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Going Organic
march-may ’09
$3.50 inc. GS
T
The bitter tale
of Aspartame
sweetner p 21
How to plant a
forest in your
back yard p 9
Visit a Certified
Organic farmstay
Indian style p 16
printed on
recycled paper
www . tropo . org . au
Issue No 75 Official journal of Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’ Organisation, TROPO
Buying Organic on the North Coast
What is TROPO?
To help promote the sale of organic produce in the Tweed Richmond
region, Going Organic has compiled the following list of businesses,
markets and box order schemes selling organic foods. If you would like
your business added to this list, contact the editor.
TROPO, the Tweed Richmond
Organic Producers Organisation,
was established in 1989 as a
grassroots local action group
dedicated to fostering organic
agriculture and gardening on the
NSW North Coast.
Organic Fruit and Vegetable outlets
Town
Shop
Ballina
Go Vita
Ballina
Naturalily Organic
Bangalow
Bangalow Basics
Brunswick Heads Brunswick Health Foods
Brunswick Heads The Village Greens
Byron Bay
Life’s a Beech
Byron Bay
Fundamental Foods
Byron Bay
Ozigo
Byron Bay
Santos
Byron Bay
Santos Warehouse
Lismore
Fundamental Foods
Lismore
Goanna Bakery
Lismore (Nth)Rainbow Wholefoods
Mullumbimby
Santos
Murwillumbah
Fresh Wholefoods
Nimbin
Nimbin Emporium
Nimbin
Nimbin Organics
Address
19 Ballina Fair, Kerr St
2/28 Cherry St
29 Byron St
2/20 Fingal St
23 Old Pacific Hwy
44 Beech Drv
69 Jonson St
BP Service Bayshore Dr
105 Jonson St
7 Brigantine St
140 Keen St
171 Keen St
49 Terania St
51 Burringbar St
43 Wollumbin St
58 Cullen St
50 Cullen St
Box Deliveries
Byron Organic Boxes
Fiona O’Connor
0432 579 506
Organics for Everyone
Coomera to Coolangata
Eloise 0433 707 469
Naturalily Organics
Anna and Ray
6686 8955
Dolphin Organics
Dolph Cooke
07 5523 3082
If you would like your box deliver service listed or removed from Going Organic
please contact the editor, see the back for contact details.
Markets
Rainbow Region Organic Market — Tuesdays 7.30-11 am,
Lismore Showground.
Contact Dave Roby 6628 1084
Byron Farmers’ Market — Thursdays 8-11 am, Butler Street Reserve.
Contact Vicki Rix 6629 1666
New Brighton Farmers Market — Tuesdays 8-11 am, 6684 5390
Grafton — Every second Thursday
Lismore Farmers’ Market — Saturday, 8 am-12 noon,
Lismore Showground.
2
Since then, membership has
grown to over 150. Members
include commercial organic
producers, part-time farmers, home
gardeners, conventional farmers
considering converting to organic
methods, and many others with an
interest in supporting the kind of
agriculture that does not poison
people or the environment.
TROPO activities include
meetings and field days covering
practical organic farming and
gardening techniques and looking
at wider issues in sustainable
agriculture.
In the struggle for a cleaner,
healthier and more sustainable
world, your views count, and
TROPO helps make your voice
heard. TROPO members provide
input to a number of influential
institutions including NSW
Agriculture, OFA, organic
certification groups like NASAA
and BFA. The group also liaises
with produce wholesalers and
retailers.
Annual membership costs only
$28 and includes regular meetings,
field days and four editions
of the Going Organic Journal.
Membership also provides access
to experienced organic growers
interested in sharing their expertise.
See our membership form on page
23 and a full list of contacts on the
back cover.
You can also find us at
www.tropo.org.au
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
Contents
Farmwalk information
3
Affairs of TROPO
President’s Report
Grassroots direct action for climate
Alan Robert’s regular look at climate change 18
4
Paddock to Plate to Pencil-case
5
Earth friendly food?
Aspartame — the bittersweet
21
Educating the future
7
In my garden with David Forrest
22
What to plant this autumn
22
TROPO membership form
23
Contact details
24
Memoirs of a roaming hobo in troubled times
8
Trees for our region — a comprehensive look
into tree planting in this region
9
Lismore Organic Market’s 9th Birthday Party
12
Eco-Logical perspective on
global environmental change
In Sujata’s Garden — Indian permaculture
14
16
Farmwalks
TROPO is working on the 2009 farmwalk schedule,
we are pretty sure these dates will work please check
online for up-to-date farmwalk information. Sometimes
the day or time changes without much notice, changes
are always posted at the Lismore Organic market too.
For those of you who have read about the farmwalk
but have never quite made it; you really are missing
out, they are a great opportunity to learn from someone
elses experience or if, in your opinion, it wasn’t worth
learning, to challenge that experience. As always the
aim is to exchange as much as impart information ...
and you also get a chance to snoop around someone
elses place!
Front cover pic Sweet cover ’tatta by Sri Dharma
If you dig, pick, harvest any interesting vegetables
please bring them to the market so Sri can photograph
them and add them to our collection of the naturally
weird and wonderful.
every bit helps. If you are interested but have no
contacts to share the journey with please contact us at
[email protected] or phone one of the
committee members (see back page).
Rod and Tania Bruin hosted the first farm walk of
the year on Sunday, March 15. We will have a write up
about it in next quarter’s GO.
Dave Roby and Kate will host TROPOs 20th
Birthday and Farmwalk Extravaganza on Sunday, June
14, 2009. Cath Ford’s Macadamia farmwalk on August
8, and a retail and customer information session is
earmarked at Naturalily in Balina on September 19.
Getting to the farmwalk
TROPO encourages you all to carpool with others
to get to our farmwalks, even if this means sharing
just part of the trip with others, for instance those who
have to pass through Lismore to get to Dave Roby’s
farm could share cars from Lismore to Alstonville,
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
Gibbo
3
Affairs of tropo
A
President’s Report
s the globalised
economic system
squirms with
nationalisation of
assets, dropping
interest rates towards zero,
attempting to prop up the artificial
construct. Organics continues to
show its foresight in reality. Why
did no-one foresee the crash? It’s
better business to continue until it
happens! There are similar questions
asked of chemical agricultures’
reliance on artificial fertilisers and
pesticides, at the expense of genuine
“
If the horticultural industry
had shown any vision over
the last 10-20 years there
would have been a channelling
of funds into non-chemical
management of what are real
production problems, rather
than the registration of new
chemicals in case the old ones
are deregistered.
”
soil fertility and development of a
farmscape which gives resilience
against pests. What happens when
it crashes? Indicators are that with
increasing energy costs chemical
fertilisers and petro chemical
pesticides will significantly increase
in cost. This is already happening
with prices up 100% last year. As
the inflation – recession wobble
increases the security of food
supplies becomes unstable.
