tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579549341020421678.post8506916163416119774..comments2024-01-16T13:06:15.270-06:00Comments on Climate Change: The Next Generation: George Monbiot: Greens living in ivory towers now want to farm them too. The idea that you can feed Manhattan with crops grown in a skyscraper is the craziest of my allies' many miracle solutionTenney Naumerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11843130378338023902noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579549341020421678.post-58635657754493297752010-12-12T05:31:25.463-06:002010-12-12T05:31:25.463-06:00Monbiot needs to come to Detroit and take my perma...Monbiot needs to come to Detroit and take my permaculture course. While there are issues with any kind of farming, let alone vertical farming, there are also solutions, of which he appears to be exceedingly ignorant.<br /><br />1. Light: Light tubes, no walls, glass/plastic walls.<br /><br />2. Water: A building that size, depending on location, could sequester a lot of water as it falls on the roof and exterior. The rest can be pumped in just as it is now.<br /><br />3. Labor: Have you checked the unemployment rate, George? Welcome to the new normal.<br /><br />4. Economics. George, look beyond the box you were born in. Steady-state, non-debt-based economies are coming. There is no choice in the matter. Unending growth (as opposed to intellectual/spiritual/emotional/social development) is impossible on a finite world. Judging future economics based on the current neo-classical paradigm is like judging today's economics based on feudal systems.<br /><br />6. Besides, we can grow plenty of food with or without vertical farms. The issue is one of how and to whom we distribute it, not how much we can grow. However, an aquaponics system in a vertical space would allow for urban localization, i.e. making neighborhoods walkable enclaves albeit with greater connectivity and interaction among parts of the city than among small towns in the countryside.<br /><br />6. Herbicides, pesticides, etc.? No, you don't need them. We are re-learning and modernizing older ways of doing things. <br /><br />Weed killer? Mulch. If weeds can't get sun, they can't grow. This is elementary. Also, high quality soil actually discourages weed growth for several reasons. A. Weeds tend to grow where there is imbalance. They are a signal that a given area is preferentially low or high in given nutrients. When your soil is healthy and balanced, it's actually not all that great for many weeds. For those that will grow, mulch. Pull the few that remain.<br /><br />Fertilizer? That's what the fish provide. Vermiculture can provide what fish don't as well as eliminating all kitchen vegetable and fruit wastes.<br /><br />All the same basic conceptual points apply to pests. A healthy garden will use a large variety of plants that are selected in combinations, or guilds, that are mutually beneficial or non-competitive. Combining plants that attract beneficial organisms with the plants that need those organisms bring in bugs that eat other bugs or in some other way, such as pollination, benefit the plant, e.g.<br /><br />Is this possible? Not only is it possible to not use pesticides and fertilizers, it is more productive to do so and produces food that is more nutritious, thus requiring less food per person.<br /><br />Tell George to come visit my garden.Killianhttp://www.pri-de.netnoreply@blogger.com