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 Skills for sustainability advert I was thinking of running an advert in the local paper here… and thought I would keep it simple.. interested to know what anythinks of that.. is just a web address ok? I was going for as few words as possible and self explanatory.. or maybe I should go high tech and do graphics and stuff… but i thought in the local paper, keep it simple with a catchycouple of phrases and a link was about right.. hmmmm.. answers on a postcard please  Food Inc at the Workhouse 
The second session of our 20 week course on organic growing,… it was brilliant to pick up a couple more members for the course this week – we have passed the minimum number required for it to progress for the funding, and its still not too late to join in if you want, – we are running this weekely session right through to the end of July its a 3 hour a week workshop – a chance to talk about it, do it , try it at home. So, organic gardening is all about healthy, open soil well fed with compost. It is all about feeding the microbes and worms, and keeping the soil open, free draining and not compacted. Hence the reason why we are building the raised beds. Soil, well its the key ingredient isn’t it. So what are the main types.. well the first and main way to tell soils apart is the size of the rock particles it is comprised of – Emma showed us a range from course sand, to fine clay. Pretty much all soils (in termperate climate) fall on a line between sand and clay. A mix of the two, the other key variable being the humic content, the amount of dark, decaying organic matter that it contains. Clay soils, with small tighly packed particles also hold water and nutrients much mor than sand, Where as sandy soils are free draining and warm up much more quickly in spring. So both types has relative advantages, and of course what you are really looking for is a good mix of both. A decent content of humous is of course essential as this contains many essential plant nutrients and allows the soil to act as a sponge and hold on water and not dry out too quickly.
Illustrated by the box of balls in the picture, bigger particles have much bigger gaps, so water obviously passes through more easily So the first we did was to judge the clay – sand content. So sqeezing a small amount of soil into ball and then rolling out into a sausage between your fingers really gives a feel for its stickyness, and feel for the particel sizes. Also placing a sample in jamjar of water and leaving it to settle out gives a good indication of the character of your soil. The other key test of course is Ph, the acidity/ alkalinity of your soil will make a difference as to what you can successfully grow.  Litmus test - a very alkaline soil from a sample taken locally In certain conditions nutrients can be locked up in the soil, they may be there but are not available to the plants, so it is important to have an idea as to its levels. We used a cheap kit from a gardeni shop, more accurate analysis can be had by sending a sample away for mineral content analysis as awell as PH. With 6 riased beds to fill the plan is try out different techniques with each one, so we get the feel and experinece of them, the first one we are going to good old fashoned double dig bed. Grandand allotment gardening style is how i see that, its always important to get your basics right. The principle is this, remove the top soil, the richer darker more friable and fertile part of the soil, 10-15 cm, say and then fork up and loosen the firmer more compact and stonier sub soil, covering over with a layer of well rotten compost or manure, then replacing the lossened topsoil back on top. Its a chance to remove any big perrennial weeds, and feed up the soil whilst avoiding mixing it up and disturbing it too much. Having replaced the topsoil we covered the sil with fleecey garden fabric which will help warm the soil and also protects it from the sun. The plan is to plant hardy peas and beans in this bed next week.  double dig Its great to be out in the spring sunshine and meeting some great new people.. I am excitied about the idea of having a course like this spread over 5 months, I am more used to working at the intensity of a residental 3 day or even 14 days course, so hese bight size chunks of 4 hours a week is a whole new experience for me. I am promising myself to keep up this blog and record our weekly progress, adn keep a record hopefully of what we have learned. I am very welcome an input from any of my fellow students out there..  The finished, double dug raised bed, with protecting fleece cover It feels like a good exercise to keep an on line diary of the whole growing season… and hopefully should create an interesting record.  Measuring the beds We held the first part of our 20 week organic gardening course at the Workhouse on thursday, and we will be running this for the duration of the growing season right up to the end of July. Its 12.30-3.30 every Thursday, designed so people attending can collect kids from school and to support you throughout the growing season. It is not too late for latecomers to join us for at least a couple more weeks and we will update anyone who has missed some of the content. The first session went very well and I am hopeful that this will be a great course. I already feel like I have learned a lot. We are building 6 new beds and will be planting them up and managing them as the practical part of the course, so you will get the theory and the practical experience of growing. Its a simple system, tried and tested.. the beds are 1.2m wide, so you can easily reach over it without have to stand on the soil. There is a path every 3m which also reduces the remptation to jump over the bed to get to the other side. the long paths are 1.2m wide, which is plenty wide enough for a wheel barrow or wheel chair and the short paths are 1.5m which allows extra width if required for access. The key thing being that we must not stand on the soil as it compacts it and negates all the the hard work done on preparing it in the first place. Especially in organic systems we are relying on soil microbes and earthworms to maintain the fertility and as these all generally are oxygen breathing organisms them we dont want to squash all the air out of the soil.  