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In this edition you can learn about Gardening Under Cover – the secret way to grow better vegies and improve harvests. Elsewhere we reveal the five major traps awaiting beginner gardeners and how to overcome them. You'll also find articles about Herbs – the natural way to good health, Chillies – exploring the universe of pain and pleasure, Watermelons and Rockmelons – how to grow these delicious summer fruits, Artichokes from top to bottom, Asian Greens from bok to wok, Backyard Vintnering – how to grow grapes and make your own wine, Small scale Pig Keeping, Rice and All Its Wisdom and Permaculture in Venezuela.
For the full contents, visit our website at www.warmearth.com.au and click on the magazine page.
SINCE the Green Revolution of the 1960s, the world has produced a lot more grain—but there may be a lot less in it, a unique experiment in the United Kingdom has revealed.
Recent analysis of 160 years of crop samples from Rothamsted Research Station near London discovered that levels of essential micronutrients remained consistent in wheat grain from 1844 to the late 1960s, but then began a decline that continues to this day.
The nutrient decline began when traditional long-straw wheat varieties where phased out in favour of higher-yielding semi-dwarf varieties.
As wheat plants have grown smaller since the 1960s, grain nutrient density has continued to decrease.
Compared to the old long-straw varieties, Rothamsted’s modern dwarf wheat grain carries on average 20-30 per cent less zinc, iron, copper and magnesium.
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Dan on July 22 2009 19:13:24 ·
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Govt axes another renewable energy grant
Govt axes another renewable energy grant
18:40 AEST Mon Jun 22 2009
Another grant for renewable energy has been axed - this one for people in remote areas who are not connected to the electricity grid.
The federal government on Monday announced it would end the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program in all states except Western Australia, effective immediately.
The program was supposed to run until mid-2011.
It had provided grants of up to $200,000 to remote-area households and businesses to install clean energy generation, largely solar and wind power.
The decision comes two weeks after the government scrapped its $8,000 rebate for solar panels for grid-connected households.
And it comes one week after a replacement rebate was thrown into limbo due to political wrangling over the government's renewable energy plans.
Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt warned that companies would have to sack workers and rural households would miss out on clean energy because of the most recent changes.
"Once again, solar companies around Australia have been sent into chaos as they discover that contracts will be torn up," Mr Hunt said.
Solar company Solar Shop Australia said the end of the remote-area grants was another blow to the renewable energy industry.
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the rebate was closed due to unprecedented demand.
She said the industry was told in April that the rebate was close to being over-committed. This was confirmed in budget estimates in late May.
The government was working on "more consistent" policies to promote renewable energy, which was what the industry wanted, Senator Wong said.
SA has implemented its foreshadowed statutory ban on plastic shopping bags as other jurisdictions are due to consider a voluntary approach to reduce their use. SA retailers now face on-the-spot fines of $315 if they breach a ban on plastic shopping bags, effective from May 4. SA Premier Mike Rann said laws implementing the ban also provided for court-imposed penalties of up to $5,000 for major or repeat offences. Under the ban, SA shoppers must now use reusable, paper or compostable bags, eg cornstarch bags that meet Aust Standards. Plastic bags on a roll, eg for fruit, vegetables or meat, remain available, as do sturdier plastic bags used by department stores or clothing shops. SA announced it would go solo with a statutory ban on plastic shopping bags following a June 2008 meeting of the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) representing fed, state and territory environment ministers that favoured a voluntary approach (EM703, 668, 664, 663). A Nov 2008 EPHC meeting said ministers would consider a report on a possible voluntary ban at the council's May 22 meeting in Hobart.
Dan on May 12 2009 14:46:17 ·
0 Comments · 853 Reads
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When times are tough get 'nanna know-how'
Aussies Living Simply founder Dan Stoll started his website six years ago in order to pick the brains of thrifty minded souls. The IT consultant from Kew East wanted to give free rein to the "feel-good hippie" lurking inside him, but didn't know where to start.
"I started the website primarily to find out if there were other people doing it so I could learn all those old tips, because my grandparents had all passed on and there was no one else to teach me," he said.
Experts agree that the drastic change needed to prepare for peak oil and mitigate the effects of climate change needs to come from the community, the grassroots level – or as David Holmgren refers to it – bottom up action.
But just how do you rally support within your local neighbourhood and create the right environment for a cohesive, active group to not only get started but also but sustainable, successful and long-lived.
This is a topic that interests me very much and while I certainly don’t profess to know all the answers to this question by a long shot, I’m trying a few different ways to see which works best.
Just as every home garden, school garden and community garden evolves and develops differently so can each individual community action group.
Some will branch off from existing groups (as the Yandina permaculture group has done on the Sunshine Coast), some will come from presentations and tours (from the climate change despair and empowerment tour for example), and some will develop from the action of just one person (try putting a flyer up at the local store and seeing who is interested – worked a treat for me and kicked of a very enthusiastic group in my local area of Eudlo).
Each individual has the opportunity to make a difference. You’ll probably find you’re not the only person in your community concerned about these global issues.
But the reality is it takes time and energy to put into a group to get it started – not much, but at least one person must take on the responsibility of communicating within the group (meeting times, dates etc) and also communicate external (in the local area to increase numbers and diversity within the group).
Don’t let the thought that you need to over prepare to start a group stop you from doing it, and you don’t need to be an expert either (I'm certainly not), just take the first step and see who is interested in getting something started. You can deal with issues as they arise and sort them out then. It is most important just to get the ball rolling - don't let 'what if's' stop you.
Suffice to say a major factor for longevity is support and resources. Trying to start a group and be totally independent of what is already happening wastes vital time and human energy, you’re reinventing the wheel. It makes much more sense to tap into existing support structures and to take advantage of resources that other people have on offer.
Here are a few ideas of the types of resources you can access on the Sunshine Coast free of charge for help and advice on setting up a local action group;
Permaculture networks – of course permaculture provides the perfect network to start a community group – it is how it was founded and continues to be successful decades later. Applying permaculture principles such as obtaining maximum yield, producing no waste, saving energy, reducing consumption, care of earth & people, valuing the edge and each element having multiple uses is also very helpful when establishing new community groups.
Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre – at the Blue House, 41 Farrell Street, Yandina every Saturday morning between 8-11am there will be talks, films, workshops, and information about climate change, peak oil, energy descent, relocalisation and re-skilling for the future. Your group could attend an event, or perhaps, if numbers are large enough you could hold your own event and advertise it through SEAC and the website at www.seac.net.au.
Links with other groups – SEAC provides a central link for all the groups across the coast to network and share knowledge, ideas and expertise. SEAC aims to be a central hub of information and support to local groups. Perhaps one day soon SEAC could host a community action group workshop specifically for local people?
Links with regional decision-makers – SEAC has links with local council, so if you are seriously looking at preparing your community for energy descent you can find out what is already happening, and you will have an established link to local government and state government through SEAC.
Relocalisation networks – there is a vast and wonderful international relocalisation network connecting 160 groups around the world all focused on preparing for energy descent. One of the key roles (I think) this network plays is providing individual groups, no matter how large or small with a website presence for free. Visit the Eudlo site at www.relocalize.net/groups/eudlo to see what a relocalisation site looks like. The sites are easy to edit and add to and I find it very useful as all the group members can go to the one spot and check meeting times, dates etc, which saves one person having to email all the time.
Sonya Wallace SEAC Coordinator www.seac.net.au m :: 0408 013 012 e :: sonyawallace@yahoo.com
Posted by Sonya
on August 03 2007 10:46:16·
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