Tag Archives: #worldorganicnews

Episode 286. The Once & Future World

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 7th of February 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

As this pod enters its seventh year, I can see some patterns from the last six.

The big one is the continued decline in honeybee populations and mass deaths following spraying events. I’ve added a photo to the show notes on the website: https://worldorganicnews.com/episode286/ showing which foods would drop from the supply chain, as we say these days, if our pollinators went missing. “Went missing”, if we killed them off through our own inability to respond to reality. 

And the bee question is a microcosm of our planet. Continue reading →

Episode 285. Working Across Four Micro-climates

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 30th of January 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Summer is ramping up here in the North West of Tasmania. The home lands are 350 meters above sea level. The land at work is at 150 meters above and very exposed to the sea breezes and the usual roaring forties trade winds that all of Tassie benefits from.

Toss in the glasshouse and the two polytunnels and I’m basically dealing with four micro-climates at once. Home, outside at work, the glasshouse and the polytunnels. When I say glasshouse, half the roof is solid sheets and half see through sheets. As a result of the somewhat lower light levels, plants tend to grow very leggy. Stretched out and looking for more light, they are, nonetheless, productive. The polytunnels, and these are the first ones I’ve worked with, are booming and blooming. A quarter of one we put to a tall flower mix which took off. To the north of these and covering both sides are some sweet corn which are now starting to produce cobs of an edible nature.  Continue reading →

Episode 284. Vagaries of the Weather

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 10th of January 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

“Buy Me A Coffee”

My cups runneth over!

A big thank you to Jeay and an individual known only as “Someone” who made use of the “Buy Me a Coffee” link at the website and/or in the show notes. 

These gestures are gratefully accepted.

A Dry Spell

The dry spell, the hot dry spell that defines our Mediterranean climate here in North West Tasmania normally arrives around mid to late January. It lasts from two to eight weeks. This year it arrived in December, about the 3rd and broke on the 5th of January. I planted the seed stock for the Blue Corn on the afternoon of the 3rd of December. 24mm dropped that night and a week later the young corn plants emerged.  Continue reading →

Episode 283. Organic, Biodynamic or Permaculture?

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 20th of December 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Bit of a back to first principles episode this week. I think we can take as read that if you’re listening to this podcast the chemical route to food production is a no go. This can leave a bewildering mass of other choices.

From the generic “Organic” to the semi propriety biodynamic and permaculture. We can, of course, toss in regenerative agriculture too.

So, as I say, let’s go back to first principles.

What are we attempting to do? Why are we doing it? Then finally, how?  Continue reading →

Episode 282. The Future ~ Part 2

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 13th of December 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

As we discussed last episode, a confluence of events pointed to supply chain issues and possible food supply shortages. Things like rising energy costs, fertiliser costs, personnel shortages in key parts of the supply chain and so on. 

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the truly remarkable substance AdBlue. I’d seen this being promoted some time in the past decade as a diesel additive, or so I thought. It turns out this is a diesel exhaust additive. Squirted into the exhaust of diesel engines it removes nitrogen oxide and replaces it with nitrogen and water. AdBlue is a compound of deionised water and…. Wait for it…. Urea!  Continue reading →

Episode 281. The Future!

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

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

It has been rightly said that prediction is a difficult business, especially about the future. But let’s not worry too much about that.

There are things occurring in this world that raise concerns. Fear not dear listener, this not about the illuminati nor any other conspiracy theory. Today I wish to look with cold reason upon some price changes over the last six months or so, commodity production figures and some near term climate forecasts. So with the ground rules established, let’s dive in. Continue reading →

Episode 280. The Home Front

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 29th of November 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

This episode is about what’s going on here at Highclere, Tasmania. If you have any questions or feedback, leave a comment on the transcript over at https://worldorganicnews.com/280. And big shout out to Vicky who did just that this last week. I hope the answer helped and thanks for asking!

To the home front! Continue reading →

Episode 279. Input Costs Vs Output

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 22nd of November 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

A little follow on from last week, from Politico.eu comes a post entitled: Britain’s half-arsed climate summit

Quote:

LONDON — It wasn’t quite the coming out party post-Brexit Britain had dreamed of.

The COP26 climate summit, long pitched by advocates in the British government as an opportunity to project the United Kingdom’s continued influence on the global stage, came to an emotional close last weekend with the U.K. hosts having done just about enough to get a pass mark, despite the best efforts of parts of the government.

End Quote

Continue reading →

Episode 278. COP26, what’s changed?

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 15th of November 2021.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

So they’ve reached a consensus in Glasgow. 

From, the UN press release:

Quote:

  • Adaptation, mitigation and finance are all strengthened in a complex and delicate balance supported by all Parties.
  • After six years of strenuous negotiations, pending items that prevented the full implementation of the Paris Agreement on carbon markets and transparency have finally been approved.

End Quote Continue reading →