Kevthefarmer's blog

Tasman District Council is on the warpath against lifeboat-builders. » Read more

This fits well with the general theme of Transition Towns and re-localisation and seems particularly relevent in light of the proposed government sell-off of our water and energy resources. Reposted from the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

Oops, I'm doing it again......   ........And if you want to have a laugh, or alternatively give  yoursellf a stressy brain-haemmorhaging apoplexy at just how retarded an intelligent / well educated person can be if they really put their mind to it, take a look at this (but don't waste too much time on it, its just for fun.....)

Much as I do not much like the idea of merely linking to other writers stuff as opposed to writing ones own "original content", this came through on my reading list today and I thought it was well worth sharing.

Should We Take United Nations’ Projections Seriously? » Read more

Much time and energy is expended by those concerned with transition initiatives iinto ways of addressing resource depletion. The most obvious one is actually moving to a way of living that we call "sustainable", which we usually define as using resources no faster than they can be replaced by natural ecosystems. That much abused word has spawned a hundred oxymorons courtesy of the sophistry of PR drones in every industry and field of commerce. » Read more

I don't believe the government has any intention of taking steps to build resilience or even to take steps to create the conditions for communities to create resilience for themselves. I believe the government are actively hostile to the concept of community resilience. I believe a government of the left would equally be hostile to community resilience but they would use bureaucratic rather than economic means to undermine resilience. » Read more

It seems that the fashion among the well-to-do of the developed world for this nutritious food is causing problems in the Altiplano region of Bolivia where it is produced;

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/americas/20bolivia.html?pagewant...

http://agro.biodiver.se/2011/03/the-quinoa-story-its-complicated/

Soil erosion, soil fertility depletion and unaffordability to the indigenous population that grows it but can no longer afford to eat it. Think twice before you buy this product again!

I was prompted by an article in the most recent Ecologist magazine to find out more about these remnant mediaeval villages as a potential model for future farming as I see it.  All the links from the article had the inevitable "coffee-table magazine' look about them- pretty flowers, wild animals you know the sort of thing- triumph of style over substance.

Eventually I came across this report commissioned by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales and published way back in 2001 » Read more

» Read more