FARMING WITH NATURE
A CASE STUDY OF SUCCESFUL
TEMPERATE PERMACULTURE
The Siberia of Austria, Lungau.
A hundred kilometres south of Salzburg
and the country coldest region.
Winter here in the valley
is harsh and begins early.
The unusual ground profile
suggests a very different
approach to farming
here on the Krameterhof.
At fifteen hundred metres above sea level
mountain farmers Sepp
and Veronica Holzer
have created a garden of Eden.
On this farm everything is little
different from neighbouring farms.
Their Turopolje pigs for example are
rare and resilient breed from Croatia.
Here they are happy living
outdoors all year round.
Sepp Holzer remarkable
success is a result of the
constant nurturing of his
forty five hectares farm.
The story of that success was
featured at expo 2000 in Hanover.
The expo exhibit
demonstrated the concept of
sustainability for
agriculture in mountain regions.
Over the past thirty
years the Krameterhof has
become a symbol of what
permaculture can achieve.
It demonstrates well how the community
can be fed without degrading the land
while the farmer makes a decent living.
Since he started Sepp
Holzer has overturned
every rule of conventional agriculture.
Here he sets an example
for farmers the world over.
Judging by the number of
visitors who flocked to his farm
his unorthodox methods
generate huge interest.
Cherries, there are still cherries
growing, all different types.
At between eleven and fifty
hundred metres altitude
his cherry trees almost reached
the tree line, unheard-of.
The fifteen types of
cherries planted at different
altitudes ripen at
different times of the year.
For the farmer this means
a more leisurely five
month harvesting season
from June to September.
A fruit garden at fifteen hundred
metres and such surprising variety.
The chinese kiwi plant,
it normally needs a lot of warmth.
The (marrony??) tree too,
normally grows on warmer climates.
Lemons, yes, here at
alpine altitude you will
find remarkable abundance
of Mediterranean produce.
How could this be?
What is Holzer's secret?
All life is sustained by a delicate
balance between ecological systems.
If that balance breaks down so this
nature's ability to provide for our needs.
Plants and insects cooperate naturally.
Observing their interdependence
teaches the farmer
how to be more efficient
without degrading the soil.
Understand this process
and you understand
the underline philosophy
of permaculture.
The farmer applies this
learning by creating
self-sustaining
ecological partnerships.
The needs of all the
partners: the animals,
the plants and the farmer
can all be satisfied.
So permaculture's diversity
brings a rewarding harvest
without degrading the
resources of future generations.
Unlike today's industrialized agriculture
the soil becomes richer each year,
its fertility and integrity
constantly improving.
In conventional agriculture the soil is
frequently ploughed and
treated with chemicals.
Compacted by heavy machinery it can't
breathe and becomes poorer every year.
Monoculture or single
crop planting demands
high doses of fertilizers
and pesticides.
It's a constant fight against nature.
The effects: many plant
and animal species die away,
the ground water is
poisoned, the taste and
nutritional value of
the produce is lost.
In the long term the
communities diet suffers.
Ironically intensive
farming is inefficient. It
uses more energy and
resources than it produces.
The high cost of production, storage,
transportation and
marketing rise every year.
The energy input is much higher than
the calorific value of the harvest.
Today's monoculture comes
with the price stake.
It can only exist with the
help of enormous subsidies.
Every year nearly fifty per
cent of the U.E. budget is
pumped into keeping inefficient
modern agriculture afloat.
And nature too pays a high price.
Local ecosystems are destroyed, soil is
lost through erosion and lack of nutrients.
The landscape becomes evermore bear on.
Monoculture culprit Sepp Holzer home
valley. An endless forest of fir trees.
For Holzer the problem is
that fir trees have flat roots.
They can't stabilize the
steep hills of the Lungal.
The effect of this fir desert as he calls
it: soil erosion and floods in the valleys.
Dams are needed to prevent
the inevitable disasters.
As far back as the sixties Sepp Holzer
has decided to switch to permaculture.
For nearly forty years he has fashioned
a fertile landscape of ponds and terraces.
