Tag Archives: #mrjonmoore

Episode 270. Seed Sovereignty

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 19th of September 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

A big shout out and thank you to Kaelem for the coffees he tossed my way on the “buy Me a Coffee” link on the website. Much appreciated as were your kind words on episode 266. 

Now to today’s matters. Who owns the world’s seeds? Who indeed. Way back in 1980, which is an odd thing to say having lived through that year but I digress, bat in 1980 the US patents office approved a patent for a biological entity, a bacterium. This one ate oil spills or some such thing. This opened the floodgates and before you knew it the Monsantos of the world had piled in.
 Continue reading →

Episode 269. Start Right

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 6th of September 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Bit of a longer episode this week but I hope it’ll be worth the listen. 

So you’re ready to start your journey into the world of regenerative smallholding? Well done. But what next? Well I’ve found an article from the site Grow Journey: 15 tips to start a small farm using regenerative practices. Fifteen seems a fun number so let’s dive in, see what Chris Miller of Horseshoe Farm in South Carolina has to say and tease out some ideas of our own.

Tip #1. Get farming experience on multiple farms BEFORE you start a farm. 

This is a great idea, if you can wangle it. There’s nothing like going to a fon t or indeed, several fonts of knowledge. You will develop your own practices anyway  but having a starting point based on reality is a good start. Continue reading →

Episode 268. Living the Life of Reilly

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 23rd of August 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

I’ve been at this caper for 46 odd years and still feel like I’m beginning so I thought this week I’d dig around the web and find some people who are starting out on their smallholding adventures.

The Good Life

Let’s jump in and see if I can tease out some themes that might be of value.

From the Guardian comes this piece entitled: ‘Six chickens somehow turned into 60!’ Meet the families trying to live the Good Life in the pandemic Continue reading →

Episode 267. Smallholders

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 16th of August 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

We need a mindset change in this world. Too often we see death, destruction, disease and hopelessness. I’m pretty sure we can do better and equally I sure I know which way many of us can go. 

From the website “Journey to Forever”:

Quote:

Small family farms are the backbone of a community, a nation, and of society as a whole. A landscape of family farms is settled, balanced and stable, and generally sustainable. It’s the natural shape of society on the land. Such communities aggregate into strong and secure nations.

End Quote Continue reading →

Episode 266. The Amazon is Leaking

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 9th of August 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

I noticed as I sat down to start typing  this episode that it’s five and a half years since this pod kicked off. This episode is perhaps the most painful and yet most hopeful yet. 

Since our last episode Lizzie dropped a few bob into the kitty to purchase me a coffee. Thanks Lizzie, for the coffee and the comments on the blog/transcript page over at worldorganicnews.com. The feedback is humbling and much appreciated. As I’ve said before, I write and publish this podcast as much to sort my own thoughts as to provide useful material for others. When some of those ‘others’ get in touch, it still comes as a surprise. A pleasant surprise so if you’ve ever felt the urge to say hello, leave a comment over at the website, surprise me. Continue reading →

Episode 265. Floods, Levees and WTF?

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 26th of July 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Floods

If there is a rule of thumb with flood defences it is this: any levee will be overwhelmed by a flood no one expected.

With the floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands during the last week questions will be asked. Things like: Why weren’t people warned earlier? Why wasn’t this planned for? Is this really related to climate change? Continue reading →

Episode 264. Into the Forest

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 19th of July 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Another big shout out to an individual who identifies themselves as “Somebody” on the Buy Me A Coffee system. Thanks for the coffee. There’s a link in the show notes if you feel the need to keep me caffeinated and this show on the road.

I should also point out that 10% of everything ChangeUnderground and World Organic News makes in the form of coffees or course sales goes to support the Bubugo Conservation Trust in Uganda and their sustainable farming programs. Continue reading →

Episode 263. An Ice Age Species, Holocene Tech and An Anthropocene Future

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 5th of July 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

The Pleistocene

Our species, Homo sapiens, came into existence during the period known as the Pleistocene, the Ice Ages. The Pleistocene lasted from about 2.5 million years ago to around 12,000 years ago. In that time many other species of humans evolved too. Since I finished my degree in archaeology back in ’95 the situation has become far more convoluted. There was a nice neat chronology: The Australopithecines, of which there were many but out of this lineage came Homo habilis, Homo erectus and then Homo sapiens. And Neaderthals were slotted in somewhere. Continue reading →

Episode 262. Self Reliance ~ How much garden?

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 28th of June 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

I begin this week with a big shout out to Tara and Kendall. They took advantage of the “Buy Me a Coffee” facility on the website to, not surprisingly, buy me some coffees. I am deeply appreciative of their decision to chip in to help keep this [podcast on the air. If this idea appeals to you there’s a link in the show notes and on worldorganicnews.com. Thanks again Tara and Kendall. Continue reading →

Episode 261. Seymour, Fukuoka, Mollison and MacKenzie

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 21st of June 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

This week I’m taking a look back at my literary mentors in the smallholding/horticulture field. 

John Seymour

It turned out I finally managed to get to the library to ask about self sufficiency books the day after “The Good Life” first aired on Australian TV back in 1977. I hadn’t heard of it, let alone watched it but the librarian alerted me to it. A romanticised version of backyard self sufficiency but with some useful ideas. Continue reading →