Permaculture response task force

Karma is about equilibrium If you choose to see it as nastiness so be it.
Whether it is permie or not is not in my opinion your call sun burn.

 

Sand and mud

The idea of mixing sand with the mud is linked to the concept of forking the ground so I will tell you how I think it works.

Garden soil is made up of soil particles of sand, silt and clay. In soil too is humus and living creatures.
Sand is deposited first as the water slows so as the floodwaters ooze "slowly" into homes and yards it carries a large proportion of silt and mud (depending of course the position of the yard). This fine mud does not allow air to pass. It is the sand particles that makes the soil able to have air in it. So this silt and mud becomes a suffocatng mat over the lawn and garden - full of nutrient but because of the small particles, unable to allow air through.

If you can mix the silt/clay with sand then you get a good base for garden soil. All it needs then is the return of the humus. Humus is made of living things (soil biota) and so the bacteria, fungus, microorganisms, worms etc need air.

This living part of the soil likes to be aerobic most of the time and so we need to ensure air can get in. They also like water but like us not too much so there is no air. So mixing sand with the flood deposits will form the basis of a loamy soil and the mulch adds nutrient, water absorption properties and nutrients will make it a darker loam and highly productive.

So forking the ground does a couple of things. It makes air holes and creates a passage to below the compacted zone which is very likely to be about 3-4 inches below the surface in well used lawns and it will crack and break up the caked mud that will suffocate the lawn or garden below and repel any water as the mud dries out. If this happens then the soil goes sour and becomes anaerobic. That will smell and will hold pathogens or more bad bacteria than good bacteria. The only thing to do at that point is to mulch , top dress and start again after a lot of deep forking.

Yes I have spoken with some mates who were amazed one morning to wake up to be told a cyclone had passed. I have been watching weather patterns from here on the news and BOM and they show the pattern stretching from Cairns to Tasmania but I guess it really isn't exceptional till you get it in Rockhampton and further south.

But it will affect Cairns in as much as it will slow up supply lines and it will reduce the amount of Australian produce and put prices up. Cairns is so lucky to have the food bowl of the tablelands so close.

Best regards
Janet

 

G'day sunburn

Might be 'normal' for my cited example, Darwin, or for that matter your place of abode, Cairns. However I can assure you that it certainly is not 'normal' for Central Victoria - either prior to, during, or after any rain event.

For an expansion on the topic of recently observed 'unseasonal' humidity levels in Central Victoria, see: BOM - Victoria in spring 2010: A wet spring at last!

No. The 'cause' of La Nina and El Nino is climate, full stop. However, the 'intensity and frequency' of both the La Nina and El Nino weather cycles/events is exacerbated by human-induced climate change. This is a well documented, and scientifically-verified phenomena. See, for example, the work of Kevin Trenberth.

Cheerio, Markos

PS: Apologies (for hijacking the thread) and a belated welcome to Janet

 

Since when is karma about equilibrium? I thought it was more about getting your just desserts and passing on the punishment of the parents for their supposed misdemeanours onto the unwitting and innocent offspring. So why should queenslanders suffer the punishment for the coal miners who happen to be located in Queensland? See, its a stupid theory, yours that is and the theory of karma is also pretty stupid. It causes untold suffering of innocent people in the places where it is believed and followed.

 

Janet, To be picky you said the above.

There has been no devastation and no flooding in Cairns. That is what i was commenting on because it is what you said. There is a current tendency on the news to also spread the "devastation" further, ie much further than it has actually been. People should stick to the facts and not get carried away. You just lose credibility.

I did hear something of a "cyclone" in babinda too but i haven't heard or seen any subsequent reporting on the news so there can't have been any devastation. You can have a cyclone that causes almost no effect. I have stood on a boat at anchor in a harbour in cyclonic winds. I know what it feels like at the weaker end of the scale. It didn't knock me over. Until the weather turns really nasty up here, i think it would be more prodent to confine discussion of the disaster to the places where it actually happened.

Forking and sand. I am aware of the practice of forking a lawn to improve aeration and growth in normal conditions but like i said, if the ground is waterlogged the holes will just fill up with water.

