, punching down the bag each time, until specific gravity drops to 1.010 or below.

Remove and drip drain bag (do not squeeze). Discard bag contents. Transfer to secondary, add one finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet, stir gently and fit airlock. Rack every two months for six months. Stabilize with one finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet and 1/2 teaspoon potassium sorbate and let sit 10 days -- 30 days if you sweeten it -- then rack into bottles. Cellar two years at least before drinking. [Jack Keller's own recipe] Makes one gallon.

From Jack Keller's Wine Blog

Locavores

     This property in US Hwy 19 has finally been sold to a retail business called Rural King. Yay, jobs for the unemployed, and a convenient source of animal feed. I'm so excited about what kind of goods they are going to offer.
     Again, a fortuitous business deal. Hernando County has recently legalized backyard chickens and Rural King will, no doubt, be the only chicken supply store on the West Side.
     On a completely other side note, I have accidentally run into two chatty young men in the last few months who are interested in opening their own local food restaurants. One was a transplant from New Jersey (surprise surprise) that I met at a local council meeting and another was a chatty young (maybe 20) waiter at a local restaurant. Both are interested in my rabbits. The Yank plans on getting his veggies from Dade City and his meats from a farm in Brooksville. The waiter is still in the planning stages, which is cool.
    Barbecue rabbit with orange sauce...local foods...

Backyard Foraging

     I may have said it before, but the gentleman over at Eat the Weeds is doing some good work. This particular video is my favorite one yet.

Aquaponics, are we missing the point?

     Aquaponics, the art of using recirculating pumps to provide habitat for fish growth and nutrition for soil-less agriculture, is commonly becoming available to everyday people via the information exchange on the interwebs. It is potentially a viable gardening technique for apartment dwellers and others who don't have access to even a small plot of semi-arable land, but does require electricity.
     After reviewing systems and advice for days on end, I have decided that aquaponics practicioners are completely missing the big picture...that Humanity needs start utilizing other plant sources more effectively, and that using electricity to run pumps to grow tomatoes IS STUPID. Besides, when have Tilapia ever produced an attractive pumpkin? The answer, of course, is never.
     Cattails, on the other hand, are efficient bog plants that have been staples in Native Americans' diets for thousands of years. Managed effectively, Tilapia could probably make some huge cattails, taro, watercress, duckweed, azolla, water chestnuts...and probably dozens of other potentially delicious yet unexplored margin plants. Even without fish farming, more bog plants should be explored as efficient (space and resource) fodder and food sources.
     The electricity and equipment cost of aquaponics is another factor that is best forgotten until afterward, largely because the majority of people that practice aquaponics seem to be aquarium lovers who want to take their fish raising large scale, or hydroponic plant farmers who want to take their nutrition dollars away from store-bought salts. The pumping power to mechanically aerate and filter the highly stocked tanks will never be cheaper than just buying fish meat, expecially when you factor in fish feed and time. And frequent chemical tests. And the possibility of fish disease ruining your whole crop.
     Just think about it.

     There are very few people working on doing this sort of thing sustainably. Perhaps the best and easiest solution would be custom-built ponds with floating plant beds on the surface, with only inexpensive bubblers for aeration and circulation. There is still the fish feed issue, but perhaps it could be lessened with Azolla, Duckweed, Black Soldier Fly Larvae, and Redworms. All of which would need support systems and engineering, but are currently being done well on the small scale. There is still the solids issue. Solids are not really a problem if you have a garden, which everyone who can probably should have anyhow.

     A few (mostly) sustainable residential backyard aquaponics practitioners:
Garden Pool - eggs, tilapia, vegetables. Run on solar power.
Aquaponics HQ - fish, duckweed, rabbits, Black Soldier Fly.