[Scpg] Permaculture in Austria Video to be shown at Permaculture Discussion Group July 11 Santa Barbara Ca
Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson
lakinroe at silcom.com
Thu Jul 4 07:31:44 PDT 2002
Here is an article about the Video we will be showing called Farming with
Nature about 30 years of Permaculture at "Krameterhof" his farm
wes
Permaculture in Austria
http://www.gaia.org/services/Articles/permaculture/detail_1332.asp
Description:
FEATURE - Alpine Garden of Eden proves Mother
Nature knows best
AUSTRIA: August 28, 2001
RAMINGSTEIN, Austria - In the coldest part of Austria, a
farmer is turning
conventional wisdom on its head by growing a veritable
Garden of Eden full
of tropical plants in the open on his steep Alpine pastures.
Check out his webpage for pictures http://www.krameterhof.at/anzeige.htm
Amid average annual temperatures of a mere 4.2
degrees Celsius (39.5 Fahrenheit), Sepp Holzer grows
everything from
apricots to eucalyptus, figs to kiwi fruit, peaches to
wheat at an altitude of between
1,000 and 1,500 metres (3,300 and 4,900 feet).
Once branded a fool, fined and threatened with
imprisonment for defying Austrian regulations that dictate
what is planted where,
he is now feted worldwide for creating the only functioning
"permaculture" farm in Europe. Permaculture, an
abbreviation of permanent culture, is
the development of agricultural ecosystems which are
complete and self-sustaining.
"Once planted, I do absolutely nothing," Holzer told
Reuters. "It really is just nature working for itself - no
weeding, no pruning,
no watering, no fertiliser, no pesticides."
His 45 hectares (110 acres) of land in the mountainous
Lungau region in the province of Salzburg are classed by
European
Union directives as unfit r agricultural cultivation due to
the steep gradient and
poor soil.
When Holzer inherited the farm - then 18 hectares 44.5
acres) - 39 years
ago, it was only used for the grazing of the family's ows
and sheep. He
carved terraces out of the steep inclines - like the
ancient Incas and Maya
of South and Central America - to stop erosion and trap
rainfall.
He rejected the use of pesticides and fertilisers, which he
considered
poisonous, and the concept of monoculture - the cultivation
of just one
plant type over an expanse of land - because he believed it
sapped the soil
of all nutrients.
Instead he began growing a host of timber and fruit trees,
shrubs and
grasses all mixed up together.
"Everyone said I was mad and I had to pay numerous
fines because the authorities said that it was illegal to
plant such a
combination," Holzer said.
"When I bought this patch of land off a farmer, it was
not fit for the cows and sheep grazing on it. People
scoffed that I was
neglecting my land - but now they come to harvest cherries
from June to
October."
"This is the worst type of soil, which just goes to prove
that there is no bad soil, just bad farmers," he added.
PROOF IS IN EATING OF PUDDING
Most of the plants Holzer and his wife Vroni grow at
his "Krameterhof" holding are not meant to flourish in
Alpine conditions,
according to experts.
In winter, the temperature can fall to below minus 30
degrees Celsius
(minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) and a blanket of snow lingers
into May.
Snow can even fall in the height of summer.
Holzer said he found agricultural textbooks and his own
years at agricultural college virtually useless.
"I followed their advice initially, but my trees started
dying off. I then realised that I had to eradicate from my
memory all that
I'd learnt at college," he said.
Enlightenment came one winter during one of Holzer's
routine moonlight strolls, when he noticed that the only
apricot tree faring
well in the harsh winter conditions was one he had
forgotten to cut back
according to ministerial regulations.
Unlike the pruned trees whose main lower branches
snapped off under the weight of snow, the "neglected"
tree's branches were
intact.
Their unrestricted length had allowed them to droop
with the tips touching the ground for support while the
snow slid off, Holzer
found. Allowing natural vegetation to grow around the trunk
provided further
support and nourishment for the tree.
"If people would only realise that if one leads a life in
cooperation with nature and not against it, then nobody in
the world need
die of starvation," he said.
LET NATURE TAKE ITS OWN COURSE
Holzer's philosophy is that nature knows best and
needs negligible interference from Man.
"We're born into paradise, but are destroying its
foundation, the soil. The soil can look after itself,
there's no need for Man to
tamper with it." Giant stone slabs pepper the landscape and
serve as
incubators be absorbing the sunlight and giving off warmth.
The trees
do their part as well in keeping the ground warm. Fallen
foliage helps keep
frost from reaching the roots.
Tree stumps dot the plantations to regulate irrigation.
Like a sponge they soak up water and later distribute it.
Animals too have a role in the Holzer ecosystem.
Scavenging pigs till the soil in place of a tractor, while
grass snakes were
reintroduced to keep voracious slugs and mice in check.
Holzer is modest about his achievement which has led
to projects in more than 40 countries and lectures on "the
elimination of
poverty in agriculture".
He has rejected suggestions that he should have his
method of permaculture patented.
"I would consider that as theft from nature. It's not my
possession, I got it from nature and have an obligation to
pass this
knowledge on," the bearded 59-year-old said.
INSPIRATIONAL, BUT ECONOMICALLY
VIABLE?
Holzer says his method of organic farming produces a
much higher quality of crops than conventional farming, and
at a fraction of
the cost and effort.
He says his rare strain of grain contains 12 times the
goodness of conventionally grown grain and as a result
fetches a
price 100 times higher. His success means that he no
longer lives directly off
the crops in his sprawling garden, or the rare fish in his
Alpine ponds
and lakes.
People pay to pick their own fruit from his land, experts
visit to study "Holzer Permaculture", and the man himself
regularly
holds seminars when not in a far-off country such as
Colombia solving
chronic problems of the soil.
And only one thing has so far stumped the man with
green fingers.
"Bananas," he said with a shrug of his burly frame.
"They froze. It's no surprise as they need an average
temperature of 30
degrees. But I'm still working on it."
Story by Julia Ferguson
Author:
Julia Ferguson
Published Date:
10-01-01
Category:
Permaculture
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