Podcast 534 - Permaculture Smackdown 4 - Desert or Paradise Session 2

posted 3 years ago

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Summary

Paul sits down with the usual suspects among his patrons (Mark, Elliot, Katie, Julia Winter, et al. to review pages 17 to 27 of Sepp Holzer’s Desert or Paradise.

“Water without chlorine and chemicals” whenever Paul talks about this, someone pops up to point out that “everything is chemicals”. While this is technically correct, the term “chemical” also technically implies artificially created.

“Just catching rain water and storing it in barrels would not be enough, because rain water is not yet drinking water, […] it is distilled though evaporation and therefor is without minerals […]” If Paul heard all the stuff about water information and maturity from a kook, he’d assume it’s just kookery, but it’s the amazing, the mighty Sepp Holzer saying this, so maybe later in life Paul will understand. Elliot and Mark hypothesize that “information” refers to either the micro-nutrient or beneficial bacterial content, Paul adds that it could be a word that doesn’t translate from German

“In places where the cycle no longer functions, I can reactivate it by building holding basins and allow it slowly seep back into the earth”

“Water is being bottled, marketed, and chemically preserved. I have to ask: can you preserve an animate being? […] An animate being that does not move dies. Water stored in bottled and pipelines for too long lose all vital properties and decays.” A counterpoint to this is in Art Ludwig’s book claiming that if you store water correctly (covered, no light, drawn from the middle of the body…), it improves over time. The difference seems to be in what each want – Sepp wants living water for the environment, Art wants good drinking water.

“A healthy humus forest soil for example can be saturated by up to 90% with water. A well-sated soil has central importance for building of drinking water, wildfire protection and fertility in general […]”

“the desert, which has dramatically spread worldwide today are not natural landscapes, but are the result of what is left after humanity has used as many methods as possible to achieve as much as possible, in the shortest period of time as possible” “the deserts today were once fertile land. The Sahara used to be a green savannah, sustaining human habitat […]” “but the Sahara is spreading, not only south, but also north. And it has already jumped over the Mediterranean Sea. […]” “these signs are already quite dramatic in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece, where the summer droughts keep increasing. […]”

Relevant Threads

Desert or Paradise thread
Desert or Paradise documentary by Sepp Holzer

Sepp Holzer forum

Sepp Holzer's 3-in-1 Permaculture documentaries (Farming, Terraces, and Aquaculture)

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This podcast was made possible thanks to:

Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
Eivind W. Bjørkavåg
Suleiman, Karrie, and Sasquatch
Bill Crim
anonymous
Kerry JustTooLazy
Jocelyn Campbell
Wade Luger
Sasquatch
Kyle Neath
Chris Sugg
havokeachday
Bill Erickson
Dominic Crolius
Julia Winter, world's slowest mosaic artist
G Cooper
Penny McLoughlin
Ash Jackson
Mehron Kugler
Lisa Goodspeed
Mark
Pasquale DeAngelis
Sean Benedict
Greg Martin
Rita Bliden
Dana Martin
Candace Dahlk
Keith Kuhnsman
Eric Tolbert
Ruwan Nanayakkara
Polly Jayne Smyth

COMMENTS:

J Johnson

Posts: 15

posted 3 years ago

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Water and it's uses is a fascinating topic. There is a book out there called "Dam Nation" that tells an interesting story relative to the dam projects generally out west. Then, of course there is the Tennessee Valley Authority's string of dams used for electricity and recreation.

It is said that the Ogalalla aquifer is depleting at about one foot per year. It supplies water for the folks from Midland TX all the way up to Nebraska. Alas, it is a finite resource (does not replenish) and the folks that use it have taken measures to drastically reduce the the waste that was prevalent for years. but, West Texas is a big oil producer and those wells need lots of water to bring them in. (look up "fracking" to understand the process. All wells get fracked.) It is estimated that the Ogalalla will be "dry" in about 20 years. That region produces about 20% of our nation's food. So, what are the coasties going to do for their grains.

In the southeast farmers have started to use river water to supplement the rains to bring in better and more consistent yields, but the rivers run lower and that affects the fishing industry in Apalachicola Fl.

The way the current laws are written, the water under the land belongs to the land owner. Too bad if somebody pumps so much water that his neighbor's wells run dry. We willl need laws that regulate how much water any one can draw without harming his neighbor's access to "free" water. Oh, that will include cities. Just 'cause you have a bunch of yahoos packed together like sardines does not mean you can pump down everybodies wells. We do not need to use drinking water to flush toilets and wash autos or water yards. In much of the us that can be done with captured rainwater.

Water is not simple and the government only mucks things up. You know that the original settlers in the dust bowl were told that a plowed field will make it rain. Then it got a little dry.

I am happy that you are looking at ways to use water more effectively.
Jim Johnson
Greenfield, Mo

K Eilander

gardener