http://articles.mercola.com/si...

"In 60 years the earth's topsoil will be gone."

This sounds like a dire prediction of doom for humans on earth. The restoration of the Loess Plateau soils in China may offer a solution.

Thanks for posting that link! Lots of great info.

I think Mercola is relatively new to permaculture--but its good to see the ideas being promoted anyway.

What I liked about Mercola's article is that he didn't try to define permaculture in an overly simplistic way. It goes beyond gardening and growing.

Yes. Beyond gardening and growing. A young woman showed up at my house a few weeks ago and decided she would "help" me. First she collected all the cardboard boxes on my front porch and proceeded to haul them down to the trash pickup on the street. I had to get my wagon, and haul them all back again. Cardboard is so valuable for stopping weeds and clearing new garden spaces! Ugh. Then she started snipping away at my bushes, And throwing the clippings in the garbage. Back to the garbage can to recover the clippings. And I hate the "eye pokers" you invariably get when someone else cuts things in your yard. Its hard to explain to someone hell bent on "cleaning up", that everything organic gets recycled back into the garden. Grrrrr. I dont need help! Earlier a woman brought her husband with a 2 gallon sprayer of Round Up. I am still recovering from that episode. Why don't people understand you when you say NO I dont need your help!

Gosh! That's rather presumptive on their part, huh?

yes. permaculture is beyond gardening and growing.

hazelnut said:A young woman showed up at my house a few weeks ago and decided she would "help" me. First she collected all the cardboard boxes on my front porch and proceeded to haul them down to the trash pickup on the street.

I had to get my wagon, and haul them all back again. Cardboard is so valuable for stopping weeds and clearing new garden spaces! Ugh.

Then she started snipping away at my bushes, And throwing the clippings in the garbage. Back to the garbage can to recover the clippings.

And I hate the "eye pokers" you invariably get when someone else cuts things in your yard.

Its hard to explain to someone hell bent on "cleaning up", that everything organic gets recycled back into the garden. Grrrrr. I dont need help!

Earlier a woman brought her husband with a 2 gallon sprayer of Round Up. I am still recovering from that episode.

Why don't people understand you when you say NO I dont need your help!

Hmmm...
How do we turn these lemons into lemonade?

The young girl almost sounds like a pupil....
As in.... When the pupil is ready.... The teacher will appear...

By discussing what the cardboard is for.... By discussing the hazards of willy-nilly pruning... A young girl might gain some wisdom from her elder.

The people with the toxic poisons?
I don't know, call the cops?

Why don't people leave us alone when we say that we don't want help?

When we live in town, and people see our resources pile up, they get concerned about vermin, and try to help... As opposed to the ones that call the police....

Maybe be grateful to have the ones that want to help?

When was the last time you saw strip farming.
Around here, in the hilly part of the state, it is as rare as hens teeth.
I do not remember where but a few years back I saw one major farm doing it.