In the same way as the
Lismore Organic Market forms a
workable basis for regional food
security which can be multiplied
as change occurs, a movement
towards Organic farming systems
4
Dave Forrest
has provided a workable basis
for farmers to move into as the
resources dry up. In neither case this
is enough but TROPO does what
it can, and people make their own
decisions whether they do anything
real to support this.
The current debate about the two
headed fish etc is an example of
chemical farming blind to the future.
It seems that dodging the blame is
the main issue rather than accepting
the mountain of evidence, provided
by unbiased research into problems,
that there are off target effects from
pesticide use. If the horticultural
industry had shown any vision over
the last 10-20 years there would
have been a channelling of funds
into non-chemical management of
what are real production problems,
rather than the registration of new
chemicals in case the old ones
are deregistered. This is cheaper
in the longer term and could be
providing effective control now
if the necessary development
was funded. The registration for
Endosulphan has been removed in
55 countries, but it continues to be
the most widely used insecticide in
Australia because it is still cheap!
It is an Organochlorine which is
acutely toxic especially to mammals
and all aquatic organisms (LD50
is 38mg/kg), and its’ breakdown
products are very persistent being
triple bonded Carbon/Sulphur. It is
in your bloodstream, as well as 14
other pesticides on average, and is
a known false oestrogen, endocrine
system disruptor, carcinogen and
has links to osteoporosis.
The regulatory system is set up
to test how toxic pesticides are, then
regulate their use to minimise this
effect for acute toxicity. Obviously
this is not a model which works
for chronic toxicological problems.
We need problems for farm
production sorted out by our well
trained researchers, not rely on a
few Organic farmers to somehow
chance on it. Horticultural bodies
have levy funds from growers which
government bodies can match. It is
time to put this into research projects
while the opportunity is still there.
The cost cutting of the financial
crisis is pushing to close our local
Horticultural Research Station at
Alstonville. TROPO is one of the
groups attempting to come up with
a non-government funded model to
keep it from subdivision into ocean
view suburbia. Congratulations
to the local grower groups for the
efforts so far. TROPO can offer
in-kind support for the continuation
of this facility so important for the
development of a more sustainable
agriculture.
This year is the 20th birthday of
Landcare. TROPO believes that
Organics is all about Landcare and
this year became a member of the
Australia-wide movement. We
are keen to cooperate with other
groups, such as Soilcare, which has
provided a number of templates for
conversion to biological farming
systems. Interested farmers have
also formed two class groups this
semester at Wollongbar TAFE, but
there is room in the Organic farming
group for late enrolment. Further
opportunities are provided with
Prof. Lyn Abbott on soil biology
and Bob Schaffer on cover crops, so
contact soilcare.org.au.
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
AFFAIRS OF TROPO — Primary School Farm Walk
Paddock to Plate to Pencil-case
Nadine Miller
T
Kids are really, really
interested in learning about
growing and cooking food
his is one of the
findings of a research
project that I carried
out as part of the SCU
primary education
course in conjunction with TROPO
members David Roby and Russell
Scott.
Children are naturally curious
about where food — one of our
most basic needs — comes from.
Often, however, this curiosity is
not satisfied in primary schools
and children do not have the
understanding about food systems
necessary to make informed
choices. Educating children
about food and farming helps
them to make more informed
choices in their day-to-day lives
— choices that affect them and
Students learning to plant beetroot
Planting lab lab
their environment in very real ways.
This project set out to evaluate
the effectiveness of a farm visit in
educating primary aged kids about
food and farming.
The project gauged the change
in attitude and understanding
of a year 2 class from a local
primary school about cooking and
growing vegetables through their
involvement in a farm visit. Both
before and after the visit, 100% of
the children said they would like to
try growing their own vegetables!
That’s every single one of them!
The class of 22 students visited
Dave Roby’s farm in Uralba. They
had a whirlwind tour of the shed,
dams, various vege’ beds and fruit
trees, and an impressive variety
of native animals. They harvested
and planted Dolichos Lab Lab
seeds in the beetroot beds, and then
transplanted beetroot and harvested
more beetroot which they took back
up to the house. After lunch, the
kids got their hands (and the floor)
dirty making an avocado dip and
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
5
AFFAIRS OF TROPO
a beetroot dip with Russell. After
sampling the avocado dip I heard
one boy say, “I am so gonna make
that dip when I get home!”
A survey done by the kids back
in the classroom showed that the
cooking was easily the most popular
activity. The second most popular
activity was planting the beetroot.
One child couldn’t decide though,
and wrote that, “my favourite thing
was everything!” When asked what
they learned on the excursion,
making dips was again the most
common response. The results
of the project also showed that
the children’s confidence in both
growing and cooking food increased
greatly after the farm visit.
The ‘paddock to plate’ excursion
was a very practical and engaging
experience for the children and
was also considered to be a very
valuable learning experience by
their teacher. Whether or not a
single farm visit can have long term
benefits, however, is inconclusive.
TROPO is interested in
continuing to develop an education
program that can support schools to
teach kids about food and farming.
An education subcommittee has
been formed to look in to ways that
this can be achieved. Ideas include:
a farm walk program; teacher
education activities; school garden
consultancy; an information kit for
schools; liaison with groups already
involved in garden-based education
and; provide guest speakers for
schools.
If you would like more
information or have any bright
ideas, please email Nadine on
[email protected]
6
Dave Roby pointing out things of interest
Examples of students’ written
comments back in the classroom.
- My favourite part was making
avocado dip. I learnt how to
harvest beetroot.
- We planted some beetroot. We
also picked some seeds and
planted them next to the beetroot.
- I learnt that bugs are noisy.
- We made two dips. One was
avocado and one was beetroot. I
didn’t like the beetroot one.
- My favourite thing was
everything.
- I learnt that you put salt
on leaches and I learnt that
windmills get water and they
give it to David’s house.
– After morning tea we picked
beetroot. I got a massive one. We
planted lap lap [lab-lab].
- David’s great farm at Uralba was
excellent.
– First David talked to us about all
of the danger that could happen.
Then he showed us this carpet
snake.
- We had morning tea at this
Jungle type of thing.
- We made some dips with Russell.
We made avocado and beetroot
dip.
- I learnt how to make dips and
little berrys can grow on trees.
- Later we made two yummy dips
and sat down inside and had
some fun.
- We saw lots of animals. There
were 2 snakes, a possum, marchflys, ducks, dragon-flys and a lot
more insects.
- We went down to a little place
with a lot of rocks and a river.
Then went up and got some
seeds to grow some lab lab.
- We got some Avocado and mixed
it to make a dip. The ingredients
are Avocado, Salt, lemon.
- One thing I learnt was about
different kinds of food.
- My favourite thing was planting
the beetroot and I learnt how to
make beetroot dip.
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
AFFAIRS OF TROPO
Educating the future
TROPO is 20 years old and for 20 years
TROPO has been offering information and
demonstrations about organics and
sustainability to the region.
We are now forming an education sub-committee
and would like to know who you think we should be
educating, what you think the focus should be and how
you think we could best go about it?
Tools
These are some of the tools we have available for an
education operation.