The terraces were inspired
by the rice paddies of Asia
where they prevent rain water run off
and the loss of important soil nutrients.
Springtime in Langau.
Sepp is taken the lease
on a new piece of land.
Five hectares of sloping green meadow.
First he makes terraces,
one of the rare
occasions when he uses
his heavy equipment.
The digger terraces the
hill so that the soil
erosion is stopped and the
soil and humus stabilized.
When I get a new piece of land just
like this one here it has to be terraced.
It costs of course, but it's very economic
because I don't have to irrigate or fertilize
and I don't need expensive equipment.
Once this job is done it's
stays done for generations.
Even while the digger is still
making terraces the planting begins.
More than fifteen hundred fruit
trees will be planted here.
A fruit tree forest with many varieties.
Now I'm planting plums,
apples, pears and so on.
The tree gets planted, dug in
and when I have stones I add them.
And then I add the seed mixture.
That's the most important thing.
The seed mixture: that's vegetables, support
plants, flowers, wild flowers, very rare ones.
There are about forty to
fifty different plants.
Sowing the simple way.
The seeds are thrown
wherever there's space.
It's good for the soil.
The diversity of plants and
their wide network of roots
will stabilize the
earth, preventing erosion.
The work of springtime is done.
Now it's time to watch
everything grow and blossom.
After only a few weeks there are signs
of growth along the terraces and ponds.
For over thirty years
the Holzers, Sepp and his
wife Veronica have worked
their land together.
Agriculture is their way of life.
Every walk on the farm
is a walk of discovery.
Every square metre is harvested.
Even lettuce grows along the ponds.
Sepp Holzer has learned everything
simply by observing nature.
His experience is the only
source of knowledge he trusts.
Even as a child, Holzer secretly made
small gardens and observed nature at work.
He discovered the bigger the variety
of plants the fewer parasites there are
and a more stable assistant.
He applied this understanding
on the Krameterhof
by grouping all the plants into
what he called plant families.
Thousands of fruit
trees and berry bushes
are surrounded by
lettuce, vegetables, corn
and a variety of spices
and medicinal herbs.
Next to the fruit trees you'll
find the digitalis purpurea.
This colourful chaos has a purpose.
In a plant family the plants provide
each other with the support they need.
Humidity, oxygen and nutrients.
What's extracted by one
plant is taken in by another.
That's how farmer Holzer
saves himself a lot of work.
The plants fertilize and
provide moisture for each other.
If you have the proper vegetation,
doesn't matter whether it's
fruit trees or vegetables,
you can see that the plants
regulate themselves wonderfully.
You need plants with deep,
middle and flat roots.
Deep rooted plants bring up humidity and
nutrients from three to four metres depth
and sweat it out on top.
They give shape to the
ones with flat roots.
So they won't dry out.
That's the exchange,
one plant helps the other.
You don't need to worry
about it being too dry
or too wet if you work
with the earth properly.
You have to listen and observe,
that's the most important thing.
Unlike most farmers,
Holzer likes stones.
They can be found all over his
terraces and bring their own benefits.
Underneath there is
humidity which is useful
to the surrounding plants when it's dry.
This edible mushroom enjoys the humid
and warm enviroment of the stones.
Stones store the sun's heat acting as a
central heating for neighbouring plants.
Take this rocky cliff,
it generates it's own microclimate
which makes it possible for
the very sensitive plants
to thrive at higher altitudes.
At thirteen hundred metres you'll find
plants you would never expect up here.
Pumpkins on rocky ground.
Sepp Holzer calls these
rocky niches, heat traps.
He experiments with
plants that love warmth.
Grapes on the mountain side.
Thanks to the stones.
Weeds or parasites,
Holzer makes no distinction.
Every plant and insect
has an useful function.
The Krameterhof is an organic
farm, completely free of chemicals.
Holzer uses no
fertilizers or pesticides.
A harmonious balance plant
community is the key to success.
Their diversity prevents
anyone plant dominating.
Even so called weeds fulfil useful
roles in the plant community.
Here is a plant Holzer
appreciates, cow parsnip.
Here we can see an important
principle of permaculture.
Every species fulfils
several useful functions.
