Viktor Gruber

good news!



I don't know how many of you are into astrology, but here it goes, an article on the astrology of monsanto. I'm not a pro in that regard in any case, though a few forays into the thematic convinced me that there is easily something to it.

http://www.mountainastrologer.com/members/files/TMA813monsanto2.pdf

I went there a month ago, I didn't think their dialect was all that bad, but then again, I'm Austrian too. If you have any questions, I might be able to answer them for you.


What struck me most about the Krameterhof was just how much they turned a problem (high altitude) into a solution. 120 years ago, the rivers apparently were full with noble crayfish, but almost all of them died because of two diseases. Now, the disease can't go so far up the mountain, so they produce those crayfish - genious.
Also, the scope of time in which Sepp was thinking when he planted Swiss Pines.. They take 30-40 years until they bear fruit! Now they do, and it makes a lot of money because they are otherwise protected.
Also, growing cherries When all the other cherries are already gone, theirs are just starting to ripen, which puts them in a very favorable position on the market.
etc.

I read on plants for a future that almost any part of the plant is edible, and that they produce starchy tubers without end. To me it seems like a perfect permaculture plant, it grows rigorously in a LOT of different climates, I quote: "The plant is reported to tolerate an annual precipitation in the range of 31 to 241cm, an annual temperature in the range of 6.6 to 26.6°C and a pH of 4.8 to 8.2. Plants are hardy to about -20°c".

apart from that it seems very useful for all sorts of things: thatching, weaving, basketry, biomass, mulch etc. etc.


I read it is very invasive, so my thinking is to make a small pond specifically for the reed, maybe even with a rhizome block.




now I wonder, does any permie here have any experience with it? does it taste any good? is it worth the bother of introducing a potentially invasive plant? would it spread into the "normal" soils, apart from the pond-edge too? or would it stay within the bounds of its pond? I haven't seen it wild so far unfortunately, but I will keep my eyes open.

so the red cedar in my garden is useful for something after all will try that, thank you!


I learned this summer that you can use wood ash as soap for washing your hands. I liked it, my hands always felt quite soft after that. so yesterday I conceived of an experiment of using ash to wash my hair (I blame the full moon), and it was a catastrophe if you want to transform your formerly nice, soft, if fatty hair into sticky straw or even dreadlocks - wood ash is perfect, but otherwise I wouldn't recommend this. I hope my hair will restore to a more normal state.

Ken, thanks for framing my question, was very helpful I don't yet know what I am aiming for. this 100% pure organic idea is kinda attractive to me, but then it's also such a(n unnecessary?) pain.

Chris, thanks for the video, it was just what I was hoping to hear.

I considered doing something similar with biochar, but I don't know how it would work out. I imagined that it would dry out and leave biochar with N in it, but alas, I think it won't dry in winter.

but thinking about it, I guess I'd just let the urine freeze in winter and do the composting or fertilizing in spring.

sorry if this has been asked before - I used the search function, I swear.

I have been looking around where I live for a solid source of compost, and I found that the supermarket around the corner has quite a big bin of it - every day, and as an added bonnus lots of good, fresh, edible stuff. Got 10 loafs of good whole bread yesterday, packaged, some of it organic - awesome.

Now I am a bit unsure - most of it is not organic stuff after all. How bad would it be to compost it and grow stuff with it? Am I tapping into a useful source, or just slowly adding poison to my wonderful garden? Would you do it? I'd use most of it to grow tomatoes, I think.

Thanks all

I wanted to give my opinion on the matter of judgemental people/calling people judgemental, but now that I gave it some third thoughts, I feel more confused than before. On the one hand I've known people who looked at me with disdain when I did something my way, even if it really does not matter at all what I did. I remember being outside at a festival with some friends, and when I came back from taking a piss I felt insecure, and it made itself visible through my body language. A friend saw that and gave me a look that seemed to say "Pffff I see that you are insecure, and I am better than that". That was to me a moment in which I felt very judged for merely feeling the way I felt.
Now on the other hand, so much of what I took to be "real" in my life turned out to be a projection of my own inner psychological constellation, or mere projection, to give away some of the weight, or responsibility for my own inner state. So in retrospect it seems very clear to me that I projected some stuff of mine onto him, or/and that he was feeling equally insecure.
I think most people who seem to be judgemental, they do it out of an insecurity, anxiety, or the plain, old desire to be better than other people - the ego asserting itself to gain momentum. I know that, because when I was/am judgemental, it was/is exactly that mechanism. An enlargement of my personal identity at the expense of somebody else's, born of insecurity, feeling small.

There are also different forms of judgements. (I was about to write that nobody asks you not to use your judgement, but sometimes it seems to me that all of society is asking you to do that.) I think one can use judgement as a life-enhancing principle, or as a means of violence. I believe that the beginning of violence lies in putting labels on somebody, or just plain distorting reality from the existential fact. My flatmate may not have washed the dishes 3 times the last week, and I could say, "He never washes his dishes, that lazy asshat". Or I might say, "In the last week, he didn't wash the dishes 3 times, and that made me angry", which is way closer to the existantial fact than the first sentence, because the first sentence is labeling and categorizing the person, which reduces the totality of what this person is, making static what is actually totally alive and ever-changing, while the second does not reduce the person and leaves space for communication and empathy. If we did not reduce people to mere labels (enemy, bad etc., but good or neutral labels too) we'd have significantly less violence in our world. (let alone judgementality )
(I stole the line of thought of the last paragraph from Marshall Rosenberg who wrote a terrific book about nonviolent communication, short NVC)
But well, using ones judgement to stay clear of certain people to protect myself is something different. To me it's quite hard to draw the line between self-protection is in a sane interest of wanting to survive healthily, or to protect my stubborn, childish illusiory self.

it definitely sounds interesting. as of now I couldn't imagine commiting to it for a long time, but I'd consider living there for a year or so, if possible. this makes me about a 6. especially since the climate is rather similar to Austrian climate, or so I believe.