• TROPO has members who can grow food in
an acceptable sustainable way. They can talk,
demonstrate and display sustainable food production.
David Roby
Possibilities
Farm walks and market tours are currently the most
successful education activities we attempt. Public
meetings also meet the criteria.
Schools with sustainable gardens are a good
possibility for our involvement.
Schools with sustainability groups can benefit by
having a TROPO member in attendance.
Across the region there are hundreds of groups that
invite speakers to publicise their topics. Organic voices
need to be heard.
We need your input and assistance.
Help.
• We have examples of sustainable food distribution.
Organic farmers markets can clearly demonstrate
sustainable distribution systems.
• TROPO has members who can explain and
demonstrate the need for sustainable living.
• TROPO has members who can put together
programs and events designed to educate the public
about concerns, problems and solutions.
• We have Russell.
• We have the internet and this magazine.
Targets
Who are the targets for our education policy?
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary students need
different approaches with different outcomes.
Other key targets needing different approaches would
be media, teachers, health practitioners, families, chefs,
government agencies, etc.
Philosophy
What is it that TROPO can and should be informing
and educating these targets about?
Sustainable food seems to be the broad answer.
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
7
Current Affairs
Memoirs of a roaming hobo in troubled times
A Frank look at things
D
ear all, I sat on the
train for a night and
day, watched things
go from green to
brown with a bit of
green south of Sydney then much
brown to bush fire black.
Central Victoria is bone dry
and fire shy. According to ‘The
Age’ newspaper, Victoria is the
process of losing 12% of its trees
due to drought and heat stress, let
alone what the fires have done to
the country and to people’s minds.
Welcome to mad climate change.
Fuel reduction is an often repeated
mantra so looks like efficient mobile
investments
clean transport
plantation timber
water quality
renewable energy
education
pyrolysis units could give people
a sense of purpose, most probably
all it’s worth unless we get the
corporations to leave the coal in the
ground.
Please, please Penny Wong
and Peter Garrett etc strong, clear
leadership in this critical time. There
is absolutely no future in continuing
to tow the party line.
I have been given a copy of
‘The Transition Handbook’ by the
Castlemaine Community House and
am in the process of reading it and
unleashing it on Mallacoota, East
Gippsland ... more on that soon. Still
Frank The Hobo
quite green and Dreamy here. Yes, it
rained and I got wet.
In essence I have been making
contact with people, sharing what
I know of the direness of the
situation and what we can do on a
grass roots level to work towards
climate change minimization and
preparation for peak oil and what
follows.
... stay tuned for the next exciting
adventures
Love all, from Frank The Hobo.
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8
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
Feature article
Trees for our region
P
Some comments on trees and forestry
eople living in the
Northern Rivers Region
are lucky. They are in
one of the best places in
Australia climatically
and the local soils can entice the
most garden-shy to become a little
bit adventurous and plant a few
interesting native shrubs and trees.
Some parts of our region supported
the Big Scrub, which was the largest
sub-tropical rainforest in Australia.
It has been dramatically reduced in
area through timber felling in the
first years of settlement and then
through a series of agricultural/
pastoral pursuits (including sugar
cane, bananas, dairying) that were
appropriate for the times. However,
even though these ‘rainforest’
soils have been degraded over the
years, they are generally still of
adequate physical structure and
chemical composition to support
the establishment and growth of
rainforest species. A little fertilizer
will be needed to ensure that
rainforest plants can be established
relatively easily and quickly and
follow-up fertilizer applications
need only be relatively light and
infrequent. When a litter layer has
been formed, continuing growth
is likely to be quite satisfactory.
Other soils in the region originally
supported eucalypt forest and
these ranged from wet sclerophyll
types containing flooded gum,
blackbutt and tallowwood to the
drier types with spotted gum and
iron bark. Again for these soil
types, a little fertilizer will assist
the establishment and early growth
of a broad range of non-rainforest
species. It is possible to grow
rainforest species on these poorer
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
soils but it requires much more
effort and the results are never as
good as following the Greening
Australia slogan of having ‘the right
tree in the right place for the right
reason’.
The planting site should be
prepared so that plant roots can
move through the soil with few
constraints. It is necessary to
remove all competing grasses,
herbs and shrubs from the planting
position. A common means of
controlling a broad range of plants
is to use Roundup but organic
growers will have to resort to other
methods such as cultivation or
hand removal1. The problem with
cultivation is that it opens up the
soil to the potential for erosion so
must be done carefully (eg on-thecontour rather than straight up and
down a slope) and rainforest soils
on slopes are particularly prone
to erosion. Fertilizer should be
applied at the time of planting and
preferably into a pocket about 20
cm from the base of the plant. Blood
and bone is one organic alternative
to a dose of about 150 gm of a
NPK mix. Mulching straight after
planting assists in retaining moisture
and reducing the potential for
competition from weeds and may
also help to reduce soil wash. It is
also always good practice to water
in the plants. This helps to close
off air pockets left in the planting
process and seals the plant into the
soil.
A point to consider in all tree
planting is that the preparation and
planting process takes about 10%
of the effort of establishment, the
remaining 90% is the continual
David Cameron
maintenance to ensure that the
planting is a success. Maintenance
includes removal of competition,
form pruning, watering if there has
been inadequate rain, follow-up
fertilizing if considered necessary,
monitoring to determine whether
there has been attack by insects or
by wallabies/kangaroos or other
pests. Attack by pests can be very
destructive and the source of
the problem has to be identified
promptly and control measures
commenced rapidly or the planting
can suffer substantial losses. Fungal
attack is rare and if it occurs prompt
identification and advice should be
sought from a plant pathologist.
Fire is always a potential problem
and plantings should be sited in such
a way that a fire-trail or fire-break
can protect the plantation or provide
a break to use in any back-burning
Photo Sri Dharma
9
feature article
operation. In larger plantings, such
trails can be used for carting in
plants, fertilizer, mulch and other
equipment. Very careful siting of
such trails is necessary to ensure
that they do not become ‘streams’
during heavy rain.
A number of local organizations
and individuals have planted a
very broad range of indigenous
species in the region. The reasons
for these plantings have included
the desire to ensure that the
rainforest mixture of the region
can be perpetuated in an attempt to
maintain the ecological features and
biodiversity of the original forest.
This approach requires setting some
standards regarding what species
to include in a planting as well as
where to collect the seed or obtain
planting stock. A purist approach
would necessitate the planting in
an area with only the species that
originally occurred in that area. A
complete list of such species will
be difficult to obtain if the forest
has been completely removed,
however there are very competent
local ecologists who can nominate
species for the various locations in
the Big Scrub area. Other people
will be interested in growing the
high value cabinet-wood species
with the intent of carrying them
through to a stage when they can
be harvested for conversion to
timber. A more recent development
involves those interested in planting
trees for carbon sequestration and
more information on this aspect will
become available over the next few
years.
