tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44227526064577253212024-02-22T02:44:47.926-08:00His Own Two FeetThe successes and failures of a soil builder, gardener, food lover and a guy loving the edgeMark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-56356040951595654542015-08-12T12:22:00.000-07:002015-08-12T12:24:07.103-07:00Resiliency and CommunityThis journey, what this blog is all
about, is an attempt at creating a better lifestyle for myself and my
family. I started with a pretty clear idea of what this might look
like. I was going to be the guy that could and would do everything.
Grow <i>all </i><span style="font-style: normal;">our food, hunt, fish
and extract food from the hedgerows with ease as we walked on the
road to a healthier, better lifestyle. An independent, self reliant
path. What an ego! But I like the ambition. </span><br />
<br />
If nothing changes though, perhaps
nothing is learned.<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And loads of things have changed and
lessons have been learned along the way. In fact I would say that the
biggest changes have been in my <i>thinking</i> about independence,
self sufficiency and happiness. I think its normal, at least for
idiots like me, to want to do all this stuff. As I've said before, it
gives you a degree of resiliency. And who doesn’t want to be more
resilient, right?</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When we began, creating resiliency was
a goal. As we progress, it becomes clear that firstly, resiliency is
not an absolute, but rather a sliding value. It is a nuanced idea,
and so can't really be a goal as such. Am I resilient to losing my
job? My house? Breaking a leg? Dying? I might be a little more
resilient to some of this stuff (not dying though) if I grow a
percentage of my food, burn firewood, catch fish and understand how
not to poison myself with mushrooms. It won't keep us alive in a true
disaster, but it saves me money, enables choices, and is probably a
better, healthier way to live in a 'normal' situation. So it's a
lifestyle choice, right? Pastimes with benefits.</div>
<br />
I think I may have mentioned how the
arrival of our youngest child has put a strain on any time we've got
after sleep and work. Its made it hard to get out there and do much
at all in the last year or so, as I said in the 'Ren test' post, you
have to understand where the strains are and redesign life
accordingly.
<br />
<br />
This is, it seems where community
begins to step in. At least for me. A move from independent and self
sufficient to interdependent and collaborative. If this happens with
a hard but otherwise healthy baby, imagine how much community becomes
important during disaster.....<br />
<br />
People have been kind and supportive
during this period of time. You get to know who your friends are.
From issues with the girls and their schooling (they are doing great
by the way thanks), to just simply holding Ren, and letting us eat a
good dinner in peace, relax in the back garden. Catching the baby as
he climbs out of the buggy (thanks Joe). Even the offers of help
which we haven't taken up make a real difference because you know the
support is there. Family have stepped in and let us do stuff like
have a meal out or attend weddings. Quite simply, no amount of home
grown veggies gives you that, right? We all need a break, and a
sympathetic ear. Its a matter of <i>sur thrive al </i>versus
survival.<br />
<br />
Loose barters and favours have
definitely kept me going in these months. Months where I can only
really do the minimum (work, sleep, hold, work, sleep, hold) have
still seen me eating bloody good sauerkrauts and drinking Kombucha
despite the fact that I haven’t had the time to ferment anything
thanks to the St Leonards Kraut king Scotty Garrett. We get to eat
out regularly as a family because of a raw milk barter I have going
on. Raw yoghurt and milk also comes our way as part of this. We get
fresh eggs and good healthy produce because my work is integrated
into my food designs. We have friendly plumbers and friends that
happen to be builders. Friends and family, quite simply, rule.
Community, more than the desire to do it all yourself, will trump and
create true resilience.<br />
<br />
So don't get me wrong, I'm off on a
herbal forage on Sunday, will be beginning the mushroom season soon,
and will definitely be shooting some rabbits as the game season
approaches. Its just hard to sell this stuff (as it should be) to
your better half when it feels a bit like hell to be left back home
with 3 kids for a day while I'm dicking about on a boat. As I've
always said, its an incremental process.
<br />
<br />
So when time unfolds in front of me at
some point in the future, I can afford myself the resources needed to
forge ahead once again. Independence, and self sufficiency (at least
in the strictest sense) however won't necessarily return as a main
driver. True resiliency lies in the lap of community, friendship and
family. Real progress in creating a better lifestyle for me and my
family can only really happen when those around us are involved. Family, St
Leonards and Hastings has looked after us this past year, I
appreciate that.Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-1284647188036490872015-06-17T13:22:00.000-07:002015-06-17T13:22:08.832-07:00Quit or Die
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So the Autism work didn't pan out.
Bottom line was the fit wasn't right and the time wasn't right. The
project felt under resourced and I made a quick decision to try other
stuff rather than continue to invest time and energy in a project
that didn't suit me.
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's liberating, to be able to make
those decisions, and even with my guilt ridden, people pleasing
persona, I know it was the right one. But society is riddled with
messages like 'winners never quit', 'never give up' etc... which
makes these things harder. I prefer the analogy of the fly that never
quits trying to fly out of a closed window. It inevitably ends up
dead on the windowsill, exhausted from pointless activity. Its a
pretty shit way to die – head butting an invisible barrier until
you depart this mortal coil from exhaustion. Something like 'quit or
die' might be a good way of phrasing it....</div>
<br />
<br />
We took our kids out of their school
the other week because they were not flourishing. It wasn't easy to
do so, it's a bit of a wrench to resettle, half of our best friends
kids are there and WE were happy, but when the environment is
affecting your kid negatively, you have to do something, and it was
the right decision for them. As parents you have to trust your
instincts and 'Just do it' (Damn those clever marketing
departments!). The environment was not allowing her to express
herself, and as a result her confidence had been eroded, which is
heartbreaking, so she's going elsewhere, where I hope she'll be
happier. It's all you can do right? Make the correct decisions at the
correct time. Easier said than done, none of it, however, is failure.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I talk about failure a lot – mainly
because its practically inevitable if we are to push ourselves to do
anything worthwhile, and also because it is something I am very good
at. This, however wasn't failure, and it's important to understand
the difference between simply giving up, and making the correct
decisions for the individual. The idea behind doing the Autism work
was to function stack the working week, to get some projects under
way with the help and resources of a larger charity organisation. The
reality felt very different and perhaps naively, I was surprised by
the difference between the hope and the reality.
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
What was supposed to be a springboard
felt more like a bog. When you have 3 demanding children, you don't
want to be stuck in a bog. When you don't have 3 children you still
don't want to be stuck in a bog, although to be fair, you might have
a better chance of getting out.<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiq9zcGhop5pgNCxVsjKrUZ3_pKow6ui33M17inluYf3vBjSeUAArXjTiHwb0JH2IHd5LAEgX5RrGXlTbN19Tn9jvlTDiPmmRub_3TBXvyVo6oucS0CcY2MZWYiKgt4t5WJbd2M_HlA/s1600/oak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiq9zcGhop5pgNCxVsjKrUZ3_pKow6ui33M17inluYf3vBjSeUAArXjTiHwb0JH2IHd5LAEgX5RrGXlTbN19Tn9jvlTDiPmmRub_3TBXvyVo6oucS0CcY2MZWYiKgt4t5WJbd2M_HlA/s1600/oak.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I look at patterns, especially the
natural ones, and take a lesson or two from them. In times of stress,
a deciduous tree will drop leaves, and enter full dormancy as winter
approaches. Vital functions continue, and the tree is still alive of
course, but exposure to the elements is dramatically cut. When it's
too hot, too, leaves are dropped to avoid excessive transpiration,
and the dormancy period allows the tree to get through the more
extreme months.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Its good to know that right? That even
a great old Oak has to take a breather. It has to protect itself in
order to function, and whilst it does that, everything else goes on
hold. It hasn't quit – even though it looks like it has, but
instead performing the most natural of functions. SELF PRESERVATION.
So I had to leave my blog for a bit, even though I gain a lot of
pleasure from it (I do post pictures on facebook when too busy to
blog – feel free to friend request). I haven't been able to get
drunk to the levels I would like recently, and I certainly have
needed to be in attendance for child care. Work, most importantly
needs to facilitate life, not the other way around.<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And this all becomes more important as
we take on board the multitude of species that both rely upon and
support each element in an ecosystem. Nothing exists in isolation,
without interactions with another element. A mature Oak can support
around 284 species of insect and 324 types of lichen. It offers
support. Without that support, stuff begins to go a bit wrong,
habitats and food disappears. Likewise, if we begin to falter from
not listening to the signs around us, so our children begin to
suffer, as do friends, family and colleagues – all our
relationships. In short we have to be strong to support them. Both
mental and physical health rely on our ability to read situations,
and if the environment is wrong, we simply can't function as we ought
to. We beat ourselves up if something is not quite right. Instead, we
should be addressing either how to change the situation, or leave it.<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So, like a tree in the wrong place, or
at times of stress, things sometimes simply need to be changed. Like
a tree, its also good to know what environment galvanises and
maximises our health and vitality. Like a fly at a window, things
can suffer if we are just taught to keep on keeping on, blindly
ignoring signs of stress. By changing our environment, what we do,
who we surround ourselves with, we can optimise our lifestyles. By
taking a breather, we can carry on. None of it is wrong. None of it
is failure.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And you know what they say (now) – if
it ain't right – Quit or die.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-60310004385912157452015-06-02T10:56:00.001-07:002015-06-02T10:56:22.302-07:00Going Shopping
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm going to the shops – Anyone want
anything?</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
20 years ago that meant a shopping list
of large rizla, pot noodles and beer. Times move on though. And those
heady days are behind me. The little people moved in and took over.
Nappies, fruity flakes, and milk. And the kids need stuff too.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The Autism thing didn't work out. The
vision of the charity and my own ideas didn't tally. Lack of
resources meant that instead of function stacking the working week
into a permaculture portfolio, I had instead walked into a scenario
that demanded more of me than I had ever imagined.
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It was unfortunate. But it was
unsustainable. With so much going on at home, work needs to operate
smoothly and demand less. Resources like time are always finite and
have to be spent effectively. I don't regret making a swift decision.
It was a tactical withdrawal. This was not my mountain.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
That said, it freed up time to find my
next project. I like the permaculture saying 'The problem is the
solution.' It got me thinking....</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Like most PDC graduates, I obsess on my
food. How it's farmed, what it does to me, what the supply chain
looks like, who benefits, and how it affects the environment. Like
most normal people, I also find myself sheepishly perusing the isles
of the local supermarket at the weekend. This diet is only supported
in part by the local producer, the home grown and the foraged.
</div>
<br />
Its a problem because I have no
interest in bolstering supermarket profits or industrial agriculture.
Its a problem because every pound spent in these places disappears
form my local economy. And it happens because I run out of time.<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To go to the local Butcher or baker
entails time to be spent. All very well unless you have kids, jobs or
stuff to do. I get it. <br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I live it. Every. Day<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So I'm going to the shops. And anyone
local who wants anything, let me know. The idea here is if I have a
big enough shopping list we can make it more efficient. If I have a
bunch of shopping to get, and people relying on me, it'll get done.
If its a large enough order, we can get the producer to help with the
process.</div>
<br />
I'm starting with my favourite
butchers. Park Farm of Hawkhurst. A quality Farm, and a quality
Butcher. It uses a local abattoir, and they specialise in grass fed
and free range livestock, which makes it a far healthier product .
Andy the farmer just had a conversation with me with regards to the
way the herds are managed. You obviously wouldn't get that at tescos,
and he is open to groups coming to the farm. As far as I can make
out, its the best in our area. By using these suppliers, not only is
the meat going to be a better quality, but the money stays in the
local area, and good practice is rewarded.
<br />
<br />
So if you have the same problem I've
got, this might be the solution.
<br />
<br />
I'll be driving out every Thursday from
now on. If anyone wants anything picked up, drop me a text, email or
DM me on facebook. I can get prices before I go if you give me
notice.
<br />
<br />
This is one way to wrestle back power
from the large shops and poor food production. By acting more
directly, we can empower our food producers, have more control into
how our meat is reared, and create more resilience in our whole food
system. Its up to us. The large producers and Supermarkets do not
share our values.<br />
<br />
Now – who wants anything?<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-18459071579980297692015-02-01T11:49:00.000-08:002015-02-01T11:49:56.122-08:00Stacking functions: Making stuff happen
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Its never felt so tough. Ren has pushed
us to the limit and on top of being sick more times in the last month
than I have been in the previous 24, forgetting my pin number (Never
done that before) and being generally doo-lally, the only spare bits
of time after sleeping and working are between the hours of 5 and 7,
both ends of the day, only differentiated by the choice of
refreshment (coffee or wine, breakfast or dinner). This time
generally consists of holding the boy, whilst in reciprocation he
generally screams at me. I am, quite literally exhausted. Michelle is
worse. I feel like I have been taken prisoner by a tyrant. To make
matters worse he is very charming in public, and generally, of
course, nobody really believes me.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I looked up Stockholm syndrome on
wikipedia. It says this:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sJVkUrF8mxpvQMycbRJwshDnotitF5PVUlkQloXUxI-VlZvp027qDzapp2UD8TDv4bUNrZz24JtwD-h-u770b1o68ZS-mXwmoaBZm8XzbkMA93kMJOHhIWAI0H7gbDbO5PxFlZjbRA/s1600/thCAR8363R.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sJVkUrF8mxpvQMycbRJwshDnotitF5PVUlkQloXUxI-VlZvp027qDzapp2UD8TDv4bUNrZz24JtwD-h-u770b1o68ZS-mXwmoaBZm8XzbkMA93kMJOHhIWAI0H7gbDbO5PxFlZjbRA/s1600/thCAR8363R.jpg" /></a><br />
<span lang="en">Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of</span><span lang="en"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
traumatic bonding</span></span><span lang="en"><u> </u></span><span lang="en">which
does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which
describes "strong emotional ties that develop between two
persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats,
threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other”</span><br />
<span lang="en"></span><br />
<div dir="LTR" id="content">
<div dir="LTR" id="bodyContent">
<div dir="LTR" id="mw-content-text">
<span lang="en">Yep.</span><br />
<span lang="en"></span><br />
<span lang="en">But I love him, so I need to think a bit
differently to get anything done.</span><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here's some cool thinking; Each
function must have more than one element, and each element must have
more than one function. A shed should not only house the bikes, but
should also collect rainwater, support a plant or two, maybe collect
some solar power whilst it's at it. 'Function stacking' is a method
of realising these principles, and a great example of function
stacking in the physical design process is forest gardening.
</div>
<br />
Forest gardening takes advantage of all
spaces to maximise yields by mimicking, surprise, surprise, a forest
system. The concept of seven layers (canopy, sub canopy, shrub layer,
herbacious layer, ground cover layer, climbers, and roots) are first
recognised and then utilised to maximise the use of a limited space.
By including these layers, we obtain a yield from multiple elements.
Mimicking the forest system to create symbiotic, perennial systems
that mature and thus limit maintanence and the need for intervention.
I've started this process, albeit on a small scale in the back
garden. Using perennial herbs (comfrey, sage, lovage, rosemary),
dwarf trees (apples and pears), fruit bushes (Blackcurrants,
redcurrants, goji berries) and perennial veg such as artichokes. The
hope being that a degree of neglect won't kill them but the synergies
and cooperative elements of the system will make them stronger over
time. (Minimum inputs, maximum outputs (which, funnily enough tends
to be the exact opposite of having a baby!)<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you've read most of the posts on
this blog, you'll know by now that I regard the use of permaculture
in lifestyle design as importantly as any physical design, and the
lessons we learn from using these principles physically can almost
always be transferred to social and economic designs. Function
stacking is one of those simple ideas. When you have limiting
factors, like time, or money or space, like we all have, function
stacking becomes the ideal path to follow to maximise yields.<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So when I look at my own limiting
factors – a lack of time or money then function stacking to
maximise the resources I do have becomes another way of enriching my
life. I was offered the opportunity to work with the local autism
group this year. To build and maintain some gardens, to grow food and
sensory aspects through the use of permaculture and its various
methods. It was an opportunity for me to function stack my work
schedule. Whilst I always seek interesting projects, this was the
first that offered me the opportunity to be paid and make inroads
into the community work I want to undertake, and start the
Permaculture diploma I really want to get going on. The diploma which
requires spare time I simply don't have. The opportunity to work
within a group, the fact that the work will be recorded by somebody
more organised and capable than me only makes it a more tempting
offer.
