This one looks really good too!

Thank God the collective consciousness is feeling this and making wonderful movies like this. Dirt - its so easy to ignore yet its so important for the survival of all life.

I know in my heart, Industrial Agriculture will collapse soon - the sooner the better!

Chris

Thakyou for posting these videos. I watched the truly inspiring permaculture video with the amazing message of what can be done in the right way. It contrasts with the madness of industrial farming, the wasteful production of food in the west. There are many messages coming to the mainstream showing we are already off balance with food and water shortages. There is a growing awareness, but for many people it will not register until it affects them directly. I liken it to people who wait until they have a heart attack due to lack of exercise, poor diet, smoking. Then after the event say they will change their life stlye. (yep, being judgemental I'm afraid)

I have become more sensitive to things like the wasteful way food is produced and presented. For example going to a restaurant where they provide volumes of food that would defeat any normal person as a sign of good value. The production of tasteless fruit grown in Spain in areas they have water shortages, just so we can eat them in winter.
Concious buying is something I am inspired to do.
I am going to look at what I can grow in my garden this year. Very much a novice and there was no mention of slugs in the video, but hey, we can all do our bit.

Mark

Yes! If they can turn barren dessert into an amazing sustainable garden of food then it makes one realise how easy it must be to turn over our back yards to veggies and fruit.

Well done for making a commitment towards growing something edible in your garden this year! Do you have any idead about what you are going to plant?

If you have got the space, I would highly suggest planting a fruit tree of some sort. Every plant that we grow can be beneficial in some way - either herbs for enhancing our cooking or medicinal purposes or herbs that flower and attract beneficial insects such as ladybirds, hover fly (that devour aphids) etc - or we can grow bushes that produce fruits as well as nice hedging.

There is so much choice out there - some varieties are easy to grow and some are more labour intensive. The best way to learn, is to get digging and planting and see what happens. Runner beans are an excellent choice for a novice. They tend to produce prolifically, giving a very satisfying yield. There are lots of easy to grow, nutritious salad greens such as rocket, mizuna, cos and the super-nutritious kale. In my experience, these tend to avoid the worst of invading insects (as they don't much care for the strong tastes). Chard (Swiss chard) is also something that will crop all year long and still be there when the snow comes!

I grew mange tout and butternut squash last year for a change. Very rewarding and delicious.

Do let me know how you get on. When you come to Glastonbury for the Openhand course at the end of April, I'll pass you on a few herbs and things that are beneficially planted amidst the veggies. I've got loads of strawberry plants which you are welcome to as well

Slugs have been an enormous problem in the UK over the past few years, owing to the copious amounts of rain. Ideally a natural eco system evolves in our back garden that keeps everything in check, but alas this can take a few years to achieve. It can be heartbreaking when we enthusiastically plant away and see our baby greens shooting only to awake the next morning to find that the slugs and snails have devoured it all!

One rule of thumb for me is to always plant extra to account for the fact that we'll have little feeders coming in the night. There are a myriad of different ways to get rid of slugs (some more friendly than others). We created a pond here last year and are very excited to see frogspawn in it this year - frogs love slugs and are most welcome guests.

Here's a link about organic gardening basics on the compassionate living forum:
http://www.openhandweb.org/organic_gardening_basics

Thanks for the great advice. I had some success with rocket last year and zilch success with corgettes (very popular with the a visitor), so I will begin with both again and I would like to grow squash, leeks, oinons, peas, potatoes and tomatoes. Kale definately as I use it in soups and stews. It would be great to grow some fruit so I will take you up on your kind offer of the strawberry plants. On the herb front there is already a bed, but it is neglected so I will look at planting some in with the other stuff. I will have to see what is practical bsed on the garden size, and I think I need to be creative, see what I can grow in pots, what will work in a raised bed. I know I have a resident hedgehog, so will have a word about the slugs. Whatever else it a great excuse to get into the garden

Dear Chris and Trin,

Thanks for the inspring videos and discussion. I'm really inspired by forest gardening and edible landscapes at the moment and am learning as much as I can. I came across this really interesting documentary made by the BBC's Natural World, detailing the problem of industrial agriculture, and it's total dependence on oil, and presenting alternatives. It's in 5 parts but well worth a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xShCEKL-mQ8

Forest Gardeing is an utterly intuitive way of producing food and other products we need to survive, mimicing the master herself, Nature, and working with rather than against her. I love it! Although the idea is not new here's one of modern pioneers, who was the first to name it in the UK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7f8NCh3s8c

Much love

lizzie xxx

Thanks Lizzie. I almost posted Robert Hart's Forest Gardening here too... Delighted to see it again.
x