Information on what species to
include in a planting and where
10
to obtain seed or plants should be
available from the local Landcare
groups, nurseries, the CMA, Big
Scrub Landcare group as well as
the Subtropical Farm Forestry
Association. It is also good practice
to travel around your area and
observe the tree/shrub species
found to be attractive, healthy and
displaying the characteristics of
interest to the land holder.
People with land where the soils
did not carry rainforest have a
different suite of species that can be
planted and the list includes a range
of eucalypts and the associated
genera of the tall open forests of the
region such as Casuarina, Grevillea,
Banksia and Acacia. However,
planting eucalypts requires more
than a ‘home garden’ as most can
reach very large sizes and the
Local Government regulations
on suburban tree planting should
be viewed to ensure that the land
holder does not end up with a
massive tree to remove in 40-50
years time. If that eventuates, it
can be costly but if the trees are
left, storm damage can also be
very destructive firstly to the trees
but then to adjacent houses and
buildings. General comments on
site preparation, establishment and
maintenance apply similarly to
plantings on the rainforest soils and
again advice can be sourced from
the same agencies.
Forestry in general
Any comment about tree planting
in our region would not be complete
without general information on
what is happening regionally and in
Australia concerning forestry. The
State Governments commenced
their own ‘forest services’ in the
early 1900s when it was appreciated
that the forest resource required
protection to ensure that it was
not over-logged or over-cleared. It
was also recognised that there was
a need to protect some areas and
the dedication of National Parks
commenced. Early work in the
forest services was concentrated
on controlling logging in the native
forest and establishing management
procedures and management
plans directed towards ensuring
sustained yield in perpetuity. These
management plans set the maximum
volume of timber that could be
harvested from compartments
within the forest and was calculated
based on ‘growth plots’ scattered
through the various vegetation
types in the forest. Trials were also
commenced on finding suitable
‘softwood’ species to provide
easier-to-handle timber as well as
species suitable for making paper.
Southern Australia ‘found’ Pinus
radiata from California while
Queensland and northern New
South Wales imported P. elliottii
(slash pine) from the southern states
of the USA to support those states’
interest in planting the native hoop
pine (Araucaria cunninghammii).
In recent years as more and more
State Forests have been converted
to National Parks, the once vast
hardwood forests no longer have
the capacity to produce sufficient
timber to satisfy demand, so
hardwood (eucalypt) plantations
are required to supplement the
increasing volumes of timber
sourced from private land. The
planting of eucalypt plantations
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
feature article
commenced in earnest throughout Australia in the
1990s.
Data on area of plantations, imports, exports and
forest area in Australia are given below to assist in
understanding the reasons for establishing plantations
and the importance of Managed Investment Schemes in
forestry.
Strange as it may seem Australia has a trade deficit in
timber and forest products of $1.9 billion in
2006-7 (State of the Forest Five-yearly report 2008
DAFF) and this situation has existed for many years.
One may well ask why is our balance of trade so
bad that we must import $1.9 B of additional forest
produce each year? Don’t we have enough land to
grow more trees and produce timber? It is likely to be
more complicated than that, as some of our imports are
of specialised product that is not readily available in
Australia. Then why don’t we attempt to grow those
species in Australia?
There are often claims that forest plantations should
be restricted to the poorer soils in a region and the
‘good’ country allocated and reserved for agriculture
and horticulture. However it is also a fact that plants
established on poor soils do not grow as well as plants
established on good soils and this applies to trees as
well as to horticultural and other crops. So why should
forest plantations not be allocated some of the good
soils to ensure that volume production is higher than if
only poor soils are used? The total area of hardwood
and softwood plantations in Australia was 1.9 M ha in
2007. This may sound a large area but it compares with
almost 30 M ha used for agricultural and horticultural
crops and with 385 M ha used for grazing.
State Forest Departments are now mainly replanting
the plantation areas that they have had under plantations
since the early plantings of the 1920-30s. The extra
Share your tips
We would love to hear about your
labour-saving hints
[email protected] or
PO Box 5076 ,
East Lismore NSW 2480
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
areas to cater for import replacement and increased
demand is generally being met by the Managed
Investment Scheme (MIS) companies. In 2007, new
Government plantings were only 7% of the total with
the remaining 79,000 ha planted by private and MIS
companies. If MIS companies continue to plant at their
current rate it is anticipated that they will become the
major owner of plantations in Australia. So in effect
whereas in the past the Government paid totally for
plantation forestry, private investors are now funding
the expansion through the Managed Investment
Schemes.
References
1 There are some mechanical means of control/reduction
of weed growth that should be mentioned. These are
plastic sheeting to apply on top of the soil and, I guess,
fibreglass mat to reduce the incidence of rooting through
the mat. I did try the latter but was not really impressed. I
also understand that some people are testing the mat as a
means of reducing weed growth locally. Another means
of ‘control’ is to burn off the newly germinated seedlings.
This could be hazardous and require very careful timing
to ensure there is sufficient dew on the ground to stop
the spread of flames if using an LPG fire lighter. Suitable
firefighting equipment would be required to be on hand
and the technique used with approval from the local Fire
Authorities.
All Welcome
All TROPO members are invited to attend
committee meetings which will now be held
on the second Tuesday of each month after the
LOM.
Please contact a committee member (see back
cover) to confirm location. All members of the
public interested or involved in organic gardening,
farming and food — and willing to be immediately
forced into slavery — are welcome to become
TROPO members (see membership form, page
23).
Seriously, even if you are not a member but are
just interested in finding out more about organics
on the North Coast— or want to help see it spread
— call a committee member.
11
Lismore organic market
Lismore Organic Market kids pants
9th Birthday Party
Bob Oort
O
ur market celebrated its 9th birthday party in
December. It was a long time ago now ... almost
14 weeks. I can barely remember that far back
but the day is creeping towards my
consciousness .. was it clear
or overcast? I don’t know, I do know,
however, that when I arrived,
Carol had pegged up the 130
or so children’s art exhibition
entries to a large stretch of
hessian. Those who had
entered pictures helped
themselves to a lucky
dip of small gifts ... there
is no winning or losing,
everyone gets awarded for
their effort.
Rod Bruin at his stall
Lucky gift dip
12
The market was full of
people taking advantage of
the excellent produce from our
usual stallholders, we also had a solar
energy stall, the Lismore community garden
team, The Greens, Triton and T-shirts for sale. Yoga
Sanga had made some great children’s pants
with a lismore market insignia (... well haven’t
big brands been doing it for ages!)
Children’s art exhibition
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
B
an
C
Th
bi
pi
Bountiful silverbeet from Neville’s stall
Perch Creek Jug Band
Perch Creek Jug Band
Bob Oort again entertained us with his immaculate guitaring
nd when his fingers needed a break the best part of the Perch
Creek Jug band entertained us and Justin the Clown did tricks
with balloons for the younger members of the Market
community. Thank you all.
There was coffee, cake and samosa
dosas and masala dosas and some
of us were also surprised by a
market birthday cake ... yum.
Those pictures which
excelled in the exhibition
where quickly digitalised
and printed in LOMs 2009
calendar, if you wanted one
then bad luck they have all
sold ... but we hope to do the
same next year so put in an
order now.
