Sepp holzer planting trees. Sepp Holzer. permaculture - natural farming. Sepp Holzer: biography

Holzer management is based on the organization of the relief of the site in such a way as to protect the cultivated area from the winds and to ensure a sufficient inflow and circulation of water. For this, in addition to groundwater, artificial reservoirs are used. On the landscape designed in this way, special microclimatic niches appear, which, interacting with each other, generate conditions for the self-regulation of the ecosystem. Ultimately, the arrangement of these microclimatic niches creates the prerequisites for the accumulation of humus, which is then used as fertilizer.

Much attention is paid to assessing the characteristics of the soil: it is necessary to determine its type, to establish what are the moisture reserves in it, to analyze the acid-base ratio (pH). Based on the characteristics obtained, the selection of plants for planting is carried out. Sepp Holzer argues that even the dried-up soils of South Africa, Northern Brazil and Colombia, subject to constant erosion, can become suitable for productive agriculture if you first take care of creating microclimate zones. Since Holzer's forty-five hectare site is located in the mountains, its management principles are dictated by the corresponding climatic features of the mountainous terrain. But many of the basics and recommendations are common for landscapes located in other climatic zones.

Since 2010, Holzer has been visiting Russia and helping to equip experimental farms according to permaculture principles. He does not get tired of repeating that the main wealth of Russia is its land, and that if you use this wealth correctly, you can finally catch up and overtake the West. To do this, you need to make full use of the main advantages - a huge territory and flat landscape. He advises not to count on the support of officials, since, according to him, they only care about filling own pockets... “We have to start from the bottom, raise children, namely children who will grow with nature,” says Holzer. He advises adults to learn to read a book of nature, and to those who have decided to engage in permaculture to the fullest - use the brain, master the management of natural processes, and not look for far-fetched reasons why productive agriculture in Russia is impossible.

In 2010, the Sepp Holzer Permaculture Center was opened in Russia, which organizes thematic conferences and training seminars. There are branches and regional offices of the center that help in the training and retraining of local specialists. At the moment, most permaculture projects are being successfully implemented at numerous experimental sites, which are mainly arable land in ecovillages. Governmental support is reduced to the allocation of plots for the construction of permacultural landscapes and assistance in the establishment of new ecovillages specializing in organic farming. Potentially, there is hope to transform successful peasant farms in large agricultural complexes: this will allow farmers to receive government subsidies, and ecovillages - to acquire the status of a settlement.

But so far, we are not talking about the widespread introduction of permaculture farming in Russia because of its disproportion to the scale of monocultural farming. In addition, the lack of a holistic systematic approach to the application of Holzer methods hinders.

Permaculture designer Tatyana Chistyakova, who has been involved in practical permaculture since 2010, says that her own successful experience is based on the development of a two-hectare plot. She managed to breathe life into the earth by restoring the water balance, which, in turn, brought the ecosystem into balance. She noted that such projects in the country as a whole are successful. The main thing for a permaculture farmer is to “turn off the consciousness of the consumer,” because it will take three to five years of work and patience to launch natural ecosystems.

The state, according to Tatiana Chistyakova, does not provide any support to farmers: “Thank you, at least it doesn’t interfere,” she notes. Tatyana's dream, like many others who are keen on permaculture, is to reclaim agricultural land and introduce permaculture approaches throughout the country. “In some regions, the land is so depleted and dehydrated that it is literally on the verge of desertification. And in the end we will have to think about it - but then the investments will be much more impressive, ”she laments.

Sustainable farming: In recent years, the topic of keeping as little ...

How I stopped torturing trees

The question of when to plant seedlings in the garden - in autumn or spring - does not have a clear answer, since everything depends on specific crops, region and, of course, the experience of gardeners. But how to plant correctly? And here there is no time for fantasies, since here everything is really in the hands of the summer residents themselves.

The easier it is to plant a tree, the better.

Yes, they write a lot about how to care for garden plantings, how to prune them, what needs to be done to remove pests or prevent their appearance. And this is very good, even for a venerable gardener it is useful to test his knowledge. But for some reason, the authors of the letters prefer not to expand on the intricacies associated with planting young trees.

Back in the late 50s of the last century, as a student primary grades, helped my father prepare planting holes for apple trees: he carried sand and clay with the help of a stretcher. At the same time I looked closely at how there and what. And it turned out that it seemed that the work itself was simple: work with a shovel and observe the dimensions of the pit (and, of course, the landing site should be with a minimum level of groundwater).

In the early 1980s, I got my site, did the same thing. And what is the result, you ask? And it is indefinite: some seedlings took root and grew without unnecessary problems, others ached after planting, suffered, but nevertheless then came to their senses, and some died.

