Mark Shepard's Perrenial Agriculture

I had a great time last week at the Acres USA conference in Louisville, KY. One of my favorite speakers was Mark Shepard (http://www.forestag.com/) and his new book "Restoration Agriculture" was made available during the conference. His basic idea is to use perrenial agriculture (nuts) for our staple foods and oils to replace grains, growing them using Yeoman's keyline design methods with swales to distribute and hold rainwater in the soil. Since it takes 10-15 years to get good crops from some of these nut trees, he also has a transition plan to raise annual crops and animals in the alleys between rows of trees. It was very enlightening.

GM Foods

I watched an interesting and scary film online this last weekend, Genetic Roulette (http://geneticroulettemovie.com) and I'm even more convinced that there is hope!  Well worth watching.

Back to Eden Orchard

We got our first delivery of wood chips today for our orchard, for free from a local tree trimming company that contracts with our electric company to keep elecrical lines clear of branches.  The basic idea is to mulch 4 inches deep with wood chips to keep in moisture and promote healthy soil.  Very exciting stuff.  Check out http://www.backtoedenfilm.com for details.  I'm not sure which part I love more: promoting better, healthier fruit in the orchard, or the idea of not having to mow :)  A year from now, I'll post again about whether or not the mulching we do this year makes a difference in yield and health of the trees.

They Huffed and They Puffed

We finished stacking the straw bales for the exterior walls of our house today.  The straw bales raising was one of the easiest parts of the house - we finished in just two Saturdays, with help from 3 friends at a time. The roofers also finished installing the roof last week, a standing seam metal roof.

DIY Rabbit Butchering Station

We started our own rabbitry this year, trying to find a more sustainable way of providing meat for our family and keep it legal, since we live in the city and by law aren't allowed to have livestock or poultry.

There are some really cool tools out there for butchering rabbits. I was on the lookout for some because the first two rabbits that I dressed took over an hour each, and I was hoping it would take far less time. The tools that I've found are:

• The Rabbit Wringer (http://www.therabbitwringer.com/)
• The Rabbit Wringer Butchering/Processing Station (http://www.therabbitwringer.com/)
• Never Without 1 dressing knife (http://www.neverwithout1.com/home/knife_msrp)

Unfortunately, we're trying to finish building our house and money is tight, so I built one myself. I got the idea for using a 55 gallon plastic drum cut in two by reading an article somewhere (Mother Earth News?) and I added the wringer after watching a You Tube video by prepper "Survival Doc" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXAhzfqhMNE&feature=plcp). I built this into the same unit with the parachute cords to hang the rabbit while I'm dressing it.

I used scrap 2x4 that was too warped to use on my house, some scrap cut-offs of 1x6 that I ripped down the center for the wringer, and some parachute cord. This project took me about an hour to build, including the design time. In case you aren't the design-type, here are the parts I used:

• (2) 2x4s cut at 62" for uprights
• (1) 2x4 cut at 26" for the vertical piece at the top
• (2) 2x4s cut at 11" to hold the 1x3s
• (2) 1x3s (or a 1x6 ripped through the center) 22.5" long
• (1) 55 gallon plastic barrel, cut half way through at 12" from the bottom, then cut vertically on both sides, then cut the rest of the way through horizontally at 12" down from the top (this will make two butchering stations if you want them, as long as you have the bungs for the top). I found mine used on craigslist for $7.
• (4) bolts with nuts, 3" long to bolt the uprights to the barrel.
• (4) wood screws, 3" long to fasten the top 2x4 to the uprights
• (2) wood screws, 1.5" long to hang the parachute cord from
• (2) pieces parachute cord 16" long (I found mine for $2.99 at a local camping store)

With the scraps that I had lying around, I spent about $10 on this butchering station.

To replace the "Never Without 1" knife, I just used a curved hook blade in my utility knife. These blades cost me $0.50 each at Harbor Freight.

