Kerrplunk

This weekend I went to the Golden Gate chapter of the California Rare Fruit Grower’s Scion Exchange, and if that is gobbledegook to you you are not alone but you are also missing out.

Plants can do many things humans cannot. One of the most useful properties possessed by many plants is the ability to be propagated asexually from cuttings. (Of course, if you have plants that you don’t want that are capable of propagating themselves asexually, like for instance invasive blackberry, it can also be one of the most annoying properties.) The simplest way to use this property is by cutting a piece off a plant you want, say a neighbor’s superior fig tree, and potting it up with a degree of care. Skill and luck both play a role in getting the cutting to root properly, but once it does it is a new plant that is genetically identical to the one it was taken from. Certain plants do this well–figs are one of the easiest. A side benefit is that many plants propagated this way tend to bear fruit earlier than those started from seed. In some cases, though, their lifespan may be shorter—the plant’s age doesn’t reset to zero the day you take the cutting.

Many fruit trees are not so cavalier about bits getting broken off and stuck in the ground. All is not lost, however—the ancient technology of grafting permits the gardener with a little skill and a lot of chutzpah to cut a piece of a plant and surgically attach it to another, compatible plant. This can be done for many reasons—apple trees don’t produce true from seed, for instance, so all named varieties have been produced by grafting cuttings onto an apple rootstock. If you have an apple tree that produces apples good enough to eat, chances are it was grafted—look at the trunk close to the soil line for a bulge or irregularity in the bark.

Then again, you might have an apple tree that produces two or more varieties, also through the magic of grafting—you can graft a branch onto an established tree to produce a different variety of the same fruit. In fact, because stone fruit are often compatible with each other, some gardeners with small yards benefit from a “fruit salad” tree that bears plums, apricots, and nectarines throughout the spring and summer.

Grafting is a skill that any gardener can develop. It takes attention to cleanliness and detail, and tools such as a sharp grafting knife and some grafter’s tape or parafilm. There are good videos to get you started (peruse the right hand column for more). Not every gardener wants to graft, but if you want to grow fruit trees and you have limited space, it’s an excellent tool in your toolkit.

For the community garden I’ve been volunteering with, I brought back several figs to start from cuttings, as well as pepino dulce, goji, a superior variety of loquat discovered by Katie Wong that she calls Doxie’s Delight (it produced loquats as big as hen’s eggs in her East Bay yard, and there is a loquat seedling sprouting in the garden that needs to be moved anyway), some pluots to try grafting onto a plum or apricot tree, and a couple varieties of apple to try on our apple tree. It’s a $4 donation to get in the door, and scionwood is free. You can pay $3 for rootstock and $3 for custom grafting to be done for you. If you’re in the Bay Area and have never been to the Scion Exchange, keep an eye out for announcements next January. If you live in a different region, look for a scion exchange near you… FOR SCIONS!

This is the long version of my response to today’s prompt on Advise the Advisor, which is about innovation:

Innovation doesn’t just happen in the world of the Internet. The biggest need for American innovation exists in some of the very oldest industries.

Food security is my biggest present concern. With industrial agriculture threatened by climate change, fossil fuel decline, and its own unsustainable practices, Americans are seeking sustainable, low-cost solutions they can be personally involved in. Innovative solutions include yard-sharing programs that connect apartment-dwellers with time to garden with homeowners who have the space to plant vegetables, urban farmers who use organic intensive cultivation techniques to grow thousands of pounds of food in a small lot, and peri-urban farms who offer their sustainably-grown produce direct to nearby city consumers through CSA subscriptions.

But the problem is still immense. America has too few farmers, and the farmers we have are on average past retirement age. Current regulations reinforce the unsustainable practices that are leading us to the edge of destruction. And government is making the problem worse, with regulations that favor big agribusiness and make it harder for local producers to reach consumers. We spend too much taxpayer money subsidizing the unsustainable practices of the past—funding cheap, inedible corn that makes livestock sick, gives our children diabetes, and rips nutrients out of the soil so they must be replaced with tons of fossil fuel-based fertilizer.

In their book A Nation of Farmers, Sharon Astyk and Aaron Newton state we need fifty to a hundred million new small farmers by the end of this decade to pick up where our retiring generation of farmers is leaving off and ensure our food future. These new farmers will need to be using new practices rooted in low-input, diverse farm ecosystems that minimize the use of fossil fuels. They will need to raise not just one crop, but many, carefully chosen so that the waste products of one crop support the others. They will need to be farming in urban and suburban landscapes as much as rural ones. They’ll need support from the government, investing money into strengthening our food system and providing sustainable and rewarding livelihoods for more Americans. And they’ll need a change in our regulations to make it easier and more affordable for small producers to produce and distribute safe food to more Americans. For example, rather than tough restrictions on milk sales that assume everyone selling milk is operating an industrial-scale confinement dairy factory, we need flexible rules that address the actual risks of contamination at different scales of production. By making these changes in the way we support new, innovative models of farming, we’ll enable creative, hardworking Americans to build rewarding livelihoods solving America’s food security challenges.