I don't know the accuracy of the mud sand mulch mix you suggest. It sounds reasonable on the one hand although i recall that on the Ganges flood plain in india where masses of silt are washed down annually over the centuries, no one runs around covering the mud with sand and mulch. It has been a rich farming land for centuries precisely because of the accumulation of silt from floods. To me this suggests just leave well enough alone.

Also most of the soil on our property is a sandy loam. You can discern the sand so i expect the sand in sand bags would be too large to be appropriate to building good soil. But i don't know for sure. I think this program you've come up with sounds a little bit amateurish and ill considered.

 

Come on sunburn! Is this really necessary?

 

Hi again, Janet

The following email arrived in my inbox today. You might find the information links contained within it useful additions to your list of resources.

Cheerio, Markos

...

Dear Mark

Last week the Institute wrote to members of the planning community throughout the country regarding the major flooding in Queensland and other parts of Australia and undertook to provide relevant support to the profession during the remainder of this crisis and in the aftermath.

Information on post-disaster planning & available health services

I am pleased to advise that the Institute has now set up a specific page on its website with links to relevant resources on post-disaster planning. PIA has also included information on this page regarding available health services so that those of you working in these areas have a better understanding of where you can access support for yourself and your families if you need it. All of this information is located at https://www.planning.org.au/policy/flood-recovery

We will build this list over time and you are welcome to email [email protected] with suggested links you are aware of that can be added to this page.

Register of volunteers

PIA has also established a register of volunteers from across the country who are willing to assist and pass on expert planning knowledge during the rebuilding process. If you want to be included on this register, which will be made available to relevant authorities and local government, please visit https://www.planning.org.au/policy/volunteer-registration and complete the on-line registration form.

The Institute will continue to keep you updated on available resources as they are made available and how you might be able to assist your colleagues in flood devastated areas.

Yours sincerely

Neil Savery MPIA CPP
President

 

Yes it is. Karma is an evil concept. It has done untold harm to the lives of many people. If you talk to many religious indians, they will justify the misery around them on the basis of karma. They believe that people deserve the horrible lives they have been born into. That is karma and this is how it plays out. Everyday people in india do nothing about the unhappiness and suffering of those about them based on this belief. They are often not bothered by the suffering of others because they believe that their ancestors must have been bad people. Interestingly enough this does not translate into making people behave better in their present lives. They seem to believe that they have earned the right to do what they want.

I wish westerners would get a deeper understanding of what karma actually is and stop mouthing off about it as if it was a benign idea. It is not. It is very harmful. And as shown above it is also nasty. Permasculptor has no empathy for the people who have suffered in this tragedy. He thinks they deserve it because they are Queenslanders. How stupid is that? I defend my right to call a spade a spade.

 

I hadn't thought of the back side of the coin of karma like that. I s'pose that I see it as an encouragement to go and help someone else so that you can improve your own future in an indirect way. Using it fatalistically to say that someone deserves what they end up with is pretty horrible so I can see where you are coming from.

 

Janet for President

 

Sorry folks I committed my too common mistake of typing my IMMEDIATE thought without further explanation.
what the coal industry is doing to my children's future is IMHO far beyond horrible.
eco you as a moderator should IMHO be keeping threads on track not encouraging questionable opinion.
Sun burn take it elsewhere. The topic of a Permaculture task force is a good one that I would like to see stay on track.

 

Hello Janet

I've just read your note about a permaculture response taskforce and want to support this idea.
I'd also like to suggest some spokespeople who could make statements on behalf of such a taskforce.
There was an extremely fine interview on the folly of the government's proposed actions on Late Night Live (Phillip Adams) last week.
I will look it up and send on soon.

Very best wishes
Heather (Formaini)
Sydney

 

Hello again Janet

Here's the reference from Late Night Live:

Floods

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Bundaburg Creek
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How freakish are the recent heavy rainfalls in eastern Australia that caused devastating flooding in Queensland and Victoria? Is the idea of a 100-year flood event still valid, given the warnings about climate change? Ian Lowe addresses these and other questions.

Heather