Listening to other summer residents is a normal process. For the time being, it also seemed to me so. It was not even embarrassing that when digging planting pits, innumerable billions of aerobic and anaerobic organisms died, and while all this microflora was restored, the plants were neither alive nor dead, crucified between the pegs.

But this is how all publications on gardening taught and advised by “knowledgeable people”.

In recent years, the topic has been constantly raised about how to disturb the structure of the soil layer as little as possible. And this is exactly the opposite applied to the landing pits.

How so? Do we treat one and cripple the other?

In the meantime, the need for planting new fruit and berry crops arose for me in all its glory: the "old-timer" apple tree of the first planting died, her peers also approached their threshold of life (and their yield decreased), and the last attempts to renew plantings in the old familiar way did not always bring the expected result. In winter, I saw on the Internet how the famous Western European botanist Sepp Holzer demonstrated the planting of a tree.

I was struck by the simplicity of the process. I also remember the phrase that sounded there: "Blessed is the Lord that he made the necessary things simple, and the complicated ones unnecessary.".

Well, I have nothing to lose. Moreover, it is necessary to thin the thickened plantings of plums (at least cut out almost three-meter trees), and one of the apple trees, planted three years ago, is still in the twig phase, and rootstock shoots are making their way from the roots. He began his transformations just with her.

He transplanted her directly into the trunk circle of the deceased and asked that the neighbors not offend their baby sister. And she literally transformed before our eyes - less than a month later, shoots-growths of 20 cm each grew from the rod in all directions. And most importantly, all the symptoms of post-plant ailment have disappeared. Then I bought two pears, a sweet cherry, a number of shrubs in the nursery, even brought a young oak tree from the forest - everything stuck, just as they did not disturb them.

Full of a handful of worms

Well, now I'll tell you how I put into practice the lesson of a scientist with a world name, it turns out. I make a very small indentation in the ground, just so that the roots fit there, I try it on and, if it is not enough, I deepen it a little more. Basically I plant it on turf - I carefully remove it as needed and deepen it; if long lateral roots stick out, I cut through and open the gap with a shovel. Having laid the root in it, I compacted it with my foot.

Holding the trunk with my hand, again with my foot I scoop up the removed soil, lightly shake the trunk, and scoop up the rest. I trample it moderately and put the sod in place on top, so that outwardly the traces of my economic activity... Sprinkled a little with last year's fallen leaves and dry grass, watered a little.

Then I put a handful of earthworms dug up in the nearest garden there, and press it from above with two or three stones or fragments of bricks.

Who has not seen, turning away a stone or a log, the accumulation of worms there? This means that they will feel good under my shelters, they will not creep away and will regularly do their job - to create ideal conditions for the roots.

Another purpose of the stones is to condense dew and keep the planting area moist. And finally, they press the roots, allowing the seedlings to bow in the wind on all four sides without falling. Even my tall plums survived under the strong winds.

But these are not trifles, because the plants that are not allowed between the stakes lose the elasticity of the bark, which coarsens and, after removing the fetters under the winds, begins to crack, from which the trees may die.

And I adopted one more trick: if you drive a small plate into the ground next to the sapling, on the south side, it will shade the tender stem from the midday sun. That's really really, all ingenious is simple.

Holzer also does not recognize pruning of plants, arguing that the vegetative development of a tree should proceed as nature intended for it. I don’t know what to do yet, time will tell and tell me, but now I am glad that my seedlings are living, while the underground inhabitants suffered minimal and, I think, easily replenished damage.published

(Source: http://vkontakte.ru/topic-27538_8317652#offset=0)

First, a few words about Austria.
In Austria, the nature is mountainous, as in the south of Germany.
People look the same - light, blue-eyed They speak German, though in their own Austrian manner. They live in houses with gardens. Some people have fruit trees, others have vegetables, and still others have a garden full of flowers and ornamental bushes. In general, when I visit Austria, I feel like in the south of Germany.
I like vertical gardening - beautiful climbing vines and grapes are grown on the walls of houses - especially in autumn, when the walls of houses are strewn with bunches of grapes - great, but Germany also has it. Sepp Holzer pushed the idea of ​​wall greening the farthest - he grows fruit trees according to his own method.
apple trees on the wall Any walls of houses - both a city high-rise building and a village house - are ideal, in his opinion, for growing trees and fruit lianas - kiwi, grapes. Walls store heat.
In the film, Sepp Holzer showed how he walked along the newly made terrace and scattered seeds. There are two important secrets that remain outside the brackets of the film.
The first trick: he soaks the seeds for two to three weeks in an infusion of nettle. How to prepare such an infusion is described in detail in the book. In short: put the nettle in a large container with fresh, preferably spring water. Cover with gauze or a breathable cloth. In the shade, the infusion is ready in about a month, in the sun - earlier. If the smell of rotting nettle interferes, then add valerian. You can water the plants with this infusion as a fertilizer, but dilute with water at least 1:10.
The seeds are covered with a protective shell that prevents them from germinating. This is how nature protects itself from overabundance, excessive germination. If animals and birds eat fruits with seeds, they pass gastrointestinal tract, under the influence of acid, the shell softens and the seed is ready for germination. By soaking seeds in nettles, it mimics this natural process. After that, the seeds grow very quickly. In an instant, a piece of land is covered with lush greenery.
The second secret: since all the seeds germinate quickly, thickening occurs. They begin to interfere with each other, little oxygen penetrates into the thick green mass. Therefore, he and his family walk around the garden and some of the plants are trampled to avoid excessive thickening. You can also cut some of the plants with a flat cutter.