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I already regard some of my work as
function stacked. I collect eggs, firewood and produce from work (In
leiu of holiday and pension). The ongoing focus of this process is to
install as many of my permaculture aspirations into my paid work as
possible.<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A few months back I received an email
telling me that this was all common sense, I think they were being
derogitory, but they were right, permaculture really is just that.
Its one of the reasons it can be so life changing for students and
practioners. As far as I'm concerned there really is nothing better.
Common sense, joined up thinking, <i>design</i> – it is possibly
the thing we need most to dig us out of our collective hole. And
Function stacking – killing two birds with one stone is <i>so
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">common sense. It really works
when resources are dwindling, and it makes stuff more effective,
productive and resiliant when resources are plentiful. So whilst I
look at the ever lengthening list of the things I need or want to do;
all the courses, the planting, the building and look down at the
little fella, at least I know he has driven me in this direction, a
more efficient use of the time I have left over. I guess thats one
thing I can thank him for, that and all the free labour he'll be
doing in sixteen years time.</span></div>
Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-56018588007152807072015-01-12T10:25:00.003-08:002015-01-12T10:25:42.728-08:00Its all gone fermental!
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I started back on the fermenting this
weekend, with a session with Scotty G – one straight red cabbage
and one mix of white cabbage, onion, carrot and garlic. Its got to be
one of the easiest things in the world to do, and what with having a
mate that likes doing the same sort of stuff, we've managed to make
it into a bit of a social too (permaculture principle – each
element has two or more functions). I like the aftermath. Listening
to these mason jars whining and fizzing away as bacterial life begins
to 'happen' – it's kind of immense in these days of sterile,
homogenised food production that these little jars are bucking the
trend. Shell keeps telling me I should do something about my guts –
not sure if upping my intake of these bad boys is going to change
things. I guess its a matter of eat it and see.....</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So, while I aim to at least rebalance
my food intake, my sights rest on another unhealthy consumption in my
life. It can make me feel lethargic, hopeless, anxious and worried.
It fucks with my mind, and renders me, often apoplectic with rage.
Rolling news.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The aftermath of the Paris massacres
have been strewn with opinion and debate – and what happened was of
course horrendous, as are the stories from any terrorist activity
anywhere at any time. I watch now, however, and shudder at how
misinformed at best, how manipulative at worst the news machine is.
Seeing Steve Emerson on Fox News say that the UK's 2<sup>nd</sup>
city is a Muslim only, no go area, would have been funny if it wasn't
so serious. People are gonna take that 'information' seriously. This
in turn forms public opinion, which politicians and media will pander
to in order to be re-elected, and entrench their positions. Forget
life imitating art, lets look at mass media forming public opinion.
And before we go on by the way, the most likely thing to happen on a
visit to Birmingham, UK is you'll get a great chicken Balti – it
ain’t the new Fallujah.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The only thing that will come of these
latest terrorist attacks will be the further erosion of civil
liberties. If we look at the NSA, phone tapping scandals and identity
card schemes, our great leaders are hardly without form. It is
something that government is keen on as gives even more control, and
power to the elites, which includes those at the top in the media.
The inevitable horror that follows our misadventures in the Middle
East simply solidifies and entrenches the belief that we need to
carry on as we are. A bit of terrorism on mainland Europe suits
government. We'll be begging for further security measures here, and
further interaction over there, and it seems to me, the spiral of
death and destruction will simply continue, along with the fringe
benefits. Put simply, most Muslims aren't psychopaths, most
politicians and media corporation owners are.
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So fear, and the way the news spreads
it through sensationalism and sheer volume will always push it's own
agenda, what suits the elites, owners and stakeholders. We are given
opinion everyday from a completely skewed angle, and it only
reinforces a designed viewpoint. Unfortunately those that do the
pushing of these agendas appear to be tyrants and lunatics
themselves, the disenfranchised and weak suffer for their ambitions.
The 'story' is written by those in power and gives the
disenfranchised and the desperate a hymn sheet to sing from, a
hopeless purpose and one that keeps this whole circus going.</div>
<br />
So, I'll try not to ponder on this
stuff too long, and instead I'll let you know how the ferments go.
The purple one is really making a racket, and a mess as the life
forming within pushes forth. In the meantime, I'll turn that news
off, or at least select my news sources as carefully as possible. Who
knows, maybe a diet of less nonsense and more joy will help my mind
as much as these jars of kraut help my gut. I think Shell just wants
me to stop farting so much...<br />
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-36287717162312762882015-01-06T07:08:00.003-08:002015-01-06T07:08:58.269-08:00Empowerment and 2015<br />
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Well I'm sorry about the last few
months of silence. It appears that the 'Ren test' was harder than I
thought and getting stuff done with a new baby, 2 other sprogs and a
new student settling in does impact after all.....</div>
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Well it certainly impacts this. Sitting
down, reflecting, writing something legible and readable and
collecting my thoughts, adventures and aspirations. Its therapy for
me, it just takes time I haven't always got. Bit of a catch 22, that.</div>
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I have been doing stuff though, mainly
holding the baby, changing nappies and going to bed as early as we
can. Other than that fermenting, hunting and foraging to some extent
have all been squeezed in since I last wrote on here, and it all
feels pretty life changing.
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My first kill, prep and cook of a bird
makes me look at things very differently. I wasn't sure if I could do
it if I'm being honest. I'm squeamish with blood and guts and never
thought I'd take to hunting. Quite frankly I struggle to watch
Casualty, let alone undertake basic butchery....<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrIjELwJT9TlUdTdjefj-HJq6wHLxz0L3JrVRgyExD5oydQrFLbeQVwaAq2NGS9b8335EXpOn8j5uBGwgutcjbqr7Uw2V1GF5iliLQLcWf9_2yoB9BLhFnYPoDMrgL_VYWENRM4PCXg/s1600/DSC_0316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrIjELwJT9TlUdTdjefj-HJq6wHLxz0L3JrVRgyExD5oydQrFLbeQVwaAq2NGS9b8335EXpOn8j5uBGwgutcjbqr7Uw2V1GF5iliLQLcWf9_2yoB9BLhFnYPoDMrgL_VYWENRM4PCXg/s1600/DSC_0316.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pigeon sandwich with sauerkraut on the side!</td></tr>
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It was something I wanted to do to see
if I could do it, to see if it'd turn me vegetarian, whether I could
cope with taking life to feed me and my family. I never had a moral
issue with it. As a meat eater it seems to me that to shoot a bird
out of the sky, one that was never farmed, taken to an abattoir or
kept in captivity. One that quite literally didn't know what hit it,
seems to me to be the kindest way to eat meat. The prep, (plucking,
and cutting out the meat) was not as hard as I'd thought as there was
no gutting involved. That will be another time, when rabbits and
ducks are on the menu. But this was a great start for me and it
tasted bloody lovely. So shotguns and Wood pigeons turn out to be
something I actually enjoy. Who'd have thought?</div>
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Me and blogger <a href="http://garrett-life.blogspot.co.uk/">Scott</a> went on a
fermentation workshop the other day. I didn't know much about it
before the session, but it turned out to be pretty cool stuff. Held
at the local Vegan cafe, a guy from Octopus workshops giving us the
low down on the history and uses of fermentation, and as Scott
mentions on his blog – it kind of got a bit political, which always
goes down well with me , a spot of radical, subversive sauerkraut
production! It turns out to be quick and easy too – not too much
messing around with sterilising which is definitely a weakness of
mine (I'm just not a clean freak). A bit of pink himalayan salt, an
organic cabbage and you're away. Anyhow, the kraut I made tasted
pretty good – Scott's been running with it a bit more so I'm going
to get him to disseminate some of his new found wisdom when he gets a
chance. It seems to be heavily linked with Eastern ideas of health
and the gut, the fact that we need a good population of bacteria to
operate effectively . I love this thinking. It seems to make sense,
and it fits in with using food as medicine, a preventative approach
vs curing symptoms. Something that links heavily into eating natural
foods, herbs and spices and home grown produce. Taking it further
into the territories of fermentation, preservation and herbalism will
only help energy levels and health.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjppeXH4_7l8zOAZ4slJEPjQeLbF5i-rzhEMmWn5U0NbwSXPUBNtY4eELYwXtKy9zMkQu6yOseEUvc55DjeEHqNJ9KRzEOGkt3kFJ1HlNImxo2FPcBuViKd4qzexQPa6vw5HgcdI01xTA/s1600/DSC_0318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjppeXH4_7l8zOAZ4slJEPjQeLbF5i-rzhEMmWn5U0NbwSXPUBNtY4eELYwXtKy9zMkQu6yOseEUvc55DjeEHqNJ9KRzEOGkt3kFJ1HlNImxo2FPcBuViKd4qzexQPa6vw5HgcdI01xTA/s1600/DSC_0318.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foraged mushrooms - Brede High Woods</td></tr>
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And Foraging with the local mushroom
man, Geoff Dann and the chefs of Hastings and St Leonard's. Winter
Chanterelles, Amethyst and Birch Boletus all gathered from local
woods. Hunting for mushrooms in a wood incorporates so much. The
fact that mycellium links with the roots of specific tree species,
the way that brush can encourage a flush of growth or aspect can
affect the fruiting. It is an enormous subject, and as with the other
two activities, you've got to look at it with a lifelong learning hat
on. The more we do this stuff, it seems, the more we realise we don't
know.
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And that's the thing, as I'm on this
course of gaining life skills like foraging, hunting, or fermenting,
two things become clearer to me. One is a realisation that this is
truly a lifelong learning experience – that nature harbours so many
intricacies and surprises it would be foolish to ever declare
yourself an expert or master . The eternal student, constantly
engaging with mother nature, learning to ask the right questions,
learning to critically think because the subject matter is eternally
vast. It becomes not about knowing every single species, but instead reading
the forest floor, or treating each batch of fermenting cabbage as its
own little universe, rather than running to recipes. Its a bit 'out there'
but if we look at the natural world as our spiritual environment,
then we perhaps can begin to have a conversation with it, and develop
understanding. It sounds a bit like the 1<sup>st</sup> permaculture
principle – 'Observe and interact' – funny how that one keeps
popping up eh?</div>
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And then – almost perversely, once
you get to grips with the fact you'll never fully master it all, this on going conversation, the
other realisation becomes a sense of empowerment. I know I can, at
least to some extent shoot, grow and gather my own food. I can prepare food
that is good for body and mind, and because of the life skills I am
building, I can begin to look after myself and my family more
effectively without relying so heavily on questionable external,
human created systems.
