Orthodox Permaculture

I am dramatically reducing my Internet activity and will be removing myself from all social media sites. Anyone want to take over moderating this circle? Otherwise it may disappear with me. Thank you.

We just received a shipment of live crayfish from Louisiana this morning. They are going into a large tank full of bricks with holes that will serve as homes for them. We plan to run well water through the tank and into the garden for irrigation. This will keep their water clean and aerated and will provide organic fertilizer to the garden. And during the fasts, we will have clean crayfish (commercially raised crayfish is not clean). We are doing the same type of thing with bullhead catfish too.

I have a lot of interests right now as I am trying to learn a sustainable, world-independent lifestyle for our family. Rather than overload people with links and information outside of their interest, I have decided to start a number of circles. Many technically overlap. But I plan to narrow the focus for each one so that those interested in organic gardening don&#039;t have to wade through a lot of posts on livestock, those interested in permaculture, don&#039;t have to wade through components ... View MoreI have a lot of interests right now as I am trying to learn a sustainable, world-independent lifestyle for our family. Rather than overload people with links and information outside of their interest, I have decided to start a number of circles. Many technically overlap. But I plan to narrow the focus for each one so that those interested in organic gardening don&#039;t have to wade through a lot of posts on livestock, those interested in permaculture, don&#039;t have to wade through components they already have sufficient knowledge on, etc. <br />My circles:<br /><br />OrthodoxHomesteading: discusses food production whether urban or rural, and livestock.<br /><br />Organic Gardening: discusses everything having to do with growing plants organically whether in the garden, the orchard, the berry patch, the food forest, the greenhouse or in the aquaponics system.<br /><br />Permaculture: discusses a system of design that incorporates organic gardening, livestock, natural building, and sustainable off-grid living. This circle won&#039;t discuss each of these components individually, but emphasizes putting it all together into one cohesive whole system and the science of permaculture, itself.<br /><br />OrthodoxSimpleLiving: discusses frugality, preserving the harvest, meal preparation, low tech solutions to modern problems in the home, living a low stress lifestyle less dependent on the world.<br /><br />Alternative Natural Construction: discusses using natural materials and traditional building methods of construction to create a low energy, naturally more comfortable environment requiring minimal energy input. Emphasis is designing to be off grid for essentials.

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One thing that disturbed me about permaculture, particularly Bill Mollison&#039;s work, is that it was anti-human life, pro-population control and had definite anti-christian tones. What I really like about Geoff Lawton is that he does not come across carrying these attitudes at all. In fact, at the end of this video: <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBLZmwlPa8A <br /><br />He was very pro-human life. This makes me feel very good about taking his course. This needs to be the foundatio... View MoreOne thing that disturbed me about permaculture, particularly Bill Mollison&#039;s work, is that it was anti-human life, pro-population control and had definite anti-christian tones. What I really like about Geoff Lawton is that he does not come across carrying these attitudes at all. In fact, at the end of this video: <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBLZmwlPa8A <br /><br />He was very pro-human life. This makes me feel very good about taking his course. This needs to be the foundation of permaculture, particularly in the Orthodox Christian perspective. Yes, it is pro-environment, pro-ecology, but it also has to be pro-human. The permaculture teaching is that the solution is in the problem. With Bill Mollison, that was true with the exception of human population. But with Geoff Lawton, he believes the solution to our present problems is within our human population and that it is a good thing, just needs to be managed better. Amen!

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Fr. Alexios, Abbot, Xenophontos Monastery, The Holy Mountain<br /><br />"Nature is here to serve man: man must serve and care for nature in order for it to serve man. The fall of man led to the fall of nature and the renewal of man to the renewal of nature."

I have started taking the online permaculture course. Though there are definitely ideas we as Orthodox could not agree with, the concepts of designing sustainable, low maintenance, and highly productive systems to meet our physical needs is excellent. I will share some of what I learn as I go through.

Aquaponics is a very efficient way to raise fish and vegetables organically. And once established, it requires far less work than a conventional garden. We are very pleased with our first two systems and hope to build a much larger greenhouse that can house many more systems. This is a very nice PDF download showing various aquaponic configurations using inexpensive IBC totes and 55 gallon plastic drums (both of which we also used in our systems). <br /><br />http://ibcofaquaponics.com/files/IBC... View MoreAquaponics is a very efficient way to raise fish and vegetables organically. And once established, it requires far less work than a conventional garden. We are very pleased with our first two systems and hope to build a much larger greenhouse that can house many more systems. This is a very nice PDF download showing various aquaponic configurations using inexpensive IBC totes and 55 gallon plastic drums (both of which we also used in our systems). <br /><br />http://ibcofaquaponics.com/files/IBCofAquaponics.pdf

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Directions for building a drip irrigation system out of PVC.<br /><br />http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/Horticulture_Home_2008-02pr.pdf

I am deeply concerned about the increasingly highly restrictive agricultural laws being implemented in this country and around the world. The EU being the most frightening example: http://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedlaw.html<br /><br />There is a Byzantine prophecy that warns at the time of antichrist, every grain of wheat will be under his control. That may actually mean every planted crop, if you concider the current direction of the EU. <br /><br />I have started building a forest garden using d... View MoreI am deeply concerned about the increasingly highly restrictive agricultural laws being implemented in this country and around the world. The EU being the most frightening example: http://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedlaw.html<br /><br />There is a Byzantine prophecy that warns at the time of antichrist, every grain of wheat will be under his control. That may actually mean every planted crop, if you concider the current direction of the EU. <br /><br />I have started building a forest garden using domesticated fruit trees. But I want to build a much larger forest garden using only native edible trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. And I want to plant wild edibles everywhere possible.<br /><br />A good site for wild edibles is oikostreecrops.com<br /><br />I like to forage too and plan to transplant/plant as much as I can foraged edibles onto our homestead. The nice thing about the native edibles is that they are zero maintenance, can be quite productive and generally people won&#039;t appreciate them as potential food sources.

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We have built an aquaponics system already which is a symbiotic way to raise edible fish/crustaceans and vegetables. And we are presently implementing the same idea of using fish and crayfish to fertilize the conventional garden and orchard through a drip irrigation system. The website below is a good example of the idea already being successfully used in Africa.<br /><br />http://hopespringsblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/raising-catfish-in-the-desert/