Lost words of wisdom.

Browsing around the net I can across this collection of WW2 posters. They're great , simple effective . It makes you wonder why we seem to need a do or die situation to do the right thing. In them days words like conservation , being frugal, saving were considered a virtue while today these are considered anathema! Media tells us to "buy", "shop till you drop" ,"travel more" , "what you had yesterday is not enough today".
Do we need WW3 to start doing the right thing again?

Interesting Site

Wild Plants of Malta is an interesting site with a large and comprehensive guide to the flora of the Malese islands.
Packed with tons of reference images and interesting facts, is in my opinion the best guide to our natural heritage and a worth while visit.
Great work , Stephen.

Sping in full Bloom.

Thou the weather begs to differ, we are in Spring and at Bahrija plants are in their full Glory!The parse Garigues vegitation is green with new growth and flowers are everywhere buzzing with bees getting on with their job. The are is charged with the sents of flowers and fennel.

Gladiolus byzantinus

Commonly known as Habb il-Qamh

Convolvulus arvensis

Field Blindweed or Leblieba tar-Raba . One of several species of Blindweeds

Antirrhinum tortuosum

Greater Snapdragon known locally as Papocci Homor

Glebionis coronaria
Lellux

Papaver rhoeas ,

Red Poppy

Iris foetidissima

Iris

Anethum graveolens

Dill

Malus domestica

Tuffieh Selvagg

some interesting facts

Did you know.....

• 1 ream of paper = 6% of a tree and 5.4kg CO2 in the atmosphere.
• 3 sheets of A4 paper = 1 litre of water.
• by recycling one aluminium can you save enough energy to run a television set for three hours.
• by recycling one tonne of paper you save 13 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 4100kWh of electricity, 4 cubic metres of landfill and 31,780 litres of water.

Youth Initiative in Permaculture in Malta

An increasing interest on the subject is currently building momentum. A number of youths are interested in getting a deeper understanding of this design science and how it can be implemented in daily life to bring on positive changes.

I am therefore working together with a few of their ideas. These ideas will lead to a number of workshops and also an intesive 'Introduction to Permaculture course' which will include viewing interesting documentaries and voluntary work on Bahrija oasis project. The course will be a three day camp based event and will also have the potential to bring a few like minded individuals who have a common interest. So far there is no stipulated date, however we will have the first activity round April 09. Anyone who is interested in being part of this upcoming event can write to bahrijaoasis@gmail.com and state why you are interested, what you expect from the experience, and what you will contribute to the group.

Unfortunately, there is only a number of youths that can fit in a group that can be accomodated comfortably, so if you are seriously interested, please email as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Nitrogen fixing trees and legumes

We are currently researching nitrogen fixing trees for arid regions.
These trees work in a symbiotic relationship with various fungi such as mychorrozium and or rhizobium. In a simplified way, one can say that these trees absorb nitrogen from the air and transport it to their roots while the fungi and bacteria does the rest of the work at the root nodules.

We are looking for a variety of these trees that are capable of producing different resources such as ; fodder, mulch, food, flowers (for bees and other beneficial insects), shade and shelter from the winds. An important aspect that most of these trees must have, is the ability to withstand salty winds.
Since we are working in an arid and windy area, our challenge is to combine the right trees and incorporate them in the permaculture design to re-generate food forests, while protecting nature and revitalise the soil and its microbacteria. By doing all this, one will start to notice that nature starts to take its circular integral form again in the sence that systems support each other and thus there will be less need for human intervention as time succeeds. The right trees shall also function in order to attract the right balance of insects and other fauna in order to achieve a natural pest control system and therefore avoid any use of artificial insecticides and fertilizers.
This is the way forward if we truly want to see a future in permanent agriculture that can afford food security, bio-diversity and edible landscapes.

If you are interested in volunteering on the project or getting to know more, please email Peppi on peppizen@yahoo.co.uk.

Green Drinks goes Permaculture - 29th November 2008

We will be meeting on Saturday 29th November at 7pm at L'Isle Adam Band Club in Rabat. We will have a short introduction about Permaculture in Malta by Peppi Gauci and then we will show the film around 7.30pm.

The Film
The excellent film called 'The Power of Community' tells the story of how Cuba survived the peak oil crisis. Basically the film/doc is 53 mins and documents how during a synthetic peak oil crisis, Cuba has managed to survive through reducing its energy uses and implementing Permaculture techniques.

Socialising
After the film, we will spend some time together at the Band Club which is an architectural jewel and you can experience the kazin culture. Drinks are at reasonable prices and Jonathan also promised us that he will have some lovely home made food to sell.

Join Us!
If you would like to apply for this event, kindly send an email to greendrinksmalta@gmail.com with your name, surname, telephone number and email address. As we have limited seating for the film, we encourage you to apply asap!

This is a free event.

Love and peace
The Green Drinks Team
http://blog.greendrinksmalta.org