In addition to all of these tools, I also splurged and bought a nice bypass pruner for $25 to cut off the head, feet, and tail.

I used it the first day, and it worked great. Slaughtering and dressing took me around 30 minutes this time, but much of that increased speed is probably due to having more experience.

Heaven on Earth

Take a minute and think about what heaven on earth would be like. Consider what Eden might have been like before the fall of humanity. Can you imagine litter or pollution there? Can you imagine using chemicals to kill bugs and weeds? Can you imagine someone losing their temper and yelling at someone else? Can you imagine low quality, disposable products? Can you imagine landfills? Can you imagine democracies? War? Denominations? Cancer? Genetic modification? I cannot imagine these things existing or occurring in heaven on earth. Instead, the first image that comes to mind is a quiet, gentle approach to living, to humanity, and to all of creation. This posture of heart and mind is exemplified for me in the characters of a few movies and television programs: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Into Great Silence, Star Trek Insurrection, Star Trek The Inner Light, The Mission, and A River Runs Through It. It is this posture of heart and mind that caused St. Francis to gently move the earthworm off the walking path so as to not be crushed, to preach the gospel to the birds, and to tame the wolf of Gubio.

Are you even trying to live in heaven on earth? How difficult it can be to foster or maintain this posture of heart and mind in such a hectic, fast-paced, demanding, hostile, western world! How especially difficult when we don't make the effort to quiet ourselves daily!

Sustainability and Charitable Donations

Is was re-reading some of my journals from 10 years ago when I visited some refugee centers in Johannesburg, and they reminded me of some thoughts that I've had recently about some charitable donations, as well. We are often given a barrage of pleas for financial help for the poor, whether it is local or in another country, financial help that will be spent on food, clothing, medical supplies, and schooling. Often times, over 95% of the donations actually make it to the recipients. What has happened, through, in many cases is that the recipients have come to think of themselves as poor and perpetually in need of donations in order to survive. The problem with this is that it is not a sustainable plan. With some creativity, leadership, and education, I believe that most if not all of these situations can be turned around into short term projects that kick start systems and programs that enable the recipients to provide for themselves. Many of these kick starter projects can be completed in less than 1 year, some might take as long as 5 years. Once these kick starter projects are completed, the recipients have the potential to contribute significantly to the the world and to the kingdom of heaven on earth.

The alternative to this that I propose is to have a set of criteria for these programs and have them audited for following the criteria. The criteria could be something like this:

• limited time (max 5 years) and a dollar cap on donations and NGO presence in the program
• approved plan for how the program will build to self-sufficiency after the donations stop
• production of goods as a community
• education of recipients
• production of communities own food and water filtration strongly encouraged
• environmental friendliness encouraged
• sanitation and housing can expand and be provided by recipients
• follow appropriate technology guidelines, e.g. E.F. Schumacher
• feedback mechanism in place for soliciting and implementing improvements

As an example, let's take a look at the refugee situation in South Africa 10 years ago. Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and from southern Sudan were streaming into South Africa, and the South African government allowed them to enter and stay. However, the government did not provide any funding to pay for food or shelter for these refugees, which was also appropriate. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) took on the responsibility and many of these NGOs tried to incorporate education into their programs. The programs were not coordinated between NGOs, and each NGO was had staff attempting to raise funds (compete for funds in some cases) from the United States, the United Nations, and from Europe.

Using the alternative methodology proposed above, an NGO could draft plans for new villages of refugees in South Africa, built by the refugees who are fed for the first year with moneys from donations, and who in turn create an extensive organic farm that provides all of the food that the community needs. Each village would take care of its own recycling and composting, creating no landfills. Each village could focus on a particular craft, such as leather work, wood carving, hand-made clothing, or the like, and setup the [low tech] equipment for producing these crafts. The NGO could setup the initial agreements for foreign trade of these crafts to be sold in the host country and in other countries. The NGO could then pull out of the villages within 2 years, after ensuring that leadership is developed from among the refugees and that everything is working well.

