Permakultur - Landwirtschaft im Einklang mit der Natur Page #3

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as food for wild animals.

Even when harvesting

Holzer goes his own way.

He uses as little machinery as possible.

Expensive equipment is not

economic for a farmer he says.

Saving the cost of purchasing

and maintaining too many machines.

The couple harvest its valuable

corn traditionally by hand.

It can be used in many ways.

The corn is either ground for

bread making or sold as grain.

The new straw will serve as bedding

for seminar guests on the Krameterhof.

It also makes a soft bed

for transporting new pumpkins

which are harvested at the same time.

Collecting seeds is a regular part

of the seasonal work on this farm.

Many of the more unusual

plant seeds are harvested

to preserve the species

long into the future.

The seeds are dried and stored in sacks.

Producing his own seeds

helps Holzer remain

independent from the big agribusinesses.

In fact he sells seeds.

Rare types such as this gentian seeds

are very popular with his clients.

The Holzers love nature, but they

must also be tough in business.

In order to work economically they

follow the permaculture principle:

minimum work, maximum effect.

Sounds like paradise, but there is

still a full day's work to do everyday.

Variety is king in harvest time.

Many varieties:
mushrooms, vegetables,

fruit, corn, herbs and fish are sold.

Unlike many these colleagues

Sepp Holzer doesn't rely

on only one crop with

an erratic market price.

His income is more stable

so he needs no subsidies.

Holzer also sells his trees.

He sells them with

the earth they grow in,

which of course contents

their plant families.

That way he can guarantee

each tree will grow.

Produce is stored in earth cellars.

They built into the hill

and offer ideal temperatures.

Here the fruit can remain

fresh, all year round.

Holzer rents out his three

mountain cabins to people

who like to live a simple

life in the midst of nature

and eat the produce

they find in the land.

Grow locally, sell locally.

Is another technique of

permaculture philosophy.

Holzer's clients come to see him

personally so transportation is minimal.

Radishes and pumpkins

for a local restaurant.

The cook insists on the highest

quality and appreciate Holzer produce.

That evening the guests

enjoy fresh local produce.

For the last three years

the Krameterhof seminar

have drawn increasing

numbers of curious people.

They learn all agricultural

techniques such as

harvesting and grinding their own

corn, baking bread and making butter.

Sharing his vast

knowledge with other people

is another string to Sepp Holzer's bow

and a good source of income.

More and more farmers now join

his guided tours and seminars.

Farmers are starting to understand that

the time has come to

rethink their practices.

They cue for Holzer's advice

on the best way to convert

to the permaculture method.

Sepp Holzer has a great

sympathy for these farmers.

He wants to help them get

back to working with nature

and to realize the potential for using their

land in a beneficial and productive way.

He tells them:

Create natural cycles, then

nature will work for you.

Every plant, every animal.

Observe the processes.

Then you won't need big areas of land.

You don't need a hundred hectares.

With much less you could

live a good life as a farmer.

Cooperate with nature,

don't confront it.

Forty years ago, long before

the word permaculture was coined

Sepp Holzer started to build his dream.

A commercial viable

ecological sown farm.

Today he has one of the biggest working

permaculture businesses in Europe.

He has transformed his

fir tree desert into a farm

producing a healthy service

of food for the community.

Water, energy for the

farm and an environment

that sustains animals,

plants and the soil.

He wants the other farmers

in the valley to join him

in creating continuous

permaculture panorama.

Climatically and economically the

Longal is a disadvantaged area.

Concepts Holzer's plan give

new hope to the people here.

Local farmers, foresters and the

regional authorities seem to think so.

They're keen to develop his ideas.

Their regular meetings seek wise to bring

them to fruition for their common benefit.

Permaculture as practiced by the Holzers

on the slope of the cold Longau valley

shows that the sustainable

future need not be a dream.

If they can achieve

such remarkable results

just think what may be achieved on

typical low-land farms all over Europe.

They have demonstrated that

sustainability is a practical option.

And looking at the damage modern

farming is doing to our land

it is an option that should be

taken very seriously very soon.

Realised in the year 2000

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