Permaculture in Action

11/04/08

The sun was out in force today. I got a look at the majestic Mt Fuji to the east of the farm for the first time. Still covered in snow, it looks so beautiful.

Waka san and I went to his sisters dairy farm to collect cow shit (manure) also. The cows are all kept indoors and their shit is cleaned out and stockpiled to rot down in time naturally.

When Waka san turned the pile with the loader, it was very alive with life. Lots of worms and bugs. This is a great resource to have so close and it is free.We will take eggs and produce to the sister in exchange for the shit. We also can get bales of straw from her. The ones that are old and wet the cows won’t eat it and they can get sick if they eat the rotting material.

We were planting potatoes today. Waka san had prepared the beds and was putting out the seed potatoes when I noticed the row spacing’s. We all had a discussion on how things are usually done and I offered some advice to utilize less space.

Waka was using 4 rows of space for one row of crop. I redesigned the bed spacing’s so we used two rows wide of crop and one row wide of path. We put extra shit into the required rows for planting to aid in the growth of the plants. We have 3 wwoofers on the farm at the moment, so it makes light work of getting a lot done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato

We will mound as per the normal way but will use straw also to cover the plants as they are growing. This will add organic matter to the soil as the plants are growing and is less laborious as apposed to digging. The potatoes will be cleaner also saving labor on cleaning.

I had found yarrow growing in a part of the farm so we transplanted some at the ends of the garden beds to act as companions to the potatoes. Yarrow is also a good compost activator and it will be closer now to the compost making area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarrow

These three ladies were wwoofing from Thailand and did a wonderful job helping out. Hopefully their experiences will have taught them something about sustainable living.

26/05/08

Well it has been about 5 weeks since all the above action happened.Since then we have had other wwoofers in and they have helped with mulching the potatoes and planting other veges as well as a ton of weeding.The potatoes have been mulched in a way that it is mounded rather than using soil.Sort of like a volcano then inside filled with compost.

We planted a heap of lettuce and companioned it with radish,beans,carrot,dill and cucumber growing up a teepee. We have also direct sowed spinach and companioned them with spring onion.Corn has just been introduce along with lettuce and chamomile and zucchini.Beans will be seeded in a few weeks as the corn takes off.

The yarrow is really taking off at the end of the beds and the potatoes seem to like it being there.We have also planted another two rows of two different types of potatoes to have a good supply after the first batch have been harvested.More corn is waiting to also be planted.We will wait two weeks before continual plantings.
13/06/08
Progress is being made and all the crops are doing well.The potatoes have been continually heaped up with straw and got a good fertilize with compost recently.As of today(13/06/08)the potatoes are flowering and look so beautiful and healthy.I have been making fertilizer for dynamic accumulating weeds from the garden and the first batch was 100kg of comfrey into 1000 liters of water.It took about two week to break down and I am expecting the nitrogen to be released to the plant more readily than normal composting.

The paths have been doing a great job harvesting water when it rains.I trimmed them up a little to make them more level and they look great.I have said previously about the yarrow at the ends of the paths and how well they are working.Now after a few more weeks have passed,they look fantastic and are starting to flower.Not much sign of pest insects yet but I am keeping a watchful eye.I have the charcoal spray at hand.

We have also been making garlic spray as well as soap spray.Some others Wakasan has used in the past are coffee and milk sprays.I have done some research also and found that animal urine is good for deterring pests.I can't seem to catch the sheep when she is having a piss or keep up with her,so I am trying human urine.

Another thing I am trying is 'potato towers' using old car tires.It is another way to demonstrate growing potatoes and also recycling in Permaculture.The tires should produce more potatoes that the conventional method as the stem of the plant is continually covered promoting root growth from it.It is a means of growing vertically by stacking the tires.We will use less growing surface area for hopefully a higher yield.No pun intended.
The second batch of corn went in yesterday and was in-filled with lettuce as we have so much of it and the corn will do a good job of shading it as the weather is getting hotter.In the first bed of corn I have planted chamomile,parsley,lettuce and zucchini.The lettuce has been planted on the shadier side of the corn,while the zucchini is on the sunnier side.The chamomile in the middle.I am waiting a while longer till I plant beans.
As I am always looking to recycle anything I find and resourcing is my hobby, I saw an opportunity to salvage some timber from a tractor/machinery repair place.This garden above gets a real hammering from the sth and nth winds on a regular basis.I had noticed the timber every time I passed by that business and kept on thinking of ways to use it rather than just picking it up and just keeping it for a rainy day

