Use of Cacti in Desert Gardening

Use cacti to fertilize new plants. He digs a hole, pounds the cacti, then plants above it. The cacti decomposes into both fertilizer and source of water. Brilliant!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCrlomuLj9M

Soil & Civilization

Interview of Geologist David Montgomery on Coast-to-Coast. I've read the book Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization.

What happened to David Montgomery's project From the Ground Up? Plenty of talk about China that sound paranoid, but this is Coast-to-Coast episode. It lead my interest to terra preta. I'm still not sure what that is about. Something to do with biochar.

Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture - Toby Hemenway

It's a general introduction to permaculture.

There are practical information, but also more of the (theoretical) reasoning behind garden zoning, layering designs of food forests, soil building. At times, it tends to ramble; I give that as the reason why it took me awhile to finish. I gave myself breaks. Yet, I guess this is a good or great permaculture introduction because of the theoretical information. I liked the photographs, but they should have had more.

I've also watched youtube lectures of the author Toby Hemenway. At the end of his lecture he shows images of an eco-village or resort next to the ocean in the Bajamas. They had built two open cesspits covered with soil and gravel. Different sorts of plants - bushes, shrubs, and trees - were planted to filter the effluence. Within a few years, the cesspits was hidden behind a tower of greenery. See, it's the opposite of what Outkast been singing. Poo-poo can really smell like roses ... eventually.

Emma (2009)

Adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. Emma is fond of playing matchmaker. Her next matchmaking scheme goes wrong, as the man she tries to set up, turns out fancying her. Twists and turns, and then a happy Jane Austen ending.

I'm a fan of Romola Garai, so I liked it. Mr. Knightly is played by that man, Jonny Lee Miller, who use to be married to Angelina Jolie, and was also in Trainspotting. He and Garai work well together. I've watched snippets of the 1972 Emma, and I like this one better, although I'm sure the earlier version was much truer to the novel. The character of Mr. Woodhouse, Mrs. Elton, and Ms. Bates were well played. The woman playing Mr. Bates is also in Black Books, so this is all win. She's the reason I'm waiting to see Tamara Drewe.

I've taken a liking to Mr. Martin. He's a farmer. I'd marry him on the spot, so I can start my permaculture garden without seeming to go against propriety. That's right.

Favorite scenes are of Mr. Woodhouse being the hypochonriac that he is, making sure baby Emma's body gets blanketed from the English cold, as much as possible. Also, scenes of Mr. Martin.