She's useful in so many ways.
Up to three metres high it
provides a lot of biomass.
The huge blossoms provide nectar for the
bees, and the bees bring Holzer honey.
He harvests the long
stems when they're dry.
They can be used to collect ants eggs which
he feeds to his fish or sells to pet-shops.
The dry stems are good for firewood too.
It even makes a possible
Australian didgeridoo.
Animals too have a role in permaculture.
Holzer has observed the lifestyle
of field mice, rabbits and deer.
He plants their favourite lettuce and
herbs, so they leave his crops alone.
As this teeth marks show,
the distraction works.
Why eat corn when you can have salad.
The field mice thank him for it by
loosening the soil and propagating
his plants everywhere by spreading
the roots all over the place.
Why shouldn't pigs leave like dogs
(???) too. They can with permaculture.
Holzer's (???) pigs enjoy life up here.
They live outside all year
round saving him a lot of work.
Constantly looking for food.
They loosen the soil between
the fruit trees and raised beds
and prevent the earth
from getting too compacted.
After they done their
work in one orchard they
let to the next, they
just keep on digging.
Farmer Holzer funnily calls
his pigs: his best farm workers.
The permaculture farmer loves
experimenting with new methods,
always pushing back the
boundaries of the possible.
Even rooting tree trunks
have a role to play.
It's here Sepp sows mushrooms spores.
In a few months he will harvest
shiitake mushrooms right here.
Holzer used to being told that
he's attempting the impossible,
but he knows that he can
harvest his own chantrells
in places conventional
farmers wouldn't dream of.
Water gives life and Holzer is well aware
of his importance to a healthy ecosystem.
When he took over the
Krameterhof he decided
to buy all the wells on the nearby land.
Over the thirty years of his custodianship
he has put the water to good use.
He has established more than
seventy ponds and water gardens
with the surface area of
more than three hectares.
Ponds, ditches and pipes.
Holzer uses his extensive
water resources in various ways.
The hydropower feeds
his own power generator
producing enough electricity
for the whole farm.
The ponds and the wetlands
are tingling with life.
A huge number of fish, frogs, water
plants and insects are homed here.
Holzer designs his ponds
like natural habitats,
with tree roots and flat zones.
Here the young fish can find
shelter from their natural predators.
Most predators and prey
are naturally sustained
without Holzer having to feed them.
The fish like to use the
flat zone to spawning grounds.
Even exotic fish such as the Japanese
koi can live in these altitudes.
The water temperature in
Holzer's ponds is unusually warm.
Thanks again to the rocks,
which he places in every pond.
Heated by the sun they slowly
release warmth back into the water.
Running warm water, the
water plants love it.
The climate up here is strongly
influenced by the ponds.
The sun reflects of the water
surface on to the hill side.
A unique microclimate is created.
The heat trap is turned on again.
Just right for the cherries.
The raised beds also have
their own microclimate.
They are designed to keep the
prevailing wind off the crops,
therefore retaining warmth and humidity.
Covered by bug wee blossoms
the raised beds are hardly
recognizable in summer.
Holzer plants old
resilient potato varieties.
The seeds are very hard to find.
He also grows new crops spread
potatoes with exotic colours.
Propagating potatoes from seeds is
virtually unknown on farmers these days.
These are the seeds of potatoes,
they're used for generative propagation.
For creating new varieties,
two types of potato plant
are pollinated by insects,
and then crossed.
By selecting the varieties to be pollinated
I can create the most exotic colours.
These are truffle potatoes.
I have different ones: completely violet,
dark-blue, black and these have white edges.
A cross between two
vegetables: courgette and pumpkin.
Black maize, an old robust variety,
once a staple of native Americans.
And this colourful plant
is edible, wild spinach.
Summer turns into autumn
on the Krameterhof.
The Russian corn is
right for harvesting.
Thirty years ago it's
started with one kilo of corn.
Today the Russian corn
grows all over Holzer's farm.
In the forest, on each
hill, even along the ponds.
This plant family includes many
different vegetables such as:
lettuce and this blossoming chicory.
Each supports the corn in his own way,
like for example serving
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