Perch Creek Jug Band
Thanks to all the stall holders
who put in the extra effort to make the
party the success it was, Carol in particular.
he centre picture shows Si and Kalib blowing out the LOM
irthday cake candles. Many thanks to Sri Dharma for these
ictures.
The market floor
Children’s art exhibition
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
13
feature article
Eco-Logical perspective on
global environmental change
I
n this article I discuss
how we think about
environmental issues and
how this determines our
outlook and approach to
problems. This is very important
in framing discussion and guiding
initiatives for addressing the
environmental challenges we face
today.
Describing Our Future
How can we plan our future,
and more specifically, how can we
plan it in an ecological way? Can
we even plan it at all? If so, how
do we describe this future? Maybe
— growth, survival planning, a
new age, a war on global warming,
carbon neutralisation, sustainable
development, eco development?
My focus though, is on new
ways of thinking and acting in an
eco–logical sense. Now this really
requires a whole new language.
The digital revolution and internet
is already changing our language,
dramatically altering the way we
communicate and manipulate
information. In fact, modern
communications over the last
century have contributed greatly to
the present global narrative. Over
the last few decades, we have had
an emerging public awareness of
sorts, regarding the global future,
including menacing issues such
as the Population Bomb, the Cold
War and nuclear annihilation. After
Chernobyl came Global Warming,
(the diluted term – climate change).
Then, Kyoto and later, 9-11
and the War on Terrorism, Peak
Oil and now the GFC or global
financial collapse. During all this
14
period of course, a continuum of
poverty, terrible human misery
and devastating wars. Now, in
the early 21st Century, it seems
that we have come to a serious
turning point in human history,
unlike anything before. It is the
outcome of population explosion,
enormous expansion of technology
and industrialisation which has
brought world wide pollution and
compromise of global resources.
We see a covergence of many
transforming forces and events
which are moving at a growing
pace, faster than societies and
economies can adapt to. These
excesses are creating enormous
pressures on many fronts while day
by day the choices are diminishing.
Still, the earth continues its eternal
cycle through space at some 30km
per second. In the far reaches of
the cosmos, no entity is listening
or caring, for that matter, about
this little planet and the tides of its
changing biology.
Austin Williams, an architect
and Director of the Cities Project in
London, recently featured on Radio
National’s program ‘By Design’
postulating that the challenge
for the future in urban design
and our ability to look forwards
is being severely hampered by
sustainability ideology. In part, I
agree that there has been excessive
hype, but it is the political usury
of the term “sustainable” which
I find distasteful. If the concept
of sustainability has lost its
intended meaning, and I think it
has; and if all we strive for is to
keep the current order of things
sustainable then maybe we need a
different direction in thought and
John Jessup
language. Williams’ arguments are
poorly constructed and he makes
ridiculous assertions like this
emphasis on sustainability being
“survivalism of the worst sort” and
even proposing that “architects
should be stamping their feet
on the ground and start making
an impact.” He doesn’t explain
what this “impact” would be, but
talks of the “refusal to engage
and progress.” His assertions are
not justified, but demonstrate the
current negativity and poverty of
debate about our future, particularly
when talking about the environment
and economic growth. We have no
time to waste with such crude and
ill-informed diversions which are
largely politically driven and remote
from the facts of our existence.
We are presently bound up in an
industrial society that shapes just
about every aspect of our lives.
Such a society gives little credence
to the essential worth of individual
human endeavour and labour or
the natural environment. The basic
tenets of mainstream economics
is not bringing progress or wealth
for people, but works more
antagonistically against meeting
human and community needs and
is totally out of harmony with the
natural order. Despite the grand
promises of growth and prosperity,
for many in the world, there is no
living of the “good life,” but more
an ongoing struggle to merely
survive. We are not raising living
standards but, worse still, on a path
to destroying our own humanity.
What is it that we need most today
in this time of great crisis? Well,
solutions will only come from
our motivation and efforts to
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
feature article
change. Some might ask, “Are
we on the brink of catastrophe?”
I prefer to think that we are at a
great turning point in history and
should welcome this change rather
than fear it. Reconsolidation and
new openness to our problems is
most important. Particularly, we
need clarity of mind and purpose,
practical vision, creativity and
boldness to move beyond the
square. The opportunities are there
if we are prepared to take action and
pursue them with diligence. The
movement for change is already
happening and will gain increasing
momentum.
Seeking a Broader Understanding of Environmental
Change
The latin word for economy is
“frugalitas” which of course is to
do with frugality. Conventional
economics poses as rational and
scientific, but is neither of these,
nor is it sufficient or wise or
uplifting, yet it is the dominant
paradigm for directing human
behaviour. As a guiding principle
for the wealth of nations, it is gross
absurdity. Obviously there are
other parts to human behaviour
that have contributed to this
stupidity, but the end result has
seriously compromised life on
earth. The melting polar icecaps,
mass extinction of plant and animal
species, destruction of vast areas
of forest, increasing instability in
world weather patterns, etc. We
can’t go on with this so limiting
economic interpretation of life and
then speak of it as progress.
One of the major energy sources
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
for our living has been carbon
fuels, which have also become
one of our more serious problems,
but not just this alone. The
complexities of global instability is
the consequence of many factors in
combination. Physics and ecology
tells us that we have to look at the
whole planetary system of ocean
cyclic temperatures, deforestation,
desertification, dust in the
atmosphere, agricultural practices
and all the inputs of human
technology. The earth is really like
a living organism and all of these
are changing the chemistry and
biology of the planet in ways only
but a few have began to investigate.
According to the Universal Law of
Gases there is a limit to the amount
of heat that can be absorbed within
the molecular make up of gases
such as CO2. Also, the dynamics
and balances of energy exchanges in
the biosphere are being constantly
affected by the complex interactions
of forests, wind patterns, deserts,
mountains, water and heat
exchanges, soil composition,
land geology, the albedo effect,
organisms including mankind and
so on. Forests, for example, are not
only habitats for animals, insects,
micro fauna and micro flora, they
also lock up vast quantities of
water and moderate its run off
which affects the surrounding
environment. We are not fully
accounting for the complexity of
the ecology in enough detail to
really comprehend the full story of
global environmental dynamics.
Greater understanding of the micro
and macro workings of nature is
going to be critical in our responses
to the changing world situation,
particularly as nature can do far
more in restoring balances than any
human intervention. We have to
work with nature not against it.
Turning to Eco Development
To me the reality is that we
live in dangerous times, but the
story is not so bleak. We either do
nothing or decide to change. World
politics is in a dire situation, but
also is in our favour in as much
as there is now more questioning
of conventional ideas. Though
still small, never before has the
environment been given such
precedence and in Barack Obama’s
new America, public expectations
of significant change are running
high.
In the next ‘Going Organic’ I
propose to expand on these ideas
with particular reference to the fast
growing Eco Economic thinking
as well as some new ideas in soil
science and organic farming. This
will include:• American Eco economists Lester
Brown and Herman Daly.
