Mekong Sustainable Farming Forum
Mekong Sustainable Farming Forum
- June Newsletter -
Support the Global Ecovillage Network Summit
Thailand Permaculture Convergence
The Banana Circle Guild
Urban Permaculture
Growing Tomatoes
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Chris's blog
Hi All
We are well and truly into the rainy season, with all the benefits and problems that this brings. Last month I reported the problems we were having with the black mite attacking the beans. Well after throwing all the concoctions that I could think of, I finally ran up the white flag. Nothing came close to working, so we have left the plants to turn to seed, and will plant again in November to take advantage of the cooler weather, which I am assured the mites don’t like.
The other problem we were having was with the ducks pecking each other. This was solved by the diarrhoea medication sprinkled on their tails. It seems to be a normal behaviour at about 6 weeks of age, as we have had other ducks go through the same behaviour as they reach that age. A bit like teenage humans, that behave in some very odd ways, at a certain phases of their growth.
Our bore, now has 3 sow playmates of a similar age, which completes our breeding herd. Our cattle herd has now been moved on to the farm from a small feed lot that they live on during the dry season. The move was a bit of a drama as I had decided that I would tag along. I assumed it would be a quiet stroll down the back roads. Sadly for me they are used to the locals who normally look after them, and were not happy with the old white guy following them. So they bolted down the track hotly pursued be me, which made them run even faster. As I am the only foreigner around these parts the locals watching this farce were highly amused.
Another thing I learnt this month was some facts about why cow pats can disappear within a week. It seems there is a black beetle about the size of the end of your finger. It is a sort miniature dung beetle, which of course lives right under the rapidly disappearing pile of poop. The Lao as you may know will eat almost anything, so they happily dig up the beetle and make a meal of it.
We have been doing a bit more research on our cassava that we use to augment the grass the cows eat, and the rice bran we feed the pigs and bird flocks. Cassava is a great crop to grow as it requires little maintenance once planted. However the main Thai variety (which we have) tastes bitter because it is laced with cyanide. To make it safe for the animals, it has to be dried, or pickled. As it is now raining or overcast much of the time, I have built a low bench made with recycled roofing iron protected by another sheet of roofing iron painted black. This enables us to dry the chipped cassava, in between ran storms. I tried fermenting it but I was not that successful.
Other crops that seem to be unaffected by diseases and insects are carrots and pumpkins, so we know what to plant in greater quantity next year.
Last month I said I would be discussing the issue of how you can make some income from using Permaculture principles in a farming/gardening enterprises.
We are about 18 months from the end of the development phase of our farm. At that point I expect to have income that will cover all of our needs and a few of our wants. We use many of the principles and practice laid out in various Permaculture publications; however we don’t follow all of them. What we do follow is the principle that chemicals are not going to improve the health of your soil which is at the base of all sustainable farm/gardening projects. To achieve this we have set out a specific plan as to how we were going to achieve our goals. This is not the aim of everyone interested in the subject of Permaculture. For me how you run your project is a bit like picking a religion. Some people follow to the letter what the original founders of the principles says, where as others pick the bits that fit their way of life. So I believe if you are looking after the soil, then making money may not be your ultimate goal.
To say you are making income you have to have something to sell for more than it cost to create it . When starting out, it may seem that your efforts are not going to produce much of a saleable product. But what you will be doing is creating food that is fresh, has nutrients, and no chemical residue. This will save on your medical expenses and some of your food bill, if nothing else. So for some people, you may never actually have anything to sell for a profit. But the satisfaction of knowing what went into creating some of what you eat, and that sense that you are not completely dependant on a food production system that is becoming less reliable as time goes on, has a value all of its own.
That’s all for this month
Chris
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Support the Global Ecovillage Network Summit
http://www.ic.org/support-the-global-ecovillage-network-summit/
From July 6-10th, hundreds of activists will gather at the Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland for the GEN+20 Summit. They will celebrate 20 years of uniting people around ecological solutions, and plan the next steps to spreading sustainability around the globe in these important times.
“Since it’s founding in 1995, the Global Ecovillage Network has worked with thousands of communities all around the world, supporting local groups and organizations to implement sustainable designs in their communities. We envision a world of empowered citizens and communities, designing and implementing their own pathways to a sustainable future, and building bridges of hope and international solidarity.”
