Getting back to the farm (work)

Its a relief, after so much travelling, to be back on the farm. I'm not quite caught up on all of my computer work, but I'm working on it, and for my health and wellbeing sometimes I just have to turn off the computer and go outside.

Luckily for me, I have arranged my life in such a way that 'outside' is full of worthy work and things to do.

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I continue to enjoy on the daily my dCity mug, thanks to @summertooth, and here you can see a nice morning shot of our team. Mr. Yellow, @ecoinstante and I are working hard to install and work with a new system of agriculture, not just the same old stuff that other people are doing, which is mainly monoculture.

Monoculture is bad, and I can write one day more about why this is true. Its fast and easy, but requires lots of expensive inputs and in the end, I don't even consider it very profitable over the long term with 'black swan' risks like landslides plus reduced fertility over time.

Our system will be profitable and abundant.

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Everyday brings its own challenges, but we didn't start yesterday; slowly but surely we are moving towards long term systems of production that will provide value for the rest of our lives. They integrate increased biodiversity, maximize ecosystem services and provide a variety of quality products for use and market.

Yesterday we went down to visit closer to the river, check out this view. Yeah, I live here.

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Its something different, and to me its worth all the money in the world. Did you know that we bought this piece down to the river during the big Splinterlands boom?

But not all is rosy, as we had a bit of a landslide last year, caused by big rains and traditional agriculture. We are phasing out the old fellows that cropped here for years now, but we are left with this piece and are working on some ecological restoration for it.

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As we switch to contour tree and bush croppings, our systems have much better erosion control than traditional fast cropping monocultures, but we still got a chance to experience some of the related problems and learn how to deal with them.

As you can see, the edges are undergoing rapid natural restoration, and we are documenting all our efforts to work with nature to restore this segment.

Higher up we can see the last bit of yacón before the old fellows turn over completely the land to our management. If you look closely you can already see some of the trees we planted popping up!

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In the end, even renting land out for other people to work can present challenges. Owning land is not a panacea, but with proper management it can really be a blessing.

This is our life project, and it will provide us with purpose and pleasure for many years to come.

Freedom and Friendship



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As a big fan of the whole concept of permaculture, I really enjoyed reading this update @ecoinstant.

If I may ask, what in the way of ... "cash crops" ... do you have planted and nurturing along?

"... it will provide us with purpose and pleasure for many years to come."

Of that, I am sure there is no doubt! 👍

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This is such a great question - practically a writing prompt for me!

Short answer, lemongrass, mint, Congo leaf and cabo de hacha tree - we also have some coffee which came with the farm and we aren't actively eradicating it. Thanks for this, I will do a deeper dive on this soon!

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(Edited)

"... practically a writing prompt for me!"
"... I will do a deeper dive on this soon!"

Yep, practically ... 😉 Hahaha!

I spent most of my career required to put together monthly reports to account for progress, in my various managerial roles. In my Hive blockchain writing, I have thought along similar lines, except I have motivated myself that type of post was simply a log of sorts (diary, if you will) of the same thing - progress. And what challenges / obstacles you have overcome along the way to get there!

What fascinates me about permaculture is the opportunity it presents us all to have a much greater and deeper appreciation for Creation. The rich diversity of it and the intricate details of how much harmony there is, e.g. the interdependence ...

Seeing this presented, along with the associated "prosperity numbers" (sorry, can't help it ... 😉), would be very interesting to me.

Anyway, looking forward to it some day! 👍

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Yes - the possibilities are beautiful, endless and somewhat bewildering. If its so wonderful, why isn't everyone doing this?

After 10 years, I have some answers.

1 - Permaculture is a design system. It doesn't give us answers, it gives a system through which we can try to find the answers.

2 - Making a design takes time, plus trial and error. This is compounded by the fact that tree and bush crops, essential to complete systems, also take more time than their fast cropping counterparts.

3 - Creation is nearly infinite! Sure there maybe only thousands of promising plant species, but add in the permutations to it all, and you get an infinite variety of things to chose from - which can be overwhelming to the uninitiated!

But -

4 - We have made great progress, and will continue to develop 'our' system.

5 - The results are quite promising, and already people are beginning to copy bits and pieces of our successes into their own systems.

6 - I firmly believe that in the next several decades what we have been discovering will become the best practices for our part of the world, much like Joel Salatin's system has become somewhat ubiquitous in the US 'permaculture' community.

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🌄 Good morning! ☕

Great question ...

"If its so wonderful, why isn't everyone doing this?'

... for our time in history. I could write a whole post in response. But ... I'll "stick a sock in it" and refrain ...

"... what we have been discovering will become the best practices for our part of the world, much like Joel Salatin's system has become somewhat ubiquitous in the US 'permaculture' community."

Very good. All the best to you and yours, in your efforts!

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I loved the first picture, it contemplates the essence of the countryside in a mountain climate, nature, the thermos of coffee, some avocados from the harvest. It reminded me a lot of my village, and the environment in which I grew up and was raised.

PS: your mug is beautiful.

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YEah, that view. Way to take advantage of the Splinterbull and turn it into something very real, and very worth every moment and dime you spent on it.

Keep up the awesome work, man.

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This is what paradise looks to me 🤩

Ive been reading and watching videos of permaculture this last year, and i have to say its a very interesting topic, great job on being able to put your knowledge in practise 👌

Sadly here land is pretty expensive to own, unless you move out pretty far away, plus we have been dealing with a pretty severe drought for the last 2-3 years

I started 6 months ago by renting a very small piece of land, but it still feels great to be able to grow atleast some veggies for me and my family 🎉

Btw the dcity mug is amazing 🤣

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In the same way, it is very great to work in the fields, one gets to see many natural and new things and one becomes very happy.

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(Edited)

I'm glad to hear that you're back on the farm and enjoying your life project. It sounds like you're doing some really important work, and I'm impressed by your commitment to sustainability and ecological restoration.

I loved the photo of your team working on the new agricultural system. It's great to see people working together to create a better future for themselves and the planet.

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We appreciate your work and your publication has been hand selected by the geography curation team on behalf of the Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!

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