New raised beds at the Workhouse A point about raised beds… they dont need to have boxed-in sides in wood, slate or whatever.. and having sides has certain advantages and disadvantages. At the Workhouse where we occasionally have big public events and all sorts of other activities it is important for us to make it clear where people can and cant walk. So by building very clear defined beds we should be able to accomplish that without having to use keep off signs and other unfriendly things like that. Good design should show where you can and cant walk. So we do aim to build a nice boxed in beds for this reason. Also as Emma Maxwell, the course tutor pointed out, they also look better if they are for example down to green manure, it looks more purposeful and less like a bunch of weeds, again a consideration for a public place. But if you jsut want to mound up the earth with no sides, then its your call.. its less places for the slugs to hide and less work for you, so you decide. There are still places available and its only £30 for the whole 20 weeks if you are on tax credits and there is a 100% grant available for those without any level 1 qualifications (eg g.c.s.e)..at full price its only £110, so its only about £5 a week! If you are interested and maybe have some questions then please just get in touch!  studying in the spring sunshine The Workhouse is an interesting place to be thinking about sustainability and the challenges the transition process is going to throw up for us. Basically back in the day when the place was populated by paupers much of the work they were engaged in at the Workhouse was in maintaining themselves. Anything they could not produce for them selves had to be levied from taxes which of course was never popular. As I understand it each 20 parishes had to fund a Workhouse, so they were never happy about the idea of paying for people to be idle. They did all sorts of work there, like unpicking old rope and breaking stones, but i suspect more of it was to do with self maintenance; growing and preparing food, making, washing and mending their clothes and all that stuff. So they were engaged in their own kind of local economy, albeit for different reasons.. but it is a poignant reminder of the realities we might be faced with in a post oil world. For many the Workhouse is a history project, preserving the past, and not forgetting how our society was, not really that long ago.. for me it is very much a sustainability project, learning from the past.. and a key lesson is that community and a strong local economy is what is at the heart of sustainability. Much of the potential for the project down there is to use to build the sustainability agenda into local community.. weave that thread back into our daily and local lives. Growing and sharing food, managing the landscape, recycling resources and trading with each other as much as we can for things that we really need. It might start with growing a few vegetables but for me the vision is about extending that through co-operation to housing, business and finance.. But lets not get ahead of our selves… its back to learning the 4 course rotation and relearning our gardening principles on this course and that is not a bad starting point.  Dragon fruit Really interesting story on the Worldwatch site on forest gardens in Mexico. Basically it seems agromonists tried to introduce Dragon fruit as a cash crop in a Mayan part of Mexico some 15 years ago, but as soon as funding dried up for concrete posts and trellises required by their system the specialists left. The point is that the tradtional farmers adapted the growing technique to fit into their forest garden practices. Using living trellises of trees of their other crops to support the vine. So now the agromonists are back studying the traditional systems so they can learn from the farmers. It is a real insight into how good ideas might take root in our post oil future. It is proof that these Mayan villages and their ancient agricultural arts are not just vestiges of a lost way of life; they are crucial models that could teach us “moderns” how to farm in ways that work with, not in spite of, our surrounding ecosystems. So the link to Wales of course is that we running a short day introduction to forest gardening at Ynyslas on Saturday next. forest gardenins is a productive low maintenance system that can be adapted to suit any climate conditions on the planet. Many of the ideas have evolved from the tropics, Robert Hart famously adapted his forest garden idea from observations made in Kerala, in tropical India. Obviously with much less light and solar energy there is a need to adapt the system to fit our temperate climate, so the whoel area of temperate forest gardening is a very interesting area to be investigating. there are literally 1000’s of plants that love the forest edge situation, and careful use of light and spacing create fantastic opportunities for productive edible landscaping.  Shaving yurt poles on a home made brace Well actually as I write this its the first part of the 20 week organic gardening course. But we are booking for the next 3 day yurt making course at the moment, coming up on the 19 20 21st of March. There is plenty of oppotunity for people to catch up with the 20 week course even if they miss the first one or 2 classes. Buts its 12.30-3.30pm at the Workhouse starting Thursday this week and then onwards until July. We will miss out the school holiday weeks, which is 3 times . But yes otherwise it is Yurts next which is three days of green wood work, steam bending and making to keep your own yurt wheel, whilst working on the the other sections as well, picking experience and training in all the skills required to make your own versatile low impact dwelling. It is a very satisfactory and rewarding experience with no special experience required. This is one of our most popular short courses. We are also offering a special 2 day introduction to green wood working on 17th and 18th with some coppice work and hopefully making some green wood working jigs and tools. There are a couple of places potentially available on this, which is a new course and is being designed and run for a specific customer, but we could offer a couple more places if required. I am very excited already about the May PDC.. and we are taking bookings for that as well, there are still places but we have had a fair amount of interest.. We are planning practicals and visits for that at the moment and have got some very interesting people coming along so far.  Windpower workshop, Feb 2010 The Sector39 crew are working away this year putting together what we are calling ours ‘Skills for Sustainability Programme.