The most viable and easy way that would serve both the wind and the recycle issue was to use the timber for a wind break.Because we are growing corn in this garden I want to protect it as much as possible.The timber is positioned in a way that the sth wind will hit it and be slowed down and then deflected around to the left where it meets a smaller panel and so forth.I am searching for more timber for the nth side to complete the design.I still have a while as the corn is still young.I think it looks great and we will also use it as a vertical growing space for peas and beans and anything else I can fit into the space.The fence will also act as an accumulator of resources at its base.Any leaves or straw will build up there and act as a mulch,saving us work.

Permaculture Water Harvesting Swale System

12/04/08

Today saw the start of a very ambitious exercise. Turning a ridge parcel of cropping area into a raised bed/swale system. This is done by surveying the area using several different methods to gain level pathways on contour. It also gives us more planting area as the beds will now be curved following the natural contour of the land. Giving us more “edge” in the process. By doing this we also allow water to sit in the path areas and absorb into the soil slower than normal. Soil stores water more efficiently than any other means. With the soils here being volcanic, I would hope that silt will be transported into the soil and hold water for longer.

I brought from Australia with me a hand level, string-line bubble level, GPS to assist in these processes and to teach people how to use them. Masa sourced a staff (a 5m measuring stick) and we went about marking out beds and pathways.

Now, as contour lines in the landscape are never always parallel, we had to do some figuring out how we would make the system accessible as well as practical. Everywhere that the bed got wider than we expected we put in key-hole paths to gain appropriate access to the wider path to be able to manage working the bed at easy reach. This gave us more “edge” again.

One way to look at edge is to have two lines drawn on paper over the same distance. One line straight, the other curved like a radio wave. Line one might measure say 10cm, but if you measure all the curves of line two over the same distance it will always be longer. Imagine if you stretched line two out straight, it would be longer.

One way to measure level is with an “A” frame. This is a device that can be made from almost any material, keeping in mind its’ maneuverability.

Firstly, we got two pieces of timber the same length (1.4m) and a third piece that we would cut according to the size of the ‘A’ we wanted. We laid the two 1.4m pieces on a flat surface in the shape of a V and measured down the outside edge of both pieces 0.9m and made a mark in pencil. This mark indicates the height that the third piece of timber will cross the other two. Holding all three pieces firmly, screw the third piece to the other two. The two longer pieces should be checked for even and touching together before screwing the third.

The top of the ‘A’ needed some support, so we cut some 1.5cm ply board to suit and screwed it all together. Now we had a measuring device for the job, all we had to do was make sure it reads level. We found a known source of flat level ground and using a piece of string hanging from the center of the top of the ‘A’ with a weight on it (a plum bob), we were able to determine a point of level. We made a mark in pencil on the third piece of timber where the string crossed and then turned the ‘A’ frame on itself and made another mark in pencil. The measurement was the same place as the first. If the measurement was not the same, we would have halved the distance between both and made our mark and that would have been our level mark.

We took this out to the field and started using it. Armed with bamboo stakes, we marked the ground once the weighted string touched our level mark. This process is continued down the slope leaving behind a maze of sticks resembling a slalom ski course. It can get a bit confusing if there are too many stakes out so we dug our paths as we went to save the headache.

Another way to do this is using a hand level which you hold up to your eye and look through to sight the bubble and cross to match up. Someone holds the measuring stick(staff) and you sight a mark on it then get the person to move away from you up and down the slope till the recorded measurement is reached. Then put in a stake and repeat the process.

Also this can be done with a string line and bubble level. The bubble level attaches to the string line and is raised or lowered till the bubble is at a level mark. When the swale is dug out, you use a tape measure to measure the depth from the string line over the distance you want to be level. Very simple and accurate to use.

We expected the job to take a couple of days but it took longer due to weather and other work needing to be done. We used several different ways to dig the paths as well. As there is an excavator on site and manual digging being hard work, we had a go with it to see what result we got. As a lot of Permaculture is experimental, it is always good to try different methods of doing things so you can learn from your mistakes and go with solutions that have proved to work.