• The economist and inventor
of the idea of appropriate
technology, Ernst Schumacher.
• The biologist Dr Brian Czech
who is promoting ecological
economics and the Steady State
Economy
• Patrick Holden, an organic
farmer and president of the UK
Soil Association.
• Australia’s own Dr Christine
Jones who is presently
developing soil carbon farming.
15
Feature article
S
In Sujata’s Garden
ujata and Anurag
are both Doctors of
Molecular Biology who
dropped out of their
profession 8 years ago
and following a road trip to the
western Ghats put down roots on
an established coffee, vanilla and
cardamon farm. They immediately
started an Organic program which
their professional experience had
shown to be the only way. They
are gradually demonstrating to
locals the benefits of the system and
introducing the value of Organic
Certification to them. They haven’t
heard of Permaculture but to me
it was probably the one of the few
functioning examples, despite
relying on educational farmstay
cabins as much as farm income. It
was also evident that the six worker
families residing on the farm would
cost much more than the combined
Sujata in her garden
16
David Forrest
total farm income if in Australia.
However their lives are happy and
very little comes from off farm
to support production. They live
at 1100 m elevation 12˚ north on
relatively steep terrain with a sparse
population of farms with similar
crops. It receives one monsoon
annually and this rains hard and soft
for about four months continuously
to total 5000 mm. Then it’s virtually
rainless ‘til next monsoon! It’s dry
rainforest country and they modify
the canopy of the thinned natives to
allow partial shade at ground level
for the crops. The soil is a podsol
which has shallow topsoil and low
mineral levels.
Sujata takes the farmstayers
on tours and explains Organic
nature-friendly systems they have
instigated, and alerts them to the
genuinely horrific effects of the
poorly regulated chemical use on the
Indian population and environment.
Not surprisingly Endosulphan
is known to cause congenital
deformities, the effects of which
I’d seen in the commercial cashew
growing areas. Organophosphates’
effect on the central nervous
system as a chronic toxicity from
foodstuff is an increasing problem
as the cause – effect is not close.
The need for uniformity in the
marketplace is promoting chemical
use for cosmetic reasons only. She
also has an intimate knowledge of
the complex natural systems and
works simply but effectively to
channel these processes. There are
strong similarities with Organics
everywhere but done with their
local flavour. All “weeds” are hand
cut and collected annually before
the wet when they have achieved
maturity in the dry, and composted
with milk cow manure, neem cake
and wood ash. Piles normally start
with 10m3 and 3-6 months later are
about 3m3 humic mulch like without
turning. Recently she has been
adding Effective Micro-organisms
and molasses which has improved
the result. This material drives
the development of fertile topsoil
structure and nutrition by feeding
biology. The rest of the year ground
covers are habitat for predators and
parasites, as are the many native
trees and shrubs. The farm families
have a continuing use of these as
herbal remedies and pest repellant
sprays. We share common weeds
and same genus, different species
vegetation. For example wild
tobacco, lantana and basil sprays are
used on people, other animals and
plants and she detailed a wide range
of ambient vegetation eaten in small
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
Feature Article
amounts for health benefits.
A tip for keeping monkeys out
of your coconut patch. Leave rice
balls mixed with red chili powder
near the trees with no water nearby.
Maybe a solution for wallabies and
bandicoots?
Organic padi rice and yabbies
are being grown in coastal Kerala
so successfully that it is being
promoted as able to save soil,
farm incomes and thus attract
young farmers. The Director of
Agriculture, R. Hali, said that vast
stretches of land have become
barren, with the loss of essential
trace nutrients in the soil due to
the mindless dumping of chemical
fertilisers and pesticides as a part
of conventional farming practice.
Joseph Kora at Allapey moved to
Organic farming due to continuous
failure using chemical methods.
He said that the soil became hard
and dry from chemical fertilisers
and pests became immune to the
sprays. Now after more than 3
years of Certified Organic methods
he is achieving good harvests of
both rice and 1800 kg of “scampi”
yabbies from the four hectares he
converted, each year. These can’t be
grown in rotation where chemicals
are used on the rice because they
are poisoned, but now the double
cropping provides enough income
for the whole family. He says that
development agencies should
advise and mentor farmers after he
pioneered the successful techniques
needed with their help. He also
feels that the younger generation
should be educated and encouraged
to take up Organic farming, so that
food production will be a job which
leads to prosperity and happiness,
through good, hard work. He said he
is happy to talk with people about
his operation and his contact is
Karivelithara, Ramankary, P.O.689595, Kuttanad, Allepey, India.
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Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
17
climate change
Grassroots direct action for climate,
TROPO to chip in?
F
or a moment it looked
like we had a win.
The 650 of us at the
grassroots people’s
climate summit in
Canberra had resolved to block the
government’s “Carbon Pollution
Reduction Scheme” at its every
turn because if it became law then
business-as-usual emissions would
surge and reducing our personal
emissions would do nothing to
reduce the miserable 5% by 2020
target1.
We’d lobbied every politician
available with encouraging
results2. Then after the horror of
the Victorian fires3,4 the Treasurer
Wayne Swan called5 for a, “New
inquiry into the emissions trading
scheme” to “examine the choice
of emissions trading as the central
policy to reduce Australia’s carbon
pollution.
“The climate is changing
and there is significant scientific
evidence to suggest that it will
continue to change. Australia has
a climate sensitive economy and is
particularly susceptible to droughts,
bushfires, floods, tropical cyclones
and hail storms which lead to
substantial social and economic
costs. We need to take urgent action
to help slow down the effects of
climate change.
“The inquiry will focus on how
Australia can make the transition
to a lower carbon economy both
efficiently and economically. The
terms of reference for the inquiry
referred by the Treasurer Wayne
Swan are:
“The Committee will inquire
18
into the choice of emissions trading
as the central policy to reduce
Australia’s carbon pollution, taking
into account the need to:
a) reduce carbon pollution at the
lowest economic cost;
b) put in place long-term incentives
for investment in clean energy
and low- emission technology;
and
c) contribute to a global solution to
climate change.
“The committee is keen to hear
from industry, peak associations,
academia, government departments,
the scientific community and
individuals.”
This is unprecedentedly
forthright language from the
government on climate. Up until
now adaptation was the strategy, up
until it got scorched. The lid was
lifted, open debate flourished and
even 10 economists joined the fray
on the efficacy of a carbon tax vs
the impotence and complexity of
the ETS. We climate action groups
were busy preparing our submission
when suddenly, with Penny Wong
(Dept Climate Change) adamant,
Wayne pulled his own enquiry.
Wayne and Penny are now busy
assuring the fossil mafia (with
Rupert egging them on) that their
ETS will be ready on time. We’ll
see!