‘ The idea is to offer crash courses, tasters, introduction, skill-sharing and networking events in key areas like local food, energy, bees, fruit trees etc. whatever we need to equip ourselves to relocalise at least some of our food and energy production. We have had a lot of success with our 2 week permaculture courses and we are busy thinking how to break some of that into smaller chunks, to make it accessible to a broader range of people. Focussing on the skills, practical stuff and areas where there is the most common interest and seems to make a lot of sense as a starting place. So organic growing – especially veg. is one starting point and we have a one day and 20 week – (Thursday afternoons) course a coming up. The 20 week one is externally funded, so don’t be shy about getting a place on it, it is potentially free. And the other big one we are trying out for the first time is the Build your own wind turbine course, Its 3 days at the Workhouse last weekend of this month with V3power, a bunch of guys from Nottingham who run these courses all over the place. We are really keen to get some people on this one, so please get in touch if you are interested, find out how to part pay in Dolydd’s or time dollars These 1,2 and three days courses are lively and informative and also of course create a platform for people to share their knowledge and experience and come together to celebrate creativity and ingenuity. Get in touch with us to find out more – but here are the details of the 3 day wind turbine course Introduction to building a Wind Turbine Friday 26th February to Sunday 28th February 2010 The Workhouse, Llanfyllin, Powys, SY22 5LE This weekend course covers all the practical elements of building a wind turbine and gives an overview of all the technical aspects needed to create a wind based renewable energy system. We hope to build a working 1.2m wind turbine over course of the weekend. Over the weekend, participants will get hands on experience in metal work including welding a turbine mounting, carving wooden blades and building the electrical generator. We will also explore some of the theoretical aspects of building and installing a turbine, such as blade design, sighting your turbine and appropriate systems for storage and usage of the power you generate. The course is suitable for complete beginners who haven’t used a tool since school, and for people with plenty of practical and technical knowledge looking to supplement what they already know. We are very excited to be able to run a course in conjunction with the vibrant Workhouse project. The Workhouse is a centre for arts and environmental education set in the stunning Cain Valley mid Wales. The Workhouse is already home to the highly acclaimed Workhouse festival and is developing an exciting range of music, theatre, and arts events and a broad spectrum of educational and training courses including permaculture design, green crafts and music technology. For more information about the venue please visit: www.llanfyllinworkhouse.org The course costs £200 including food. Accomodation will include limited spaces inside the workhouse and camping in the grounds; there are also a number of local B&Bs for those that would prefer. It’s sure to be a lovely weekend, getting to know all the different participants at a beautiful rural location. A discount is also available for people who are unwaged. Please ask. To book on to the course, please email info@v3power.co.uk and you can check out our website www.v3power.co.uk to see more about who we are and what we do. There is more info here at S39 The next five years will see us face another crunch – the oil crunch. This time, we do have the chance to prepare. The challenge is to use that time well. As we reach maximum oil extraction rates, the era of cheap oil is behind us. We must plan for a world in which oil prices are likely to be both higher and more volatile and where oil price shocks have the potential to destabilise economic, political and social activity. Quote from the Itpoes report Feb 2010 (Industry Task force on Peak Oil and Energy Security) Read the whole report Oil supply past and projected I have already posted quite a lot of stuff on Peak oil but this is a very good contemporary report that brings it all into sharp focus. Supported by folk such as Branson, on the sharp end of the business world and looking ahead, Jeremy Leggett, oil geologist turncoat – who defected to the solar industry and the CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy. Basically it is saying when the global economy starts to pick up again (if ) then there won’t be the spare capacity in the oil infrastructure to satisfy demand. Or not for long, it examines three different scenarios, none good if you are a ‘business as usual’ kind thinking person. In fact as prices for energy have been relatively low until last year, then there has been massive under-investment in new drilling, wells and other infrastructure, as well as training the next generation of oil engineers. So the time lag on developing the new fields that have been found is going to be a significant factor too. It also reminds us that 5% of global production come from one field, Ghawar in Saudi, and it is over 50 years old now and they are having to pumping 100,000 tonnes of sea water underneath it to keep the pressure up, it could fail at any moment. For all the high technology, satelite imaging and computer processing power we now have at our disposal the world has not found a new super giant field anything like this since 1961. Rather even than worrying where the peak is, perhaps the more pertinant question to ask is ‘how much longer can we hope to sustain current levels of 86m b/d production?’. It is all starting to look a bit precarious. We need to be scaling down our fossil fuel demands now, just on the scarcity issue, let alone the climate change issue. One the climate change subject, if we aren’t all bored of having to repeatedly have those conversations over again on the subject -do check the Skeptical Science website.. sceptical of climate sceptics that is.. very well laid out arguments and data on the old Climate change chestnut. I increasingly think that actually there is no point to trying to imagine we can find a cure the problem, everyone agrees to treaty on climate change any. its absurd. it matters not really, more is just going all out to invest in renewables and stop kidding ourselves. Peak Oil. Climate change.. whatever.. we just have to concentrate on fostering self reliance, re-localisation, stronger communities etc..low input, productive farming systems.. the rest will sort its self out then . eventually everyone will be forced to realise that low energy sustainable systems are not a political choice, or some kind of opinion, it is a simple imperative, based on physics and biology.
