Soil, Natural Cycles, Indiana & Germany Farm Reports, Peas (Ep 11)

by | Aug 23, 2017 | Podcast

Today: IAF takes a step back, and starts from the beginning: the philosophies of organic/biodynamic/no-till farming begin with good soil husbandry. Natural
cycles. Updates on crop losses in Norway, Germany, Indiana.

BOOK of the DAY: The Self-Sufficient Gardener (John Seymore, 1980)
$16 — http://amzn.to/2ioLX9E

ITEM of the DAY: Grodan 1″ cubes, used for aquaponic/hydroponic starts:
$16 — http://amzn.to/2w4kddA

Show notes on wiki: http://wiki.iceagefarmer.com/index.php?title=IAF_Podcast_Episode_11


Download:

1. Daily Steps – 2:56
2. Ice Breaker – 8:18
https://www.agweb.com/article/this-year-has-been-anything-but-normal-naa-john-herath/

3. Special: Intro to Self Sufficient Gardening: Natural Cycles and Soil – 12:43
SIX RULES of organic philosophy according to John Seymour’s 1980 “Self Sufficient Gardener”:
1. Work with, not against, nature.
2. Nature is diverse; so too must we practice diversity.
3. Must husband other forms of life in environments as close as possible to those in which that life evolved.
4. Must return to the soil as much as we remove/harvest from it (law of conservation I’d energy at work)
5. Feed the soil, not the plant
6.must observe nature as a whole, never any single part of it.
4. Community Feedback 38:36
– addition to the potato towers / tires in garden
added to: http://wiki.iceagefarmer.com/wiki/Tires
– note on plague
– wood gasifier
added to: http://wiki.iceagefarmer.com/wiki/Wood_Gasifier

Send your questions, suggestions, ground reports to iceagefarmer@gmail.com

5. Grand Solar Minimum News 43:52
“Worst flood South Asia has seen in decades.” 24 Million affected by flood now
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1148886/world

Fungus making leaves change/drop, even in August
http://www.wcvb.com/article/fungus-attacking-trees-giving-sign-of-fall-in-the-summer/12010669A
(if it IS a fungus, this is an effect of the wet summer, thanks to GSM.
if it’s not, then the leaves are changing/dropping too early, fall coming soon.
either way, this is due to the changes in the sun’s output, and concerning).

Norway’s farmers’ harvests PITIFUL
Just as David Dilley described, cooling/warming start from the poles, moves inward.
Makes sense to see it there first, although:

Norway’s Washout Summer – Farmers Despair


Gerd and Olaf have been farmers for almost 40 years. They have never experienced a worse summer.
“The animals do not want to go into this shit either,” says Olaf. “And if they go, their teats get dirty, and then milk quality can be a problem.”

Plant Hardiness maps (via Bob Felix, iceagenow.info):
https://www.iceagenow.com/PlantHardinessMaps.htm
Straight from the USDA’s mouth, zones are shifting — it’s getting colder.

Popocatepetl volcato erupts during Solar Eclipse
http://strangesounds.org/2017/08/popocatepetl-volcano-erupts-during-solar-eclipse-on-august212017-video-pictures.htmlq

Translation of article on Solar Grand Minimum we’re experiencing:

Solar Cycle Continues To Be The Weakest In 2 Centuries

Other headlines, not covered in Podcast (focus on solutions):
record cold in Russia,
the snowfalls in Canada (not at elevation),
noctilucent clouds over England
— these and MANY, MANY more, twitter.com/IceAgeFarmer

6. Crop Focus: Peas (47:53)
Nitrogen-fixing, great for microgreens, super easy to grow to seed.

Green String Farm: On Constant Reinvestment

by | Jun 5, 2017 | Thoughts

I visit the Green String Farm, home of the Green String Institute, known for its sustainable farming practices. One of their mottos is “50% for people, 50% for nature.” At any one time, half of the farm is dedicated to restoring/improving/building its soil and productive processes, while the other half is actually producing for people. Clearly these aren’t entirely mutually exclusive, but it’s a guiding principal.

Ice Age Farmer discusses the application of this principle both to one’s own self-sufficiency in the coming Grand Solar Minimum, underscoring the need to constantly reinvest in ones own property and processes (and learning!), but also to the 50%/50% balance many of us must currently strike between maintaining a life in the current paradigm while preparing simultaneously to thrive in the changing times.

Also in this video:

* Worm Bin Basics — (time to setup the worm bin!)
* Freshly picked cherries
* A freaking huge stack of trays for microgreens

Please share with your friends information on the Grand Solar Minimum and the resulting climate disturbances we are experiencing, as well as intensification of the crop losses that have already begun.

START GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD TODAY TO ENSURE YOUR FOOD SECURITY!

Blog: http://IceAgeFarmer.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IceAgeFarmer
Facebook: https://facebook.com/IceAgeFarmer

IAF Methodology and Compost Heater

by | May 31, 2017 | Energy

Taking daily steps towards radical self-sufficiency means looking each day at what INPUT is required. Identifying these inputs and creating systems that will produce them for tomorrow allows you to push forward that frontier of producing your own inputs–and increasingly leveraging your own outputs!

Each step increases your resilience. This concept must be applied to the communities we build as well.

Today, I apply this methodology to one of the two elephants in the room with respect to the challenges of moving our food production to sustainable off-grid indoor growing in order to ensure our food security in this Grand Solar Minimum: HEAT.

A compost water heater generates HEAT (up to 160F/70C) as it produces COMPOST, which can be used for growing further crops. By completing the cycle here, you generate energy AND reduce your dependence on external inputs!

Also in this video:

* drilling holes for a new 2″NFT pipe
* transferring dwarf moringa oleifera starts in coco coir into containers under LED lights

… and a spider spins a web across one of my grow beds.

YOU CAN DO THIS AT HOME! –And you should, to produce clean food for your family. It’s that or watch as the food prices continue to increase, and ultimately, the shelves empty completely.

Start taking daily steps NOW towards radical self-sufficiency so that you can thrive in the current Grand Solar Minimum / Little Ice Age.

Blog: http://IceAgeFarmer.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IceAgeFarmer
Facebook: https://facebook.com/IceAgeFarmer