Check out the video below. You can also read more and Support the Global Ecovillage Network Summit here!
video.mp4
http://www.ic.org/support-the-global-ecovillage-network-summit/
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Thailand Permaculture Convergence
Scott Mann who produces my favorite programme on Permaculture, asked to do a short episode on our convergence from my sharings with him on this experience.
You may listen to the podcast here. (also welcome to post on the Convergence website/ Facebook page)
http://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2015/episode-1521thailand-permaculture-convergence
I also highly recommend his podcast to all of you. Many interesting and inspiring interview.
Kind Regards,
Michael
Michael Commons
Earth Net Foundation
Tel +66 2 277 9380
Fax +66 2 277 9654
Email: mic...@greennet.or.th
Website: www.greennet.or.th
The Banana Circle Guild
This was sent to me by one of my volunteers. It is not a personal
account, but the picture is very similar to the 12 banana circles
that we have put in Chris
If you have never heard of the Banana Circle, it may be because you live in a non tropical / sub tropical climate. They are a permaculture design and increase the yield of Banana and other fruits in this simple but very good guild.
Banana Circle Guild with re-purposed sacks for mulch
The basic concept is to prepare a circular section of your area with a
radius of about 2 meters (6 feet) plus, once you have measured
everything out you start digging in the centre about 1 meter (3 feet)
deep and placing all displaced soil around the edges of your measured
out circle in a berm like fashion.
Once the centre ‘hole’ is complete and you have built the surrounding
berm edge, you can plant 5-6 Banana suckers (baby banana plants) evenly
spaced in the edge wall and throw in organic matter (vegetable / fruit
scraps, leaves, wood etc.) into the centre hole.
Newly dug out Banana Circle with green waste in the center cavity
The center hole is going to be constantly topped up with organic
matter to break down and feed the bananas / other crops in the circle
guild. The center cavity will encourage water absorption into the soil
and the decomposing organic matter will prevent evaporation, any
moisture from the decomposing organic matter will also seep into the
soil and provide a nutrient rich liquid feed for all plants in the
guild!
Many designers recommend planting Papaya (Pawpaw) trees between the Bananas, Sweet Potato underneath as ground cover, Lemongrass even Comfrey or other Herbs etc. where possible.
Birdseye diagram of a Banana Circle Guild design
Once a mother banana plant dies or gets cut down after cropping, the results will be thrown into the compost centre and the baby suckers will be replanted right near where she was before and so on, therefore continuing the cycle and use of the prepared bed …
In many designs, people often have a greywater pipe leading into the centre of the circle as a recycling irrigation system, there are so many possibilities with this design I feel.
I hope that the pictures and diagrams are enough for those who may be able to install a Banana Circle, just in case, I’ve found a good 6 minute video showing the procedure:
Urban Permaculture
Urban Agroecology: 6,000 lbs of food on 1/10th acre - Urban Homestead -Youtube Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCmTJkZy0rM&feature=player_embedded
Growing Tomatoes
I started may 28th planting 4 tomatoes around a garbage can with holes drilled in the bottom rim and a second row up about 10 inches… buried the can to where the top holes just barely were above the ground… put in two shovels full of compost… then I fill the can up with water every 2 days and try not to water the leaves… these four plants are now 5 ft 4 inches in less that a month and a half and loaded with green tomatoes and about a hundred sets of tomato blossoms…
May 28th
End of June, 3 ft cage
July 9
“July 9th after a week of record high temps and very little rain…the plants here are loaded with tomatoes inside the cage and full of blooms too!” -James Bryan via Hometalk
Bryan used a 13 gallon kitchen garbage can to grow the tomato plants above but has since switched to using 5 gallon buckets because they’re a lot cheaper and easier to find in quantities.
You could even use a larger can as long as you provide each plant with 5 gallons of water per week. For instance if you use a 5 gallon bucket and plant 2 tomato plants around it you fill the 5 gallon bucket 2 times per week. Or a 13 gallon can filled twice yields 26 gallons, so you could plant up to 5 plants around it.
“I grow tomatoes now for market, and I have a higher yield per plant than most other growers,” Bryan says.