Powerdown Roundup November 24, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Food, Gardens, Peak Oil, Permaculture, Powerdown , add a commentIt has been a busy few weeks and I only now have a chance to catch up by reporting on a few events I have attended over the last few weeks.
On November 8th and 9th I presented an introduction to permaculture workshop at the Tipperary institute, for final-year students on the Sustainable Rural Development degree course.
After an overview of permaculture design principles and some edible landscaping techniques, students were asked to do a design exercise on a proposed permaculture garden outside the canteen.
Making use of some of their proposals I will write up a design for the garden which the Institute will implement early next year. This is an exciting development for the TI and the garden will be partly managed by students on a new degree course starting next September, Environmental and Natural Resource Managment, which will include a Permaculture component. This is a ground-breaking new course designed to provide relevant third-level training to address the coming environmental and resource challenges we will be facing as we continue down the slippery slope of energy descent. (more…)
Wild Food November 19, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Food , 1 comment so farIn the mid-term break a few weeks ago some of the permaculture students joined me and the amazing Simone for a wild food day in Glengariff.
*Right: Simone shows us how to collect a wild salad
After meeting in the morning for acorn coffee, we spent the first half of the day gathering wild salads, nettles, dandelion roots and dock leaves- no I didnt know you could eat dock leaves either!- we then went back to Mel’s house and spent the rest of the day preparing , cooking and eating.
We had a great day and everyone left with full bellies. Here is one of Simone’s recipes, for Dock Turnovers:
Dock Turnovers
Collect Medium Dock leaves – 2 per person
Soak in boiled water for 5 mins
Dry in tea towel carefully
Paint oil on both sides
Take approx 3 spoons of pre cooked rice
Add chopped feta – garlic optional
Add seasoning to taste
Wrap ingredients securely inside leaf – gently fry in oil.
For desert, crabapple and myrtle berry crumble- exotic and delicious! (Myrtle berries are not strictly a “wild” food here but we found a garden escape bush in a field dripping with fruit.)
The Great Magic Water Conference November 16, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment, General, Science and Rationaltiy, water , 4commentsAnatomy of a Scam
A few years ago I attended an extraordinary event in Co. Monaghan which I still refer to as “The great magic Water Conference”. Organised by local environmentalists to promote the “discoveries” of an outfit called Perfect Science, it drew together an extraordinary mix of council water engineers, environmentalists and water diviners, pendulum swingers and other purveyors of New Age religion.
I wont reveal the names of those involved in setting up the conference; some of them are old friends I havn’t seen for a while. Ill refer to the main organiser as “John”- not his real name. John had managed to gain the support of the County Council who opened the event and reputedly put up money to pay for it. (more…)
Bursting point: The World’s Unsustainable Population November 11, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Overshoot, Peak Oil, Population , 11commentsBursting point: the world’s unsustainable population
from the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine
by Graham Strouts www.zone5.org
“It is a simple logical truth that, short of mass emigration into space, with rockets taking off at the rate of several million per second, uncontrolled birth-rates are bound to lead to horribly increased death-rates. It is hard to believe that this simple truth is not understood by those leaders who forbid their followers to use effective contraceptive methods. They express a preference for ‘natural’ methods of population limitation, and a natural method is exactly what they are going to get. It is called starvation.” ~Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
Population is a sensitive subject. It is not only political leaders who are reluctant to address it; most environmentalists also feel it is quite beyond their remit in working towards sustainability. It is often seen as an unmentionable subject, something only touched upon by racists and xenophobes –which is exactly why environmentalists need to engage in the debate. (more…)
Film Review- What a Way to Go November 4, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment, General, Geo-politics, Peak Oil , 4commentsFilm Review:
What a Way to Go- Life at the End of Empire
“If we knew all the facts, we’d have discarded the myth of the techno fix a long time ago. To my eye, our crisis, at its deepest levels, is a crisis not of technology, but of meaning and purpose… “Talking about this is the first step. Without this catastrophe is inevitable.”- Tim Bennett
What a Way to Go is a groundbreaking movie.
I watched this week for the first time with a few friends, most of whom have been watching Peak Oil films and discussing the issues around them for much of the past three years. (more…)
Crop Circles, Burkas, and the like November 3, 2007
Posted by Graham in : General, Science and Rationaltiy , 13commentsAnyone interested in crop circles -are they human-made hoaxes? or is there some other-worldy paranormal explanation? should check out this thread
The debate falls into two camps: on the pro-paranormal side, very detailed examination of the patterns and microscopic changes in the cellular structure of the wheat stems etc is presented as evidence that they could not have been man-made. A rather obscure alternative theory to do with plasma and the “universal subconscious” is presented instead. (more…)
Alanna Moore’s reply November 1, 2007
Posted by Graham in : General, Permaculture, Science and Rationaltiy , 1 comment so farJust read Graham’s blog….
He’s entitled to his opinion. But so are others entitled to have other ideas. Not everyone likes every article in a mag and no-one is forced to read them. (more…)