Wind protection is very important. The wind lowers the temperature around the plants and blows water off the ground. The first thing he does when he comes to the site, ex. in his next project, if it is windy on the site, he builds high ridges against the direction of the wind, around the site. If possible, the hills should also be positioned in the direction of the sun so that sunlight falls on them all day. Of course, only one side of the hill turns out to be sunny, but light falls on the other. In many places it has rocks or trees instead of hills - a protective hedge has been planted. In the hedge, as far as I could determine, there are birches, larch trees, different types rowan, still different bushes. Seemingly dense hedge and windproof.
He uses stones on his site as tiled stoves, they capture heat, and at night give it to thermophilic plants. Grows tomatoes, sunflowers, melons. Then, if it snows in September, covers them with foil, puts the foil on the poles and harvests tomatoes until November. To protect the garden from hares, the roe deer sows milk thistle with the plants. Hares still do not see the thorns, they come running to eat vegetables, but recoiling from the thorns, they bypass this place. In addition, milk thistle is a valuable medicinal plant, for example. removes poisons from the liver.
In general, he treats animals with understanding: "They have nothing to eat, so they run to my site from all over the area." He showed the remains of pumpkins, apples and gnawed trunks of fruit trees. The tree falls, and after a year or two it grows back from the root and further bears fruit. He protects especially valuable trees by tying the trunks with a net for the winter.

On the way, he showed medicinal plants all the time and explained their action (motherwort, gentian, etc.). He also has a unique tree, several biologists came to Krameterhof, but they cannot determine what kind of species it is. The buds, branches and leaves smell like a balm with a unique aroma, and when you pick a branch, an odorous yellow liquid, like resin, is released. He treated his hand with the ointment of this tree (a detailed recipe is in the book) after a motorcycle accident. He underwent several skin grafts, was in the hospital for a long time, doctors suggested amputation. I made an ointment and glued the plasters with the ointment until they fell off by themselves, then applied new ones - after three weeks the skin on the hand was completely restored. Another peasant hit his knee with an ax while chopping wood, a third hit his leg with an electric saw - everything healed with the help of a healing ointment. The branches of the tree can be taken from him in the Krameterhof, propagated vegetatively.
He showed the slope on which a few years ago there was a spruce forest - a monoculture of fir trees, where the soil was so acidified that even the grass did not grow. After cutting down most of the trees, he planted a mushroom, according to his method, on stumps, an autumn honey agaric, which removes excess resin from the soil. Then, when the mycelium grew, I planted mountain ash, apple trees, a lot of berries, even without terraces on the mountain, everything grows well. Berries - raspberries, currants, blueberries, etc. he plants with seeds. I tried currants planted with seeds.
This makes the berries more adaptable to cold climates. He has -25 °, -30 ° in winter. When we were there in mid-September, they already promised snow. At an altitude of 1200 m, snow remains until April, and at 1500 m it melts in May. Holzer's neighbors do not believe that he grows cherries, kiwis, grapes and lemons. One said: "Well then, cherries grow on my neck."
Others say that he takes all plants, including water lilies, to the greenhouse for the winter. I wonder how you can remove tens of thousands of plants and trees, and then put them back in place in the spring?
At an altitude of 1500 m, very fragrant apples grow, he treated me to. They are more nutritious and healing substances. The colder the climate and the more difficult the growing conditions, the more useful the fruits and herbs are, scientifically proven. He has a variety of apples "leather apple", stored in the cellar until May and in May they become very tasty, as he said, eat and it is impossible to stop.
When he took over the site, there was not a single lake. He himself created 72 ponds, grooves and lakes on 45 hectares. “Water is capital. Water is life. Both humans and animals are almost entirely water. There is water both in the desert and in the far north. Plants need water very much. “Therefore, he does everything possible to retain water in the area as long as possible, to saturate the area with water. All of his ponds are decorated differently, in one there are logs, in the other - stones, in the third - driftwood of an unusual shape with stones. For ducks he equips special places for nesting, eg. the stump in which the "nest" is hollowed out stands in the middle of the pond.
Out of reach for foxes.