GMO crops are not a good solution to our food crisis. GMO crops are generally engineered not to produce viable seed. In order to replant crops, farmers have to buy their seed again and again every year from the same biotech company. If there is a problem with that company—and their reliance on fossil fuel energy and unproven technology, as well as government subsidies, make it a certainty that there will be a problem at some point in the future—then all the farmers who rely on that company for seed will have nothing to plant, nothing to grow, and nothing to feed America. Just like in any investment, we need a diversified portfolio. So legislation that makes it impossible to protect organic agriculture from GMO contamination threatens the future of America’s food supply—regardless of whether eating GMO crops poses a threat to the health of Americans. We can’t afford to become reliant on this technology, not when the fundamental resource needed for its production—fossil fuels—is threatened. For this reason I believe the recent deregulation of GMO alfalfa is a terrible mistake—one that hinders the ability of American farmers to explore other innovative, diversified solutions to our agricultural sustainability problems.

I ask the White House to join me in supporting small farmers experimenting with innovative new models of food security. Support Americans engaged in such exciting new projects as the Dervaes family farm, a 1/10th acre plot in Pasadena that produces more than THREE TONS of food per year, with no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Support trials of permaculture methods, farming systems that use the natural interactions of plant and animal species to return fertility to the soil without the addition of chemical fertilizers, that control pests with their natural predators rather than with chemical poisons, and that produce an abundance of food on less land by growing different crops together in ways that sustainably increase productivity. Support efforts like those of The Land Institute to breed perennial wheat, so that we can minimize tillage and protect the fertility of American soil.

What do you have to say to the White House today?

I plan to do this every week, for every new prompt. Let’s see how long I can keep it up—and how long it takes me to get through. Will you join me?

I’ve been flipping through this book online as I’ve been researching drought-tolerant plants suitable for creating a silvipasture system for goats and chickens. My plan is to design a management-intensive multicell pasture for dairy goats and a dual-purpose chicken flock that will increase soil fertility while providing excellent milk, meat, and egg production, support good animal health and happiness, and do so in a small space.

The rationale for this mixed-species management-intensive grazing plan is as follows: Goats and chickens are each vulnerable to different sets of parasites. Parasite load on pasture is a big problem for goats. Chickens, however, can consume goat parasites with impunity, and in fact actually benefit from being grazed on a pasture with mammal manure and the insects that feed on it, which in turn make good food for the chickens. For their part, the goats benefit from decreased parasite load and fewer flies. Both goats and chickens benefit from mixed pasture and browse although in different ways—goats prefer to eat shrub and tree leaves and bark, while chickens prefer the growing tips of new grass. But goats also eat some grass and forbs and chickens can benefit from the fruit and seeds of many shrubs. An ecosystem consisting of mixed grasses, forbs, and woody shrubs and trees tends to be more resilient and productive when impacted by animals than an ecosystem of grass alone. This is especially true when plants are selected with care for their mutually beneficial interactions. Animal grazing in such ecosystems benefits plants, animals, and soils most when animals are moved through the pasture, allowing enough time for the plants to rest and recover before they face grazing and browsing again. The benefits of management-intensive grazing are widely accepted and include more robust animal health as well as decreased carbon emissions and even carbon sequestration in soils. Factors to consider in developing a schedule for goat/chicken pasture rotation include grass and forb regrowth periods as well as fly larva and other parasite hatch cycles, factors that will vary depending on climate, plant selection, and season of the year. In some regions a combination of rotation and mixture of plant species may reduce the need for supplemental feed to virtually none.

Limiting factors to management intensive pasture systems include the expense of fencing and the variability of pasture regrowth, which creates the need for close supervision of livestock rotation by a skilled manager. While the former may be mitigated by the use of inexpensive portable electric fencing, there is no substitute for the latter. Limitations of mixing shrubs with grasses include possibly a greater expense to establish, the relative slow growth of some shrubs, and the potential to shade out desired grass and forbs. These limitations can be overcome by carefully selecting complementary shrubs and pasture species, using those that are affordable and suited to your site, and choosing shrubs that grow rapidly.

