Reading the Great Book of Life October 27, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Biodiversity, Environment, Human Ecology, Permaculture, book review , 4commentsBook Review:
The Living Landscape: How to Read and Understand it
Patrick Whitefield
Permanent Publications 2009
334pp
48 color photos
When I first saw in the recent Permaculture Magazine that Patrick Whitefield had written a book on reading the landscape I became very excited and thought, “That’s probably a book David Holmgren would have liked to have written!”
Holmgren called it “reading the great Book of Life”- looking at the living landscape of the countryside through the lens of ecology,botany, geology, archaeology, history and even politics and economics.
Observation of the natural world is the starting point of permaculture design and with this book Whitefield helps us gain an insight into the myriad of the many natural and human processes that make up our landscape, and how to interpret their hidden indications.
Patrick Whitefield covers all of these impacts on the British Countryside, taking his examples from all over the country, and shows us how to be a kind of landscape detective, painstakingly uncovering the meaning of signs and indications of past land-use, some obvious – the absence of trees indicating ongoing grazing- some much less so- the horeshoe bat indicating an intact mosaic of different habitats.
The book begins with some chapters on general patterns in the landscape and underlying features of geology, soil and then climate and natural succession before moving onto more specific cases including animal signs; niches; succession; Different Kinds of Woodlands; Grassland; Heaths and Moors; Water in the Landscape; and finally, Hedges and other field boundaries and Roads and Paths.
Throughout Patrick gives us pages from his extensive notebooks that he has kept over the years which show actual examples of reading the landscape in a wide range of landscape types he has encountered on travels up and down the country, from the Highlands of Scotland to the Somerset “Levels” – or Moors as they are more usually known locally; the remnants of diverse wildflower meadows still found on the chalk downs, and the semi-ancient wood of Lady Park Wood in the Wye valley.
Patrick is always an agreeable travel companion and makes fascinating observations throughout. The pleasure he takes at discovering new landscapes or unpicking the story of a woodland and how it got to have the species mix it has- the subtle interplay of geology, microclimate and grazing patterns- is always obvious, becoming most so when discovering a new hedgerow with large number of species ( a possible indicator of antiquity).
we have been using Patrick’s previous books, The Earth Care Manual and How to Make a Forest Garden on the Kinsale course for the past several years; The Living Landscape is another great addition which fills an important niche in permaculture literature. A fascinating and engaging read with great color photos, it will have to find a place on every designers’ bookshelf.
Taming the Dreaded Knotweed August 14, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Biodiversity, Environment , add a commentA new biological control is being considered as a way of controlling one of Britain and Ireland’s most pernicious weeds, Japanese Knotweed, according to this story in The Guardian.
a species of jumping plant lice, aphalara itadori, could bring down the mighty knotweed by guzzling its sap. If released to do its worst, it would be the first ever “biological control” deliberately introduced into Britain.
At present, knotweed can only be controlled with heavy-duty chemicals, and then only with great difficulty- it can remain dormant under the ground even after being cut for over a decade, and chews its way through concrete and tarmac for breakfast.
It is becoming a serious threat in Ireland however and there needs to be a concerted effort to educate how to stop its spreading. Take good note of the advice given in the above article:
And how to tackle it
• Don’t ignore it. A small Japanese knotweed plant quickly becomes a major infestation. • Do not strim, flail or chip it. It can reproduce from tiny fragments of rhizome, twig or even leaf. It is extremely unlikely you can eradicate it by digging it out, because the roots stretch down so deep into the soil. • Herbicides can check its growth but only the most powerful chemical treatments will eventually clear it. These are unsuitable for spraying near water. One approach is to allow the weed to grow to about 1m, in early summer, and spray then. You will need to re-spray regrowth in midsummer and again in September if necessary. Another approach is to cut it back and apply to the stumps a powerful weedkiller such as Roundup’s treatment for tree stumps and roots. • Be careful not to allow cuttings into any drains, streams or waterways. • Do not compost cuttings or put them in the rubbish bin. It is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act to cause Japanese knotweed to grow in the wild so if you dispose of it carelessly you will be breaking the law. Do not dump it in the garden waste bin of your local recycling centre. Japanese knotweed (and contaminated soil) is classed as “controlled waste”, which means you must only dispose of it at certain, licensed landfill sites: check with your local council. If you are allowed to have a fire, burning the waste on site is another way to dispose of it. There are also commercial companies that specialise in the eradication of Japanese knotweed. • More advice at environment-agency.gov.uk
The Real Dirt on Organic Food August 5, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Food, General, Health, Peak Oil, Science and Rationaltiy , 13commentsUpdate Aug 10th: Thanks to Robbie for sending me the link to Dominic Lawson’s piece on the FSA report and responses from the organic movement in the Times.
Lawson quotes research suggesting farmers may have lower cancer rates possibly because pesticide use may protect against cancer! Now that has just got to be corporate spin…
The findings in last weeks’ FSA report that there is little to choose between organic and “conventional” food in terms of the major nutrients is hardly a surprise.
For many including myself, less rigidly defined labels such as “local” and “chemical-free” have been more important especially if we can see for ourseleves how the food is grown.
What is more surprising perhaps is some of the responses from some parties in the organic movement, which are not helping us understand the issues raised, or move the discussion onto other aspects of sustainable food and farming.
Rob Hopkins wrote to me to ask:
Might it be possible that this is actually an example of bad science, which just might have set out to prove a point, been subject to some kind of political interference and the might of the multinational food industry? Clearly it is very useful for some quite unpleasant institutions if we all believe organic farming is a waste of time. Might one argue that to believe that such a study is completely impartial and rigorous is somewhat naive? Might this report be an example of where we need to take what is presented as ‘good science’ with a rather large pinch of ‘organic’ salt?