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To feel <i>disempowered </i><span style="font-style: normal;">
can create anxiety, stress and unhappiness. I know because I have
suffered for years. This blog - the adventures I'm going on and the people who I meet as a result begin to help me make sense of the world. </span>Its a long slog, and I'm right at the
beginning of my journey but I've never been happier or more motivated. Last year was a crazy ride
– thanks 2014, its really been a ball.</div>
Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-2645672411905122682014-10-05T06:52:00.001-07:002014-10-05T06:52:14.198-07:00'Ren Test' - Babies and Permaculture<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px;">
I have invented, no <i>created, </i>quite literally, a new test. Conceived in late 2013 and launched about a month ago, it is unforgiving, incessent, and highlights problems and weaknesses in any design. It will weadle out anything that would fail in times of hardship, and it subjects every aspect of my lifesytyle to a stern examination. He is 4 weeks old and never stops. It appears that we make beautiful and well behaved children and terrible, unforgiving babies.</div>
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I had a load of posts lines up for this update, but this 'little bundle of joy' has reduced me to a jibbering wreck on a number of occasions, so this is about how a seismic event can change stuff, whatever it is, and a true test of permaculture design.</div>
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Permaculture is full of sects and groups ranging from yoga vegan hippies to survivalist hunting gun nuts. The ethics mean that you have to care about other people, the planet and not being a greedy shit, but after that, as far as I'm concerned its predominantly a set of principles, techniques and ideas to hang a design on. its the art of clever design, both virtual and physical which aims to go beyond sustainable and into the realms of regenerational. The cleverest of designs aim to make the designer obsolete, producing maximum outputs with minimum inputs. A baby should not blow my designs off course.</div>
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Its a bit grand to suggest I'll reach this stage after 1 busy year. It's a lifetimes work, full of incremental change, but as a benchmark, the 'Ren test' shows me how far away I am from my goals. </div>
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I have to admit I was feeling a bit pleased with myself in the run up to the baby. The lifestyle changes I was putting in place were beginning to feel normalised, I was getting out to do my foraging and at least a bit of fishing, as well as getting stuff done in the house and the garden. We were eating well, and life was good. Its all interesting, and I will write it all up. When he stops screaming, and thats the situation, as lovely as he is, if I were a car, I was 5<sup>th</sup> gear and cruising, it now feels as if someone stuck a potato up the exhaust and poured sugar in the tank.I feel like the engine just blew up. </div>
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Now dont get me wrong, I'm not moaning ( maybe a bit! ) and I wouldnt change anything (apart from the screaming! ) but what Ren has done in all his baby glory is subjected our lives to a stress test. The beautiful thing about this particular stress test is that rather than a major illness, or losing a job, or a natural disaster, it will pass, it's wanted, and it'll get better. It has highlighted the glitches in our lifestyle design though. As much as parts of the garden will get stronger and more productive over the years, pots and troughs, neglected for even a week in a hot dry Septmember will flop and fail without irrigation or better planning. A workload that relies on me being out of the door by 7 and back by 7 are unfair on everyone, mainly Michelle, and being unable to take holiday easily means that even if I dont actually fall over one day, I feel like I might.</div>
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None of us are Superman, we have to be able to listen to ourselves in order to facilitate others needs. I have learned that my workload was too much. <i>My inputs </i>in this lifestyle design were unsustainable. I have had to relieve myself of a couple of the smaller jobs I do simply because the working day was too long ( I am now jiggling a baby at 7.30 in the morning rather than being on a job ). It was nice to take the money, but sometimes it just isnt worth it. The thing is, I'm not getting any younger, and to blindly continue physically working is short sighted, and definitely not sustainable. So hand in hand with lightening the physical workload has to come another income stream. This includes a lodger, which is a method of extracting an income from the house, our major expense. It also means further concentrating efforts on design and permaculture for clients, a more cerebral approach to making an income.</div>
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The garden, because of Ren has been subjected to neglect. Whilst this isn't perfect, in many ways it is helpful. Everything that has struggled, been eaten or suffered from pest and disease has to go onto a re-examination list. I need stuff out there that thrives without pampering. </div>
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It looks like the fruit trees, artichokes, tomatoes and many herbs. might stay. Strawberries and potatoes in pots didn't do so well. Yields were low, but I might have some plans – watch this space, we will be constantly reviewing and there is more than one way to skin a cat. Slugs and snails have a lot of fun out there. Hand picking and dispatching is the only way of really controlling them ethically in my experience. It will be a major project next year to research, and select edibles and medicinals which are not of any interest to the critters. Lessons here can be learned from self seeders, wilder foods, maybe, and whisper it, even weeds!</div>
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And whilst I am sooo in love with all my family, and I get so much out of them, I was also gaining a lot from foraging forays, fishing trips and my permaculture adventures. This can't happen for the next couple of months. For now, everything needs to be reigned in. Even further!</div>
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Learning needs to be done as a family activity. This will most likely be youtube, TV, book and kitchen based. The kids like the cooking, and lotions and potions are always learning experiences. Any forays further afield will have to be built into the working week. It boils down to money, time and my own sanity! A tricky equation, but one I'm sure we can square.</div>
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A contraction of work should also allow me to reflect better and make better decisions. It has become clear to me that reflection is incredibly key to making sensible decisions. Ploughing on regardless in the way we are encouraged to do by societal pressure is often the wrong thing to do. Exhaustion leads to frustration and is only bad for the soul. When we look at things cyclically, taking in different events that change our situations, the adjustments we incrementally make, especially when they are concious decisions are actually empowering because YOU decided what to do, and YOU took responsibility. If those decisions help your systems and subsequent lifestyle then they begin to feed back in and make things easier in the longer term even if right now feels hard. So the thing is that we can all learn from unexpected changes in our plans, and the solutions are all there, we just have to learn to see them, and permaculture design with a little imagination enables that.</div>
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For Ren,</div>
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Please stop crying now...... </div>
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-74996506051619677612014-09-03T02:37:00.000-07:002014-09-03T02:37:14.580-07:00Gluts, Gluttony, Greed<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGXoWhUWNU93fTbkc55ecI_azQYgsButlLPA_ZV0iDb0u6PTUbNOvIDWJzl3slUQYtrm-9SpjpRBBWsIyOoRO3DINv33NWgU6n2kab0g-2JhOTTnf768s7R2Reej7qkbAbxDmWeImGA/s1600/DSC_0548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGXoWhUWNU93fTbkc55ecI_azQYgsButlLPA_ZV0iDb0u6PTUbNOvIDWJzl3slUQYtrm-9SpjpRBBWsIyOoRO3DINv33NWgU6n2kab0g-2JhOTTnf768s7R2Reej7qkbAbxDmWeImGA/s1600/DSC_0548.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>I was thinking about my gluts the other day, as you do. I know, I know, I'm a bit weird, but they just never stopped coming this year and it was hard to stop thinking about them. This was mainly because I was either picking them or filling the kitchen counter with them. Gluts will take over when you start growing. Be warned, you could be as weird as me!</div>
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It led me to think about gluttony, and the fact that it was a <i>deadly sin. </i>I'd never made the connection of the two words before.<i> </i>I think we tend to look at gluttony nowadays purely as greed, it conjures up images of eating a whole tub of ice cream in front of the TV, or the Christmas tin of quality street in one go (guilty, I'm afraid). But when I think of gluts, I don't think of that sort of greed.</div>
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In the past few years, gluts for me have led to wastage, the fruit and veg coming in, life taking over and the inevitable walk of shame to the compost heap. Its not good. The swing from excited Spring through to overwhelmed late Summer is kind of messed up, and I have been guilty of waste in the last few years. But THIS year has been a bit different. Aided by the pressure I have put on myself with this blog, a PDC still fresh in my brains and the fact that the last few weeks have been kept clear due to an imminent arrival, I have been canning, juicing, preserving and cooking up all the produce coming my way. There ain’t no raspberry gonna turn on me!</div>
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Eggs by the dozen, cucumbers, gherkins, beans, and tomatoes have just kept coming. <i>Obtain a yield</i> is a permaculture principle, but it is only realised when that yield becomes a useful one. Having a kitchen full of produce slowly rotting does not count.</div>
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So I made tomato sauce, and put it into <b>sterilised</b> jars ( thanks to big sister Debs for pointing that one out!), I made pickled gherkins, quiches to use up the eggs because quiches are very manly. I juiced cucumbers like they were going out of fashion, and now I’m going to live forever because I’m so alkaline. The apples from the garden have all been used, and whilst the meagre amount of sauce and pickles done this year won't save a great deal on the grocery budget, the process of learning to pickle, process and use stuff began. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIVnUZNHBt-FBKDNSknelpHQ5x6Sc3IiMIwXooaGVGDLzyUlh7JhGZxZ9RGVzwKM4BhV_IT52FvIS3iYMLC6x_97v5FiIPDuIf5TD0jVLrAw-wljJWWV0sAMceijSUyvJxKvnKxb5QQ/s1600/DSC_0483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIVnUZNHBt-FBKDNSknelpHQ5x6Sc3IiMIwXooaGVGDLzyUlh7JhGZxZ9RGVzwKM4BhV_IT52FvIS3iYMLC6x_97v5FiIPDuIf5TD0jVLrAw-wljJWWV0sAMceijSUyvJxKvnKxb5QQ/s1600/DSC_0483.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Learning these skills and using them is empowering. The most important part of my lifestyle design – it gives me the skills to take advantage of random opportunities like other peoples gluts or forage, to experiment, to feed us healthily, save a bit of money and extract me ever so slightly further from shitty food manufacturers. Next year, when the shack is up and running, and the perennials are another year older, we will have more to use and play with. My shift to freedom will accelerate.</div>
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There is a theory that a lot of the man made stuff we eat ( the ice cream, cheesecake, doughnuts etc...) the processed crap that tastes soooo good, does not trigger a 'full' response in our brains the way that a more natural food would. It's why Atkins or paleo diets work, because they split carbs and fats. The body will not want to continually eat a food that does not contain one or other of those, whereas a cheesecake, which contains about 50 50 fats to carbs ratios, produces a craving response. You don't get this from cucumbers. Or eggs. Or tomatoes. You can't physically eat too much of any of this stuff on its own, and I'm struggling to think of anything in its natural state that produces a response in me like a tub of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. </div>
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So pickling, canning, etc.. is the way to really obtain a yield, minimising that walk of shame. So too is sharing and gifting. You ain’t gonna eat a massive bowl of tomatoes while you watch game of thrones. </div>
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Gluttony in my mind then, becomes <i>the failure to take advantage of gluts, </i>and avoiding wastage, stretching your yield, eating seasonally, and growing the right amount of the right stuff become the tenets to live by. It makes us healthier, happier and richer to live within these natural cycles, so be kind to yourself, avoid gluttony, and be as greedy as you can.</div>
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-49224429789556297542014-08-30T07:02:00.000-07:002014-08-30T07:02:07.310-07:00Hello Ren<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just a quick post. We had a baby boy last night and we called him Ren. I feel blessed and have fallen in love all over again, not just with him, but all of my beautiful family. Michelle especially has been simply incredible; brave and compassionate. I didn't want to bang on too much in this post, but this is just about the best advice I could impart to him. I hope when he is old enough he will live by it. I try to, but it is sometimes hard. It goes for everyone I know, especially my amazing daughters. There are many truths here.</div>
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<b>Desiderata</b></div>
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Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence,</div>
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As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. </div>
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Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.</div>
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Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.</div>
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If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.</div>
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Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.</div>
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Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.</div>
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Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. </div>
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But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.</div>
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Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.</div>
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Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.</div>
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Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.</div>
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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.</div>
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You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here and whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.</div>
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Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.</div>
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With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world</div>
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Be cheerful. Strive to be happy</div>
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<i>Max Ehrmann</i></div>
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I hope you like this as much as I do, I think it's a really helpful way of looking at stuff, I'm not a religious man, and personally I think this kicks the lords prayer's ass. Something I was made to recite for large swathes of my childhood. </div>
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Just a quick note – posts might be shorter for the next few weeks, there's a lot going on which is annoying because there is a lot to write about. I'll try and punch through the sleepless nights and continual rocking. Also it is much easier to write comments on here now that my lovely friend Scott has sorted out some glitches, he has also made it easier to read on mobiles, so you can read wherever you like! Accepting feedback and self regulation is important in the permaculture world. I would LOVE as much feedback as possible, especially specific stuff. It helps me hone the ideas I write about. I also have a page on facebook called hisown2feet, please like it, or friend me under mark furmston. It means I can see you guys, which is lovely for me and makes it a two way process.</div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">(Scott, is also the one loading/posting this post for Mark and typing this bit ; ) "hello readers"... and so would like to sneakily congratulate Mark and Michelle… and wish them, the girls and Ren all the happiness in the World! they're certainly adding more than their fair share.) X</span></div>
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-78016140005846146062014-08-12T02:18:00.000-07:002014-08-12T02:18:19.754-07:00From Patterns to Details<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is all about seeing the wood for the trees. In a physical project it is imperative to look at how the land behaves in order to carry out any design. The usual stuff, like slopes, species, climate etc... guides a design. These factors should be aiding the sustainability of the design, not fighting it.So when we have a dominant species we should be designing to take advantage of the soil and climatic conditions that species enjoys, as well as the benefits that that species brings, be it the way it interacts with the natural environment or the yield it brings. </div>
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The glamour in permaculture, or self sufficiency is often stuff like hugelkulture, designing guilds, food forests or keeping chickens. Its these ideas that appeal to people because there is a physical, clever way of producing food, and lets face it, if you're that way inclined, its cool and interesting.</div>
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But the art of looking for patterns... well that is a bit like the cinderella in the rush for the over made up hugel/herbspiral sister. And it is a rush. I am guilty of doing this. If I look back at my ideas for the back garden and how to design my life, the patterns were ignored in the desire to get things done.</div>
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So I start again. Not completely, but as part of a critical analysis of what went before. The beginning is the <b>Survey</b> bit in SADIM (Survey, Analysis, Design, Implement, Maintain). After maintaing the elements I have put into my life, we go full circle. We re-evaluate, accept feedback, we build and tinker.</div>
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From the very top. If I was to be allowed a wish list? I would be travelling to all the people and places that inspire me. From Geoff Lawton to Joel Saladin. Ben Falk to Jack Spirko. I would be doing a second 2 week intensive course with Patrick Whitefield, and a 10 week internship with Ridgedale permaculture farm in Sweden. Then I'd come back to Hastings and set up a city farm with an educational growing hub for the unemployed youth of the town, probably receive an OBE, get the freedom of the city (Town) and just schlep around drinking in coffee shops, swimming in the sea and fishing. Oh yeah, and I'd spend the Winter somewhere warm.</div>
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That sounds good. Heres the reality. I have a family, I have a mortgage, I have debts. I have a job that requires me to be physically present and doesn't pay holiday. These are all limitations. Some which I wouldn't change, beautiful and charming, some I definitely would. But none the less, they all mean that disappearing to do this stuff is out of the question. This rather stark example shows us that by looking at the patterns, we can ascertain what is and isn't sustainable</div>
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When I finished the PDC, one of the first things I did was to volunteer at the community garden. It was good. I met good people and helped a worthy project. It wasn't sustainable because I did it despite having to work every other weekend and losing money we needed as a family. I wouldn't change what I did, but when the garden closed it was a relief as it meant I had more time and money for myself. It wasn't sustainable within my current pattern. </div>
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Now I bring eggs and cucumbers (right now its cucs, next week probably courgettes!)for my neighbours and friends, and i'm getting the same hit from it, without having to volunteer time I haven't got.</div>