As it turned out, it took quite a big bite and made the path too wide. One good result was that it gave us more surface area on the sides of the bed to plant. We learnt from this experiment and stayed with digging manually for a tidy finish. We also used the tractor to help define the paths, but found it was still best to dig ourselves.

We got rain after we finished and all the paths held water for two days and most were fairly level considering the tiring work it was to dig such a big area. We mulched all the beds to suppress the weeds and stabilize the soil till we can get seed to plant. It has been quite hard to source bulk seed here, especially non-hybrid seed. We will probably use soba (used to make soba flour for noodles) as it is fast growing (3 months) and it is sort of like a buck wheat.

Nursery Work

I took some time recently to go to the nursery to pot up some seeds that Masa and I had got from the local seed museum in Kawaguchicko. We were able to source some rue, borage, marigold, rocket, parsley, spring onion, tansy. A lot of these are good composting plants as they are activators in the composting process. Most can also be eaten and are also good pest repellents also. One Permaculture principle covered here. An element with at least 3 functions to offer the system.

It pays to have everything need at hand when seeding in the nursery. Having a good potting mix in a wheel barrow ready and some seed trays and small pots is essential. As well, have a permanent marking pen handy for writing on the name tags.


The trays and pots can be filled prior to seeding to save time. Most big seeds can be put in single. Some smaller seeds can be put in a couple at a time. If more than one are seeded together they can always be split up when putting into the ground or potting up.

Always read the seed packet to see how deep the seed needs to be for good germination and for any other information that may be useful.

It also pays to label each different tray with the name of the seed, the variety, the date it was propagated and your name. This stops any confusion for others knowing what is in the trays, as I first found when working in the nursery here. Lots of trays hade been seeded but no way to tell what they were or when they were done. I promptly showed everyone a way to record the system and now it is working well.

A way to record is using old water bottles cut into strips and written on. This recycles a waste product and is very durable. Other plastics or cardboard can be used, but plastic is best and won’t end up in land fill as it can be used again and again.

If continual planting is required to have constant food available for the kitchen, propagation must be carried out regularly. Normally when seeds have sprouted is a good time to germinate the next batch. This will also depend on the type of seed also.Corn may take up to 2 weeks to sprout, whereas spinich or bok choy may take 4 days. Always seed more than you need in case some don't sprout, or in the case of legumes, they can always be cut down when they flower to add nitrogen to the soil and also as mulch.

Early days at Fuji Eco Park

After a good night sleep I awoke to a very pleasant morning with birds chirping and general country sounds. At 7:00 am a musical chime is broadcast over the district to let the farmers know what time it is.

I met the other staff of the farm and took a walk around the property to see what was happening. So many systems are in place but all mothballed from the winter months.

The property is 7.5 acres and a lot of work has happened over the past 8 years but a lot of misunderstanding or break down of Permaculture along the way. There is solar and wind electrical generating systems and Masa is right into converting vehicles into electric drive, with some great success.

We wandered around the property and I made observations along the way and offered some consultation toward bettering some of the systems. Design and redesign as we all have been taught. The initial design saw an existing dwelling as Zone 0, but now the Center House is another Zone 0, so some effort is being made to make closer zones to it.

There was a lot to see and for me to get stuck into. Designing a parcel of land for some cabins, retro fitting an old oil storage tank into accommodation, building a compost bay system, surveying and swaling a ridge for crops, getting the nursery up and running, designing crop systems, using less oil based energy systems.

Touch down Narita, Tokyo. Japan

Arrived in Tokyo Wednesday 09/04/08 and was greeted by a very happy Mr Imai (Masa). Customs were very good and efficient and I had no dramas as I had nothing to hide anyway.

Masa took me into Tokyo city and we went to Tokyo Tower to view the city. The Tower was built some 40 years ago and is akin to a radio tower but much bigger.

After Masa drove to a very famous temple where we tossed a coin into the prayer box and said a quick prayer. The temple area is famous for its architecture and vending stalls selling all types of rice crackers and tourist stuff. We then took lunch at a restaurant that specializes in eel. Every part of the eel was served and it was so delicious. I love Japanese food and am looking forward to trying lots of other dishes including sushi.

