• Page 2 RAIN December 1980 Hello and Welcome to former People and Energy subscribers. We're as sad as you are to see such a fine journal fold. P&E was always one of those resources we felt we could tum to for solid information. We hope you enjoy reading RAIN . .. let us know. David Holtzman, P&E's former editor, asked us to let you know that you can still reach him if you need to. He hasn't been receiving anything you may have sent to P& E. Write him instead at 161616th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20009. Or phone him at 202/265-6132. -Rainmakers Dear Rain, As a former apprentice at the University of California at Santa Cruz Farm and Garden (UCSC F&G) Project (where Biodynamic/ French Intensive was first taught by Alan Chadwick) I feel compelled to make a few comments regarding Michael Stusser's critique of BFI (Rain Aug/Sept '80). In essence, I agreed with his major points; BFI is a laborintensive, time-consuming, and sophisticated approach to gardening. Anyone who naively believes that a $20,000 annual gross can be obtained by gardening one tenth of an acre with a four-month vacation probably also believes in the stork. Such statistics are the result of misplaced zeal and hyperbole. Also, I too feel that BFI has more value as a metaphor for shaping value systems than as a vehicle to rescue the world from famine. However, one point that I felt was poorly made was pointing to the Santa Cruz Project as an example of the bloated economic projections made for BFI. The F&G Project is an educational facility closely linked° with the environmental studies oriented college (College Eight) at UCSC and is not a commercial, production-oriented facility. BFI serves well as a vehicle for expanding individual sensitivity to the,natural world and developing social responsibility-two lessons Alan Chadwick generously offered and which continue to be a vital part of the experience in Santa Cruz. Wishing you a long, fruitful life, I am yours, in peace, Patrick Holden Sperryville, VA Dear Rain, We are a group of folks in a 100-yearold dilapidated Edinburgh tenement building, trying to work out an alternative developmentally as well as ecologically conscious lifestyle for the inner city. We're involved in various forms of "outreach" including trying to initiate local skill-sharing, etc., employment in local help for unemployed (-able), retired, etc., and also act as a "showhouse" for more rational lifestyles. The last objective has involved insulating, installing (carrying up 4 flights of stairs!) 1 ½ tons of wood-burning stove/water heater, collecting scrap wood from skips, eating vegetarian, trying to avoid electric (nuclear) gadgets, etc. Our next main project is probably a solar water heater of some sort . . . "Rain" sounds like the kind of info we ought to have on our shoulders for some of . the things we want to do; I hope we can subscribe. Yours Mark Blaxter Edinburgh, Scotland Dear Rain, Michael Stusser's article, "Critiquing Intensive Agriculture" (Vol. VI, No. 10), fails to come to grips with the problems _of the real RAIN world. The basic problem of this planet is that most people live in urban and suburban areas where there is little land available for growing food. The increasing costs of transportation and refrigeration make our current system of shipping vegetables across the country and around the world no longer feasible. While the methods of Masanobu Fukuoka were able to produce grain and fruit for market, the scattered wild vegetables with bitter taste are not what will satisfy the urban and suburban needs of this planet. Biodynamic French-intensive agriculture seeks to be able to provide vegetables for the world's urban and suburban people. It is also the choice of myself and many others for rural use. Natural methods may be fine for romantics who wish to go back to the land and who will have acres of land to deal with, but it does not address the global problem of food production. I was an apprentice of John Jeavon's and I know that I personally w~s able to dig and prepare 100 ft2 of garden bed in under an hour. This was using the U-bar, a tool which John and his team has successfully developed into a major time saver. I also know that the amount of compost we used was 8 ft3 per 100 ft2 . Our research showed that this amount was sustainable with careful crop selection. I'd like to know how much compost is required to have the luxury of not having to work the soil for vegetable production, and how much additional area it would take to produce that much material. Quantified research will be necessary to determine this, and no amount of name calling can replace it (French expensive, French pretentious, Biomaniacal). Over a period of 8 years, John, staff members, and apprentices have carefully recorded daily produce yields, bed preparation methods, amount of compost used, and other Journal of Appropriate Technology RAIN is a national information access journal making connections for people seeking more simple and satisfying lifestyles, working to make their communities and regions economically self-reliant, building a society that is durable, just and ecologically sound. RAIN STAFF: Laura Stuchinsky, Mark Roseland, Carlotta Collette, John Ferrell, Kevin Bell. I Linnea Gilson, Graphics and Layout. RAIN, Journal of Appropriate Technology, is published 10 times yearly by the Rain Umbrella, Inc., a non-profit corporation located at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, Oregon 97210, telephone 503/227-5110. Copyright© 1980 Rain Umbrella, Inc. No part may be reprinted without written permission. Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho Cover Photograph: Ancil Nance
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