Pay It Forward, Part 3

The non-profit company mentioned in the previous post, Pay It Forward Part 2, could focus on sustainable low-cost housing. The houses could be improved houses that are pre-existing, or they could be new houses built with sustainable materials and processes. A good goal to strive for would be a sustainable home for under $40,000. They would be sold on a rent-to-buy basis, with no interest and no profit.

Some of the improvements that could be targeted:

• Remove metal plumbing, recycle it, replace with PEX for supply lines and PVC for drains
• Replace old wiring with new
• Low-E windows
• Radiant floor heat
• Additional thermal capacity in increase passive solar gain in winter
• Southern glazing for additional solar gain in winter
• Tankless water heater
• Energy star appliances
• Zero VOC pain
• Organic vegetable gardens and orchard
• Chicken coop
• Rabbit run
• Non-asphault roof
• Rain water catchment system
• Gray water system
• Compost bins, vermiculture bins
• Masonry Heaters / Rocket Stoves
• Set of books and videos on how to manage it all

Some possible construction methods if building a new house:

• Cob
• Timber Frame
• Straw Bale
• Geodesic Dome
• Earthship
• Bermed or Underground
• Slipform Masonry
• Rubble Trench Foundation
• Earthen Floors

Pay It Forward, Part 2

Take the concept in the previous post, Pay It Forward Part 1, and manage it with a non-profit company.  The company could be formed with volunteer-only staff, with no brick-and-mortar offices to minimize expenses.  The non-profit could act as the property holder and organizer for the 0% interest rent-to-buy arrangements described in the previous post.  A small extra fee or a deposit could be kept for emergency repairs (e.g. after eviction), a legal defense fund, and insurance.  Agreements with buyers would need to be airtight and the buyers would need to have 100% responsibility for repairs and maintenance. Standards would need to be developed for the houses purchased, similar to HUD and FHA.

Pay It Forward, Part 1

It is said that one of the biggest investments that most people have at retirement age is their house.  It usually takes families 30-40 years to pay off their mortgage so they own the house free and clear.  This debt often causes families to work at jobs that they don't like, it causes stress, and causes them to feel tied down. 

An alternative to this is for the family to live in a less expensive house and pay it off earlier (with the same monthly payment amount).  After it is paid off, they would continue to make the same payments, but into a savings vehicle.  This savings would build up much faster since the interest is working for them, instead of against them.  When the savings builds up to the value of a house, they would buy a second house, paying cash for it, and "rent to buy" it to one of their kids or to someone else who needs a break.  The rent would go 100% to principle and taxes, no interest or PMI.  They can pay it off early without penalty, or pay for it with the minimum monthly payments, and own it free and clear much earlier than with a conventional mortgage.  The buyers would agree to participating in the same program, where they would save the same payment amount until they can buy a second house and spread the love.  Meanwhile, the first family would be getting payments back for the second house and continuing to put payments into savings, so they could buy their third house before the second house is paid for by the renters.  Because of the margin created by living in a less expensive house and not paying interest, this program has the potential to increase in velocity and spread far and wide.  The risk is fairly low since all houses are owned outright as soon as the first house is paid for.

As an example, we could look at a house purchased for $200,000 paid for with a $6,000 down payment and a fixed rate of interest at 5%, with monthly payments of $1,041 plus PMI and taxes (total monthly payment of ~$1,260 for the first 10 years, when it will drop to ~$1,208).  Over the course of 30 years, the family will actually spend $391,757 on the house, and by that time it will be worth $485,452 if inflation stays steady at 3%.  The alternative example for this family would be to buy a house for $150,000 with the same $6,000 down and a fixed rate of interest of 5% on a 30 year mortgage.  The minimum payment would be $729.63, with an estimated PMI and taxes of $161 per month.  This family would pay the same they would have paid on the $200,000 house ($1,260/month).  PMI would go away in less than 4 years, and the house would actually be paid for in less than 15 years (with the same down payment and monthly payments!).  For the next 15 years, they continue to pay property taxes (which also increase with inflation) but would save the amount that they had been paying towards principle, interest and insurance ($1,093) into a savings vehicle with 6% interest. At this point (at year 30), they have $341,000 in savings, and can buy a second house of the same value (their current house is worth $367,000 at this point) and "rent-to-buy" that second house out for $2,200/month ($300 for taxes, $1,900 towards the principle).  Now their savings is increasing by an additional $1,900 per month from the payments coming in for the second house.  From a net worth perspective, the family has greater net worth in the alternative scenario starting at month 2 due to the amount of money they lose in interest and PMI in the first scenario. 