Clearly threatened by the
resistance Penny organised a
telecast, said climate change
was important, we’ll adapt to
what we can’t mitigate. Then she
handed over to her secretary who
said 450ppmV would be nice
but too hard. We’ve messed up
international climate negotiating so
Alan Roberts
we’re going to show the majority
world instead how our “cuts in
emissions are compatible with
continuing economic growth and
improved living standards” (as in
White paper p153). In the 2 hours
of ETS fiddling that followed,
the department’s analysis was
embarrassingly naïve, ignoring the
future entirely. Climate and any
sense of personal restriction were
absent. Fearing constraints has
consequences.
Consequences 101, children’s
version
Look at Figure 1 which is just
the world’s energy cement CO2
emissions from 1900-20076. Notice
the kick upwards after 2002.
Remember that emissions were
supposed to be a useless 5% below
1990 levels by 2010 or deep shit
— of which samples are accruing.
Instead we are heading for 50%
above 1990 levels. Perhaps it’s the
same psychology as the 6 o’clock
swill only this time the hangover,
which boggles the mind if you even
try to contemplate it, lasts 5000
generations.
Even if the Kyoto cuts had been
honoured stabilising at 450ppmV
required further very steep cuts
and that still leaves the GBR as a
dead coral seaweed mat. But now,
after our recent binge, it’s all but
an impossibility to cut emissions
steeply enough to reach a 450ppmV
stabilisation7. The scale of the
emissions cuts now required can be
seen in Figure 2. Figure 2 assumes
that emissions growth decreases
to zero from 2010 to 2015, that
agricultural emissions per person
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
climate change
Figure 1
halves and that
deforestation
drops to zero
by 2050. The
amount of carbon
we can put in
the atmosphere
this century,
without breaching
the 450ppmV
stabilisation level,
depends on the
strength of the
climate-carbon
feedback on soil
and ocean carbon
emissions. Figure
3 shows (for 450ppmV) the possible
emissions to 2100 for 3 feedback
strengths compared to different
peak emission dates. On this
graph only emissions to the peak
date from Energy & Cement are
included, above that is deforestation
emissions then on top is nonCO2 which is mainly agricultural
ruminant emissions. You can see
Figure 2
that with our best effort, starting in
2010-2015, even at 1/2 intensity our
agricultural emissions are a major
contributor to breaching a 450ppmV
limit leaving no more fossil burning
after 2015 if the climate-carbon
feedback turns out to be strong.
Crazy? We naturally protect our
children from the worst of their
consequences whilst they learn.
Now our inability to learn has
consigned to them the worst of our
consequences.
What can TROPO do to help?
Most of the abundantly clear
options we already do to an extent.
Take atmospheric carbon and put it
in the ground, maintain biodiversity,
avoid burning fossil carbon when
we can, especially at the top of the
atmosphere, etc. But our binge has
overwhelmed meagre responses. We
need direct action.
Our most optimistic option here
stems from the Climate Summit8.
This is a nationwide collective
of climate action, sustainability,
student enviro, renewable energy,
toxics network, outdoor lighting
reform, resistance, see-change,
wild forests, crisis coalition,
Coastwatchers, Transition Towns,
zero carbon and conservation
groups. But there are no Organic
farmers’ groups whose input would
be valuable.
This is the most talented,
determined, positive, easy and
effective networking group of
people I have been involved with.
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
19
climate change
This February we put in a combined
submission to a renewable energy
enquiry (that wasn’t pulled), there’s
a “how the Federal goverment
can improve public transport”
submission this week (includes
bikes and walking), did more on
policy, strategy and campaign for
direct actions this year — a lot
of it is action to block the CPRS,
the obstruction of which is going
swimmingly at the moment
especially the coming week.
You’re invited to join a mass
canoe blockade of coal ships in
Newcastle harbour on Saturday,
March 21, 2009. Let me know if
you’re interested (see back GO and
www.risingtide.org.au), it’s legal,
we own the harbour, and it’ll be fun.
In TROPO’s backyard there’s
the threatened world rally
championship in September. Were
it to go ahead it would emit about
5000tCO2, that we can’t afford.
To offset this rally we’d have to
kill 2800 pasture fed cows and
not replace them for a year. NB
this is so that you get a sense of
scale only, in no way a suggestion!
Again if you want to be involved in
environmentally sensitive rallies,
contact me.
There’s lots of room for
worthwhile involvement in the
nationwide collective — even part
time, let TROPO know if you’d like
to be.
References
1Richard Dennis “Fixing the Floor in
the ETS” https://www.tai.org.au/file.
php?file=fixing_the_floor_in_the_
ets.pdf
2 Janelle Saffin, who’s read “Code
Red”, told us she was disappointed
in the 5% by 2020 cut. Bob Debus
agreed and said Caucus was
deeply divided on the CPRS and
encouraged us to campaign strongly.
3 David Karoly an Australian
scientist rep on IPCC has very
good analysis on the fires here:
http://www.realclimate.org/index.
php/archives/2009/02/bushfiresand-climate/langswitch_lang/in” \l
“more-654
4 Including a 7Feb2009 Australian
temperature map here: http://
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/
view.php?id=36900
5Media release Craig Thompson MP
12Feb2009 http://www.aph.gov.
au/economics
6CDIAC http://cdiac.esd.ornl.
gov/ftp/ndp030/CSV-FILES/
global.1751_2005.csv
7 Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows,
2008. “Reframing the climate
change challenge in light of post2000 emission trends http://www.
tyndall.ac.uk/publications/journal_
papers/fulltext.pdf
8 http://www.climatesummit.org.au
Figure 3
20
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
earth friendly food?
T
Aspartame — the bittersweet
his article could
change the life of
many people ... that
is something you, as
the reader, may well
agree with when you have looked
into the matter yourself ... even if
you do not consume anything that
contains the substance in question,
this short article will help to make
known the insidious side of the
nature of corporate enterprise and
government cohabitation. Diet Coke
and other diet drinks have seeped
into the lives of millions all over
the world. In most schools there
are vending machines and school
children abound eating chewing
gum at chain rate. In fact sugar-free
gum is about all one sees. Sugar
free is now more than a necessity
for some it seems to be a fad,
something one should do for good
measure. The unfortunate thing is
that in almost all sugar free choices,
one takes part in a serious health
risk and arguably the biggest food
swindle ever.
The artificial sweetener is
mostly known as aspartame or
NutraSweet but it also comes
with other disguises on ingredient
labels (if mentioned at all). It took
nearly ten years to approve this
chemical. It had been rejected by
the US Federal Drug Authority
during this time ... and then with
the help of Donald Rumsfeld
(and his gang), following his new
executive position at the helm of
Searl Pharmaceutical company ... it
was instantly approved. The FDA’s
about-turn opened the floodgates
for aspartame’s swift approval by
more than 70 regulatory authorities
all over the world. The established
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
and widely documented effects
of aspartame/NutraSweet include
headaches, memory loss, mood
swings, seizures, multiple sclerosis,
Parkinson-like symptoms, brain
tumors and even death. There
are more than 91 documented
different effects. It was also listed
by the Pentagon as a biochemical
warfare agent. The journal Medical
World News reported that the
methanol content of aspartame
is 1,000 times greater than most
foods under FDA control. In high
concentrations methanol, or wood
alcohol, is a lethal poison. The
methanol absorbed from aspartame
is converted to formaldehyde
in the liver. Formaldehyde is a
neurotoxin and known carcinogen.