 With the moon at its closest to earth, sunset at the north Pole last week Not really relevant , but I couldn’t resist posting this stunning image that has been rattling its way around the Internet all week. It is of sunset at the North Pole, with the Moon at its nearest point to earth – somehow it serves as a metaphor for the times we are in. Serious change is upon us.. the moon is at its nearest and the oil age is ending! One cycle leads to another. $12 million dollars an hour!… That’s what the Chinese are spending on renwable energy generation and clean technologies at the moment, a recent conference heard The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has reported that China “doubled its entire installed capacity each year since 2005.” Last year, they became the largest wind market in the world, passing the U.S. and Europe. The USA installed 9.9 gigawatts; they installed 13. China is now also producing nearly 50% of the world’s solar cells annually, but that’s likely to grow to 70%. And they’re doing it more cheaply than their established German counterparts. (In fact, German companies have been finding it’s cheaper to buy from the Chinese than it is to make their own.) For all the negative China stories ( they are building a new coal power station every 8 weeks or whatever) the reality is they are clear focussed on investment in sustainable energy; yes they have just signed a huge coal deal with (climate change denying) Australia (I wonder why) but a large part of that coal generated energy is going to be used to build renewables. (See Energy and Capital for source) and rest largely to make cheap throw away shit for the US/ EU market – because we are still suckers for that shit. Not only that, but China is also planning to invest heavily in renewables factories and plant in the US, while the rest of the world is bickering about the details of climate change accords, it seems to me that China is going ahead full steam in converting its huge economy to be the first to really corner the renewables market. Maybe the whole AGW debate is a red herring, we dont even have to come with an agreement, or maybe we do but basically we just need to get on with it… but whilst the children in parliament bicker and fight we just need to get on with the inevitable.. oil is running out, the carbon age is over all bar the shouting and anyone who is not seeing the emerging picture really needs to go the opticians and get their eyes checked. (or their economists fired) Invest in renewable energy generation and energy efficency, relocalise your food supply, and start researching into organics and teaching the nation permaculture design, anything else is simply a waste of time. We have been travelling in the wrong direction for a long time, and just because we as a nation and economy have so much invested in consumerism and oil use, still doesn’t change the fact that we have been wasting our energies going in the wrong direction and we have to change. As James Howard Kuntsler has said – the sub-urban consumerist economy has been the biggest mis-allocation of resources in our planet’s history. $12 Million an hour.. that is serious investment and that is what it takes to turn this juggernaut around.. meanwhile we are pumping our savings and putting ourselvs in hock for a generation or more trying to prop up a collapsing economic paradigm. Oh yes lets us bail out the poor car industry…. no lets not!  Oil is not the future.. Greenpeace image from a recent campaign Hot off the press! We are teaming up with Emma Maxwell and Coleg Harlech to offer a 20 week (60 hour) certificated course in organic gardening at the Workhouse. The course will be for 3 hours a week, on a Thursday afternoons from 12.30 – 3.30, and it is planned so that people needing to collect children from the local school can still attend. Each week there will be a mixture of theory and practial and the course will be there to support you right through the growing season. (We wont be running sessions on the 2 weeks of the easter holiday and the half term week and there will be one practical saturday session in April (tbc). Its £190 per person for the whole 20 week course, and the good news is that it will be straightforward to get funding via WEA or the ILA Wales. Prices are flexible (fixed by WEA) If you are retired on a penions or full benefits then it is £140. Those on means tested benefits (eg tax credits) then its £40 for the whole course. Those without any level 1 qualifications (eg GCSE) can apply for an ILA and get 100% funding for the course Call them on their freephone number to apply for your grant. You can book your place via the Coleg Harlech. We are just confirming all the details, so watch this space but I am keen to advertise the course as it starts soon.  20 week (60 hour) organic gardening course at the Workhouse |
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