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And whilst 10 weeks in Sweden at Ridgdale does sound great, I decided to build my learning around my limitations. Cue Michael White, Lucia Stuart and Ben Fairlight Edwards, local(ish) foragers. All with different specialities covering herbalism, sea shore and everything else. It has become clear to me that foraging is definitely a passion, makes me happy and is one solution in feeding ourselves. It also has the effect of curbing to a small extent the limitations of money (food for free as Richard Mabey says) These guys are all amazing by the way – well worth checking out if you are in the area.</div>
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I will be getting out on the boats and learning as much as I can about sea fishing from my friend, Russell Field. This should be both social and educational for me, and again, a big step towards free, sustainable, healthy food. Just – got – to – find – the – time! </div>
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The other thing I've been doing is making stuff with the kids. They are naturally predisposed to making potions and lotions, so this summer so far we've pickled gherkins, made bread, salves and oven dried tomatoes. Next up is tomato sauces and quiche. We are all learning. Together, and they seem to like it.</div>
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Finally, once it all settles after the arrival of the baby, I will explore the Permaculture diploma with as local as possible tutors. </div>
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The point being that the patterns of my life, at least for now, limit my options. The beauty of those limitations, however, result in a beautiful solution. One that boils down to local learning, deeper connections with local people and the local environment, and one that sates my appetite without taking me away from my family or taking up more of my precious time. In fact, it brings us all together, eating, drinking and enjoying the things we bring into our lives.</div>
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-54027137042607391242014-07-30T04:53:00.000-07:002014-07-31T05:21:57.826-07:00Design For Life<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"></span></span><br />
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'If you don't design your life, they will design it for you' – Jack Spirko, July 2014.</div>
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The premise of the above being that unless you take control, really take control, then governments and corporations will step in and make decisions that will directly affect your lifestyle.</div>
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I heard Spirko talking about this and it really struck a cord with me. We are all following a path designed to serve others, mostly those running large corporations and governments. From an early</div>
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age we are trained and encouraged to form part of a larger machine, one which is sold to us as the 'right path' – study, get a career, save for a pension, consume, retire. As long as you work hard, you can do what you want. But as always, its more nuanced than that. I wanted to merge this thinking with a psychological model I was familiar with. </div>
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I came across Maslows hierarchy of needs at University. Its a model in psychology, showing base needs right up to self actualisation. The theory being that the basic needs have to be met in order to achieve stuff like love, respect, etc... If you look at Maslows hierarchy of needs, there are 5 levels; </div>
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A Physiological level – Food, water, warmth – In order to fulfil these needs, its never been easier (at least in our comfortable western world) Most of us would supermarket shop, turn the tap or hit the thermostat. I do, but less and less. If there is no design or movement towards self sufficiency ( at least a bit more of it ), then we are constantly in the hands of enormous corpotocracies, companies enmeshed within governments, just doing what they want. One thing is clear from the constant scandal, criminality and subsequently the enormous power they hold - these people and their machines do not care about you. The fact that it is so easy to carry on using their services is the dangerous part. If you don't think about it, then life is easier, at least in the short term. Think about what happens if you carry on using the same provider. Your gas and electric prices will RISE, you are actually paying THEM for not shifting supplier. Same goes for all utilities, loyalty is not respected, the exact opposite to when you are using a local, small supplier. Think about what happens if all you do is eat cheap food from the supermarket for 30 years. Yeah, you'll have some clubcard points, but you will have fuelled and been a part of the industrialisation of the food chain, the marginalisation of small suppliers and the subsequent health risks. I remember when we used to say 'one day we'll wake up and it'll only be supermarkets left' – well we're there folks, and we overslept, most of us are still asleep and even you and me are hitting snooze. They are ALL like hypnotists. 'Shhhh now, sit back, you don’t want to think about this boring old stuff, we'll auto renew you/do your shopping for you/give you our best deal (delete as appropriate) so you just sit back and relax. Go baaaaack to sleep'. </div>
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It takes an effort to find local, ethical alternatives, to extract at least a portion of your physiological needs from the hands of these vast corporations, but plan. Find a butcher, swap your energy supplier, put in a water butt. It takes energy to do these things, but its part one of your design, and once in place it'll afford you more time, money and quality of life.</div>
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It took around a month for the BBC to report that extra fracking licenses were being granted, and that a major reason was the Russian/Ukrainian war. Greater energy security was needed because of the horrendous skirmishes on the edge of Europe – its a home run for our great leaders. Our war machines (The UK are world leaders in selling arms to horrendous regimes throughout the world – what a great bunch of guys!) helping to create a new common enemy AND an excuse to make lots of money with fracking. A questionable at best technology. Security is very interesting at the moment. The current situation feels just like Orwell's 1984 – Eastasia and Eurasia – the two interchangeable enemies designed to keep the people in fear, and thus, controllable. Isn't this Iran, and ISIS, Mujahadin and Al Qaeda. The freedom fighters we nearly waded in to help in Syria are now ISIS. Iran are now potential allies. You aren’t meant to understand – it is designed that way – so that governments can be the only ones to provide you security, and hence you vote for them again and again. </div>
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Shelter is also at stage 4. I'm not sure about the US or the rest of the world, but here in the UK, a shortage of housing has made it near impossible for anyone to get on the housing ladder. If you want to live in London, you have to be seriously wealthy. The system is broken for anyone under 30 and if I was 20 again? I would learn how to sustainably build. To take on a mortgage (death pledge is what that word actually means) means you are paying vast sums back to the bank for around 25 or 30 years. You are the banks bitch! Your shelter is in the hands of the banks. I don’t need to expand on how worrying this is surely, suffice to say the guys that design and run the banking systems will be alright, always were and actually control the politicians. Still. Even after the last 6 or 7 years. I don't know what the answer for me is here, but if I ever make any money, or find a sugar daddy (open to offers, my mum says I'm pretty) then I would be overpaying that mortgage. The sooner we are free the better. If you are never going to be free, the sooner you square that in your head the better.</div>
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So once you've realised that you are a cog in the design, you are halfway to freedom, and you need to make that step to get to stage 3 – belongingness, affection, love from workgroup, family, friends, and romantic relationships. Surely they have no hold on this right? Well it depends on how you look at it. If we shop at monster shops, check out in those little self service things, order from Amazon for everything, overspend, and consequently overwork (I am guilty of the last one) then you are jeopardising stage 3. The system sends out messages. It advertises to you stuff that you don't need. It supplies you with easy credit (again), it allows you to carry on spending without any human contact whatsoever. It has never been easier to enslave yourself to stuff. If you find yourself here there can be a problem. I have spent years overworking, seeing too little of my family and friends and am designing myself out of that trap by minimising our exposure to debt, not by working harder, but by using all available resources (permaculture principle klaxon!) and renting out the spare room. Pay it off, walk away and give yourself a chance at actually having disposable income and a life. </div>
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Esteem needs – Achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self respect and respect from others. Holy moly – its as if Maslow was a self sufficiency guru!</div>
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Now please don’t get me wrong – I am not preaching as some sort of expert here – all I am is a fella on a journey to greater self sufficiency – and believe me I am nowhere near my goal, but I have been fired up by a few people, a PDC (Permaculture Design Course) and some good friends. I do know that to be a generalist, to try the new stuff, to build, grow, understand, gives you an enormous amount of satisfaction, and therefore self respect. Foraging and growing as opposed to simply buying, making as opposed to simply buying, building as opposed....... you get the picture. Gives you self respect. That ALWAYS (unless you are a knob about it) leads to respect from others.</div>
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Self actualisation needs – realising personal potential, self fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences – Now I'm sure there are ways of getting here without doing what I've been talking about, but I cant think of a better way. To go on this journey, to wrestle back control, to know yourself intimately – your strengths, weaknesses, capabilities. To have helped others on your way and thus created a real community on the journey, and to know that its been YOUR design, not theirs. To know that you did it despite them, to give yourself the power to design the unwanted from your life and support the wanted – holy shit - that’s a design for life.</div>
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</span>Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-54928363683048274412014-06-28T01:08:00.000-07:002014-06-28T01:08:18.962-07:00Build it and they will come<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Probably not always true, at least when
it comes to East London Stadiums and West Ham, but I'm talking about
the garden here, and the thing with wildlife in the garden, it takes
little more than piling some logs in the corner to give some bug or
another a home. These are ideas from one garden I've been working on....</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNyVeq7k5v6Hf3FIfJ2zT4TCTR1T3Oahf69y7aepjVO8bqHNn5-2ayM7QgULwrK2FdiffkMjCpQWywXpusM7_khDVE_KsIYINLKcWX0Lhe9gCaeFB9kZzyDuDzcMndIIcizGJIEPtDg/s1600/DSC_0263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNyVeq7k5v6Hf3FIfJ2zT4TCTR1T3Oahf69y7aepjVO8bqHNn5-2ayM7QgULwrK2FdiffkMjCpQWywXpusM7_khDVE_KsIYINLKcWX0Lhe9gCaeFB9kZzyDuDzcMndIIcizGJIEPtDg/s1600/DSC_0263.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this is a dragonfly nymph - St Leonards Spring 2014 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A pond. Probably the ultimate in
habitat creation. Deep central zones, shallow edges, water margins,
crevices, basking stones, drinking water. The watering hole
on an African plain brings together all forms of Wildlife, a pond
emulates just that. Dragonflies, water boatmen, pond skaters, freshwater hoglice, newts and frogs all
appear as if by magic, but its not – its nature in all its
awesomeness moving in to use a resource.
</div>
Teaming with different species, its hard to take your eyes off it. Predators, prey, life, death, birth and development. Its all here, because there's water and all its benefits. Larger animals will visit too. Foxes, badgers and birds. Its no wonder its top of the list.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2KPrljn0G4jYdRocXQ7C7ulj3mKWyx9qFyNuv9LCcPkgH0fACpgFFrsDFMZ1umqClsLF7eyVTqdsD3vF1WWQ1bq6COzz1U6-0VTV-am0Amqc6gve-vZPryTEGvbIYvi1zLsgvfHCsw/s1600/DSC_0341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2KPrljn0G4jYdRocXQ7C7ulj3mKWyx9qFyNuv9LCcPkgH0fACpgFFrsDFMZ1umqClsLF7eyVTqdsD3vF1WWQ1bq6COzz1U6-0VTV-am0Amqc6gve-vZPryTEGvbIYvi1zLsgvfHCsw/s1600/DSC_0341.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this pond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkf8ZsLT0r5vYmCVGlkFyrIILe-t3eqgh7Kcmf1LCtXjSrkHHhqIz9VhAohFDUemJ2aahCDoqJW1y3-Ml556trtp05Z0PQq88bi4bK48b8v6mhJWqo1YGzMmX4XYGF8Uigry8QIH6Mw/s1600/DSC_0361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkf8ZsLT0r5vYmCVGlkFyrIILe-t3eqgh7Kcmf1LCtXjSrkHHhqIz9VhAohFDUemJ2aahCDoqJW1y3-Ml556trtp05Z0PQq88bi4bK48b8v6mhJWqo1YGzMmX4XYGF8Uigry8QIH6Mw/s1600/DSC_0361.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Wildflower meadows. Another way to
create a beautiful habitat. They have a low carbon footprint as all you need is
a patch of ground and a bunch of seed. It can be a bit hit and miss
with the germination, but when it works.... you get this. Humming
with insects, overwhelmed with colour and movement. This meadow was
given a structure beneath it to both protect and support from Rocky
the dog. Last year it came up and was quickly flattened – not this
time. Often these stands of flowers are the show stoppers of the gardens I create or tend. They are always busy with bees and other pollinators.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfcEXInlbGkcJLc_WGO7b-59d-9dvynJmy-OdbPveYjoWHHswobGA_CUrgVfEoQf6MIrkGtzTqvp3cDSuH6LFEjPy1Zjh2VhtvJYgQp5-hNImDcF6SEbwjJir0vePfh8kvaIBYmeP3Q/s1600/DSC_0118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfcEXInlbGkcJLc_WGO7b-59d-9dvynJmy-OdbPveYjoWHHswobGA_CUrgVfEoQf6MIrkGtzTqvp3cDSuH6LFEjPy1Zjh2VhtvJYgQp5-hNImDcF6SEbwjJir0vePfh8kvaIBYmeP3Q/s1600/DSC_0118.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Using existing resources to create
habitat is a common sense approach. This garden is full of trees. Reusing this resource as part
of the infrastructure is definitely a permaculture principle. The
logs go in as a retaining wall, and the gaps (inevitably there will
be gaps) are backfilled with brush and twigs. We have created a wall
that is a genuine one off, has cost little in materials, a carbon
footprint of almost zero (wood from 10 Metres away), and a habitat
for insects.
</div>
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With the excessive amount of brush and
logs, we not only have wood piles in every possible corner, but our
first hugel mound. Basically wood of various sizes and types (make
sure the wood you are using is not alliopathic, like black walnut)
buried in a pit and mounded up over the surface, then buried with
topsoil and compost. The wood breaks down over time, creating
nutrition, mycellium and heat. It also soaks up water, keeping the
mound moister in the Summer, and as its a mound, and higher than
existing ground, it won't flood in the winter. It appears to be
working already, and the expected optimum time (when the wood has
sufficiently broken down) is probably 1 or 2 years from now. The
spinach and lettuce are not bolting, despite a lack of watering and a
hot Summer so far (Bolting is caused by stress, often lack of moisture or excessive heat).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMe5EpIkGHT_404WJfTmk_SSlfPP99-qEM76x1JCd_58KBrfia9pj5XmuFF_70DXuJyCpCqSyXthdRFPSsvYGcvXTiRL01TO5aqxFMpUuwpyOMbWop7eXg2uqnFzWOik1yKnCeed2dw/s1600/DSC_0359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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So we can build to attract insects,
amphibians, reptiles and mammals. We can even build to attract mycorrhizal
funghi, and just like a good festival – they will come. It is
however, good to understand what we are building, and why. It is
great putting together habitat projects, creating microclimates and
niches but it is also possible to create problems for ourselves.
Collecting pots together, as I have done on the deck in my own garden
does conserve moisture for the veggies. It also gives a good home for
snails. Moist, cool and food on tap. It means a sweep most nights and
the inevitable cull. The lip at the top of large tubs tend to house
the most molluscs, but also check under pots, any trays or old pots
you have lying around, and go out at night if you can to pick them
off. Its necessary – theyll eat it all if you let em!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGipQUPragQcSWGPIBquCPzgNYvQSq-UQycOXtQ3epRRe6kkU_lXiFopnvGnilRiJlQXY4uAlkPjcULF7vZOSmb2bf_ww33WhJ5VdSsbnlHrisx02aZo5dCeLz_8Taa6IxiV1IlwihA/s1600/DSC_0369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGipQUPragQcSWGPIBquCPzgNYvQSq-UQycOXtQ3epRRe6kkU_lXiFopnvGnilRiJlQXY4uAlkPjcULF7vZOSmb2bf_ww33WhJ5VdSsbnlHrisx02aZo5dCeLz_8Taa6IxiV1IlwihA/s1600/DSC_0369.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>And the shack – it's happening. It's
slow – and I keep changing my mind about stuff, but the shell is
there. Once this is built, it'll be beers on the deck and banjos on
the rocking chair. Me and Michelle can hide from children and students, and Scotty Garret, master and Commander of BADASS
(Bohemia Area Dad's Association.) will be popping round to tinker with rocket
stoves and talk permaculture. And just like a pond for habitat
creation, a shack will create a habitat for me and mine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyxfery9fldwi57lgjF2HSmc7WSrGVw2nFWLUVSha5JnRd9SaQz_Gh9ESsKdgKq4TBa2NuJebOGs2tTrkayqeIIXzm0AheUD7M05UQejWbwI-N3F3E5swhg8RkV2GAKqHbhsQc0rjZw/s1600/DSC_0357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyxfery9fldwi57lgjF2HSmc7WSrGVw2nFWLUVSha5JnRd9SaQz_Gh9ESsKdgKq4TBa2NuJebOGs2tTrkayqeIIXzm0AheUD7M05UQejWbwI-N3F3E5swhg8RkV2GAKqHbhsQc0rjZw/s1600/DSC_0357.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-11743048564339936092014-06-03T23:47:00.001-07:002014-06-03T23:47:33.124-07:00Triumph and Disaster<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
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<em><span style="text-decoration: none;">If you can meet with
triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same</span></em><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
– If, Rudyard Kipling</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Its
a beautiful passage in a beautiful poem, and it is never more apt
than when wrestling with anything horticultural. The possibilities
for disaster are endless, the triumph we are presented with is
fortuitous in many ways and to believe your own hype is to set
yourself up for an almighty fall.</span></span></div>
<br />
I'm getting slightly obsessed with the ideas behind failure and
success right now. Its a subject we can all identify with, and at
this time, it appears to be more and more commonplace to label life's
little ups and downs with excessive gusto and hysteria.<br />
<br />
TV especially appears to be shoving the ideas of success and
failure down our throats by attaching a competitive edge to lots of
things that should be fun, exciting and anxiety free – see Master
chef, Britain's best allotment (or whatever the hell its called), The
X Factor. In fact it feels like I could go on forever – all formats
that either make the participants look silly or attach anxiety and
failure. Failure that is to be avoided at all cost, failure that is
the end of the world (If you fail you're out). Judges sit and
(funnily enough) judge. Success at any cost? That is what seems to
be peddled. The questions we have to ask is success or failure by
who's standards? And what does failure really mean? Its certainly not the end of the road.<br />
<br />
And I know these programmes and the other stuff we are bombarded
with are classed as entertainment, and maybe I've got to chill out a
bit, but what a double whammy – taking a pastime that always
existed for its own sake and sucking anything good from it by
attaching negative formats. What's wrong with having a sing and
a dance (badly) if it makes you happy without some po-faced judge
telling you you're not good enough. What's the big deal if the cake you bake doesn't impress some TV personality? Who are they to judge? I mean really, most of them are just bullies. I
try not to watch this stuff, Simon Cowell especially upsets me –
mean and nasty, pushing the idea of kids lives being over if they
don't impress (or more accurately, conform to a bland formula of success). You might think I'm over egging this, and maybe I am, but
its important in my opinion to not take this version of reality to
our hearts. It promotes anxiety, and a 'not good enough, you've
failed' attitude – its also very often unkind and inhumane.
Rant over, but it pisses me off and always will.
<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of success, but failure arrives
when we attempt the new stuff and challenge the status quo. Failure is
glorious, laced with lessons, helping us to be better at what we do.