My Search for a New Car

I was blessed earlier this spring to have totaled my car.  This was the first Honda Odyssey we owned, and we put 86,000 miles on it after the 120,000 it had when we bought it.  We paid $6800 for it and put another $1700 in repairs into it over the 7 years we owned it.  It was hit from behind 2 years ago, denting the back hatch, but it was still operable.  The insurance settlement from this accident was $2400.  The insurance settlement from totaling the car this spring was $3100.  All in all, we spent a net $3000 for this car, and got 86,000 miles out of it.  That's under $0.03 per mile!  My goal (taught to be by my dad and a family friend) was to spend less than $0.10 per mile for the purchase price and major repairs, minus the selling price (or in this case, the insurance settlements).

But, I wasn't satisfied with $0.03 per mile because of the rising prices of fuel and my increasing understanding of ecology.  At $3.50/gallon, getting 20 miles per gallon, I was paying 17.5 cents per mile on fuel alone.  So my new goal was to find a car that could stay under $0.10 per mile including purchase price, repairs, AND FUEL, minus selling price.  If I found another car as healthy as this van I just wrecked, I only had $0.07 per mile for fuel, so it would need to get 50 miles per gallon or better if gas stayed at $3.50 per gallon.  The next day, gas went up to $3.70 a gallon :)

If I look at electric vehicles (and I did, extensively), the calculations get more complicated.  Most electric vehicles don't advertise "miles per kilowatt hour" fuel efficiency.  They say that they are the equivalent of 120 mpg, but that is a point in time based on high gas prices and low electrical prices.  Still, this rough calculation is enough to satisfy me that I can stay under $0.07 per mile in fuel costs for quite a while.  And there are quite a few cars out there that look interesting.  Check out "The Elf" and "The Truckit" at  http://organictransit.com/  or take a look at all the electric vehicles at http://www.evtradinpost.com/.

After all my research and calculations, however, I've decided to do even better and ride my bike and walk.  I have a 2 mile commute to work and a 2 mile commute to the site where I'm building a house.  My wife has a Honda Odyssey to haul around our children, and she can occasionally give me rides in really bad weather.  I need the exercise, and the price of repairs (or even completely replacing the bike) every year is still cheaper than the electricity to charge an electric vehicle.

Reflection: Psalm 148 and The Canticle of Daniel

Psalm 148 and the canticle of Daniel (which is an addition to the book of Daniel found in the Septuagint, also known as the Prayer of Azariah) are very similar in that they both command all of creation to praise or bless the Lord.

"Praise him, sun and moon; praise him all you shining stars!"

"Bless the Lord, sun and moon; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.  Bless the Lord, stars of heaven; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever."

 When I read through all these parts of creation that are commanded to praise and bless the Lord, I think and meditate on how most of creation doesn't need to be told to praise or bless the Lord - they praise and bless the God just by being what they were created to be.  Sun and moon always have and always will bless the Lord.  Stars of heaven always have and always will praise him and highly exalt him.  It is when we get to humanity that the commands to praise and bless the Lord are not followed 100% of the time.  Or, do I give humanity too much credit?  This, of course, brings to mind Romans 9:16-23, where Paul reminds us that even the evil in the world is used to "make known the riches of his glory."  Perhaps we, also, always have and always will praise and bless the Lord, whether we choose to do so as objects of wrath or objects of mercy.

