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Sustainability

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How To Get Cheap & Easy Off-Grid Power: DIY Solar Panel Video. Tiny Home Built for Less Than $3,500. Permaculture Resources & References. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms - WWOOF. Home Page | Entomology Solutions LLC. Masanobu Fukuoka's Natural Farming and Permaculture | Permaculture & Alcohol Can Be A Gas.

Masanobu Fukuoka is a farmer/philosopher who lives on the Island of Shikoku, in southern Japan. His farming technique requires no machines, no chemicals and very little weeding. He does not plow the soil or use prepared compost and yet the condition of the soil in his orchards and fields improve each year. His method creates no pollution and does not require fossil fuels. His method requires less labor than any other, yet the yields in his orchard and fields compare favorably with the most productive Japanese farms which use all the technical know-how of modern science. How is this possible? I admit, when I first went to his farm in 1973 I was skeptical. I had not heard of permaculture at the time, but I can see now that Fukuoka's farm is a classic working model of permaculture design. Mollison and Fukuoka took entirely different routes to get to essentially the same place. The key word here is design. But where to begin? Which had been left unused and unplowed for many years.

P.O.

Gardening/Planting

Composting. Mapping a Road to Self-Sufficiency. By Gaye Levy Contributing Writer for Wake Up World The number one question I am asked by new readers is “where do I start?”. This is followed by a meek comment indicating “I have a job and a family and can not afford to move to a farm in the outback.” Well first of all, let me say that no apologies are needed. None. Moving to a farm or even to the remote boonies is not for everyone, myself included. On the other hand, with some time, perseverance and a bit of hard work, we all can take steps to be self sufficient. In an idealized world, we would be 100% self-sufficient. That does not mean that we can not have the ability to get by nicely on our own and satisfy 80% or more of our needs without outside help.

Going back to that idealized world, if everything were perfect, we would have enough food, water, power, fuel, and money to live a well-rounded, healthy and comfortable life. Alas, everywhere you look there are roadblocks to achieving this state. Mapping a Road to Self-Sufficiency 1. 2. 9 Gardening Supplies You Can Get for Free - The Free Range Life. One of the most common reasons people give for not starting a garden is that they can’t afford it. They think about buying seeds or plants, soil amendments, tomato cages and all those tools they might need.

Gardening certainly can be an expensive endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be. If you want to grow your own food without spending an arm and leg on supplies there are many gardening supplies you can get very cheaply or even for free. It takes some time to search out some of these alternative and it might take more advance planning, but if you want your garden to save you even more money give some of my suggestions a try and see how free gardening can be! 1. When it comes to gardening mulching is a very important step. Use grass clippings from your summer mowing. 2. Compost is in the same category as mulch. Make your own! 3. You can’t have a garden without seeds! Join a seed exchange. 4. Many things can be hard to start from seed, especially for a beginning gardener. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.