To never fail, is to never learn, and while success is nice, like the
man said – treat it as an imposter. Believing anything else can
turn people into assholes!<br />
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This blog is becoming more and more, a <i>why to </i><span style="font-style: normal;">garden as apposed to </span><i>how to. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Its because I think its a powerful tool for reconnection, yes with the land, but just as importantly for human healing and development. The most experienced gardeners and growers will be able to tell you many stories of failure, and will still make mistakes. This is what makes them experienced. To take failure and use it to achieve success, to not fear failure and experimentation and see it as a tool for future success. Once you have worked that out you will never fail in the Simon Cowell sense ever again.</span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"></span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">So I want to be the anti Simon Cowell! not particularly in bank balance, but certainly in spirit. It is never the end of the road, simply a blip in the ephemeral nature of life. Be nice, be supportive, chase the extraordinary - don't be Simon Cowell!<br />
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And its funny, my favourite people are the flawed, imperfect, self deprecating ones. Able to admit to their faults and accept themselves as they are. Rather that than someone who believes they have no flaws. Very dull.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SsC31y9PX1kiujAmkCTMdF0RNFC823308x7OzzMcSq-SEO-isbkCuCw0fKrqTYAUTQJqBcxD3SGroLykekzHu5OeLLl7r-leOpfT3hugundtxgCkaIfnPPsu1K5Hc_AwnReE4_4kYw/s1600/DSC_0325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SsC31y9PX1kiujAmkCTMdF0RNFC823308x7OzzMcSq-SEO-isbkCuCw0fKrqTYAUTQJqBcxD3SGroLykekzHu5OeLLl7r-leOpfT3hugundtxgCkaIfnPPsu1K5Hc_AwnReE4_4kYw/s1600/DSC_0325.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
Level heads are required. Often, especially with
growing annuals, you have one shot, maybe a few depending on how
organised you are! Disasters can always happen, inclement weather, pests
and disease. Good growing weather can fool you into believing you've
got it sussed, only for the following year to kick you in the nuts. We
have to assume that failure will happen, and legislate through
insurances. Experience is a great ally in this respect. I will sow more than I need, plant in different locations, try different varieties, and plant and sow throughout he growing season - all ways of mitigating the effect of failure whilst still being able to learn from it. Its been a
good year so far. We have had a Spring (which is a bonus the last few
years). Mild and recently wet, enables germination, all over the garden we have lush growth. On the other side
of the coin, slugs and snails are having a field day, black spot, a fungal disease is popping up on the roses and Asparagus beetle has had a very nice time this year.</div>
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Daisy with the first Strawberry of the year! </div>
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Failure in the garden is as perennial as the trees. If you are practising a more natural style of gardening, you are accepting a degree of failure. No quick fix solutions here - a softer, more nuanced thinking is required, and failures more often than not present us with solutions (the problem is the solution) More traditionally there is a 'quick fix' available in forms of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, enabling a solution in a bottle. The problem with this is you aren't addressing the cause of the problem, instead unbalancing the natural systems already in place to deal with it, and the baby goes out with the bath water.</div>
<br />
So nothing is as it seems in the moment. A failure can feel
insurmountable, like you're on your own, as if no one ever did the
same, but the truth is that both success and failure are the same
thing, a coming together of many random elements, culminating in
different outcomes. Experience, both in horticulture and life at
large is the thing that enables us to recognise and understand.
Triumph is nice, but we learn more from disaster, those little
lessons that enrich us and our future adventures, and the sweetest of
all? Triumph through disaster, the ultimate learning curve.<br />
<br />
So it is a
inherently human condition to fail, make mistakes, overlook the
infinite trip hazards, and even more human to accept, move on and
learn from those failures. It makes you a better person to realise
you can't control it all. A gardener will have to cope with this
conundrum on an almost daily basis.
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
Cherry in the front, despite the praying, begging and love sent its
way, went south pretty sharpish after being planted – my
afformentioned 'edge' – replaced with Rosemary, some currants, and
a fig, to be pruned hard. The Cherry on the other hand is in
intensive care, throwing out a few new shoots so at least its stable
and not critical. Lessons from this failure? The front is a great big
wind tunnel, bringing great gusts charging up the street and treating
anything in its way to a large dash of hostility, the open, south
facing aspect bringing a great pendulum of year round weather – hot
to cold, dry to wet. The soil also held within a concrete pit, not
particularly deep or wide – perfect for a Fig. The Cherry simply
didn't cope. Its successors, selected to deal with a bit more weather
– look at the leaves of Rosemary – waxy and tough, as apposed to
the soft growth of a cherry tree. I should have known – in fact I
think I </span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><i>did </i></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;">know
in my heart of hearts, but I wanted to see how it coped. Now it will
go to its sheltered spot out back.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
So my mistakes form the basis on how we move on, and my successes
should present me with an informed satisfaction. Informed and treated
with the caution it deserves. Just because one year we have a bumper
crop of peas or potatoes, never believe you've got it sussed. Nature
presents us with infentissimal possibilities – weather, pests,
diseases and human interference. Without getting too zen on you,
stage one, in my opinion is to be aware of the external influences –
or observe with as little commentary in your mind as possible. Look
and see, don't analyse – which paths
does the dog take? what's in the air? What grows where? Where is
dry/wet? This information guides us to understand the environment we are in. How many players there are in our space, what the land does. Only from there can we build. See, don't judge. Learn, don't capitulate. DON'T BE SIMON COWELL!</div>
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-57077289446687711182014-04-26T03:28:00.002-07:002014-04-26T03:28:16.179-07:00Why Bez is a weed<div class="ContentControl">
<div class="ArticleContent" id="ArticleContent1" style="display: block;">
<strong>Wisdom is knowing what you have to accept</strong> -<em> Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose</em><br />
<br />
Seeds and weeds - these words will conjure up images of an unending battle between human and nature. Weeds, the gate crashers, the unwanted, the uninvited thugs, rolling in to spoil the party. Seeds, the method of dispersal for so many of them. Sitting, waiting for an opportunity to grab life from the soil, one day not there, the next popping up amongst the geraniums in the herbaceous border when the conditions suit.<br />
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It can be enough to make the most well balanced gardener go crazy if the attitude is all wrong. The traditional weapons of war in this ongoing skirmish will range from the use of hand tools to all out chemical warfare. Constant weeding can be thankless, and chemicals are not desirable for most sensitive horticulturalists, both methods can easily exascerbate the problem if we are not careful. Whilst there are few of us who would argue that it is less than ideal to have a border full of uninvited visitors, it is wise to arm ourselves with more than just methods of simple eradication. To fight without any knowledge is to pick a fight we are unlikely to win, a thankless and uninspiring task. <br />
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Weeds - by their nature are highly evolved, pernicious species that step into a situation when the opportunity arises. Often, we create those opportunities. Freshly dug over soil of a vegetable bed or ornamental border is a common one. I understand why we do it. It symbolises a good days work, it also enables new planting, and just as other traditional images creep into our collective mindset as wholesome and productive (fields of wheat and corn), a nicely dug over piece of land is indeed viewed by many as beautiful and good. <br />
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But it also suggests a scar on the earth, a waste of land and resources, a fertile soil with nothing in it will be colonised often by species specifically for those situations very quickly. In this case weeds are natures elastoplast, healing a bare patch of soil. <br />
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It is also the case that digging in this way will both bring dormant seeds to the surface and break up roots of perennial species such as the dreaded ground elder or bindweed, thus your digging can become a very efficient propagation method (especially when rotovators are concerned - please don't use the rotovator!)<br />
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Weeds are purely uninvited visitors, often native, and always incredibly successful, that's why they are weeds. When we tune in to the natural systems we look after, these plants take on more nuanced meaning. This is where knowledge leads to acceptance<br />
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Just as a patch of bare soil will be colonised quickly, slopes will be stabilised, compacted soils will be loosened and habitats are created. Clovers fix nitrogen, and tap rooted individuals such as Comfrey and Dandelion bring nutrients up to the surface, aiding and abetting the plants around them. <br />
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Spring comes quickly, and often flatters to deceive. Here in the UK Spring does not arrive gently or reliably. It is a rollercoaster of a season, warm and cold, dry and wet and everything in between. Frost can arrive late and snow is not unusual. The temperature of the soil takes some time to catch up and a common mistake is to get carried away with the expectation of a new season on the first warm day. But when the annual weeds begin to get going, we have a good idea that direct sowing can begin. Reading and observing these seedlings can give us job prompts - and its a better way of gauging soil temperature than sticking your bare ass in the soil.<br />
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As you delve deeper, we can learn to identify what our interlopers are - many weeds are edible - nettles, chickweed, cleavers and dandelion being just a few. We can also tell what is going on within the soil - indicator weeds can tell us whether a soil is:<br />
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<strong>Acid (</strong> Ox-eye daisy <em>(Chrysanthemum leucanthemum),</em> curly dock <em>(Rumex crispus) </em>wild strawberries <em>(Fragaria species),</em> plantain <em>(Plantago major)</em> rough cinquefoil <em>(Potentilla monspeliensis),</em> silvery cinquefoil <em>(Potentilla argentea),</em> hawkweeds <em>(Hieracium aurantiacum and pratense),</em> knapweeds <em>(Centaurea species).</em><br />
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<strong>Alkaline</strong> (true chamomile <em>(Anthemis nobilis),</em> bladder campion <em>(Silene latifolia)</em><br />
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<strong>Wet</strong> (horsetail <em>(Equisetum arvense)</em> joe-pye weed <em>(Eupatorium purpureum),</em> silvery cinquefoil <em>(Potentilla argentea),</em> curly dock <em>(Rumex crispus),</em> mosses, creeping buttercup <em>(Ranunculus repens)</em>marsh mallow <em>(Althaea officinalis)</em><br />
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<strong>Dry</strong><em> </em>rough cinquefoil <em>(Potentilla monspeliensis)</em><br />
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When we start to understand this sort of information, weeds become part of a dialogue between the garden and the gardener. They are conduits of communication, food and job prompts. Far from being species which drive a gardener to madness in the race to elimination, they can be used, and even in some cases, appreciated. A group of plants arriving to help, just sometimes maybe too much.<br />
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So weeds, not so much all bad and more like, as with all things, a group of plants with a complex set of characteristics. I like to think that more understanding allows us to design our gardens in the most sensitive way. By tuning in, we waste less time and money on plants that will never fit in, on jobs that are nonsensical and we glean the more positive aspects of our uninvited guests.<br />
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The characteristics that all weeds DO share however are some of their coolest. They are pernicious, born survivors. Hard to kill, often spiky and they more often than not, don't fit in within a strict regime. They remind me of some of my favourite people. Bill Mollison, Jack Spirko, Tony Benn (RIP), Larry Santoya and, recently, Bez (Please check him out if you aren't already aware of him). These guys are tough, not always agreeable, often hated by authority, but always passionately spreading a worthwhile message. Trying to heal ground that has been messed up by government and corporations with no goal other than profit. These are the healing, ground protecting tough bastards that colonise and prepare ground for the more delicate amongst us. And as with their herbaceous versions, it is often easy to not see the problems until these strange, often belligerent species turn up and start making a fuss.<br />
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So it wont surprise you to hear that I want to be a weed. That is my goal - to be a useful, pioneering indicator species. To shout about the wrongs (and the rights - see permaculture, Alan Savoury, Ron Finley) that are happening around us. I want to help make the ground better for my children and grandchildren, so we don't end up with some awful dystopian future, controlled by a few - homogenised and bland and instead embrace the diversity in this world. We need to listen to those who are marginalised because more often than not they have more to say than whoever is on the front cover of Heat Magazine. We need to tune in because we have been tuned out for so long. And as for the seeds waiting to burst forth and show themselves? if you've read this far - they've been sown by now.<br />
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-68435507905505029432014-03-23T02:47:00.001-07:002014-03-23T02:47:55.415-07:00Antics and jugglingIts been busy and I haven't had the chance to write an update until now. Spring has arrived and nothing moves so quickly. Seedlings emerge daily, demanding attention, their leaves unfurling in that unmistakeable iridescent green. Perennials bulk out quickly sending their crowns bursting through the soil, and tasks build up, seemingly unending in their numbers. It's exciting, but it can feel daunting and rushed if we are not careful. It is always worth sitting back, making lists, watching and observing at this time of year - we can go from a beautiful Summery day to hard frosts very quickly and its important not to get caught out in our haste to get things done. <br />
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It is invaluable to have protected spaces right now - greenhouses, polytunnels and windowsills allow us to get ahead. Cold frames enable us to harden the more tender species off before they are planted in final positions outside. We can end up in a state of flux during these 'in between' weeks, moving plants in and out as temperatures fluctuate - shading and un shading, protecting from the sun and heat one minute before protecting from the cold the next.<br />
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These jobs are worth gauging and noting. Many annuals, both edible and ornamental are labour hungry - the demanding prima donnas of the plant world. We want tomatoes, Aubergines, Melons and Cucumbers, but they demand our time and this should be evaluated. Last year, all this effort produced poor results from the Melon and Aubergine crops mainly because of the late arrival of Spring. Despite a lovely, hot Summer, a long season is needed for fruition and we didn't get one, so even with all the planning in the world we can still get unstuck. A season lost due to factors beyond our control.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asparagus crowns waiting to be buried</td></tr>
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Perennial crops, on the other hand, can get on with it to a certain extent. Berries and fruit will generally crop with little more than a bit of pruning and feeding, Asparagus and Rhubarb simply demanding a mulch and good soil. When we look at Globe Artichokes, not only do we have delicious, high value food, but we have a handsome plant. In fact if we want high value crops - perennials seem to be the thing.<br />
One rule worth considering is don't take too much in the first couple of seasons, allow the plant to concentrate on growing, not just fruiting - don't expect the world from a young plant, and it will repay you when mature for years to come. These are the 'can do' crops, your dependable mate - unfussy and tough - because they have a stored energy that mature plants possess, power in their bulk. They do not need us to till the earth either - allowing the soil and the life within it to get on with what it does best - live undisturbed and reward the species within it with it's complex web of exchanges, competition and cooperation. We can see a higher resilience in these crops - certainly worth noting when resilience seems to be a highly valued trait in this increasingly uncertain climate. When we design in permaculture we should always be aiming for a system that minimises inputs and maximises outputs, and that leads us to incorporate perennial systems when it is possible. That said - I will certainly still be growing plenty of annuals. What can I say? I like the fuss.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pregnant Michelle amongst the chaos!</td></tr>
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As the rain died away - and Spring began to poke her head around the door, other jobs rose up the to - do list. In order to take full advantage of the season, the shack needs to be built at Chataeu Furmston, it is not merely a storage space, more a multi functional element key to the permaculture design that is my back garden <em>with bike space</em>. The roof will be a water harvesting zone, the walls built in such a way as to maximise solar aspect, part of the building will house more tender plants, and it will be the final retreat for a heavily outnumbered male (1 wife, 2 little girls and 2 girl lodgers at last count, with no guarantee of any redress from baby number 3). The plan is to incorporate a watering system operating under gravity using raised tanks and irrigation pipes, and as I learn, no doubt other systems will be put in place.<br />
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When this is done, I can begin to grow in a far more effective fashion. Much of the garden sees little sun right now, and space is an issue, so vertical growing in the right areas is paramount. <em>Catch and store energy</em> - a permaculture principle - we will utilise that solar energy for food production and basking in the sun amongst other things. With snatched hours through the last couple of weekends, the framing is happening and we have walls. Working in a confined space means shifting materials around constantly, but that's probably my fault for insisting on using as much recycled and found bits of timber as I can - there's a lot of crap in there. Its fun, but it does complicate things. As it happens I've had to buy some posts and 4 by 2 to frame out the building, but so far, pallets seem to be working as the 'building bricks' for the walls. They are not always square, they differ in size and pulling them apart can be a right pain in the arse, but they are free, sturdy and possess a void between the front and back- enabling me to insulate if I feel the need, and certainly giving protection to the inner wall. I'm loving putting the shack together and though I'm working towards an overall plan, its certainly an incremental design, built so we can change and maintain the structure easily. I like the thought that the shape could change or the functionality could be tweaked, and its how I naturally think - nothing is ever finished, just adapted and cyclical. <br />
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So this shack is in part another support system for the use of annual cropping. Granted it will carry out a lot of other functions, but it is a support structure for tomatoes, salad leaves and beans. Without this structure results would certainly be patchy. <br />