 

Reflection: Creation as Incarnation

Read Genesis 1:26 and 2:15,19-20. Do these passages apply to us today?  What does dominion really mean?

St Francis is the patron saint of ecology, and he viewed all of creations as a type of incarnation.  Ilia Delio put it succinctly in Care for Creation: "Francis teaches us that God is incarnate in all of creation, and that entering in the cloister of creation helps us to deepen out relationship with our Creator."

Do you think that care for creation is something that can be left up to a few individuals, or does the responsibility rest on all of us?  Can a person reach perfection in Christ without a respect for creation?

What is different about the United States that causes it to be the heaviest consumer of non-renewable natural resources and the biggest generator of pollution per capita on the planet?  Do these aspects lead us away from God, or towards God?  What does the antithesis of these aspects look like, from a political, economic, and cultural perspective?

One Way to Create Jobs in America

If the government would stop subsidizing chemical-based commercial agriculture, consider the consequences.  The price of the products produced by these farmers would go up, taxes could go down (or stay the same but come closer to a balanced budget), organic food could compete with chemical-based food on price, consumers would buy more organic food.  Organic food production is more labor intensive, so jobs would be created.  Pollution would decrease in streams, rivers, and oceans.  Lower demand for chemical fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, and GMO seeds would make their prices increase even more, thus making organic prices even more appealing. Local farms would spring up like crazy because demand would return.  People would, over time, be eating healthier food and would have fewer medical problems, thus relieving some of the burden on the healthcare industry and the perceived need for government controled insurance.  More money for food would be kept in the local economy rather than amassing in large multi-national corporations.  Large food recalls would decrease since the food supply would be produced more and more by small local farmers. Transportation of food would decrease, thus decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and decreasing the amount of pollution created.  Food would be selected for flavor and nutrition rather than shippability and shelf life.  Farms would tend to be polycultural rather than monocultural, thus decreasing the risk of blights and pests.  Soil fertility would start to increase rather than decrease, due to soil management practices utilizing manure and mineral balancing techniques.  Large chemical based farms would eventually go out of business and those farmers (approximately 1% of the population) would have to find something else to do, possibly small scale local farming.  The number of farmers would increase from 1% to 5%.  If we create jobs for 4% of the population (~8% of the workforce), we just solved unemployment.  All by cutting a backwards subsidy.

Reader's Block

Last night, a friend mentioned that there was a book that was given to him a while back that he started to read and had to put it down - it was too much for him at the time - then he picked it up again in a year and it was great.  Ive had a similar experience with A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly, Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and No Man Is an Island by Thomas Merton, though I haven't yet gotten to the "picked it up again" part.  I wonder if it's better for me to try and force myself through a difficult book, or give myself time...

Easing Into Farming

My interest in farming goes back to my childhood, one of those prodigious moments I can still remember, telling my parents I wanted to be a rice farmer when I grew up.  By the time I got to high school, my opinion had changed about farming, since it was obviously hard work and little compensation, and I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps and be an engineer.  A few years after college, as a software engineer, I bought my first house and had to replace the water heater, which introduced me to tankless water heaters, and that mind opening experience brought me full circle to discovering sustainable agriculture.  Our family still in the process of transitioning to sustainable, ecological farming, and I wanted to share some of our thought processes and plans. 

I’ve been reading Acres, USA for 3 years now, and have attended two of the conferences.  I’ve read several books, and have been inspired by farmers like Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, and Stacey Roussel of All We Need Farms.  But we’re taking it slow.  With my background in computers, two failed startup companies, and my introspective nature, I’ve noticed that I need hands on experience and apprenticeship before I plunge in on a new venture.  So, we are transitioning slowly, focusing on homesteading first, and learning one new skill each year, then we plan to develop markets for farm products.  Another part of the slowness is our sustainable approach: we want to buy animals for the farm once and breed them for a flock/herd/colony that sustains itself rather than continuing to buy new baby animals each year.  Building up the size of the flock/herd/colony takes time, but in the end is more profitable and better for food security and health.

