Your Daily Permaculture News from Ireland

Plant propagation and Increasing your stock.

Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. This is a great time of the year to engage with this way of increasing your garden/smallholding for free.

Now is the time to…MULCH!

In agriculture and gardening, mulch is a protective cover placed over the soil to retain moisture, reduce erosion, provide nutrients, and suppress weed growth and seed germination.

This is the best time of the year to do that…before the soil begins to cool off as the Autumn sets in. That way, the soil is warm as it is mulched and this keeps in the heat to a fair degree, which is good for the plants and life forms.

Mulching in gardens and landscaping mimics the leaf cover that is found on forest floors.

Making Compost

As you progress through permaculture, you will find you have access to more and more compostable materials in your garden/smallholding/farm. This is, simply a golden opportunity for your land to benefit from compost!

Compost can be rich in nutrients.  The compost itself is beneficial for the land in many ways, including as a soil conditioner, a fertilizer, addition of vital humus or humic acids, and as a natural pesticide for soil.

In ecosystems, compost is useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation and wetland construction.

Compost  is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment.

Compost is a key ingredient in Permaculture. At its most essential, the process of composting requires simply piling up waste outdoors and waiting a year or more.

Perennial Crops

Perennial crops are crops planted and grown to reduce inputs necessary to produce food. By greatly reducing the need to replant crops from year-to-year, perennial cropping can reduce topsoil losses due to erosion and increase biological carbon sequestration within the soil. Rhubarb is a great example of perennial cropping, though division every 4-5 years is necessary. This is also a perfect way of increasing the crop yield and spreading the planting base.

And Flowers to feed the bees and the soul…

And…one ab fab simple permaculture idea!

The idea was pioneered by Brazilian Engineer Alfredo Mozer in 2002 –

Check this video out —  Solar bottle lights in the Philippines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBWi3NtND68&feature=share via @youtube