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The beauty of this time of year is the movement, the flow that begins, with or without you. And though its definitely a beginning, with the use of perennial systems, it is also the end of hibernation and rest - the sun waking our elements from slumber. When a garden under my stewardship really begins to work, it is usually when the perennials have found their feet, and the successes have succeeded and the failures have failed. Nature edits as much as I do, and it is right to allow her to do so as to fight nature borders on insanity, and definitely leads to it. Allow the flow and incorporate elements that utilise natural rhythms, you'll have an easier time of it.<br />
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<br />Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-18737605542701786082014-03-08T00:57:00.002-08:002014-03-08T00:57:34.008-08:00Here come the girls!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomato seedlings growing away</td></tr>
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Its silly, I know, to humanise plants, seedlings and seeds, but with so much information out there, much of it contradictory and most of it 'ticklist', its something that helps my little mind prioritise and it sorts things out in my head. <em>Sow in March directly into moist raked soil - </em>says the packet. Well what if its still cold in March? What if there's not enough oomph in my soil? Obviously you need a degree of knowledge for successful growing of crops, but empathy, and connecting with an intrinsic common sense goes a long way. One of my tools is to treat my seedlings like I would any little person, and if you listen and watch hard enough, the answer is often there.<br />
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After all, I'm spending a lot of time with these little fellas, they are getting a lot of attention, both in terms of how much they get from me, and how their performance reflects on me professionally, so they become 'my girls'.<br />
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The tomatoes are important at Pattendens (my main place of work). The clients eat a lot of them. 4 varieties this year, 3 cordon and 1 bush, and they have already been pricked out and potted on, this is an important step - they sit on propagators, so I am always keen to get them potted up as soon as the seed leaves are unfurled. Having their own pot means they are able to grow away without getting spindly in the race for more light with their mates, also the tendency for the whole pot to dry out is increased if we have a number of seedlings in one pot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjJjjayXaKJlEis4rfXpDbC7qkQs486WEv7bvGd5s-3sa1SbNJB5PuLYyjw50DED7GkgF7zwKD72wEkt7LuAF1WO3oaF3yGN1rBBH4qz5bXlvs5vM0c1iKMJCc9J_kpOdMiAccZHiqw/s1600/DSC_0089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjJjjayXaKJlEis4rfXpDbC7qkQs486WEv7bvGd5s-3sa1SbNJB5PuLYyjw50DED7GkgF7zwKD72wEkt7LuAF1WO3oaF3yGN1rBBH4qz5bXlvs5vM0c1iKMJCc9J_kpOdMiAccZHiqw/s1600/DSC_0089.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The organised chaos of the Polytunnel</td></tr>
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Aubergines and Melons have been moved on in exactly the same way - all now sit individually in a heated propagator, the first perilous part of their journey to fruition completed. Moisture levels are checked regularly - not too much or too little - a balancing act for me as I only get to visit twice a week, although I will pop in midweek if I feel the need. Its a bit like having a small baby, high inputs at this point, but it does get easier.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmuE47ByZ6zF5Kb8gKsHp4pf0tMp8aONRPoz0w2FOn4cLBFU5TvoD0j-UXyd4O55nPBL-eCIrq_P1oDU4exwhugB2IU4pGxYaPKX7AZwbqi-9uXjKwJZNBuuloYUPQusgHMx5iHeaAg/s1600/DSC_0053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmuE47ByZ6zF5Kb8gKsHp4pf0tMp8aONRPoz0w2FOn4cLBFU5TvoD0j-UXyd4O55nPBL-eCIrq_P1oDU4exwhugB2IU4pGxYaPKX7AZwbqi-9uXjKwJZNBuuloYUPQusgHMx5iHeaAg/s1600/DSC_0053.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>I leave the watering can on the propagation mat in the greenhouse. It warms the water nicely so my girls don't get a cold shower. Instead the watering becomes 'a treat' - a warm watering from a fine rose. A cold soaking every now and again might not impede germination and growing on fully, but I can't help but feel it doesn't help. I try to leave as much space between plants, to enable airflow and eradicate the build up of disease, I am giving them the room to grow - just as I stand away from my daughters and allow them to explore and grow without their embarrassing dad too close. <br />
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I will find different spaces within these protected environments for plants and seedlings with different needs. I am always attempting to 'read' what is going on and then act on those conclusions.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Past the danger of mice?</td></tr>
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Out in the garden, I am doing similar work. Old bits of glazing go down on the soil, ready for sowing. This will warm the earth beneath, giving any subsequent sowings a better chance of 'getting away' - like baby turtles hurtling to the waves, so germination will be the first big test and I will be there to nurture and aid. We have mice at Pattendens too - and I don't like to put down poison, though I wouldn't be averse to a cat or two in this space. But I have to think differently if I want peas (and I do). It appears after a few years of wrestling with the problem of mice eating my peas before they get going, that the solution is to germinate them indoors and plant them as small plants. The pea before germination appears to be the treat - not the small plant (that appears to be pigeon fodder - but nothing a little chicken wire doesn't fix.) And the broad beans, whilst being a very easy baby, requiring little care and being happy plunged into cold Autumn soil, will turn into a gangly juvenile. Hazel coppice crafted into a support structure will protect these youths from getting too 'leggy' and the inevitable flopping, just like a drunk sixteen year old not understanding his limits.<br />
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It's useful, at least for me, to think like this when dealing with plants that we annually grow for crops - they require care and attention, and the inputs are pretty large. If we think like this it becomes less of a to do list and more natural. I have had clients and friends quite fairly say that the price of fruit and vegetables are so low, that it makes no sense to grow your own, and to an extent they are right - but that argument misses the main points. Yeah - its a hassle, if you're not naturally inclined to grow stuff (actually, I believe we are ALL naturally inclined - its just that we've forgotten over the centuries) and modern life gets in the way of nurturing something to fruition - there is often something that feels more urgent or important to do, and we have instant gratification everywhere. BUT if we swing the thinking around a little (or a lot) and looking after a tomato plant, or a row of spuds can be life changing. Bear with me.<br />
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The reason growing your own is so special is <em>because</em> it is not always easy.<em> </em>Like life itself, supporting a rubbish football team and going through adversity, you come through stronger, more philosophical and more able to deal with the future. You also learn how to grow good food, which is no small thing - especially in this uncertain world. Its a learning curve you will never master, you will be forever a student because for all the advice and books, and courses, and maybe even this blog, mistakes will be made. Anyone that says different is almost certainly fibbing. Growing food will always throw you a curve ball - because that's intrinsic in the nature. Its why commercial agriculture uses so many 'weapons' to curtail the chances of those curve balls - of course in the long term some might say those practices are storing up one whoopass problem in the not too distant future, but maybe that's for another day. The point is that growing food is an experience that can help the individual grow and heal. Nature can be read, and this is a intense course. The advantages of growing your own are actually infentissimal - its healthier both for you and the planet. Its also tastier. In the end it can be cheaper, though certainly not at first, but the real bonus is a connection with your piece of earth, and the mental gymnastics and common sense practised to perform to coax life and food from it. This allows philosophical thought and an escape from the vast amounts of bull shit that is heaped apon us every day. It connects us with the rythms of nature and unearths the meaning in things. It cuts through the noise, and creates peace. Of course that's until you get potato blight or Carrot root fly. Nobody said bringing up kids was easy!<br />
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-65198576094995833952014-03-03T23:04:00.002-08:002014-03-03T23:04:37.078-08:00A pragmatic approachWhen you first learn about Permaculture, it can be pretty mind blowing, and when I finished the Permaculture Design Course it felt like I'd been broken down with the truth (scary), and rebuilt with the solutions (Amazing!). Its a pretty intense experience. I think its the mixture of people, ideas, and knowledge, but underpinning it all is the fact that its just the beginning, and you return to the normal world a changed person, unleashed and brimming with enthusiasm. You start to see how badly designed most of our support systems are in every aspect apart from how they serve their owners. You begin to realise how unresiliant we are and how damaging lots of parts of our society are. It also teaches us in the same breath, how to undo many of these problems with the simplest of solutions. It took me many weeks after finishing to truly appreciate that the design principles and ethics are incredible, however underwhelming they may seem at first sight. In many ways this blog is me still wrestling with what I think and believe in light of this formative experience.<br />
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<a href="http://d2yhexj5rb8c94.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_node_view/public/Britain%20Floods%20Cameron%20visits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><em><img border="0" src="http://d2yhexj5rb8c94.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_node_view/public/Britain%20Floods%20Cameron%20visits.jpg" height="194" width="320" /></em></a><br />
<em>Cameron attempting to look, I think that's a mixture of macho and concern - who knows?</em><br />
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Every now and again we get a shock, like the bizarre weather that a lot of the world has been experiencing. Eventually a politician turns up to look to macho, thoughtful or worried (delete as appropriate) depending on what their spin doctor told them to look like. In the UK we had a lot of flooding, and entire counties cut off from the rest of the country. The problem is, politicians are not going to implement long term solutions because they operate within short term systems (elections every 5 years, the way we measure performance through GDP etc..). It feels like we are sleep walking into a worse world while simultaneously looking to the very people who sanctioned the problems to sort it out - kinda perverse eh? <br />
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And people do react to shocks like bizarre weather or catastrophe in different ways. Commonly people look to government to sort stuff out, angrily blaming and simultaneously asking for help. Looking forward, we often end up with polarisation of small minorities, with a large mass in the middle that keep with the status quo and struggle to take on board the problems we face. In many ways these patterns disempower people and keep the population dependent on the systems that cause the problems.<br />
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Its easy to see why you might not take these problems on board - its scary, for starters, its also not really encouraged. Corporations want you to buy their stuff, governments want you to pay your taxes and believe in them. If you carry out these tasks you are a good citizen, contributing to society, whether our society is doing the right thing or not. Thinking beyond earning money and materialism is often mocked and certainly undervalued.<br />
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Most marginal thinking is also heavily populated with a staggering array of opinion. Most of it is unpalatable to an ordinary, cocooned, western mind - when James Lovelock says we might as well not worry because global warming has already happened (and we are doomed) is just as unhelpful as a climate change denier like Lord Lawson (Holy Smokes, where do you start?) or an over zealous green activist who insists that we must never eat meat or drive a car. Add to this all the other clans and sects of alternative thinking and the piecemeal, confusing information channelled through the media, and its very, very tempting to ignore this stuff and return to the short term reward system that traditional consumerism and western society gives us.<br />
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But I like a bit of pragmatism, particularly the ethos that people like Larry Santoyo or Jack Spirko talk about. We build for a more resilient future, both personally and as a species not by expecting government to do something about it, neither turning from the world and systems you are in. Not by holing yourself up in a castle stacked to the eyeballs with canned food and enough ammo to hold off the zombie apocalypse. Not by withdrawing from society and living on beans, never driving a car and preaching from a pious position, but to take responsibility for yourself, for your food, energy and community by using the resources available and creating a position for ourselves where we are better able to cope with shocks, whatever they might be (more losing your job or getting sick than nuclear fallout). As a result, we could cut our dependency on the crooks and gangsters in government whilst we're at it. Lets not feed the illusion that they actually do anything for anybody other than themselves and their mates. <br />
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Spirko makes most sense when he begins to talk permaculture. It is the ultimate way of thinking when designing resilience, and the approach which Spirko and Santoyo talk about is less pious and more practical - use all available renewable resources and design to maximise your resources available.<br />
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Because we have an opportunity. Oil will one day run out, but while we have it, maybe we should 'make our hand print larger than our foot print' (lets use oil - its a gift after all, but lets do good stuff with it) We could use these resources to make our futures more secure and resilient to crazy weather, energy and food shortages. We can terra form land to make it more productive. We can use our collective knowledge and wisdom to make our societies fairer. Its a bit of a journey that we need to make - the first part is for us to truly realise and understand that where we currently are - how we use the oil and the land and the food we have is unsustainable, (that's the scary part)- the second part entails the design of systems that build our resilience to an uncertain future - whether that is rising sea levels and snow in July, or breaking your leg and being unable to work. Its what I believe Permaculture is best at - designing our way back out of trouble, but lets not get wrapped up in extreme ideas, lets not panic, lets get pragmatic. And lets do it ourselves, now.Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-14906401810458998332014-02-22T00:52:00.002-08:002014-02-22T00:52:50.618-08:00Rain,reflections, limitations and failureI've found it tough to do all the things I've wanted to do this Winter while the rain hasn't stopped, but my ambition remains the same. This blog has been a great outlet to order and prioritise my ideas and thoughts. I knew I was taking on a lot, and I'm enjoying the ride, but there have definitely been some failures.<br />
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One of my projects was to create a rocket stove with my friend Scotty Garret and Bohemia dad (see links below for his blog). Its been ongoing, snatching pieces of time here and there, having a beer and tinkering while both sets of kids play together, effectively cancelling each other out, a superb equation I never bore of. <br />
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<em>Our 'almost' Rocket Stove</em><br />
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We've used tin cans as the feeder and chimney within a large tin, a wholesale can of cooking oil from the Chinese takeaway round the corner. The void is filled with a mix of clay and vermiculite. A contraption built almost entirely from recycled material. The theory being that if the chimney and feeder tube are the correct dimensions, then you can create a highly efficient burn from a minimal amount of fuel (so many permaculture principles!). We have managed to create a burn somewhere on the range of 7 out of ten. Its not yet a rocket stove, which should produce a flame that looks like its coming out of the back of a - you guessed it - ROCKET! The flame is more akin to a intermittently fierce common garden fire. Tweaking and adding to the design is in progress, that's the joy of it, and its very clearly all about air flow. Where we are is a lot better than where we were Initially we had managed to create an exact opposite of a rocket stove, a structure which could put any fire out which was started within it, an anti rocket stove, a black hole, a fire extinguisher!<br />
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The first batch of beer didn't work. I had to go back to the home brew shop down on Norman road, and get more supplies. When I told the very nice lady what I'd done, she looked at me in the nicest possible way like I was the most useless berk in the world, I could read her mind ' Useless, just useless' as I regaled to her how I'd failed using a can't fail system. <br />
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I now know why though. And whilst the mixing and initial temperature control went well, the subsequent care (leaving it in the kitchen, the coldest part of the house) meant that the fermentation process stalled. The next batch, one of the jobs for the weekend will be kept in a more central part of the house and will be wrapped in a special 'beer jacket' knitted by my mum (see left). I will give my beer the attention it deserves, just as I do any children or seedlings in my care That should do it, and if it doesn't, I'll be learning another lesson, so in a way, my methodology becomes 'win - win' (mental gymnastics people, I refuse to be too down on myself!)<br />
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<em>What? I thought it was a boob tube!</em><br />
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Using a veggie box scheme was another eye opener. When you desperately want to support local businesses you can accept a premium on what you're paying for when you compare with supermarkets, because the point is to circulate money locally. When that price differential becomes so large that you are effectively doubling part of your food budget, it no longer fits into my aims for this project, which is to 'obtain a yield'. The inputs to any system should be minimised, not maximised, and that can include money. I not only have a responsibility to my community, but also to my family, and how well we feed them. I am hopeful of using another supplier, better still, the food from the new supplier should be locally grown and far cheaper. This gives new challenges and opportunities, not only for me, but for Shell. Local food will dictate what we get, rather than simply picking what we want. Keeping us eating seasonally will improve diets, and it's my belief that the food delivers us what we need at specific parts of the year, but that's for another day<br />
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And I am simply not far on enough for my liking with the front and back yards. The planting of certain trees and shrubs is all very well and good, but the front still needs attention for the wall, and the build at the back is still to be started. I know what I want, but the limitations hold me back - namely, you guessed it, time (STOP. RAINING. PLEASE!), and money - inextricably linked, and even more so for someone with a day job like mine.<br />
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But I've laid the tiles down in the room designated to be a larder, with the help of my father in law Dave and it looks good. Its ok to let the wife know you want to better utilise the 'dumping ground', but it has to look pretty or you're not allowed to do it. Stylish AND functional. That's the key. The days are lengthening at pace now, and the local community is introducing me to new projects all the time. Its exciting when this type of thinking begins to spread, or more accurately, like minded people begin to connect, because they're inherent, these goals, its just that we've forgotten what we should be doing and it takes energy, time and guts to relearn this and reject the values fed to us all the time by most of the media. <br />