Later we went on a river cruise to a famous Tokyo park. I was able to find things growing there that I didn’t expect. Vetch and other plants that make that system function well. Lots of Bonsai trees everywhere as well.

After a very busy day of flying and sight seeing we headed for the farm at Fujigane. We stopped of briefly to get dinner at a family type restaurant for sushi. Oishi(yum). It was well and truly dark when we got there and I was very lost for bearings. I would have to wait till the following morning to see where I was.

A brief description of my work

This is a brief description of the work I have done in the last few years.I en devour to expand on all areas in this blog but it may be a bit mixed.

In 2005 I ventured of overseas during a study break from the Permaforest Trust www.permaforesttrust.org.au/ ,where I was studying Cert4 in APT Permaculture Design.I have always loved traveling and saw this time as valuable to get out there and practice what I had learnt.
I contacted a few agencies and ended up getting a posting in Aceh,Indonesia 12 months after the Tsunami,Boxing Day 2004.I spent 2 months in a place called Lamsujiin about 50km south of Banda Aceh as a volunteer assisting the Permaculture teacher Steve Cran.Greenhand Field School, Aceh Index


The Greenhand field school was being developed to train local displaced persons in Permaculture Design.As this was my first overseas gig,culture shock hit me as I had not done any real preparation on understanding this culture.
After Aceh I headed overland and sea thru northern Sumartra to Malaysia and then Thailand.While in Thailand I contacted a guy I met in Australia ,Darren Doherty,permaculture biz ,who had been working in Vietnam on a project to see if I could visit,seeing how I was so close.After some arranging I was on my way thru Thailand,Cambodia and into Vietnam.I met with Daz and ended up staying on the project for 3 months taking care of the earthworks being done on site, as I have experience in this field.
We extended a dam 4 meters deeper and used the material to buttrace another dam wall and build some road ways.We also constructed some culverts using cement and poly pipes,a ferro cement fertigation structure,2 coconut circles,installed irrigation to caccao plantation,installed poly pipe underground from a creek to a header tank.
I generally managed the contractors and oversaw the progress until Darren's return every month.
By this time I had learnt what to expect from different cultures and settled into doing what I think was good work.
I headed back to Australia and started my own business in earthworks consultancy and worked on another one of Darren's projects called Dalpura Farm.A 140 acre silva pastoral,agro forestry project in Victoria.
I did many things there including keyline ploughing,gardening,building wetlands with a bulldozer,planting forestry,managing forestry ect.
In search if knowledge I headed off again to New Zealand to do a PDC at Taranaki Environment Center.I ended up teaching the earthworks chapter as the teacher organized did not make it.I was very nervous but it was a good challenge.I was going to stay for the course for two weeks but ended up staying in NZ for three months.After Taranaki I went ot Rainbow Valley Farm as a volunteer helping with the maintenance of the property and managing the international wwoofers.www.rainbowvalleyfarm.co.nz/


This was a fantastic experience learning from two truely inspirational people.
Anyway,now I am back to do more out there in the world and looking for opportunities everywhere to do good.

Building a ferro cement structure,Vietnam.2006

Dr Tuan, from the Forestry Science Institute of Vietnam, asked me to design a structure over the fertigation system (a basic ventury setup) downhill from the 40,000 liter water tank so stuff could be stored and locked without the worry of theft.The locals are pretty light fingered around the farm.While doing some earthworks here,the dozer broke down with a broken fan belt and over heated.I couldn't really move it without further damaging the motor so I had to leave it where it was.The next morning I went to the machine and both batteries and the alternator were missing.Some local people had been there during the night and pinched them.