It causes retinal damage and
birth defects, interferes with
DNA replication, and has been
shown to cause squamous-cell
carcinoma, a form of skin cancer,
in animals. Several human studies
have found that chronic, low-level
formaldehyde exposure has been
linked with a variety of symptoms,
including headaches, fatigue,
chest tightness, dizziness, nausea,
poor concentration and seizures.
Independent scientists from the
University of Barcelona published
a landmark study clearly showing
that aspartame is transformed
into formaldehyde in the bodies
of living specimens (in this case
rats), and that this formaldehyde
spreads throughout the specimens’
vital organs, including the liver,
kidneys, eyes and brain. The results
fly in the face of manufacturers’
claims that aspartame does not
break down into formaldehyde in
the body, and bolster the claims
Russell Scott
of aspartame critics that many
of the symptoms associated with
aspartame toxicity are caused by the
poisonous and cumulative effects of
formaldehyde.
The aspartame/NutraSweet
epidemic is rampant and widely
publicised on the internet and there are
some touching video clips on uTube
such as “One Mans Story” Try :www.
wnho.net/the_ecologist_aspartame_
report.htm and http://www.dorway.
com/ — this is the most developed and
cohesive site with a bounty of links.
There are many recipes for sweet
dishes that take well to substitute
sweeteners a little experimentation
may bring surprising rewards.
The list that follows is designed
to help you substitute one natural
sweetener for another and begin
to understand the relationship
among them in terms of sweetness.
Remember, always decrease or
increase the amount of liquid or
flour in the recipe according to the
liquid content of the sweetener.
In all recipes, 1/2 cup sweetener =
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup black sugar
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 1/4 cup maltose
1 1/2 cups barley malt extract
1/2 cup fruit juice concentrate
1 cup sugarless fruit jam or jelly
(beware of ingredients)
1 1/4 dried fruit puree
1 1/4 cups rice syrup
2 cups fruit juice or 1/2 fruit and
1/2 carrot juice
1/2 cup unsweetened frozen juice
concentrate
1/2 cup agave syrup
21
the home gardener
W
In my garden
Dave Forrest
ith my garden in maintenance
mode under cardboard and mulch
to prevent excessive weed growth
while away, summer was a bit slack
on activity, although there were
tomatoes, capsicum, warrigals, choko, pumpkin, beans,
eggplant, basil and bok choy to harvest. Rattus rattus
enjoyed the overmature corn. New plantings of lettuce,
the first brocolli, red onions, potato, the last super
sweet corn and zuchinni are kicking on in the warm,
wet weather. I try to be especially vigilant on early
brassicas as cluster caterpillar will take out the growth
leaves and replanting is the only option. Preventative
dust with Derris or Spinosad is a real option, especially
in this weather. Green waste compost is an ideal weed
free mulch for the fiddly onion seedlings, parsnips and
carrots to establish in.
What to plant
this Autumn?
March to May
Beans, beetroot, all cabbage family,
carrots, endives, herb cuttings, kohl rabi,
lettuce, leeks, onions, garlic, parsnip,
peas, radish, rhubarb crowns, silverbeet,
strawberries, tomatoes.
Rural Buying Service Pty Ltd
Simply the best ...
• The best advice • The best service • The best prices
For a great deal, see the experts at the Rural Buying Service where it pays to be a member.
More than 40 stores in Lismore offer discounts to our members yet membership costs only $25 a year.
Pumps & Irrigation equipment
Polypipe & fittings
PVC pipe and drain coil
Irrigation design
Water filters
White oil
Dipel
Derris dust
Pyrethrum
Garlic spray
Soap spray
Sulphur
Yeast Autolysate
Wild May attractant
Spray Tech oil
Symbex microbial spray
Blood and bone
Guano
Dynamic Lifter
Soft Rock Phosphate
Reactive phosphate rock
Natrakelp
Fish emulsion
Humic acid
Trichoderma
Soil pH kits
Full soil & plant tissue analysis kits
Grafting & pruning equipment
Fruit picking sticks
Crates & cartons
Brush cutters
Chipping hoes
Windbreak & weedmat
Seeds
Shadecloth & greenhouse film
Nursery equipment
Plant pots & planter bags
Work clothes & boots
Bee-keeping equipment
145 Casino St, South Lismore. Ph 6621 2853
Kays Lane, Alstonville. Ph 6628 5444
22
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
Get into organics — join TROPO now
TROPO Membership Form
To join the Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’
Organisation (ABN: 43 805 045 275), fill out the
following form and send cheque or money order for
$28 to: TROPO, PO Box 5076, East Lismore, NSW
2480. Please make cheques and money orders payable
to ‘TROPO’.
Name
Town
Fax
Interests
Organic certification type
Total Land area (ha)
Producing now (ha)
To be developed (ha)
Would you like to be included in a list of members
available to other members? YES/NO
Address
Phone (wk)
Occupation
Postcode
Phone (hm)
Email
Going Organic #75, March-May 2009
Can you help in TROPO organisational activities?
YES/NO
Skills to share
Information/experience wanted
Signature
Date
23
Special Interests
Going Organic
Steve Phillips 6632 1206
Maureen Pedersen 6636 4307
[email protected]
Georgina Ramsay 6636 4127 [email protected]
Dave Forrest 6688 4346 (ah) [email protected]
Dave Roby 6628 1084 [email protected]
Hogan Gleeson 6689 9217 [email protected]
Simon Cripps Clark [email protected]
Registered by Australia Post Print Post No.
PP225824/4031
TROPO Committee 2008-9
TROPO ABN 43 805 045 275
Those listed below generally give a lot of time to TROPO
and make their phone numbers available for contact by
members and other interested in organics. Please remember
all have ongoing commitments to their families, farms or
jobs so phone between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm.
If unclaimed please return to
Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’ Organisation
PO Box 5076, East Lismore, NSW 2480
Get in touch with TROPO
Alternative Technology — Paul Jessop 6621 2465
Avocados — David Roby 6628 1084
[email protected]
Bananas — Tony Lattanzi 6676 4264
Citrus — Phil Buck 6677 1421
Coffee — Rod Bruin 6679 2012
Food Nutrition — Tony Stillone 6621 8007
Macadamias/Custard Apples — Dave Forrest 6688 4346
[email protected]
Permaculture/Small Crops/Sheep — Hogan Gleeson
6689 9217
Poultry — Angela and Robert Griffiths 6636 2221
Organic Foods — Russell Scott 6689 1668
Climate Change Action Network — Alan Roberts
6663 5224 [email protected]
Going Organic Magazine
Editor — Susie Godden 6689 9338
[email protected]
Advertising — Georgina Ramsay 6636 4127
[email protected]
TROPO on the Web
www.tweedrichmond.organicproducers.org.au
Autumn ’09 Contributions due: May 12, 2009
24
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