Tag Archives: #worldorganicnews

Episode 204. First Principles Continued: Mindset

This is the World Organic News for the week ending 24th of  February 2020.

Jon Moore reporting!

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

The growing of soil, the apparent apathy towards action on climate change in some parts of the world and the need to do something, now has me in a reflective state today. 

Mindset is critical to the process of removing weeds from the land you are caring for. It takes time, it takes the correct actions too but essentially it’s a matter of mindset. Yes I have weeds to deal with, no I probably won’t solve the problem overnight, in a week or even a season but I will work with the ecology of the weed to remove that weed. It all sounds a bit jedi but it really works. Holding onto the plan based upon the lifecycle of the weed when everyone else in the district is splashing about with the glyphosate takes some courage of your convictions. Continue reading →

Episode 203. First Principles Continued: Weeds

This is the World Organic News for the week ending 17th of  February 2020.

Jon Moore reporting!

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

After last week’s rant I’m in a happy frame of mind and I hope you are too. This week I’m continuing the “Back to First Principles” series with weeds.

Talking to non gardeners who want to be gardeners there are two issues that stop them starting: The thought of all the work, digging mostly and the fear of being overrun with weeds. No-dig I think we’ve covered sufficiently for now but if you’re new have a listen to Episode 198 where I cover it in some detail. Continue reading →

Episode 201. First Principles Continued: Manures

This is the World Organic News for the week ending 3rd of  February 2020.

Jon Moore reporting!

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

This week we are delving into the font of fertility: Manures.

The lifeblood  of organic production, manures keep your fertility ticking along. Fertility determines your production. Choosing which one to use can be fraught with complications.

What do the NPK numbers mean? Can I trust the figures provided? How do they relate to the seeds I’m using? How much sleep should I lose worrying about this? Continue reading →

Episode 200. First Principles Continued: Soil

This is the World Organic News for the week ending 27th of January 2020.

Jon Moore reporting!

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

A little housekeeping: A big shout out the Len, a Londoner living in sunny Spain. Thanks for the feedback man, really appreciated.

As you would have heard, this is episode 200. Next Saturday will be the fourth birthday of World Organic News. If you look on Libsyn you’ll see the 31st of January 2016 as our start date but that’s a time zone thing. The First of Feb it is. A big thank you to everyone who’s listened during those four years. There have been moments when I’ve wondered if I was making any headway and every time I’ve reached that point someone across this beautiful planet has reached out and kept me going, even if they didn’t realise it at the time. So a great big thank you once again for listening and let’s kick on for the next four years! Continue reading →

Episode 199. First Principles Continued: Seeds

This is the World Organic News for the week ending 20th of January 2020.

Jon Moore reporting!

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

This week we continue our journey down the first principles rabbit whole with a look at seeds.

Seeds are a many splendored thing! From the dust like powder of Tiff seeds all the way up to monster broad bean seeds, they all have one thing in common: They are life in suspended animation.

Our task as gardeners is to release that life into its most favoured conditions.

Thankfully, most seeds have similar needs and this makes our tasks somewhat simple. 

Before we get to actually sowing, and that’s different module, let’s look at our options. Continue reading →

Episode 198. First Principles: The No Dig Garden

This is the World Organic News for the week ending 13th of January 2020.

Jon Moore reporting!

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

This week I am drawn to first principles. A new decade, a new start, perhaps or a new decade, refresh our thinking.

So let’s get to it.

What are raised beds?

A raised garden bed is one where the growing area is lifted above the surrounding soil. This can be anything from 10cm (4 inches) to a metre (3 feet). The material used also varies from straight compost to mixture of materials layered one upon the other. I would avoid mixing these layers. Mixing soil layers is not a natural process, by and large. Nature layers, humans blend, is a good rule of thumb. The idea behind this entire website is to mimic nature as much as possible rather than repeat the practices that got us to where we are. Continue reading →

Episode 197. Fires and Rebellion

This is the World Organic News for the week ending 6th of January 2020.

Jon Moore reporting!

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

We’ve seen some strange things politically since 2016. Brexit and Trump spring to mind. The yellow vest and now general strike in France and, of course, the Hong Kong demonstrations.

What all these things seem to have in common is a reaction to, not so much the centre as the establishment. After 40 odd years of privatisation, outsourcing and a growing disparity between the ultra rich and the rest, a backlash occurred. In the Hong Kong case it was against the establishment on mainland China and for different reasons but a backlash against the establishment nonetheless. Continue reading →

Episode 195. What is regenerative gardening really?

This the WORLD ORGANIC NEWS for the 16th of December 2019.

Jon Moore reporting.

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil.

Benefits of Regen Gardening

Regenerative gardening is a process whereby the gardener focuses on the soil health above all else. From this starting point all else flows. We can either grow veggies or flowers or create a space for pollinators or a playground for children but the underlying principle is that we focus on the soil.

Some of the benefits that arise from this form of gardening are: better water quality, much better soil quality and, if enough people are into this, improved air quality and all of these are wonderful but the real kicker is we also improve our current climate situation.The key to improving the climate is removing CO2 from the air. Happily the key to improving soil involves sequestering carbon in that top six inches under our feet.   Continue reading →