World Organic News - Mrjonmoore - Conservation Farming, Permaculture, Organic Gardening, Organic Farming, Climate Change.

Links Cricket Is Just a Better Chicken http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eZa Joel Salatin: Polyface Farm Small Scale Farming the Only Way Forward http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-f1B UN Reports: Wake Up Before it’s Too Late UN report from 2010 **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 8th of May 2017. Jon Moore reporting! From the blog ilkkataponen comes an infographic post: Cricket Is Just a Better Chicken. The premise of this infographic is industrial. The argument goes like this: insects use less water, pollute less and are a better form of protein for us than beef, pork, chevon, lamb or poultry. In a factory setting, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and poultry suffer unspeakably in factory farming situations. Part of the argument in favour of moving to crickets or locusts or whatever insect you might choose is that they will suffer less because their living requirements are far less demanding than the “higher”, in inverted commas, animals. This is a questionable starting point. These animals do have nervous systems and,

LINKS What I said at the NOSB meeting last week http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eU7 UNFI Foundation http://www.unfifoundation.org/Pages/MissionandPriorities.aspx Soil carbon 'a saviour' in locking up carbon http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/soil-carbon-%E2%80%98a-saviour%E2%80%99-in-locking-up-carbon/8460928#transcript Strezelechi **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 1st of May 2017. Jon Moore reporting! I’d like to start this week with a big thank you to dsearlybird12’s comment on Podbean: “interesting and pertinent”! Thank you! Now to the blog: Organic Matters by Melody Meyer and a series of posts on the National Organic Standards Board. Melody spoke on behalf of United Natural Foods. She spoke about the need for market driven solutions within the organic food sector. Quote: It’s the dollars and cents, the economic growth that organic represents for producers, manufacturers and retailers. For consumers, it’s the option to have an informed choice through the USDA label. Expan

LINKS The Benefits of Drinking Organic Coffee http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eRv ANZAC DAY How I Went From Tormented Veteran, to Peaceful Homesteader. http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eQD Why mulch? http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ePw Organic OU http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eMu **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 17th of April 2017. Jon Moore reporting! I’d like to start this week with a big thank you to hunnybunny73 from Gypsyhomestead. You may recall I quoted from this blog last episode and received a delightful comment on the About page of the blog. Thank you hunnybunny73, I was touched by your kind words and yes, we are saving the world, one cabbage at a time! Now to this week’s stories. We have a post from Muddy Waters Coffee Co. entitled:The Benefits of Drinking Organic Coffee. Now this podcast and the blog a fueled by copious amounts of coffee so it’s always great to find some bias confirmation. The post offers four benefits of organic coffee: 1 It’s Chemical Free 2 It’s Nutritious 3 It tastes better 4 It’s healthy Seems far e

Links: The Real Food Chain The Real Food Chain Facebook Page The Real Food Chain Twitter Page World Organic News (Jon’s site) Michael Pollan interviewed by Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman The Real Food Chain podcast No.1 The first podcast for The Real Food Chain gave us — co-hosts Rich Bowden and Jon Moore — a chance to say hello and discuss our aims for this new Oz-themed wholefoods show. We chatted about how wholefoods is really a return to the past of food production. We explore how organic food is not a new concept at all, but a return to the ways our grandparents farmed and ate real food — sans chemicals. Key quote: Organic food is what they used to call food ~ Jon Moore In the second half of the show, you can hear me (Rich) talk about who we are aiming at reaching with the website and podcast. The answer is it’s ordinary people, like us. Those of you who are interested in organic foods for health foods but may not be able to afford the premium that organic grocers attract. Or perhaps you need to change your

LINKS 5 things I learnt from living on a permaculture farm http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eEP   5 Things I wish I knew About Homesteading Before I Started http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eFj 5 Things To Love About Homesteading http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eFJ **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 17th of April 2017. Jon Moore reporting! This week we are on a journey of fives. 5 Things I learnt from Permaculture, 5 Things I wish I’d known about Homesteading and 5 Things to Love about Homesteading. From the blog: She Googled and She Went comes the post: 5 things I learnt from living on a permaculture farm. This is a really good read. Practical, common sense stuff for everyone. I’ll quote two of the five things learnt. Quote: Do every job with pride, and of course, use your brains. There are many ways to get things done – in permaculture, the word that stuck with me was optimisation. Using edges to achieve a multiplier effect and maximise output. And Find your purpose, and the people who share it. Being a permaculture newbie,

