TRUTH MATTERS

[CORRECTED POST] In the Permaculture Movement, we are interested in Feeding People Sustainably. So we are interested in producing the most calories possible in a given land area. But not just any calories. You would not be very healthy if, for example, you got all your calories from refined sugar! But, interestingly, you COULD get all your calories from potatoes if you had to and you would survive. That is fascinating to me, which is why I started growing potatoes last year. So how may people could you feed from an acre of potatoes? Well, considering that you need about 1 million calories per year per person (using the adult male number of about 3000 calories per day), according to THIS ARTICLE, you could feed 17 people from one acre!! Wow. Has anyone ever tried eating a “potato only” diet? Yes, actually. His name is Chris Voigt and you can read about his experiment HERE. Chris says “My doctor is interested to see the final results, and he suspected I would be just fine at the end of 60 days.” Hmm. You’d have to get really creative with your recipes I guess. Ok so now my wheels are really turning … 17 million calories per acre from potatoes. And here’s the “100 lbs of Potatoes from 4 Square Feet” article I linked on Facebook earlier. But both systems need compost.  Stay tuned for compost calculations.

[PREVIOUS ERRONEOUS VERSION OF POST – DISREGARD – TREE LEAF COMPOST ARTICLE HAD A HUGE CALCULATION ERROR] In the Permaculture Movement, we are interested in Feeding People Sustainably. So we are interested in producing the most calories possible in a given land area. But not just any calories. You would not be very healthy if, for example, you got all your calories from refined sugar! But, interestingly, you COULD get all your calories from potatoes if you had to and you would survive. That is fascinating to me, which is why I Read more »

[CORRECTED POST] For a BackToEdenFilm.com gardening enthusiast geek like me, this post by Bev Walker entitled “The Numbers of Leaves” is truly Geek Heaven. I am now in my second year of successful gardening with the BTE (wood chip) method and I am studying ways to collect leaves and twigs more reliably so this is a great article for me.

[PREVIOUS ERRONEOUS VERSION OF POST – DISREGARD – I should have checked this author’s calcs with the scientific literature before posting.  72 tons of leaf fall per year is way, way, way too high.  According to this paper it’s 5400 kg/hectare (4752 lbs/acre)]

For a BackToEdenFilm.com gardening enthusiast geek like me, this post by Bev Walker entitled “The Numbers of Leaves” is truly Geek Heaven. I am now in my second year of successful gardening with the BTE (wood chip) method and I am studying ways to collect leaves and twigs more reliably so this is a great article for me. One big take away I get from this article is that the four neighbors participating in this leaf composting project collecting from their own yards totaling about 1.5 acres of area, end up every Fall with a volume of 7263 cubic yards of leaves every year. They reduce this down with a shredder by a 10:1 ratio giving a pre-compost volume of 726 CY. This calculates out to 109 tons(!) of leaf fall weight every year! This is further reduced during the natural composting process to yield an estimated 98 tons of compost every year. From 1.5 acres. So 72 tons of leaves per acre => 65 tons compost per acre. Wow!