If there is no suitable stump, you can take several thin logs, fasten them together like a raft, put the earth on top, sprinkle with grass seeds. The place for nesting ducks is ready.
There are rafts that float in the pond.
This is so that ducks and geese can come to the surface and dry out, keep warm, especially in winter, so that they do not get hypothermia when they splash in icy water. There was a question: "Why don't your ducks fly away to warm lands for the winter?" He replied: "They live well here, like nowhere else in the world." A source with spring water flows into the lake from above, the stones in the lake heat it up, floating ducks create movement - these are all tricks so that the lake does not freeze in winter. In one lake, the raft is connected to a bridge. It is clear that foxes can walk across the bridge and eat all the ducks. So he trained the ducks. Let the cat out as they sat carelessly on the raft. The cat will not do them much harm, but they have learned the lesson for the rest of their lives.
Grows crayfish in long ditch ponds, two meters deep. For crayfish, a long coastal zone is needed so that they can find food for themselves, the total length of the ditches is up to 25 m. In addition, it gives the crayfish kitchen waste. They eat everything like pigs.

"Kindergarten"for fish, where fish come to spawn, is connected to deep-water lakes.
There is a lot of grass in the children's pond, various snags - optimal conditions for protecting fry, so fish go there with pleasure to lay eggs, but it is uncomfortable for them to swim there, because it is mostly overgrown. Therefore, they return to deep lakes.
The coastal shoots are regulated by the depth of the lake, where it is needed, it makes the depth up to 2 m, where there simply should be water, it makes a steep steep descent up to 3 m or more. The roots of coastal plants can only catch up to 2 m, they do not spread deeper.
He admired the Siberian original cereal, which he bought in 1957 and has been distributing since then with its seeds. Birds and beasts eat it best. The bread is excellent. There is a lot of food, bedding for animals and mulch for the garden, it grows up to 2.5 m in height. Good in the construction of adobe houses and for handicrafts from straw. The original cereal can only be grown in poor soils and grows best in the worst and coldest conditions. On good, rich soil, it grows too quickly and begins to rot. Those. only the "wild way" of cultivation is suitable - on poor soils.
Chickens graze in the forest among dense bushes. He keeps old breeds, which have pronounced instincts for self-preservation. As soon as they hear the slightest rustle, they immediately hide in the bushes. Additionally, to protect the sheep, the pigs fence is connected to electricity in some places. Foxes, lynxes and other wild animals that run around his site, wanting to hunt and having received a charge, remember this place and go around for a while. Then he changes places. Keeping chickens outdoors makes them easy prey for predators. Almost all animals are kept in "free enclosures", i.e. in the forest.
For animals, he builds wooden houses, as described in the book "Permaculture". I saw how good it was, there was a thick layer of hay on the floor, grass, trees and flowers all around with a view of the lake, and in such a house you can even live yourself. Next to the stone basement, there is a house entirely built of larch and wood roof.
In another place in Austria, I saw the same. The house has a beautiful wardrobe made of three types of wood, a lock and a key also made of wood.
Flowers, zucchini and tomatoes grow on the roof of the garage.

In the greenhouses on the roof there are heat-loving exotic plants. There is a forest behind the greenhouses, chickens that graze in the forest can move to the greenhouses and back into the forest.
And this is a stone house where the fruits are kept.
It is very important that the water in the pond is enriched with oxygen. In his projects (for example, now he has 20 projects around the world), he saw that people created a lake, but the water in the lake stagnated. He put his hand into the lake and smelled an unpleasant smell. In the summer, stagnant water in the lake rots.
To prevent this, you can make a lake with an island, as in the project in Spain. Under the influence of the wind, the water will splash on the island and will be enriched with oxygen. On 270 hectares in Spain, within the framework of a permaculture project, he created many lakes, the total area of ​​water oases is 30 hectares.
If the pond is fed by an underground source, then the natural movement of water - in spring there is more water, in summer, when the source dries up, there is less water in the pond - it is enough, in his opinion.
On his alpine, southern slope, all the lakes are interconnected, water from the upper lakes flows to the lower ones - thus there is a constant water exchange and movement. The water level in the lake can be regulated, he showed a special device how to do it.
He has apples and fruit trees without pruning. If you cut the branches and water, fertilize, then the trees begin to release too many branches, which then freeze in winter and the whole tree can be destroyed. His apples are smaller in size than in the store, but much tastier. He showed an edible forest - there apple trees grow next to conifers (with larch) and various bushes. He has a cedar and beautiful unusual conifers. Fruit trees - 14 600 pieces. There was a question: "But in the nursery, fruit trees are sold already cut, and what to do, leave it?"
- Yes, you can leave it on to grow or make your own, one-root. The root of the tree is lightly tied, then other roots grow from it, i.e. a new tree, after that the root must be untied, in this way you can get your own varietal trees, uncut.
We came to a field with fruit trees, seemingly a simple field overgrown with grass. Sepp Holzer, where he stood, first took out two types of salad and began to eat, then various vegetables, straight from the grass. All people were surprised and admired. It looked like a permaculture trick.