Here is a high-level timeline of the progress and plans we’ve made:

2006, the year of the garden

·         Garden: 16 square foot garden in the backyard

2007, the year of the land

·         Garden: started preparing 200 sq ft beds for next year with horse manure, started compost pile

·         House: found a 4 acre property that was fairly well hidden from the road, and bought it with plans of building.

2008, the year of the house design

·         Garden: raised 200 square feet, added cow manure, bought precision seeder

·         House: started designing a timber-framed straw-bale home with a radiant slab

2009, the year of the foundation

·         Garden: 3900 square feet raised beds with horse manure and cow manure, built seed starting shelf, bought seed starting heat pads

·         House: finished the house design, poured the foundation walls

2010, the year of the frame cutting

·         Garden: 3900 square feet again

·         House: poured the radiant slab, went to Maine for a week to learn timber framing from Steve Chappell, purchased timbers, and started cutting the joints

2011, the year of the frame raising

·         Garden: reduced to 1300 square feet.  Built soil fertility on remaining 2600 square feet (brought in several pickup loads of free horse manure), built larger compost bins

·         House: finished cutting joints for the timber frame, raised the frame and put the first layer of roof on

·         Rabbits: bought 20 used rabbit cages

2012, the year of the rabbit

·         Garden: expand garden to 2600 square feet, compost rabbit manure

·         House: finish roof, raise straw bale walls, install windows and exterior doors

·         Rabbits: buy 1 rabbit buck and 2 does (NZ Whites or Giant Chinchillas), hoping to raise 6 litters total for 36-48 fryers for ourselves.  Experiment with pastured rabbits and caged/pelleted rabbits.

·         Chickens: build/buy equipment for sustainable pastured poultry (tractors, greenhouse with worm bins, brooders, processing equipment, maggot production, BSF production) next year

2013, the year of the broiler chicken

·         Garden: continue at 3900 square feet, compost rabbit manure

·         House: finish interior of house: interior walls and doors, plumbing, electrical, cabinets, appliances, and move in!

·         Rabbits: expand to 10 does + 1 buck, producing 180-240 fryers, establish market, establish LLC

·         Chickens: start a sustainable Black Australorp flock, producing eggs for consumption, chicks for broilers, and chicks to grow and succeed the flock – goal of having 2 roosters and 30 laying hens by the end of the year

2014, the year of the egg chicken

·         Garden: continue with 3900 square feet

·         House: build garage, finish bedrooms upstairs

·         Rabbits: expand to 20 does + 2 bucks, producing 360-480 fryers

·         Chickens: goal to produce 10 dozen eggs/week, and breed in the spring for 120-240 chicks => keep 30 hens and 2 roosters to further the flock, the rest are broilers

·         Cows:  build/purchase equipment for building a sustainable Jersey herd, with mobile dairy equipment that meets inspection standards

2015, the year of the cow

·         Garden: continue with 3900 square feet

·        Rabbits: expand to 40 does + 4 bucks, producing 720-960 fryers

·         Chickens: produce 20 dozen eggs/week, and breed in the spring for 240-480 chicks => keep 60 hens and 4 roosters to further the flock, the rest are broilers

·         Cows:  buy 8 heifers and 1 bull, breed 4 of the heifers, all raised on pasture

2016, the year of the beef and dairy cow

·        Garden:continue with 3900 square feet

·        Rabbits:expand to 40 does + 4 bucks, producing 720-960 fryers

·        Chickens:produce 20 dozen eggs/week, and breed in the spring for 240-480 chicks => keep 60 hens and 4 roosters to further the flock, the rest are broilers

·        Cows:  breed remaining 4 heifers, finish 4 beeves on grass, produce 12 gallons/day, split between raw milk for consumption, yogurt, cheese, sour cream, butter