No to GMO!

I just wanted to post this in case I ever need to point anyone to information regarding the dangers of GMO (or anyone wanting to argue that GMO’s are safe). Most of them are very short and succinctly expressed videos explaining what GMO’s are, how they’re created and what the dangers are. Mostly excerpts from the video ‘Genetic Roulette – The Gamble of Our Lives’.

http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/what-is-a-gmo-explained-in-1-minute/

If you want to go directly to the YouTube playlist you can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq0HMBQfdI0&list=UUEpUgQ6muzZ9YPy53O7w2HA

7 Things You Need to Know About GMO’s. The new GMO documentary, ‘GMO OMG’:
http://www.rodale.com/gmo-omg-documentary

It makes me angry to see how man acts as if he has the wisdom of God. He’d be a thousand times wiser if he had the humility to admit that he knows nothing. When completely disconnected from nature there is no way to see the beauty of it’s grand design, and see that it holds all the locks and all the keys. Monsanto’s intention is not to feed the hungry, it’s to make money.

Knowing what I know, I don’t even feel that it’s about arguing over whether it’s right or wrong. I just see it like this, GMO is just plain unnecessary!

I will be adding to the list of links below as I find anything interesting so keep checking back if  you’re interested.

Biotech lies exposed: Genetically-modified corn contains practically no nutrients but is loaded with chemical poisons

Listen to Vandana Shiva as she speaks truth, one of the greatest inspirations alive today!
http://billmoyers.com/segment/vandana-shiva-on-the-problem-with-genetically-modified-seeds/

Update 08 November 2013

The Most Hard-Hitting GMO Report Ever Aired By The Mainstream Media

Worms Thriving!

I’ve recently moved the worm tub into the kitchen where I can keep a closer eye on it. I’ve been feeding them a nice supply of ground coffee beans, egg shells, carrot and potato peelings, apple cores and any other green leafy remains from the kitchen.

Upon my investigation this morning I found my tub teeming with the life. The little critters are thriving! …

As minhocas sao malucas! 🙂

They actually looked a little crowded in there!

Luckily I’ve been getting a little spot all ready for the migration of a new population wanting to be inspired by the great outdoors. I’ve set up an old bath tub (part of an exchange deal for those goats I had) just under the shade of some wattle trees where I hope that they will remain cool enough in summer …

The bath tub was not in great condition. It had some rust holes in the bottom of it which I put some wire mesh and cardboard over to stop the little fellows from falling out and with it being the way it is it won’t really be possible for me to harvest worm juice, however I’m considering setting up a small herb garden, and maybe also something like strawberries around the tub so that the plants can make use of the runoff.

The whole worm thing is still in experimental stages. I’ve been experimenting with putting them into the composting loo and seeing how well they can help to break that down. No clear results yet but the research is saying it’s a good move. I’ve also learnt that if your cat or dog is on a good diet and not taking any antibiotics then the worms will also appreciate some of theirs. Could be an option, but so far Jobi has been doing his business away from main traffic areas so that doesn’t seem to be anything that would work right now.

One thing that I do see in future is having a large scale set up that I can use to create a closed loop cycle with respects to feeding chickens, ducks and perhaps even fish in aqua culture ponds. They are very low maintenance and their population seems to adjust with respects to the food that is available. I thought that with temperatures getting as low as 0 here during winter that they would not be doing so well and that the population would have come down but as you can see from the pic above they are obviously finding strength (and warmth?) in numbers!

Some interesting facts on Red Wrigglers:

Red Wrigglers (Eisenia Andrei) are one of the most common composting worm in the world. They are prolific breeders, and can lay one egg (capsule) every 7 days. Each egg can contain between 4 to 10 worms. The eggs are like small green grape seeds when laid, and turn a brownish red colour before they hatch. They take 3 weeks to hatch. Once the worms hatch, they take 3 to 4 months to mature and begin the breeding cycle again. Red Wrigglers can live for 4 to 5 years.

Composting worms can eat up to their own weight in food each day. They actually eat the bacteria growing on the dead organic matter. Bacteria usually causes unpleasant odours but in a worm farm the worms keep it in check so there is no smell. The term Composting Worm relates to the fact that these particular worms only burrow down in the top 300mm of soil. They’re well suited for warmer climates.

They are an excellent worm in a bed of manure ensuring healthy happy worms in your worm farm. All worms have both male and female sexual organs. A healthy worm farm will have an abundance of insect life.

(Interesting facts courtesy of Brians Worms)
Grain recipe for fattening your worms for your fishes or chickens:
~2 cups of Oatbran
~1 cup of Pollenta (Corn Meal)
~1 hand full of Dolomite or 12 egg shells put through a blender till fine powder
Mix together and feed to your worms.Recipe courtesy of The Worm Expert.

Allan Savoury: How to Green the Worlds Deserts and Reverse Climate Change

The approach that is recommended here by Allan Savoury is quite different from the approach that is outlined by John Liu (see previous post). Here Allan has concluded that Managed Intensive Rotational Grazing (MIRG) is actually very good for regenerating the ecology of an area.

Managed Intensive Rotational Grazing (MIRG)

The thinking behind MIRG is that if you let animals graze on open pasture they will selectively eat on areas where the finer and more tasty grasses are and leave the areas where the not so tasty grasses are. The pasture is then grazed unevenly and so also is the spread of manure, which is not the ideal. They can also have the tendency of returning to the areas where the more tasty grasses are before they’ve had a chance to fully recover. So MIRG is about creating small fenced in areas where the animals are kept for shorter periods and then moved onto another area that is ready for grazing. They are constantly being rotated around and don’t come back to an area until it has had time to heal and regenerate sufficiently. Sometimes, after the larger animals have grazed in an area, other smaller animals such as chickens are brought in that feed off larvae and help to remove parasites found in the manure. They also help to spread the manure as they scratch through it.

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm refers to himself as a ‘grass farmer’. He is one of the most well known farmers who uses the MIRG system. Salatin’s farm produces chicken, beef, turkey, eggs, rabbits, and pigs (as well as tomatoes, sweet corn, and berries) on 100 acres of pasture. He often talks about never violating the “law of the second bite” meaning that the animals aren’t allowed to take a second bite of grass before the blade has a chance to fully recover.Grass follows an S-shaped growth curve. Immediately after it’s grazed, it takes some time to recover, then it goes through a blaze of fresh growth. After a while, its growth tapers off and it begins to put its energy into making seeds. The “law of the second bite” states that you can’t let the grass be grazed again before it has fully recovered from the first grazing.

If animals are allowed to continually graze on large areas, they’ll stick to the most desirous species and the tender new shoots, which are the most tasty, hence violating that law and causing the grasses to weaken. This causes bald spots and weedy, brushy species to emerge. Over time, and close cropping, the grass land will deteriorate so much that it can turn into a desert. Undergrazing however can be problematic as well, leading to “woody, senescent grasses.” Salatin gets it right by “grazing the optimal number of cattle at the optimal moment to exploit the “blaze of growth”, improving the quality of land and creating a lot of grass.