LINKS Humus and Clay... http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eAT John Seymour Masanobu Fukuoka Daikon radish Start your own Organic Garden: 7 tips! http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eB5 Sustainability Through Compost Tea. http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eDW Ten Acres Enough **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 10th of April 2017. Jon Moore reporting! This week we focus on the soil! From the blog of LaToya M. Crick Soil Food Web Consultant comes a post on humus and clay. Quote: Clay and humus play an important role in soil structure and plant growth, however, too much of one of them is frustrating and too little of the other is a pending death sentence. What is clay? Clay in soil is a fine-grained natural rock or soil material and appears in deposits due to weatherization. ( If you are living in Brazoria County, Texas then you are living on a deposit- ha!) Clay can appear in soil in various colors from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red. A clay particle is finer than silt and sand and according to geologist and soil scie

LINKS Silent Spring By Rachel Carson Greenpeace Australia “Victories” Page http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/about/greenpeace-victories/ Australia's 'angry summer' smashes unprecedented extreme weather records http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2016/s4632148.htm THE DEBATE OF OUR TIME | Forgotten soil http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-cnD **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 3rd of April 2017. Jon Moore reporting! This week we are off on a tangent. The Trump Administration’s reversal of the Obama Administration’s executive orders regarding coal, climate change and the EPA forced me to think about what is going on in this world. Over my lifetime there have been many environmental battles. From the “No Dams” campaign in Tasmania which ran from 1976 to 1983 to actions on Roundup and GMOs we, on the side of Nature, have had some wins, many losses. The problem is we organise and effect change on single issues meanwhile the destruction of soil, of landscape, of the very atmosphere we breath continues as i

Links No Dirt Gardening! http://wp.me/s5Cqpo-55805 A "Natural" Experiment: GMO farming. http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ewG **** This is the World Organic News Podcast for the week ending 27th of March 2017. Jon Moore reporting! We begin this week with post from farmer406: No Dirt? No problem: Strawbale Gardening. Quote: The concept of growing food from a bale of straw was odd at first until I thought it through. Commercial growers have been using alternative growing mediums for years, so why not scale it down for the backyard Do-It-Yourselfer? It is, of course, different than growing in dirt. End quote. The idea is to line up a row of straw bales into garden beds. Turn the bales so as to have the stems facing vertically and the bale twine on the sides. This allows for better water retention and the twine doesn’t rot as quickly, usually lasting the entire first season. The bales are then wetted and some sort of fertiliser added to the top. This done to start the decomposition process. A fish and or kelp based fertiliser

Links   World Organic News in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here   organic food shouldn’t be considered special. instead, cheap food made with harmful chemicals should be considered shitty. – crimson highway http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-etp   Hugelkultur: a first time for everything | Life, Death, & Radishes http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eta   Here’s the link to: The World Organic News No Dig Gardening Book   ****   This is the World Organic News for the week ending 20th of March 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   This week we begin with spirited post from crimson highway entitled: organic food shouldn’t be considered special. instead, cheap food made with harmful chemicals should be considered shitty.   As I said this is a spirited piece and if you click through be aware of strong, even offensive language. The point though, is well made. As we have discussed in earlier episodes, the health costs of chemically forced, pesticide laden food are not included in their sale price. That zillions of carrots can be grown across a

Links WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here Why Vertical Farms Fail | The Urban Vertical Farming Project http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eqj Orchard understory – Mortal Tree http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eq8 **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 13th of March 2017. Jon Moore reporting! This week we begin with some soul searching and self analysis from the blog The Urban Vertical Farming Project and their post: Why Vertical Farms Fail. This is an unusual post as it is brutally honest. It is therefore, extremely useful. It is a summary of a panel discussion which you can find by following the link in the show notes.   There are three main points the post brings to light: 1) If you can’t sell it, don’t grow it! 2) Focus on trying to do one thing well and 3) scissor lifts and why they don’t work.   Let’s look at these one at a time. If you can’t sell it don’t grow it! This is certainly the case when the growing system is seeds in one end and food out the other. Knowing your market is essen