These are some shrub species I’ve been considering for our site and the benefits and challenges they offer:

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With all the snowstorms blanketing much of the US right now, I feel a bit guilty that I’m still visiting family in Florida, where I grew up and where it is a cool 72ºF/22ºC outside.  On top of that I’m hearing that in the Southwest, natural gas shortages are leaving many homes without heat. (One Twitterer complains that President Obama caused the shortage by blocking drilling for natural gas and oil; I think this person misses the point that the shortage is caused by the unaccustomed cold weather shutting down refining and distribution facilities.)

We can’t rely on fossil fuels for long—natural gas peak production may be a few years further off than the crude oil peak, which by all reasonable accounts is either here or imminent. With all the attention the generation of electricity gets in the media—and there’s no denying solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and wind turbine electricity sells pageviews—one of the most crucial problems we will have to face in our transition off fossil fuels is heating our homes.

It is becoming more and more apparent to everyone with the sense and knowledge to see it that global warming climate change weirding doesn’t mean six fewer months of winter. It means more severe weather all around—worse storms, worse droughts, worse snows, and worse summers. So planning for heating our homes is still going to be a major challenge. We need solutions that will keep us as warm as we need to be, without making the pollution and climate change problems worse. And surprisingly I think a big part of that is going to be firewood.

But we’ll need to manage our firewood in ways that don’t just sustain the status quo but actually help regenerate the land we’re part of. And a big part of this, I believe, is going to be establishing coppice systems.

Coppice is the practice of cutting trees so that they resprout from the stumps. Famously, Europeans and Native Americans have practiced coppice silviculture for firewood, basketry, and building materials. Willow is an especially favored species for basketry and certain types of building—the wattle and daub houses of ancient Britain come to mind. But willow makes lousy firewood. So what species coppice well and make good firewood?

Alder, ash, and black locust are all good coppice trees, resprouting easily from stumps and growing quickly. Ash is very good firewood. Reports differ on alder and black locust, and I suspect the efficiency of one’s stove will have a lot to do with how completely these woods combust (on which more later). One species I’d like to highlight, especially for people in the southwestern US right now, is Parkinsonia aculeata, also known as horsebean, jerusalem thorn, and blue palo verde, among other common names.

What’s good about this tree? Well, for one thing, it’s drought tolerant. The effects of global climate change on local rainfall patterns is not yet known, but it’s possible that areas that already get very little rainfall will get even less, and some areas with moderate rainfall will become drier while others will become much wetter. For the desert southwest and arid parts of California, Parkinsonia aculeata could be very useful. It is partly cold hardy, tolerating temperatures down to 18ºF/-7ºC. It is also leguminous, with the potential to restore nitrogen to the soil, although I believe this has not been studied in this particular plant. And when cut it regrows from the stump. It is also good bee forage, attracting pollinators with its bright yellow flowers. Its main drawback is that it can be invasive—because it propagates readily from seed or from cuttings, it’s hard to control. Arid environments help to control its reproduction from seed; it shouldn’t be planted in areas where there is more water than it needs. And here’s where another benefit of this plant comes in handy—it makes excellent goat browse. Livestock eat its leaves and seed-containing pods, and the fresh pods have a sweet edible pulp.

How might you manage this plant, given its tendency to become invasive in areas where it gets more water than it needs?

Well, first, I’d avoid planting Parkinsonia aculeata in moist meadows, streambanks, or near ponds or irrigation. Dry upland slopes are a better place. Second, cut it back on a regular basis for wood, and don’t plant more than you can use. Don’t leave fresh cuttings lying around on top of fertile soil. Finally, graze goats through the planting on a rotating basis so they can browse back new growth and seedlings and eat some of the edible seed pods. Pigs might also enjoy the pods and would probably disturb the ground under established trees to discourage new seedlings, but be careful they don’t rip up the roots of the established trees you’re coppicing.

It’s also important to get back to wood stoves that can efficiently and cleanly burn small-diameter firewood. If we aggravate our air pollution woes with particulates from incomplete burning, we’ll make our situation much worse. If we exacerbate the problem of carbon release by burning up existing trees and releasing their carbon without planting enough new trees to store the carbon we’re releasing and then some, we’ll make our situation much worse.

We’re running out of the carbon trust fund we’ve inherited in the form of fossil fuels, and we need a wise plan to help us live within our ecological means.

Just a short note to say I’m very pleased with the students in my introduction to permaculture course at New College of Florida this January. As so often happens in permaculture learning encounters, I learned as much from them as they did from me. They presented their final project today and I could tell it was exciting, inspiring, and new for their faculty. The project is on the way to implementation over the next year—I am very excited for them and hope they have a lot of fun with it.

