Conscious steps towards a more Evolved Society

Webnote - an online tool for taking notes

2005-10-06T09:39:00.000+01:00

This is a Wonderful tool that I found that allows you to use post-it style notes, but online... So you can get hold of them wherever in the world you are! Or whichever PC you're working from!

I thought it was too cool to miss!
http://www.aypwip.org/webnote/

Cheiron - Quiet Place

2005-02-27T22:28:00.000Z

Cheiron - Quiet Place
Hmm - another chill out zone!

Welcome :: sydneybanks.org

2005-02-12T21:46:00.000Z

Welcome :: sydneybanks.org

Happiness - one step away...

It's an interesting idea. Apparently we get miserable if we think of things, and we equally get happy if we think of things. The real 'insight' comes when we become aware of the fact that we can choose our thoughts. It means - we can choose our reality!

The Natural Way of Farming - Masanobu Fukuoka

2005-02-10T01:16:00.000Z

This guy is amazing... He has discovered a simple way of changing deserts into forests... 'Seedballs'

I cannot impress upon you how amazing this Japanese farmer is. He is the father and master teacher, the Sensei of the art of Natural Farming.

"The power of Nature is great, because the natural structure is solid, three dimensional, not horizontal or two dimensional. Some of my mountain peach trees have kiwis climbing on them, and above the kiwi vines, there is a kind of melon. So three kinds of fruit exist together at different heights. I get one or two kilograms of fruit from one square meter of ground. This is a good sustainable yield. Natural production is greater than man-made production, because the structure is solid. Humans are destroying the power of Nature. We have only one fourth of the growing power of Nature left. We are not increasing fertility or production, but rather trying to prevent production from failing by using fertilizers. The world is digging itself into a bottomless pit with modern agriculture. The simple hearth of the small farm is the true center of our universe. Scientific thought is leading you away from a healthy life. Even the practice of conventional organic agriculture is a dangerous digression. It cannot be sustained if you have to rob part of the earth to feed another."

"Most farmers begin by asking, what if I do this or what if I do that, but only dissipate themselves that way. My approach just the opposite, seek the pleasant, natural way of farming. In order to make the work easier, not harder, I ask, how about not doing this or how about not doing that? By actual practice I finally reached conclusion there is no need to plow, no need to apply artificial fertilizer, no need to use pesticides at all. Most of the work of farming is created by tampering with nature, which causes negative side effects. Very few agricultural practices are even necessary, just scattering seed, spreading straw on the soil and harvesting."

http://www.designandpeople.org/crone/masanobu.html
The Theory Of Relativity by Masanobu Fukuoka - Excerpts from his all-time classic, The One-Straw Revolution. Includes the following edited excerpt....

Four Principles of Natural Farming

The first is NO CULTIVATION, that is, no plowing or turning of the soil. The earth cultivates itself naturally by means of the penetration of plant roots and the activity of micro-organisms, small animals, and earthworms.

The second is NO CHEMICAL FERTILISER OR PREPARED COMPOST. People interfere with nature, and, try as they may, they cannot heal the resulting wounds. Their careless farming practices drain the soil of essential nutrients and the result is yearly depletion of the land.

The third is NO WEEDING BY TILLAGE OR HERBICIDES. Weeds play their part in building soil fertility and in balancing the biological community. As a fundamental principle, weeds should be controlled, not eliminated.

The fourth is NO DEPENDENCE OF CHEMICALS. The sensible approach to disease and insect control is to grow sturdy crops in a healthy environment.

"The farmers of long ago were a peaceful people, but now they are arguing with Australia about meat, quarrelling with Russia over fish, and dependent on America for wheat and soybeans"

For more information please take a browse through each of these websites...

http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC14/Fukuoka.htm
Greening The Desert
Applying natural farming techniques in Africa
an interview with Masanobu Fukuoka, by Robert and Diane Gilman
One of the articles in Sustainable Habitat (IC#14) Autumn 1986, Page 37

http://www.seedballs.com/2seedpa.html
A good site to get an overview of Seedballs, and a summary of Masanobu, and his techniques.

http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/thestore/Fukuoka.htm
Brief summary - with related books

http://organic.com.au/people/MasanobuFukuoka/
Brief summary of Masanobu as recipient of Magsaysay prize for his world-wide contribution to the well-being of mankind in 1988.

http://www.amberwaves.org/web_articles/fukuoka.html
On Listening to Nature
Interview with Masanobu Fukuoka By Mitsuko Mikami

http://www.mir.org/greenbelt/english/index.htm
This website is about the "Greenbelt for southern Europe" initiative. The goal is to create a green belt in Europe - to stop desertification and recreate fertile soils.

http://www.lifepositive.com/body/nature/fukuoka-organicfarming.asp
Nature Knows Best By Suma Varughese
A review of Fukuoka's presence in India
Which includes.... "If a single new bud is snipped off a fruit tree with a pair of scissors, that may bring about a disorder which cannot be undone…Human beings with their tampering do something wrong, leave the damage unrepaired, and when the adverse results accumulate, work with all their might to correct them."

Vegetable Fuel Oils Take Root In India

2005-02-10T01:11:00.000Z

Vegetable Fuel Oils Take Root In India

India appears to have already heard of Biofuels - and is already starting to make use of them - to create sustainable local power plants - "right in the middle of a forest, with no pylons, no pollution, no down-time and no bills to pay, the village came to light. People whooped in joy. This self sustaining miracle cost just Rs.500,000 [$10,000]."

Pretty amazing to think that rural Indians are already years ahead of most 'modern, developed nations', who would never think to go so eco friendly just yet... Haven't you heard - there's still at least another 50 years of fuel for us left!! (Never mind about the rest of the world - we're the rich one's who'll be able to keep going..)

Well it seems cars might be turning over a different engine fuel too...

"In what may turn out to be a turning point.... a World War 2 vintage jeep in the Adilabad forest area is about to be modified to run on Karanji oil. With start-stop vehicle engines, it is better to have two tanks with a switch: diesel to start on, SVO to run on and diesel again before stopping. The jeep as a 4 wheel drive is the work-horse of the Indian countryside. .... but diesel costs are a killer. If SVO make a difference here, the impact on rural transportation..... and job generation will be immense."

Pretty amazing to me, that rural India is taking such steps - but a real blessing at the same time, as far as I'm concerned... It's all of these small steps, in many places that mean the world will change for the better...

Only after the last tree has been cut down..... then will you find that money cannot be eaten

2005-02-09T23:45:00.000Z

Indian Prophecy Poster at Art.com

"'Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.'

Cree Prophecy
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I found the above quote, which you can also buy as a poster....

I used to have the poster, and wanted to start this blog off with it...