Links WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here   Conventional not Organic Farmers Should Pay a Premium | Positive Health Leadership http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-emE ****   This is the World Organic News for the week ending 8th of March 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   This week we begin with a very interesting notion: Conventional not Organic Farmers Should Pay a Premium from the blog: Positive Health Leadership.   This is an idea that’s been rolling round in the back of my mind for sometime. From the post: Quote: Currently, organic farmers pay a premium to grow and sell organic food – while conventional farmers pay nothing additional.  This also translates to a higher cost to consumers for organic food.  Thus it is a deterrent from buying or growing organic food. Despite the premium costs associated with organic foods, reports suggest purchases of organic foods are growing dramatically, over 100% per year. End Quote.   There’s more to this than meets the eye!   A further quote: Quote: From a syste

Links WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here   Five Notable Organic Gardening Methods | Garden Variety http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ej0   Keyhole Garden Images https://www.google.com.au/search?q=keyhole+gardens&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU695AU695&espv=2&biw=1296&bih=648&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjiyL_c8aTSAhXKjpQKHfEgCuQQ_AUIBigB   Hugelkultur Images https://www.google.com.au/search?q=keyhole+gardens&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU695AU695&espv=2&biw=1296&bih=648&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjiyL_c8aTSAhXKjpQKHfEgCuQQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=hugelkultur&*   Lasagna Garden Images https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Deep+Mulch+Gardening&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU695AU695&espv=2&biw=1296&bih=648&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY7JD98qTSAhVDtpQKHQPbAWIQ_AUIBygC#tbm=isch&q=+Lasagna+Gardening   ****   This is the World Organic News for the week ending 27th of February 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   This week

Links WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here   The Push & Pull Technology – Foolish Family Farm http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ehh Push-Pull http://www.push-pull.net/   Rice – Duck – Azolla – Fish Cultivation: An Example of Sustainable Farming – Foolish Family Farm http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ehk The Azolla Foundation http://theazollafoundation.org/features/rice-duck-azolla-loach-cultivation/ Paying Off the Farm! Regenerative Agriculture. http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ehA   ****   This is the World Organic News for the week ending 20th of February 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   This week the focus is upon creative thinking! Two posts from Foolish Family Farm on creative techniques based upon the observation of Nature get us started: The Push & Pull Technology and Rice – Duck – Azolla – Fish Cultivation: An Example of Sustainable Farming.   The Push-Pull Technology comes from sub-Saharan Africa. It uses plants to to create safe growing environments for cash crops.   Quote: Stemborers, parasitic striga wee

Links   WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here   Addressing smallholder farmers’ needs with green manure cover crops and agroforestry in Zambia http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eay   Improved manure management – getting more from a limited resource | Africa RISING http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ebT   Conservation agriculture – a system to adapt to climate variability and declining soil fertility in Zambia | Africa RISING http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-edg   Soil networks become more connected and take up more carbon as nature restoration progresses – Permie Flix http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-eeh   ***   This is the World Organic News for the week ending 13th of February 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   This weeks focus is Small Holders! I saw a graphic on facebook the other day showing the production from industrial farms Versus smallholders. 30% of the world's food production coming from the industrial sector and 70% from smallholders.   This is a sector in need of support. Starvation or rather the threat of starvation tends drive

Links WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here Agroecology: A Multifacted Solution | The Green Economist http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-e8p   Eating from the Garden | smallholding dreams http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-e9U   Grid Storage Reality | Power For USA http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-ea1 **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 6th of February 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   The blog  smallholding dreams brings us a post: Eating from the Garden. This post addresses the alleged shortage in the UK of courgettes, that’s zucchinis for everyone outside France and the UK and Iceberg lettuces.   Quote: Apparently, there is a shortage of iceberg lettuce and courgettes in the shops  – um duh of course there is, it is winter. Seriously people, what happened to eating seasonal, local food? End Quote.   What indeed? We had a similar situation here during the drought of 80-85 when farmers weren’t able to feed themselves let alone their stock. This was an “ah ha”  moment for me. Somewhere between settlement and th