Anyway,as some tanks had been constructed here by Darren and the workers I thought I would try a building from ferro cement also.I drew a quick design for the contractor based on something similar in Australia we use for a nursery,minus the cement.
The structure was to sit next to an access way to the ridge dam.I designed one side of the building with a retaining wall to retain the material for the access track.As the majority of the traffic on this track was motorcycles,and the track was quite wide,the retaining wall should hold well.The steel wire would go on the outside of the blocks used for extra strength.So the steel wire was straightened (as it comes rolled up in 200kg parcels) and the foundation laid after I went in with the Komatsu 'baby' excavator (baby meaning small) to dig and level the footings.
Local rock blocks were used and cost about 10c each.The manual labour involved in this task is amazing.Boulders are sourced from however far away then people start chiseling away with hammers and spikes to break them down.No hydraulic rock breakers used here,just good old fashioned jail yard toil.As the boulders split or fracture they are then broken smaller to about 200/300mm X 100mm X 100mm.Then they are loaded by hand onto a farm tractor trailer and brought to site and again unloaded by hand,usually where the tractor parked,not necessarily where exactly needed and then possibly moved by hand again to their final resting place.
The local contractor had also built some culverts for me also from the same rock.Usually one load of rocks is about 500 pieces.Any more than that the tractor gets out of controll on the road.
Above is Mr Sun who worked for the contractor.He was a really bright young bloke and a great worker.I was supprised one day when I saw him all dressed up riding a motorcycle outside the farm when I had also only just saw him working on the structure.I found out later that he is a twin.His brother totally opposite to he.Liked wearing fancy clothing,didn't like work and a real casanova.Really great guys though.
So the steel wire was joined together in a 200mm grid fashion and then snake wire was layed inside and out to be the support for the mortor when it gets applied.Some supports were fitted temperarily inside the structure to stop the roof from collapsing under the weight of the mortor.Mind,the complete wall thickness was only 25mm,but when set is as strong as.The mortor is applied to the outside and allowed to set and then repeated on the inside.The mortor has a good rough bonding surface on the inside from the outer layer being forced through the snake wire.

Then we had a finished product.It was really cool inside and a good place to have a rest at lunch.Dr Tuan was really happy with the finish as was Darren.It was also possible to mould some gutters onto the side to collect water from the roof and store in a small tank for hand washing.A door was put on and then ready for use

The finished structure was able to hold my 90kg weight and some more.All it needed was a coat of white wash and some plants to shade it.A great job done by all.

Ringo teaching at Rainbow Valley Farm

Teaching some local Steiner School students how to plant vegetable seedlings.We discussed how some plants need a bit of shade when they are young so we chose a shady position for the seedlings for the hottest part of the day.We also talked about the importance of using mulch to keep moisture in the soil and to keep the soil cool.In warm climates you could use grasses or leaves.In cooler climates gravels could be used to warm the soil.


Here we planted the seedlings in a slightly shaded position,under a palm,to protect them from the harsh summer sun.We then 'companioned' the plants.This means putting different families of plants together to help with pest control,adding nitrogen,and supporting needs.Here we used tomato,basil and lettuce.The basil assists the tomato in fending off pests,adds lovely color and the lettuce acts as a lower storey ground cover,keeping the soil shaded.This will be a three tier system.The first tier is the lettuce,then the basil as the second tier (a bit of trimming required when in pots) and then the tomato,staked and tied to grow as high as you can reach comfortably.
The kids really had fun and loved getting their hands dirty.Every one got to plant their own seedling and they mixed up the colors of the plants to make it look nice.We mulched and watered in the plants and went off to make recycled toys with Joe.This is one of the toys Joe taught the kids to make.It is constructed from banana leaves.Pieces are cut from banana leaves that were trimmed off the tree and are normally used for mulch.One fatter piece and one thinner piece are joined together with pieces of willow twig to form an outrigger,the type of boat used by island nations.Another piece of willow is pushed up into a leaf and stood upright into the fatter piece of the outrigger.This becomes the sail.There you go a free toy.When the children are finished playing with it,it becomes compost,thus continuing the recycling process.The finished, working toy in the creek running thru Rainbow Valley Farm.
Building a potting table for the nursery.I used a local timber that was sourced from the farm by Joe and milled locally.The timber does not rot quickly.

Organizing for Mt Fuji

I currently await word from my new found friend 'Cecilia McCauley' on my visa application to Japan to fulfill a role at 'Mt Fuji Eco Park' demonstrating Permaculture and developing students English skills.What a great way to learn about urban Permaculture.
Mt Fuji Eco Park has been set up using Permaculture principles,Care for the earth,Care for people and distribute surpluses.It is in its 8th year and this year sees the education side of the project kicking off into another phase of the ever evolving design set out by the land owner Mr Imei.
Join me here as I prepare to set of on what I hope to be a most excellent adventure traversing the globe in the search for inspiration and knowledge.