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Post by bunkie on Mar 17, 2014 13:16:41 GMT -5
Good read... Guy Watson on how Riverford Farm is living with climate changewww.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2014-03/guy-watson-how-riverford-farm-living-climate-change....But how can we feed ourselves when we’re so dependent on it? We need to develop perennial growing crops. It’s a bit of a bugbear of mine, but wheat, barley, maize, maybe rice, originally they’re all derived from progenitors which would have been perennial plants. Maize certainly comes from perennial ancestry. We’ve bred them to be annuals and to produce big seeds that are easily harvested, which will all ripen at the same time, which is great for farmers and great for seed companies because we go to seed companies and buy the seed every year. What we need is a grain crop that you can harvest and let it recover without cultivation, and go back and harvest it again the next year. If we were harvesting grass seed, when you are harvesting grass seed that’s what you do....
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Post by flowerweaver on Mar 17, 2014 19:07:25 GMT -5
I like that Guy Watson says to eat more kale! (It's my favorite vegetable). I'm surprised there was no mention of Wes Jackson's Land Institute and the work they've done for many decades in producing perennial grain crops. I see that someone did comment about it at the end of the article. I was able to hear Mr Jackson speak to my environmental design class in the late 70's and have been interested in his work since. bunkie thanks for posting so many good reads!
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