In order to assess whether or not the review meets the highest standards of science, it is necessary to understand something about how science works, and this is an issue which goes right to the heart of what is wrong with environmentalism, because the movement in general is poorly informed about science, despite being dependent on it for assessing the general health of the environment. (more…)
A visit to the Eden Project August 15, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Food, Gardens, Peak Oil, Permaculture, climate change , 1 comment so farThe Eden Project in Cornwall was established 7 years ago and has become a world famous visitor attraction with its iconic huge bubble-wrap domes providing the closest you’ll get to an experience of the rain-forest this side of the Amazon.
I was visiting my sister this week, who lives nearby in Bodmin, and got the opportunity to visit, with my father. (more…)
Welcome to the Anthropocene June 28, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Environment, climate change , add a commentHuman’s effect on the planet has now reached geological proportions and as a species we are having a more significant effect on the Earth’s climate, geology, biodiversity and, hence, even evolution than any other single factor.
We are now officially in the Anthropocene, according to the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London. This is presumably the first time in the Earth’s 4-billion year history that a new geological epoch has begun while being marked and recorded by the species that is responsible.
Essential reading:
Living on the Ice Shelf- Humanity’s Meltdown By Mike Davis
To the question “Are we now living in the Anthropocene?” the 21 members of the Commission unanimously answer “yes.” They adduce robust evidence that the Holocene epoch — the interglacial span of unusually stable climate that has allowed the rapid evolution of agriculture and urban civilization — has ended and that the Earth has entered “a stratigraphic interval without close parallel in the last several million years.” In addition to the buildup of greenhouse gases, the stratigraphers cite human landscape transformation which “now exceeds [annual] natural sediment production by an order of magnitude,” the ominous acidification of the oceans, and the relentless destruction of biota. This new age, they explain, is defined both by the heating trend (whose closest analogue may be the catastrophe known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, 56 million years ago) and by the radical instability expected of future environments. In somber prose, they warn that “the combination of extinctions, global species migrations and the widespread replacement of natural vegetation with agricultural monocultures is producing a distinctive contemporary biostratigraphic signal. These effects are permanent, as future evolution will take place from surviving (and frequently anthropogenically relocated) stocks.” Evolution itself, in other words, has been forced into a new trajectory.
And supporting evidence can be found in this report suggesting that the rate of arctic ice-melting is once again confounding even the worse-case predictions and the Arctic could be ice-free for the first time in human history this summer.
Sustainability Volume 3 is Out June 20, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Environment, General , add a commentThe new issue of Sustainability is out with a focus on food security and also bringing world-class articles and reports on:
-the economic crisis
-global food security
-horse power
-bringing back a canal and rail system to Ireland
-renovating an old cottage
-Irish transition Initiatives
and much more.
Available from your local newsagent/wholefood store or from the Sustainability Institute:
office@sustainabilty.ie
Monbiot on Population February 1, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Human Ecology, Overshoot, Peak Oil, Population , 8comments[Update: See John Feeney's excellent response to Monbiot here.]
A few people have pointed me to George Monbiot’s recent article on population in the Guardian. While it is welcome that Monbiot addresses the issue I wanted to reply because I found it really disappointing, failing to join the dots and in some ways misleading.
The main thrust of the article is that some environmentalists complain the issue of population is ignored- perhaps for political reasons- even though it is the “number one environmental problem” and Monbiot sets out to discuss whether this is in fact true. The basic issue in this debate is, can we really give out as it were about the large populations of the developing world when over-consumption in the West is in fact having a bigger environmental impact? (more…)
The Last Christmas December 24, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment , 2commentsGuest writer Andy Wilson editor of Sustainability Magazine has kindly sent me this piece expressing his thoughts on Christmas:
The Last Christmas – A True Story?
Every Christian knows of the Last Supper, in which Jesus joined his disciples for the last time before being betrayed. The festival of Christmas, in which a billion or more people worldwide will ‘celebrate’ – if that is the right word – the birth of Christ, appears to have begun about 300 years after the death of Christ. Possibly, the Christian movement had gathered sufficient momentum by this time for it to require distinctive festivals of its own. It is probably no coincidence that the time of year chosen coincided with the much older pagan festival of the winter solstice, and this no doubt helped the new religion gain acceptance among the non-believers. (more…)
Back to nature #2: Deep Ecology- Nostalgia for Eden December 10, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Human Ecology, Science and Rationaltiy , 6commentsNostalgia for Eden
A widely held belief amongst environmentalists, Deep Ecologists and other “post-modern” humans who yearn for a return to the idyllic world of an imagined Garden of Eden is that the struggle for sustainability is a new one: for most of human history, hundreds of thousands of years, people have lived in stable societies with minimal impact on natural resources, and have had the wisdom and respect for the natural world that is required to be sustainable. (more…)
Back to Nature #1 December 1, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Human Ecology , 2commentsBack to Nature:
Exploring Humans’ Relationship to the Natural World
Modern humans have an uneasy relationship with the “natural world”: there is a sense of separation, of loss, but also an ambivalence and uncertainty in knowing how to relate to Nature.
What we even mean by “the Natural World” or “Nature” is unclear. Some might say, for example, that since culture has emerged from nature, it must in some ways still be governed by the forces of nature.
In what ways can it be said that we are still a part of nature? In what ways, if any, have we escaped the confines of natural processes with our tools and technologies, medicines and machines? And if human society is still governed primarily by the laws and limitations of the natural world, what does this mean for a future of diminishing natural resources and energy after Peak Oil?
This is the first of a series essays in which I want to explore some different approaches to the question of human’s relationship to nature. (more…)