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We are all going to fail at times, but when the systems we are putting in are aimed at unlinking ourselves from the treadmill culture of modern day western society, our aims and goals are so life changing it is important to stay the course. 'They', the media, the government, the top 1% don't want you to think like this. Far better to sate desire and control people through consumerism, but if we can begin to break their hold by taking responsibility for ourselves, and what we need, we can end up in a better place full of failure, learning <em>and</em> happiness. <br />
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Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-71753249011625850892014-02-16T12:12:00.000-08:002014-02-16T12:12:05.591-08:00Saving seedsIt is that time of year again, the rain has got even me feeling a bit down (serves me right for writing such a chipper mid January post). Living at the top of a hill has its benefits even if they seem distant when schlepping back from the pub, and I feel so sorry for those that got flooded out during the last few weeks and months because even without having your life turned upside down or indeed floating away, this weather has been thoroughly depressing. <br />
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<em>A little respite from the rain (it does happen)</em><br />
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You can do little amidst these deluges to be honest. At work, out in the country, I had decided to throw the largely uncomposted material over the unmulched areas of the veggie garden as it appeared to me that it was getting a battering, I will be raking it back off anon, once the ordinary weather is back, and it'll go back into the large composting bins to complete its metamorphosis. I also spent a fair amount of time protecting plants from pests ( we have rabbits in these parts ) although in my experience they shelter as much as we do in this sort of weather, so damage seems to be down to a certain extent anyway. <br />
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The big job in January for me is getting some of the seeds going, and getting a head start. This means that there is more room available at a later date when the Spring really kicks in. The tomatoes ( 'Alicante', 'Gardeners Delight', 'Marmande', 'Ailsa Craig' ) all get sown in small pots, as do Aubergine 'Black Beauty', Pepper 'Serrano', Pepper 'Corno Di Toro Rosso' and Melon 'Rugoso di Cosenza Giallo'. They will be pricked out and potted on when large enough - hopefully producing enough plants for myself and some friends. Also the potatoes have been selected and laid out to chit ('Maris Piper' and 'Nicola' so far, other varieties will be brought in) <br />
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The tomatoes <em>could</em> be sown later, there is no real benefit to the plants being sown this early and any later sowings will catch up, but it does free up time and space later on when things start to hot up. The trick is to keep potting on, any check in growth really seems to affect these crops, and you end up with unhappy stunted plants. The Melons, Peppers and Aubergines however, need a long growing season, and a warm start in a propagator so this is important or we may never get to fruition in its most literal sense. Last years 'non spring' meant that melon and pepper harvests were pitiful, even with a nice big polytunnel to play in and a hot Summer.<br />
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And I'm thankful that they need an early start, because when it doesn't stop raining and you feel like you haven't seen the sun for a couple of weeks it is the best thing to see, those green shoots and leaves emerging. It never loses its appeal, and its a fresh start, like a new exercise book, or a new term. Full of promise, a clean slate, hope, trepidation and something I'd recommend to anyone, period.<br />
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But the cool thing about seeds is you can save them.<br />
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I select in the main, open pollinated heritage varieties for my seed, these are the ones which can be saved with a degree of confidence. I bought some F1 varieties, where I felt choice was short or I wouldn't try to save seed from this year.<br />
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I am going to save seed from my Tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, Beans and Peas. I may do more - it depends on how much time I have, but I aim to do as much as I can. The squashes will be on my radar, but they are promiscuous and will need to be 'chaperoned', as will some of the Peppers ( pollination would have to be carried out by myself before any chance of random insect pollination ) Some of the carrots will be allowed to stay in the ground to run to seed in their second year.<br />
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Peas and beans were saved from last season, these are so easy I suggest everyone keeps some back at the end of the season. It is fool proof. Broad bean 'Aquadulce Claudia', Pea 'Lincoln' and Alderman', Runner bean 'Scarlet Emperor' and a French bean who's name escapes me reside in the shed awaiting warmer soils, or indeed are already in the ground producing young plants.<br />
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Not only will seed saving 'close the loop', but it begins a process which will produce plants with their roots (pun intended) in this piece of the earth. Because when the ancestry of a crop comes from the same piece of ground, it is there BECAUSE its predecessors flourished in this piece of ground. So instead of Runner Bean 'Scarlet Emperor' we now have East Sussex, Hastings, or indeed, Bohemia (yes I do live in Bohemia - cool eh?) 'Scarlet Emperor. And that seed, enough generations down will be genetically modified for this place.<br />
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If we select seed from the healthiest, most abundant plants, we will get healthier more abundant plants next year. We can, however also select for other reasons. Early cropping is helpful in most circumstances. Also size of fruits, colour etc... If we have pests, we can select plants that seem to cope best.<br />
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So I'm on the whole avoiding the F1 strains so that I can try and save as much seed as possible. Because if sowing the seed is one of the most hopeful things we can do, surely sowing our own, saved seed enhances that experience. We have ownership over the complete cycles and we can select for specific circumstances - how exciting and life affirming is that? I say its about as good as it gets.Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-40721395678462886542014-02-13T13:16:00.000-08:002014-02-13T13:16:10.226-08:00All change!<br />
We have had some good news, no, some wonderful news. Shell is expecting again, and the over whelming emotion is excitement and hope, at least for the grown up members in the Furmston clan. When the girls were told, on an exciting trip up to the smoke to see cousins and the best of friends, the reaction was unexpected and turned the mood. Choice extracts from the reaction include uncontrollable sobbing, shouts of 'Prove It!', 'Be UN pregnant!', 'I wished you'd never told us' and subsequently whenever their mum eats, 'I suppose that's for the baby' before huffing off. Anyway - after a tirade of abuse, hysterics and uncontrolled crying, they whimpered themselves to sleep and we just don't really talk about it. It turns out that they like it the way it is. Bet and Daisy really are great mates, and they, incredibly quickly worked out that this unexpected happening (believe me it was unexpected) was going to change stuff. The baby is going to take up our time, mess up and try to eat their toys, and just change the balance of the relationships. They're right of course, but its amazing how raw and honest and quick the thinking was. We can learn a lot from the honesty of small children it seems.<br />
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When a grown up thinks about a baby we often think positively about it. A child's reaction is almost more realistic. Untarnished by romantic thinking, it comes down to the nuts and bolts of it, and while neither way of looking at it is necessarily correct, both aspects have their merits and points. Who can blame them, I didn't think I could love another child the way I loved Betty, and I was in my early thirties! Obviously I was wrong, and it appears experience can help us envisage the future.<br />
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It makes you reflect, this sort of news. Luckily for us its a nice, exciting bit of news, but we need to start getting systems in place to cope with a new arrival. All of a sudden there's an urgency to getting the larder finished, so that the space is utilised better (the amount of stuff a baby needs is NOT FUNNY!), the kitchen gets its subsequent makeover and I can preserve and ferment away in relative peace, making the most of any garden harvest. The fruit trees have been planted, and now Blackcurrant 'Ebony' and Redcurrant 'Rovada' go in alongside them. It doesn't look like much now, but we build in layers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTCQszwexj-RFoh8GOh6jK33LuVPcvqCfdF9hC4Ou55bw1VplDX1bVfQBs83jxmfJjZcB3S3hax74nx5Fvd7FAhmT3GVflVrlyycqIwv9VQRJ6DaJoaLPFpwhql5SjDNNaOAAQeeHQg/s1600/DSC_0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTCQszwexj-RFoh8GOh6jK33LuVPcvqCfdF9hC4Ou55bw1VplDX1bVfQBs83jxmfJjZcB3S3hax74nx5Fvd7FAhmT3GVflVrlyycqIwv9VQRJ6DaJoaLPFpwhql5SjDNNaOAAQeeHQg/s1600/DSC_0016.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> <em>The beginnings of a food forest - 2 layers in. </em><br />
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The weather has stopped me getting the shack up and running, but I am on high alert for any dry weather. This feels like the most wishful of thinking at the moment, but the shack is key, for storage, growing, a work space, and an escape (especially if its ANOTHER girl!)<br />
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The house is big enough to take students for the next year or so, which has been an essential part of our finances for the past few years, so we will try to maximise this on the lead up to our new arrival. This is possibly the most time sensitive aspect of our financial design, and I always liked doing it because the largest expense we have ( the house) has a chance to pay us back.<br />
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We have been trying to pay off our credit cards to the detriment of holidays and treats. We will redouble those efforts in an attempt to rid ourselves of this debt by the due date. The less pressure there is on finances the better. <br />
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And a new kid, one that is bound to wake up in the middle of the night is going to be tiring. I have decided to do more fitness work, as well as the on going pursuit of a healthier diet that gives me more energy. Its hard waking in the night and then putting in a physical day so this is an important plank of the design.<br />
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In many ways, the pregnancy has come at a good time, the period of time it takes to 'cook' the bubba means we are not going on any crazy jaunts, and the nesting instinct goes naturally hand in hand with our designs for the house, garden and life. <br />
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So just as we put in systems and tools to help with the onset of Spring, where experience tells us its going to be busy, we need to do the same with our 'invisible systems'. There will be increased pressure on resources, energy and time, and in this calm before the storm, it makes sense to use time and energy to get ahead of the game. We put in frames to stop the Broad beans (Aqualdulce Claudia since you asked) from flopping, and we do so using hazel coppice from mere metres away. Using available resources whenever possible is paramount to permaculture design.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolyH1iCDLvXnT31snlnFKTtGqkVXw516mld0HZ13v6xk8M9i71GeUYPg0R2vEg29NQNyLrMrO_Ns_exG2wug-Ntsyb4SEnvVAsX-Nzq5tC30xLVQVV8bXYsnaz9sy9SpIjH505ugRUw/s1600/DSC_0015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolyH1iCDLvXnT31snlnFKTtGqkVXw516mld0HZ13v6xk8M9i71GeUYPg0R2vEg29NQNyLrMrO_Ns_exG2wug-Ntsyb4SEnvVAsX-Nzq5tC30xLVQVV8bXYsnaz9sy9SpIjH505ugRUw/s1600/DSC_0015.jpg" height="320" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="240" /></a><em>Broad beans beneath support</em></div>
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We improve and protect the soil now, just as we aim to get fitter and healthier to cope with increased stress. Improving resilience.<br />
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We prune back hard to cope with Winter and prepare for Spring, just as we minimise our financial exposure to shelter us from hard times and give us a means to invest and grow when the time comes.<br />
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And in this crazy, surprising, and very often, beautiful world it's nice to have something to look forward to, with trepidation, hope, and most of all happiness. Whether the kids agree with me or not!Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-60838524991349366972014-02-02T01:23:00.000-08:002014-02-02T01:23:03.882-08:00Produce no wasteProduce no waste, another, you guessed it, permaculture principle, and a key part of any design. <br />
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Its so easy in the UK to 'deal with' waste - some blokes come and take it away and put it into a hole in the ground that people rarely see or feel compelled to think about. I'm guessing this might change at some point, as land becomes scarcer and money becomes an issue, but for now its easy to not care.<br />
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There are loads of ways I want to bring this principle into our home; buying less, taking less things to the dump, making do and mending, up cycling and recycling and preserving and fermenting. Often it is hard, with small children wanting the latest Skylander or Moshi Monster - and I don't want them to grow up feeling resentful about my decisions or lifestyle choices. As a dad I believe my first responsibility is to make sure my kids grow up understanding these issues without being scarred by 'their weird dad' - this is a war of attrition, they will be subverted, they just wont know about it.<br />
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If, when we design our systems, we take this principle into account, often our design pattern becomes cyclical. Loads of the systems we rely upon are linear; stuff gets dug up from the ground, fuel is burnt transporting and manufacturing it into something to be consumed, and it ends up back in the ground in wholly unusable form often damaging the environment and the soil we rely on. Worst still our very economies are measured on this model of consumerism. Short sighted and dangerous, I say, but very difficult to change. <br />
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So I do what I can.<br />
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Having cycles within design systems curtails the weaknesses that linear and short term thinking present us with, and when we look at systems within the natural world it is suddenly obvious that nature is the ultimate designer (evolution over millions of years is probably something we should pay attention to) and to attempt to emulate, or even improve upon these designs is the cleverest thing we can do.<br />
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<strong>Composting is awesome - here is why:</strong><br />
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When something dies in a natural system, there are a ton of ways in which that animal or plant matter will be broken down into something useful for another organism. The process is initiated by <span class="yshortcuts cs4-visible" id="lw_1391235221353_1">detritivores or scavengers</span> that specialise in carrion. Stuff is then broken down into smaller and smaller pieces by woodlice, worms etc..., and we end up with bacteria, mychorrhizal fungi and nematodes creating a soil so complex, life sustaining and important that I'm not even going to pretend that I understand it.<br />
So here's a nice picture!<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><img class="mainImage" src="http://www.greenwichschools.org/uploaded/parkway/Social_Responsibility/soil-food-web-diagram.gif" style="height: 386px; width: 600px;" /></a><br />
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Soil science is vast - but in a nutshell it supports life as we know it, sequesters carbon and is far more complex than we ever thought.<br />
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So, when you start to think about it, is really important, like life sustaining important, and deserves more respect than it generally gets. Its called dirt, right? Worms are not for nice little girls, but horrible boys, yeah? Beetles and bugs are squashed underfoot by the unenlightened and poo, don't get me started! but all of these things are vital, and I would venture, as close to fundamental as we can get.<br />
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We are also (sighs) losing topsoil at an alarming rate.<br />
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Conventional agriculture encourages the depletion of topsoil. The United States alone loses almost 3 tons of topsoil per acre per year and one inch of topsoil can take 500 years to form naturally. On current trends, the world has about 60 years of topsoil left. Modern agriculture ploughs the earth into submission and then adds fertiliser derived from oil extracting activity to give it some oomph. <br />
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After this our crops are often heavily treated with pesticides and fungicides in order to deal with the problems that arise largely due to the fact that we tend to grow monocultures on such an industrial level. So we try to alleviate at least our pressure on the system by growing our own and using compost in a no dig system.<br />
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Composting mimics natural processes in an accelerated fashion if done correctly. To take the waste from the kitchen and the garden and create a life rich soil with it is nothing short of godly. When you realise that the soil is a living, breathing organism, rich with life on a scale as mind boggling as the stars above you, it is no wonder gardening has the ability to rehabilitate and heal. The first building block to the gardener, it is the very foundation which supports life, both on our little plot, and in our wider world. Adding compost to the earth protects and nourishes the soil. It allows the soil to take what it needs, just as would happen in a forest environment as leaf litter falls to the floor. Even better, it is just about the easiest thing you can do - it happens on its own, stuff breaks down with or without you, and while understanding carbon to nitrogen ratios is helpful, it is not essential.<br />
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One of my first lessons in growing was how to double dig. It is useful, to break up compacted soils at the beginning of a growing process on a new plot of land, but as a permaculturalist, we learn that digging should be used sparingly, bisecting earth worms and destroying mycorrhizal strands, as well as exposing beneficial micro organisms to the surface harm the complex communities that we are only beginning to discover. It is clear, however that there is a web of life within the soil, and the soil that produces he most life is the soil most full of life. Mulching with organic matter is in my mind a wholly good thing. The blanket of a mulch is the end of a process that is in equal measure both amazingly simple and amazingly complex. It is the end of the line for what goes in, and the beginning for what comes out. A perfect cycle.<br />
<br />Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-14250858546053118612014-01-20T13:04:00.002-08:002014-01-20T13:04:54.579-08:00Most depressing day of the year? So, today is supposed to be the most depressing of the year. It's because of the combination of it being a Monday, the fact that credit card bills begin to flow in after Christmas and pay day still hasn't arrived. It's a pretty potent combination, I guess, and we are gleefully peddled this idea every year.<br />
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As someone with a family to support and debts to pay on a modest income I should probably be a prime candidate to feel like this, and maybe I would be if I didn't spend my days amongst nature.<br />
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The days are getting longer, it's noticeable especially after a weekend. Everything is waking up. The aconites, hellebores and snowdrops are flowering, and the spikes of growth from the daffodils and crocuses are emerging. It's exciting to think with the help of a greenhouse I can sow tomatoes. Autumn sown broad beans are now really motoring, their harvest promising the best food and reminding me of long hot days eating straight from the plant. Not only this, but their very beings protecting the soil from winter beatings and fixing nitrogen in the soil for successors to inherit. I decided back in September to use these plants as a kind of dual purpose cover crop. It's a bit of an experiment but I can't see how it could not have a positive impact.<br />