If you take a plant from a store, it depends on fertilization, watering and maintenance. The plant must be taken in hand, the chemistry must be shaken off together with the earth, so that only the roots are there. Plant in the ground, in the community of other plants. It will gradually come to its senses, become strong and free. In the first year, it may grow worse, but gradually acclimatize and gain strength.
He grows rose hips next to rhododendrons, contrary to scientific rules, because one plant needs soil PH 4, and another 8, and he has them growing side by side.
To find out how a plant is feeling, you just need to look at it. Healthy plants have lush green foliage. And by the trees, by the state of the branches, he can read at what period of life, how the tree lived, when it became bad, and when it was good.
He grows plants for seeds on poor soils, in the coldest conditions, at an altitude of 1500 m. In nurseries, on the contrary, they take seeds from pampered plants grown on rich soils. As a result, on poor soils, in the absence of watering and care, they wither. Only after a few generations, the plants adapt to the conditions of the site.
Sepp Holzer takes the seed of the sturdiest and strongest plant growing on the worst soils, in the coldest conditions. He plants them lower, where it is warmer, and a sunflower, he showed us, grows from such seeds 4 meters high and the size of a huge dish, and a zucchini - from half a meter.

He raises animals, but only for his own needs. Now, according to European standards, pigs or other animals need to be transported to special places. slaughterhouse and they come a long way. Holzer thinks it is painful for the animals and has refused to sell it. If the pigs are even just taken somewhere, they start to get nervous. Such meat, in his opinion, is dangerous for humans.

I am personally a vegetarian and wish him the same;) There were several students with us at the seminar, he has been teaching them permaculture for 2 years, as part of his curriculum. Pupils - German readers of the ZKR, persuaded him to read "Anastasia". So far he has read only a little bit, where it is written about the creation of ancestral estates by each family - he fully supports. But he has no time to read, he is very busy - he is writing a new book and 20 permacultural projects around the world, from Scotland and Norway to Jordan and Ecuador.
He earns money with his projects and excursions around the Krameterhof. Excursion all day, from 9 am to evening. He walks around the Krametrhof, shows and tells how and what is growing.
He also sells water lilies and rhododendrons, several times more expensive than they cost in the nursery. He is being criticized for this, he says, I do not force anyone to buy. If you take lilies or rhododendrons from the nursery, they will not grow on the mountain, in cold conditions. And his plants are hardened and free. Plants them in the community of other plants, without watering and care, when they gain strength and become free - sells.

I was with my husband at the Krameterhof. My husband did not believe in the ideas of permaculture before. She persuaded to watch the film, but after a few minutes - where it was said that trees grow without pruning and bear fruit well, I finished watching, with the words: "Let him not compose!"
At first I wanted to go to the seminar alone, but Austria is still a different country and my husband asked to accompany me. I talked to Holzer personally and immediately became imbued with the ideas of permaculture. Now he tells all his friends and relatives what Holzer has in the Krameterhof and how great and beautiful everything is. "But Holzer said such and such" - it is funny and surprising to hear even, especially from the mouth of my husband.
Still, some practical and rational men need to be seen in real life... Talk to Holzer. Eat a small but delicious apple from the apple tree without pruning. I am a more romantic nature, I already have a film and a book for joy and delight.

We were at the biggest spring garden Peace Keukenhof, at the tulip festival in Holland, on the largest, German flower island Mainau, in San Soussi - the gardens of Potsdam, at garden exhibitions in Winsen en de Lue, etc.
But Paradise, Garden of Eden and the forest, of all these gardens I saw only at Sepp Holzer in Krameterhof.
I remember coming from Holland and while I was away, daffodils and pansies blossomed. I looked at the flowers around the house, small, crooked, but their own. Six million tulips have faded ...
Sepp Holzer feels exactly the fertile atmosphere, it is warm and cozy like home. The other gardens I have seen are like the cover of a glossy magazine, beautiful, of course, but ...
And Sepp Holzer planted all the trees with his own hands with his wife, with love for himself and his children. Very Happy All his four children are interested in Krameterhof and want to inherit, continue his business.

Sepp Holzer has not only a lot, but a lot of thermophilic plants. In the edible forest, kiwi, peaches, cherries and sweet cherries, apple trees with larch and other forest trees, everything grows interspersed. And under the trees in bright places and meadows - Siberian original cereals and vegetables. There are hundreds or even thousands of water lilies and water lilies in the ponds. I saw a lot of kiwi and grapes, more than four meters high and so healthy, with stiff trunks. Is it really possible to remove 45 hectares in a greenhouse, if there were 20 trees, it's okay.