Sustainability — Of systems, practices, processes, or cultures, that which can be continued indefinitely without destroying the foundation of its own existence. Antonym: suicide.

Resilience — adj. Of systems, practices, processes, or cultures, the ability to adapt creatively to a changing environment or context without destroying the foundation of its own existence. Antonym: suicide.

Sustainability and resilience are fundamentally linked.

Sustainability, the current watchword of contemporary environmental consciousness, is unfortunately now devalued and diluted in much the same way that “green,” “natural,” “eco-friendly,” and “organic” have been. When a word moves into popular awareness, and from there into the marketer’s toolbox, its meaning must change, because marketers depend on words meaning one thing in the mind of the public and another to the corporation using them. “Sustainable” is now used as a tag for “if you are of a particular age, race, income, and education level, chances are you will want to buy this thing rather than some competing thing.” No one aware of the effects of burning oil on our climate, or in possession of even a vague sense that the supply of oil is limited, can long delude themselves that buying a new hybrid car is “sustainable” by any honest definition. And like “unique” and “pregnant,” sustainable is one of those words that has no comparative; something is either sustainable or it isn’t. You can’t be a little bit pregnant and you can’t be more or less sustainable.

Unfortunately, one of the things we’re discovering is that often continuing an existing system, practice, process, or culture takes far less energy and material resources than creating a new system, practice, process, or culture, or substantially changing the old one to fit a new context. We are entering an age of decreasingly available energy, due to the decline of fossil fuels and reduction in availability of the renewable energy resources that so far still depend on fossil fuels to be produced. That is, there is less oil and coal available, that which is available is becoming more and more energy-intensive to extract, and demand is still rising. The renewable energy technologies all still depend on concentrated fossil fuels—we can’t make very many solar panels in solar powered plants, and building wind turbines depends on mining metals and producing plastics, processes that cannot be powered by wind turbines. As oil declines, we will see a decline in the availability of all forms of energy. We’ll have less and less ability to completely retool our systems—whether we’re talking about our transportation infrastructure or our economy or our food production or even our customs of communicating with each other—because the energy to do so just won’t be there.

The context we live in now is one of rapid change. For our systems to be sustainable, they must be able to adapt well to change—whether we’re able to anticipate our future needs or not. We won’t be able to overhaul our systems once those needs become apparent.

Likewise, a resilient system must also be a sustainable one. If a system cannot be continued indefinitely without destroying the basis of its own continuation, then the eventuality of that destruction is a change it is unlikely to be able to adapt to.

Yesterday, I was working at a desk job in a small non-profit organization in Berkeley. It happens to be a synagogue of the denomination of Judaism I affectionately refer to as “woo-Jew.” The services are uplifting, celebratory, mystical, and sometimes (at least from the perspective of more traditional Jews) sorta silly, and the community is very dear to me. Behind the scenes, though, it operates pretty much like any other understaffed non-profit organization.

When I’m half of the administrative staff, I can’t afford to have my mind elsewhere. But for awhile now I’ve been having trouble focusing. Halfway through an email, I’ll find myself thinking about goats. Registering a new member, I drift off into daydreams about pickling asparagus. Looking over a newsletter for errors, I’m start worrying about climate change and vanishing forests. My heart hasn’t been in the office, and neither has my head, and the automaton at my desk isn’t being the effective worker I was a couple of years ago. I’m overdue for a change, and I need to be doing something I really believe in.

For the past two months I’ve been in an urban permaculture course offered by the SF Permaculture Guild. Two days ago, I got an email accepting me to a work trade program at Emerald Earth. I’ll be departing Berkeley in the second week of April to live in this small earth-centered community in Boonville, California, learning to look after their gardens and livestock, and maybe a bit about natural building. I turn 30 in about a week.

This is Kerrplunk—a blog about what can happen to a comfortable life when it really sinks in that “unsustainable lifestyle” doesn’t mean “carefree” but “slow suicide.” This is where I’ll talk about rolling down the energy descent slope and, hopefully, coming to rest in a patch of green. I’ll talk about resilience, climate change preparedness, understanding peak oil for non-bunker-dwellers, how to design your own total permaculture lifestyle, and what we can learn from practicing “original skills”: those that early humans would have used to survive and thrive. I’ll talk about simple living from a pagan/woo-Jew perspective, and what it’s like for me to be an anti-consumerist, eco-obsessed queer person. I’ll post photos and hopefully video from the land and its many inhabitants, human people as well as other people. And I hope my experiences will offer me a preview of what my life might be like as fossil fuels decline and the global climate weirds.

Welcome.