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The sun reaches the bottom of the garden now, and will begin its relentless march back towards the house as we go into late winter and early spring. Bare rooted trees have been planted over this last weekend. We decided upon two espalliered fruit trees for the west facing southernmost corner, pear Concorde, and apple queen cox. Both on semi vigorous rootstocks, and both planted in this, the most optimistic of months.<br />
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And it is optimistic, it's the calm before it all goes off and a gardener will struggle to keep up with it all. So I'll spend the rest of the winter preparing for the inevitable spring, looking forward, not back.<br />
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<br />Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-18873317501072444612014-01-01T00:53:00.001-08:002014-01-01T00:53:17.104-08:00Observe and InteractObserve and Interact - It sounds pretty boring on the face of it, also common sense, which it definitely is. Its a very important permaculture Principle - possibly the most important if you had to pick one. <br />
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The principles, along with the ethics of permaculture, are a bit like guiding lights, giving us the mental tools to create solutions. They enable us to critically think, recognise what the problems are and to find solutions within the problems. That's why its such a powerful way of thinking. It keeps brains like mine on the straight and narrow when it fancies taking off and flitting from thought to thought, ahead and back in time.<br />
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To observe and Interact is in my opinion the starting point, because to do so, brings answers. Its also a bit like a Jedi mantra - I can imagine Yoda or Obi Wan uttering Bill Mollison's principles to a young Skywalker. As I begin to concentrate on observing, I interrupt less (a fault of mine), I learn and notice more, I begin to live in the present. To interact enables me to change the things I need to for the (hopefully) better.<br />
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If I wrote a new years resolution list, it would be a very long one. I am full of ambition, but very often fall short of my own expectations due to laziness/tiredness/poverty (delete as appropriate). Writing a list of stuff I shouldn't be doing or have to give up doesn't massively work for me, and inevitably ends in soul sucking, failure. To resolve to have this one principle in my foremost thoughts gives me a powerful tool to make my life better.<br />
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To Observe patterns, within my garden, my diet, and my life in general gives me the opportunity to make efficient and fun changes. I am not that observant by nature, which is possibly why heart palpatations were the first hint I had that I drank too much coffee. Or the kidney stone was the warning for not drinking enough water. If I was more observant, and acted on those feelings earlier, then maybe I wouldn't have gone through those experiences. So you see this is possibly the most selfish, and coolest of resolutions. I propose to concentrate on how I feel, what makes me energised and healthy, what makes me feel sick and tired. And I resolve to act on my observations by making positive changes in my activities and food intake. <br />
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I wanted to try some cool things this year, And I will building, water harvesting and forest gardening, but to observe the space I want to design within, enables me to realise what is needed, possible and preferable. I can observe where the shadows lie when the sun is highest, from the height of Summer to the dankest, darkest December day. I can observe where the badger likes to roam, and where the kids like to play. I can look at what we like to do within the garden, when and where. I can see which shrubs support the bugs, which ones house the birds in the winter and feed them during the Autumn. I can make choices using a template based what is already happening. I am collecting important information.<br />
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When I design, one of the most important things to take into account is how to make the least changes for the greatest benefit ( another principle, you will find that they all interlink very nicely). If I know that the remaining Ceanothus both supports a vast number of pollinating insects AND fixes nitrogen in the soil, I am then confident in my decision to keep such a plant within the guild. This despite at a first glance appearing to be a plant which only flowers once and doesn't produce me any food. Observing hundreds of insects all over those electric blue puffball flowers on a hot June afternoon is information gleened in the loveliest fashion. Its easy for me to observe the garden. Its right outside my house, behind a big patio door, and I can gaze for hours while drinking coffee. Michelle always thought I was doing nothing but this sitting and watching is important stuff. <br />
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I planted an edible berried Amelanchier last Summer along with a Goji and Wineberry. The smaller Goji, though happy in semi shade, doesn't seem to enjoy his spot as a young plant. It needs more sun to become the plant it wants to be. I will move him to sunnier climes, to the other side of the garden, perhaps beneath the more dappled shade of younger plants destined for canopy status, perhaps a Plum or Apple. They can grow together - each one supporting the other in a myriad of ways on the sunny side.<br />
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Observing Bettys crippling stomach aches was hard for me as a dad. Its quite debilitating when you feel powerless to help your beautiful babies. The NHS is an amazing thing, but when the solutions which modern medicine come up with include long term medication for a 7 year old, we decided to observe further. We looked at the food intake and found that she was intolerant to wheat. On top of this, the antibiotics prescribed to her as a baby had stripped her tummy of the natural bacteria she needed for her guts to operate properly. Yoghurt and gluten free pasta has gone a long way to changing her life. Its now predominantly pain free, rather than the exact opposite. So instead of rushing in on this stuff, we surveyed the landscape and the problem became the solution (its so Jedi, eh?). <br />
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The badger is a pain, but I'm not going to kick it out, hurt it or use any methods to move it on. By Observing and Interacting - I hope to come up with incremental actions that might guide it to STOP DIGGING UP MY GARDEN. And also grow food that it either isn't interested in, or cant get to. Previous suggestions have been signage politely requesting badgers to keep off the grass (I found out badgers cant read), chilli powder and sending small children down the hole - none of them work, one is probably illegal so if there are any ideas out there - I'm listening, really listening! <br />
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This resolution is beautiful because it enables you to be your best, to stay tuned and connected with everything around you. It empowers enlightened decisions and gives reason to your actions. It leaves you with little self doubt and gives more purpose to your life because you are taking responsibility. So guided by this simple little mantra - I will walk into 2014 happy.<br />
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<br />Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-86524579259277420052013-12-17T12:18:00.001-08:002013-12-17T12:18:50.795-08:00Spheres of Influence<br />
I used to think that I would be luckier if I was more like Homer Simpson. Not worrying about how to make things better, just getting on with life and not thinking too deeply. Not worrying, being happy,<br />
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I was deeply aware of issues like global warming and terrorism and sort of waiting for the world to explode. The news would go on first thing in the morning, and last thing at night, I knew too much, and at the same time, far too little. Its not that helpful to feel like that. Ingesting information that makes you feel both sad and helpless. It made me feel like everyone else was ruining things and that I couldn't do a damn thing, that any efforts I made would be meaningless.<br />
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It's this sort of thinking that pervades our society - the tendency to concentrate on matters so large (climate change, war, famine) that it all seems hopeless, and that leads to a type of paralysis, the tendency to think I can't do anything so I'll do nothing. In fact I think this is often what leads to apathy and hopelessness especially in younger people. Who can blame them for feeling apathetic when there is little chance of good work or owning their own place, let alone spiritual fulfilment and world peace?<br />
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The problem is, in my opinion, that we look at spheres outside of our influence. In fact I would go so far as to say that we are encouraged to worry about issues that are out of our control by media and government - fear is a great way to keep people from questioning the status quo. It tricks them into believing that the government is protecting us from the boogie men, from hostile countries and encouraging us to believe that solutions are only able to be carried out at governmental levels. It encourages us to believe that we need big government and things would be worse with less of it. In fact it is far more nuanced in the reality of politics and power games, and lets not forget that pretty much all of the big, bad stuff - like environmental degradation, war etc... has been carried out by government or their corporate partners.<br />
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If we begin to view things differently and look at the spheres within our influence, the world becomes less frightening and you feel more empowered to do something about it. When I first thought about this blog, I wrote a list of all the things I'd like to achieve by the end of the year. They were personal goals, they weren't reliant on anything outside of my power, and they were realistic. As it happens, I have not done many all of them, partly because of a lack of money and time, but mainly because of the unrealistic length of the list. That's ok, we just need to keep going in the right direction and try to enjoy it, and I feel better just by thinking of all the cool things I'm going to do.<br />
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The list, when<em> </em>I look at it, is all about empowerment and resilience. A longer term list carries the same theme. Building a shack, rocket stoves, growing and hunting food and building community go hand in hand with resilience, empowerment and reducing my exposure to government, mass media and large corporations. <br />
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As I tread this path, there becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that occurs. I started to watch less TV because other things interested me more and now I am not so exposed to it trying to sell me stuff, tell me stuff, make me feel inadequate or scare me. The news will focus on the most horrendous of crimes no matter how rare they are, adverts will try to sell stuff you don't want and 'aspirational' programmes will generally peddle the myth that we all have loads of money and perfect lives.<br />
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I got fed up with the energy companies so I invested in a wood burner, cut my own wood and turned the central heating off (although shell does turn it back on sometimes). <br />
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I learned about how seed companies like Monsanto were behaving, so I saved my own seed, to be shared with whoever is interested<br />
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I chose to shop locally and get a deeper understanding of provenance, because the big supermarkets and their business models leave a lot to be desired.<br />
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I started to drink the local Ale - in the words of Scotty Garrett, 'swap the Guinness for the Dark Star'.<br />
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Using small companies, friends and neighbours wherever possible takes you into new relationships, gives you a familiar face to see in the street, puts money into the pockets of those in your town. It empowers people, and improves your life.<br />
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And by the way - you will still see me in a supermarket when I get caught short, just as I'll use the central heating when I have to and I'll watch TV, I'm just saying that we want to stem the reliance on these big institutions and understand them for what they are. The choices I make to ensure that happens will probably not change the world, but they will make my life better. In the words of Muhatma Gandhi - You must be the change you want to see in the world.<br />
Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4422752606457725321.post-29704231565854842922013-12-12T02:10:00.000-08:002013-12-12T02:10:56.649-08:00The Edge<strong>Use the Edge and Value the Marginal</strong><br />
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That's my first or second favourite permaculture principle, depending on my mood. It means that we should understand, identify and value where different forms of life bump up against each other.<br />
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A well versed example would be the barreness and one dimensional problems that occur with traditional monocultures. Fields of wheat or corn are pretty damaging with regards to environmental impacts because of the way they are managed and habitat loss, it also isn't the best thing for our health and wellbeing. And it definitely ain't natural.<br />
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Polycultures; shorelines, forest edges, and estuaries, on the other hand, are good examples of where life springs from diversity. Multiple habitats are formed and the links between them nurture life and create complex and endless synergies and partnerships.<br />
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I love St Leonards and Hastings- there I've said it! it reminds me of the melting pot of London, but I get the sea and countryside thrown in as well. Add the expanding band of intrepid brothers and sisters that have made the journey from elsewhere and its a bit pioneery (I know that's not a word) - full of interesting people who want to spend less time paying a mortgage and more time doing other stuff. I digress, the key to this being a good place for me is the clash of cultures, both new and old to the place which make for a vibrant and on the whole, caring place. Its a town where the connections between people and the size of the place facilitate a close, cooperative community. <br />
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I fell from a ladder the other day, cut my head and went to A and E. It was quite a scary experience, and can make a self employed person think hard about how you support your family when there's a problem. I had a visitor that night. Warily opening the front door (we don't get many unexpected knocks on the door), it was a local dad who was there - someone who had been having serious back trouble for over two years. He offered to lend me money if I needed to take time from work. This is someone who probably needed this dough as much as I would have (as it happens I'm double hard and worked the following day), but he offered help anyway and the guy was valuing community and togetherness, letting me know that he was there in an emergency, and that's pretty cool in my book.<br />
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We bump up against each other all the time - on the school run, the commute, at work and in the pub, but generally we choose our clans and stick to them. To know your neighbours and community whether they are 40 years older or younger, or the crazy cat lady down the road, is one more way to give you the contentment and security of togetherness, a way of fighting loneliness and isolation, both yours and others..Value your edge and reap the benefits!<br />
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My most obvious physical edge is the front garden. When we had to fix the roof in Spring, we took advantage of the scaffolding and decided to paint the house (Bright pink , I might add - its a 3 girls in the house kinda thing!) but as we were doing it, people were stopping, looking, talking. Betty was offered cross stitch lessons by the next door but one neighbour, and people were together. I went and looked at the roof conversion over the road, the kids begin to recognise and know the people in the street, and that is invaluable.<br />
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I pulled out the Hypericum in the front garden, a good doer for a splash of yellow throughout the Summer, but in my opinion, of limited value and a bit boring. I left a great big hole, I got into trouble for that. I also ripped out the railings which I thought were ugly anyway. The reasons behind this were to open it up a bit more. Its probably the last thing you'd do for security - but bare with me. I'm opening up my edge. The next step is to grow food in the front garden, some small trees and berries. Its a sun trap, but its windy, - I'll build the soil, and maybe import a bit, but it'll be productive, and hopefully a talking point, and more secure with the knowledge that I'll have more friends in the street from that activity, as well as a bit of food.<br />
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I will plant an Apple tree I think, I've not decided on varieties, but I will blog exact details when the orders are made, it will definitely be on a dwarf root stock as this is a small front garden. I'll build a guild (A designed plant community). I'll include berries, herbs that enjoy a sunny aspect and biodynamic accumulators like Comfrey, (Biodynamic accumulators are like miners - the roots go deep and bring up minerals and nutrients that many other plants could do with but cant reach. Once chopped back - the leaves release these minerals in an area that can be utilised by other plants within the guild) - it is one way of minimising reliance on fertiliser which can be derived from environmentally damaging activity, and costs money.<br />
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Anything that can cope with some shade such as currants will be placed in trickier areas in the back, I will not be doing anything that is too close to the ground such as strawberries - there are a lot of cats around. <br />
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The idea is to create a guild which fills different spaces, both under and over ground. Just like branches and shoots, root systems are often very different. They can be flat and fibrous, long and tap rooted and anything in between. This is known as stacking - making use of all the space. Stacking also occurs over time with different times of flowering and fruiting - benefitting insect populations as well as ensuring a steady flow of beauty and food.<br />
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Anything that doesn't enjoy itself there will be taken out back to live a more sheltered lifestyle, but at this stage its a bit of educated experimentation. In a healthy polyculture, the connections between the plants should help each other to grow. Some will succeed others and as with all planting it will evolve. Its worth checking out the Ron Finley ted talk in my 'Heroes' post if you haven't already - you may be able to see some of my inspiration there! The power of growing food in clear sight of others will, I hope give people ideas. I hope that it will de mystify and connect things for people, and if people pinch the food - I just hope they enjoy it.<br />
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Value the edge - its where we meet, its where we learn new stuff and connect - I look at the gated communities in the richer parts of the world and I actually feel a bit sorry for them. Its closed and scared. We're lucky to not be paranoid that someones gonna take your stuff, because theres not much to take, really. <br />
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We are more and more isolated in todays society - screens take over, people compete rather than cooperate, government encourages debates such as shirker vs worker, and in general these distractions discourage community, create suspicions and keep us busy. Too busy to talk, too busy to check on one another, too busy to care. Lets break that. Lets make sure that our kids don't feel disempowered by all the shit that society floods them with, lets make our streets back into communities so that they can play out, and lets play out with them. I fully expect my kids to be putting stuff in the ground when the bare rooted trees arrive. I want them to understand how their food grows, and if my neighbours stop and talk whilst this is all happening on the edge then that would be great.Mark Furmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956502538326060505noreply@blogger.com3