Holzer's lemons are surrounded on both sides by stones - boulders. And this is not a lemon, but a ponzirus - a wild lemon, frost-hardy down to -20 °. But Holzer has even more, with his methods. Some trees grow on bare rocks, showed hazel on the rock - there is practically no land there. This is explained by the fact that trees grow due to deciduous litter, humus. He says that if you have land at all on your site, that's good. Under the apple tree, he puts stones on top, fixes their roots so that they do not literally fall from the mountain. In only one place he secured them with a rope or string.

Yes, he has the weather, of course ... I imagined that it was cold on the top of the mountain, but not to the same degree. I was there in a knee-deep sweater and a jacket in mid-September, and then I was chilled. In the north of Germany, now - on the eve of October, it is a hundred times warmer.
And Sepp wears a vest or a light jacket for plowing, and nothing. It can snow in early June and late August, especially at an altitude of 1500 m, but mostly warm summers.

He believes that plants only need to create conditions for growth. Fencing, protecting the site from the wind and soaking it with water, but I already wrote about this. He has a strong wind, hurricanes, he plants mixed trees, with a superficial and deep root system together. They support each other when a Christmas tree fell down on the neighboring slope from a strong storm, all the trees remained intact, all the hedges. Larch, linden and fir have a spiral root system, the roots branch off diagonally, and are especially wind-resistant. He has a lot of lindens and firs. He also sows lindens for honey. Many larches grow with apple trees.
He also plants silver willow and other early honey-bearing plants, so that in the early and late periods the bees also have something to eat.

My trip to Austria to Sepp Holzer's farm ended.

Our group consisted of 25 people - mainly the leaders of regional Clubs of organic farming from Ukraine, at Holzer we were joined by 2 families from Germany, one from Poland and one from Hungary.

We traveled by bus from Uzhgorod through Slovakia, it was amazed that neither in Slovakia nor in Austria was there garbage anywhere, one felt that people were aware of their responsibility to their descendants. It was a discovery for me that Slovakia is a mountainous country, around there are beautiful landscapes, well-groomed courtyards with living evergreen hedges, beautiful rocky gardens, houses are hung with bowls with flowers, there are many clean mountain rivers and streams. Both in Slovakia and in Austria, practically on every inaccessible mountain there is a castle, and in the valley there are fields, as in the fairy tale “About Puss in Boots”: “Whose fields? - Karabasa-Barabasa. In Slovakia, many fields are planted with rapeseed, in Austria, surprisingly - with poppies (red and purple). There is no border between Slovakia and Austria - the Schengen area.

At the entrance to Austria, we saw whole "plantations" of wind turbines - they save their resources. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the water. Frightened by one of the participants in the trip that water is bad in Europe, we took seven 5-liter bottles of water with us and ... brought it back almost untouched. On the way back, we took delicious live melt water from a mountain stream near our hotel in the Alps to all containers.

On the way from Slovakia and to our destination, small villages of 100 - 500 estates with 1-2-storey houses stretched along the roads, and, moreover, we did not see people throughout the entire road, almost no cars either. But we saw deer and pheasants walking freely, sometimes hares ran, on lakes and rivers - white swans, ducks and geese.

We stopped by for 2 hours in Vienna. Honestly, Big city we were not impressed. The same stone bags as in any other city, bustle and crowds of people, from whom we are rather tired.

We stopped in a private boarding house 4 km from Holzer's estate at an altitude of 1800 km above sea level. To our surprise, there was still snow in some places, the vegetation had just begun to bloom. Despite this, every morning the hardened Ukrainian "walruses" swam in the icy mountain lake, which caused a storm of delight among the hotel owners. We were taken to Holzer and brought back by three taxi minibuses.

And now, finally, we found ourselves in front of the gates of the long-awaited Paradise. The meeting with the owner of the estate turned out to be warm and joyful.

At Holzer, at an altitude of 1100 to 1500 m above sea level, rhododendrons, many other flowers, fruit bushes and trees were already in full bloom, and this at an average annual temperature of +4 Celsius. All this is due to the microclimate that he created with the help of a system of lakes, stones and high ridges, consisting of trunks and branches of trees, covered with earth removed from a trench (width for an excavator bucket, depth from 0.5 to 1 m, arbitrary length). These are the so-called heat traps.

1. Therefore, the first and most important thing that I learned from Holzer's story, when restoring the natural landscape, is to provide the territory with an open reservoir. He said that water is everywhere, even in the desert, you just need to learn how to find it. At first he invited dowser specialists, and over time he mastered this skill himself.

