Saturday, February 18, 2012

ROOF TOP GARDEN UPDATES

SOME may think  my assertiveness is a little extreme. Yet,  I do not sleep well, even less, on any laurels. Willing to share discoveries that make 'original' gardening views in terms of my own practice and experiments, out dated. At least in the historical sense.

 My planting a few chosen ones on the roof top after observing the growth of the Allocasia, taking advantage of  humus formation and water accumulation,  seems to be a really old practice.  In brief, improving the soil with organic matter as you will see in this excerpt about not much talk about, The Hebrides. 

Never heard of them?  Go search. I think they are somewhat  more interesting in topo/geography, than those lately in the news, The Falklands, and if you are from Argentina...Malvinas*.. 


As a tropical islander, I have a tendency to appreciate those isles without similar climate more. Since they are so different, their vegetation geo/topography  seem challenging to study, observe. Many
tropical islands become a destiny for tourism/prostitution, both/one or the other.  Travel guides show they all look alike, sand/palms/beaches/ocean with people doing the same stupid activities..Take cruiser trips for example.  One is in a huge trap to eat, walk like a zombie, eat again, sleep and eat.

A final observation. The native islanders no matter if black/white/ Asian, migrate to the continents 'for the better future', from which their tourism comes from.  Their islands of origin becoming a vacation destination for both; natives and foreigners..


Sorry for the island editorial.
 Back to the studio.

From 
National Geographic
January 2010
The Edge of the World
pages 76-77 

"There are some places so wild, it seems, that
even the sturdiest humans cannot always endure their challenges.
St. Kilda, a tiny cluster of islands and sea stacks perched
in the North Atlantic 40 miles west of North Ulst, was occupied for more than 4,000 years.  A small community once huddled around
around the curve of Village Bay on Hirta, the largest island.  Sheep grazed steep slopes all around. Modest crops of barley, oats,
and potatoes were grown in raised beds, where thin soil carefully augmented with applications of mineral-rich seaweed.
Winter storms, rolling unchecked across thousands of miles of open ocean, struck the islands with almost unimaginable ferocity.
In 1852, 36 islanders--roughly a third of the population at that time--chose a long and arduous journey to Australia over remaining on St.Kilda. Many perished at sea."

Now the question, why/how people forget this kind of knowledge, thousands of years old.  Improving the soil?  The answer could be found with a little meditation. What do the Khmer in Angkor Wat, Incas and Mayas have in common after developing impressive civilizations and disappearing, but the impossibility of feeding their always increasing population?

that is that
 



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