Saturday, October 7, 2017

Agroforestry


xabier says:
Coppicing, pollarding, suckering: the best ways of maintaining a wood as a renewable (centuries, millenia-long) energy supplier -and for producing useful poles, willow and ash hurdles, etc.
It’s all about harvesting the ‘underwood’, not growing big timber trees. 4 -20 year harvesting cycles.
Mostly fell into disuse in Britain in the 18th century as coal became readily available (not because the wood was used up!) and the proper management of woods by woodmen was forgotten and ‘forestry’ and ‘foresters’ took over -ie clear-cutting of plantations.
I live next to a small 13th century wood of this kind (in fact, quite possibly Saxon, or even Roman, as they had small industries near here using charcoal which must have been locally produced.
Properly managed woods can survive for thousands of years.
People who call anything else ‘renewable’ are smoking something. 🙂
  • The Second Coming says:
    Thanks Xavier, first encountered coppicing while visiting Stanley Joseph in Harborside , Maine, His book is a work of art and can be had for as little as $1.40 on Amazon
    https://www.amazon.com/Maine-Farm-Year-Country-Life/dp/0394584643
    A tribute to the everyday rewards of rural living. The authors record the rhythms of their work and days, along the way providing advice and instruction on dozens of traditional country arts and crafts. 250 full-color photos. A massive coffee table size original priced at $32.50 in early 1990s.
    You may enjoy reading the section of building a Coracle, (especially in Wales and Ireland) a small, round boat made of wickerwork covered with a watertight material, propelled with a paddle).
    One can use the coppice wood to build it!
    The article link features species of woody plants that are nitrogen fixing, thus fertilizing the soil.
    For someone interested in building up soil
    The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security
    Eric Toensmeier is the award-winning author of Paradise Lot and Perennial Vegetables, and the co-author of Edible Forest Gardens. Eric is an appointed lecturer at Yale University, a Senior Fellow with Project Drawdown, and an international trainer. He presents in English and Spanish throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and the Caribbean. Eric has studied useful perennial plants and their roles in agroforestry systems for over two decades, and cultivates about 300 species in his urban garden. His writing can be viewed online at perennialsolutions.org.
    Most of the hard thinking work has been accomplished….not that we can contribute some of our own!, just have the willingness and attitude to “dance” with the transition.

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