2. Second, protect the area from being blown out by the wind by creating hedges and high ridges.

3. Third, to create a variety of flora (including poisonous plants) and fauna. He pulled forest ants from all over the area with sacks to his plot, because considers them to be healers of the forest. Holzer creates, as he puts it, "edible" forests, where fruit trees and shrubs with conifers, deciduous and ornamental plants grow in symbiosis. He believes that such forests are the future of the planet, since in addition to producing air, restoring soil, they can eliminate the problem of hunger.

4. Fourth, the larger the plot, the less work. Holzer may no longer do anything, and the income from the estate will grow spontaneously, since nature is generous. The cost of each plant planted 10 years ago has increased hundreds (sometimes thousands) of times, moreover, it has reproduced itself many times without human participation, increasing it annually. passive income in an increasing progression.

5. Fifth, his motto: "minimum work, maximum effect." Today his estate is a self-sufficient, self-developing system. I cannot advertise the sums of his annual income without his consent, but, believe me, they are impressive, like the total cost of his entire estate. He lives from the sale of seedlings, plant seeds, fish, crayfish, mushrooms, nuts, fruits, berries and vegetables, now these are seminars. Moreover, he does not bother to harvest. But there are enough people who want to harvest a useful, environmentally friendly crop, while paying for the products is 18 - 20 times more expensive than in a regular retail network.

6. Sixth, try to plant all plants with seeds as much as possible, having previously created conditions for them that are close to natural: stratification in a freezer or snow. He planted a lot of trees in his house, showed a gorgeous 15-year-old fir grown from seed. He has a cedar forest (from Siberian cedars and some other type of cedars, which have much larger nuts). By the way, I gave him a cedar seed cone, which he was sincerely delighted with. I recommended planting seedlings in poor soil, in no case in humus, because plants grown in more favorable conditions in the natural environment are more difficult to adapt and get sick.

7. Seventh, do not cut the fruit trees. He believes that this is an extra job, and he does not like to do extra work. In addition, they become accustomed to this procedure and become dependent on human intervention, becoming weak and less resilient. He does pruning only in case of a tree disease.

8. Eighth, do not water the trees when transplanting, plant them in the poorest soil and no fertilizers. Holzer uses an interesting method of transplanting mature deciduous trees and shrubs: he wraps the roots of a dug plant with burlap, moistens them so that they do not dry out, leaves them in the shade, and places the crown in the sun when the tree sheds foliage - it is ready for planting. The survival rate is one hundred percent.

9. Ninth, make the most of the ability of animals to help with the household. So, he uses the ability of pigs to dig through the ground to prepare the beds for planting, scattering their favorite peas and corn on the territory he needs.

10. Tenth, it is stupid not to copy anyone, including himself. Think with your own head and observe nature. His words: "My university is nature." All his experience is taken from nature. He often repeated: "A person cannot improve what is already perfect, you just need to learn to wisely manage nature." Therefore, when he has any problem with plants, animals, soil, he enters the state of this being, presents himself to him and listens to his feelings, is he comfortable in this place, what bothers him, what is missing, what would he wanted. And the answer comes, and what is very important - it is always correct. And if the diagnosis is correct, then the treatment will be effective.

Holzer is also convinced that everyone has a right to a piece of land, living space and that only living in harmony with nature can we change the world for the better and solve all the social problems of our sick society.

Now he has already been recognized both in his own country and in other states. He is invited to lecture at many universities. The scientific elite of Austria united around Holzer's idea and on his behalf, and based on his interview, they drew up a document - an appeal to the governments of the countries of the world and the inhabitants of our planet with proposals on how to overcome the ecological and economic crisis.

Holzer is invited to countries where degradation occurs "thanks to" unreasonable human activity. the environment to restore it. He is currently taking part in 20 such projects. All these are social projects, often he himself finances them and carries out the restoration of degraded territories with the help of his own seedlings and seeds.

He talked about interesting social project, which he realized in the city of Graz in his homeland. He created a small permaculture garden in a boarding house for wheelchair users. He helped make high ridges so that disabled people in wheelchairs could look after them, sow and harvest them. The effect of this project was amazing. The psychological state of people who have felt an interest in life, have felt their significance, independently providing themselves with food and communicating with the living creations of God, has radically changed.

He also talked a lot about his projects, but you can read about it in his book "Sepp Holzer - Revolutionary Agrarian".

And we will return to our seminar. The first day was conducted entirely by Sepp himself. The next day, his son and successor, 27-year-old Josef, joined in. Joseph produced on us a very good impression, bright and friendly guy. In my opinion, he also liked us, as we showed a keen interest in their family experience and got to the bottom of all the little things, and he was eager to tell in all the details. Indeed, when planning and creating any object of their estate, people thought everything over so competently that there was nothing to dig into. The main thing is that the materials at hand were used everywhere with minimal financial and labor costs.