Links WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here Bacteria Surf the Fungal Web – Permie Flix http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-e5R   Endless economic growth – Joy of Reading http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-e6p   Let’s all build an environmental mindset. – The Food Geographer http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-e6s   Quote:   Food growing – volunteer at an urban farm Vegetarian cooking – ask someone to teach you How to make your home more sustainable – turn your apartment into a garden! Recycling schemes in your area – contact your Council, support Hubbub’s new coffee cup campaign Air pollution – plant more trees, sign a campaign every week Wildlife conservation – vertical farming, or identifying bird songs to help conservation Improving public transport and biking – write a letter to your government rep. Young people and education – learn how to teach or host workshops at school   End Quote.   World Organic News No-dig gardening book Sustainable House: click here Zero Waste Movement The Real Food Chain ***   Th

Links WORLD ORGANIC NEWS in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here   Urban wheat crop grown on Narrabri footpath provides bumper harvest - Rural News - ABC News http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dXH   The Benefits of Perennial Wheat – Permie Flix http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-e2D   Why a Topbar Beehive? – Bee Conscious http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dY3   Where did Nature go? – human meets nature http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-e0A Rachel Carson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson   **** This is the World Organic News for the week ending 23rd of January 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   This week begin a man who took steps to save himself time and grow food in one action. Suburbia is known for its nature strips or lawns from the fence to the road. We can either turn these into food forests or mow them to comply with the middle class, lawn is king paradigm. Guy Roth from Narrabri in western New South Wales had a problem.   Quote: I had nothing but khaki weed, pig weed and bindi-eye. End quote.   I might add here the Guy Roth is also known as Dr Roth

Links World Organic News in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here   Composting: Composting 101: Take One | Zero Waste McMinnville http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dVC Composting: 101 – Rustic Edibles http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dVJ THE USE OF THE VERMICULTURE – micelasite http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dWE brewing compost tea. | Dank47 http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dWX Journey to Forever - Composting https://journeytoforever.org/compost.html   ***   This is the World Organic News Podcast for the week ending 16th of January 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   Compost! Yes for our listeners in the snowy, frozen parts of the Northern Hemisphere, now is the time to be composting. Spring is on its way, even if it doesn’t feel like it.   This week has seen quite a few posts on the gentle art of composting. From the blog Zero Waste McMinnville comes a post composting 101. An interesting background story where the author was introduced to recycling is instructive in itself. But it’s all about the composting this week. So the author has moved on from a plastic b

Links Australian Podcast Awards Click here How organic farming will save us all – if we can throw away our antiquated notions of what it means | National Post http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dUo   ****   This is the World Organic News Podcast for the week ending 8th of January 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   The week, indeed, this year begins with an article from the National Post entitled: How organic farming will save us all – if we can throw away our antiquated notions of what it means. And the title says it all. We live in times of minutely defined identity. Each of us is encouraged to define ourselves as some combination of words that describes our family status, sexual orientation, voting intentions, lifestyle and who knows what else. That people have bought into this way of seeing themselves means they must also place others within a category or combination of categories. Hence I quote from the article: Quote: If there is a stereotype of the organic farmer it’s that they spend their days wrapped in droopy clothes ma

2016 12 31   This the World Organic News yearly roundup episode. And what a year its been! I’ve identified four broad themes to 2016. Let’s get into them   Firstly, Cities. Perhaps the most unlikely place to find farming but here it is. Rooftop, vertical, empty lot and balcony/terrace farming/gardening as well as the suburban homesteader all featured this year in the blog and on the podcast.   Small areas, intensively planted and thoughtfully custodianed can produce huge amounts of food. That people are doing this is a sign of our longing for real food. That people are doing it in cities is a sign the long, fossil fueled based, supply lines may not be as safe as we are led to believe. It is also a sign people are looking for flavour. An heirloom variety of tomatoes that grows well in container on a balcony will never be capable of bulk transportation across 1000s of kilometres. It will however have flavour to balance its inability to travel.   On a more industrial scale, the Japanese plan to open a fully auto