I can't help but tell you about Holzer's wife Veronica. We hardly saw her. But they tasted the fruits of her invisible activity. For lunch, she served us masterpieces of culinary art - coarse-flour muffins own production from, as they call it, "Russian cereal." What it is, I still do not understand. Sepp explained that this is the original cereal, either one-grain or two-grain. At least his seeds are in the seed mixture he distributed to all the workshop participants. This cereal can be perennial, if it is mowed and not allowed to grow, the leaves are no different from ordinary grass. I will sow, scout in my area, then I will share with other people.

I confess, in spite of the fact that I am a raw foodist now, I didn’t deny myself the pleasure of tasting the culinary delights prepared by Vroni ... I confirm that it was, well, very tasty! We were also treated to homemade aromatic tea made from alpine herbs, white elderberry liqueur, and on the second day of absolutely amazing taste, apple kvass, prepared without sugar. By the way, tea was served with a choice of white and brown sugar, unrefined. It should be noted that in the hotel too. Well, I decided to distinguish myself too, and in gratitude for the hostess's efforts I decided to make it easier for her to clean the room after dinner - I encouraged people and washed the dishes myself and cleaned the tables from crumbs, which caused a considerable, but pleasant surprise to Veronica.

Time is relentless, and our stay in the Alpine Eden was coming to an end. It was sunny that day, we warmed ourselves amid the healthy riot of alpine nature, intoxicated by the living mountain air filled with aromas of flowers and pine needles, enchanted by the hospitality and benevolence of the owners. And I didn't want to go anywhere from here, I wanted to continue the joy of communicating with like-minded people to infinity.

But, the moment of parting still came. Young Holzer was presented with Fokin's flat cutters, smuggled across the border by Yura Goncharuk (Kiev) and Dima Pelykh (Kherson is the organizer of the trip). A master class was held on working with a flat cutter. Then there were a lot of photos with Joseph, autographs of the author of books, exchange of business cards and addresses with other participants of the seminar. We probably would have sat until night if Sepp didn’t need to go tomorrow to his next lecture at some university. Inevitably, I had to say goodbye. In a friendly chorus we sang the song “Well, are you alive? d "? zhja? m to the house, to the hati." Both the hosts and the guests parted mutually happy.

That evening at the hotel a woman from a German group approached us. It turned out that she is Anastasievka, she is engaged in the introduction of EM technologies in Berlin. And again a storm of enthusiasm and emotions, exchange of addresses! It turned out that Holzer for everything время!} conducting seminars by him, 170 thousand Germans have already visited.

I cannot but tell about the family of Holzer's book publishers and its translators into Russian. These are Russian Germans Eduard and Angelica Shek and their four children. Edward was also a translator at our seminar. The family is very interesting. The guys are supporters of the idea of ​​creating ancestral settlements. They bought a plot of land in Germany for the family estate for the time being 50 acres, but they plan to expand, at least to a hectare. They have known Holzer for a long time, they were the first to bring the film "Permaculture in the Alps" to Russia and translated into Russian. They also apply permaculture methods on their site. Now they are digging a lake. Angelica shared with us some of her smart farming experiences.

So, for example, she plants potatoes in the following way: since a lot of soil is formed when digging a lake, Angelica puts the potatoes directly on the crushed grass and fills it with a bucket of earth. On the same hill, five strawberries are planted in a circle, and a couple of corn grains can also be stuck in the center. The potato, when ripe, is selected, and the strawberry continues to grow further.

In addition, having endured the agony of giving birth to the first two children in the hospital, after going through 8 operations, Angelica, with the support of her husband, gave birth to the next two children on her own at home. She now teaches and prepares other families for home birth. She gets calls from every corner of Germany, and she travels across the country to help a new human being born painlessly and under normal conditions.

Angelica has a dream to visit the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and I invited the guys to visit me, including to Lubskoye, and told about my dream to hold seminars in Lubskoye under the Eco-settler School program. Angelica replied that she could organize tours to such seminars, it turns out that there are many people in Germany who want to go to such a school.

The family is currently working on the translation of Holzer's second book, which provides a more detailed description of the methods of permaculture.

Our last evening in Austria ended with a reflection on our stay at the seminar. The group gathered in the room of the Goncharuks with the Podolkhovs and everyone who wanted to share their impressions. Many thanks were expressed to Dima and Anya Pelykh from Kherson, who encouraged us and, in fact, organized the trip. After returning to Uzhgorod, Dima underwent a “swinging” procedure, which was documented on video and photo.

In my reflection, I was especially touched by the words of Pyotr Trofimenko, the founder of the club movement. Peter said that now the time has come for expanding functions in the activities of the OZ Clubs, and, along with the creation of Clubs, it is necessary to support the initiative of people, active members of the movement, in the creation of educational and practical centers on the basis of their estates, where everyone, along with with theory he will be able to gain practical skills.

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  • Trip to Sepp Holzer

 

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