Previous Green Oasis Now Blog
June-August 2019
Our previous Green Oasis Now blogs were originally posted from June of 2019 through June of 2022. They are re-published here, chronologically. Each page of six blogs links to the next.
June-August 2019
June 01, 2019
Stewardship from a Wide View
June 15, 2019
Beekeeping Reimagined
July 01, 2019
A Day in the Life of a Honeybee
July 15, 2019
Optimizing Gardening for a Renewing Planet: Diversity
August 01, 2019
Evolving Agriculture Practices
August 15, 2019
Societal Stability and Food Supply
With every inspired “Yes, I can do this!”, our world is being transformed. The oft repeated “we are the ones we have been waiting for” is indeed apt. A view into ancient sites on Earth reminds us that our current cultural context on Earth is but one of many. Civilizations have come and gone. Some whisper to us of greatness past. As survival once again stands at a crossroads, in this now we have the opportunity to co-create something both unprecedented and enduring.
Separation is illusion; connection is the reality.
In every direction we see a world of connection and — in alignment with a beneficent Universe — co-creative stewardship, a celebration of life on Earth.
June 01, 2019
Stewardship from a Wide View
The waves of change on Earth are everywhere apparent. While the various ongoing Earth phenomena including changes in weather patterns have profound effect, increased awareness of human potential for innovation is stirring a new enthusiasm for heretofore undreamed of possibilities. One possibility is the actualization of Harmony, Balance and Peace on Earth.
Increasingly, we humans are remembering our interconnectedness with one another and with all of Mother Nature’s world. The more we recognize our connectedness within the web of life, the more we value our opportunity to serve the greater good.
The rheostat on change having been turned up, for many there is no longer business-as-usual. Rather, there is a desire for refinement into greater clarity and effectiveness. In every area of endeavor there is the potential for new application of one’s developed talents.
June 15, 2019
Beekeeping Reimagined
We find it instructive to imagine the world from a honeybee’s experiential point of view.
When we look at the basic needs of the honeybee, we see that they are not dissimilar from our own — water, food, shelter. That brings us to a consideration of how those needs are currently met for the honeybees on whom we depend for pollination of fruit trees, nut trees, berries and some vegetables.
Most beehives in use today in the developed countries are variations on the Langstroth hive which was patented in 1852. A brilliant innovation in its time, the Langstroth hive introduced the concept of “bee space” which is, essentially, the optimal “shoulder room” for bees. The overall space within the hives was thus used more efficiently than had been possible earlier. The design of these hives also contributed new efficiency for the beekeepers.
Our societal lifestyle has changed considerably since 1852 when we as a culture were much closer to the earth and readily recognized our relationship with nature.
At Green Oasis Now, it is our relationship with nature which inspires our invention and design.
In a subsequent blog we will take a closer look at what we have observed — over years — from “imagining” the honeybee’s experiential point of view.
We will also describe the differences between the now-traditional Langstroth hives and the breakthroughs we will be introducing in our Honeybee Habitats as technology serves nature.
July 01, 2019
A Day in the Life of a Honeybee
The younger and the older workerbees in a honeybee hive have different tasks.
The younger bees are responsible for doing the housekeeping within the hive which includes maintaining the temperature. They maintain the air flow and temperature control by flapping their wings to make it cooler, or clustering around the queen and shivering to make it warmer.
Older bees are out at the crack of dawn, when there is ideally a lot of dew. They go to flowers to gather pollen, nectar and water. Most of the water they carry back to the hive to supply water for the needs of the hive. Their entire activity from dawn to dusk is the making of trips from and to the hive.
We in developed countries would not expect to carry on our daily schedules/activities if we had to search for water and live in a primitive hut. And yet, this is essentially what we expect of the domesticated honeybee population.
Honeybees have no requirement for the level of gardening/agriculture which we expect them to help us sustain. Therefore it is up to us to help them help us.
With the scale of today’s agriculture, honeybees are often overworked and under appreciated. They are also subject to environmental stressors which were not present when the Langstroth hives were first designed.
With this in mind, we can compare the primitive hut with our advanced technologically welcoming bee space.
The substantial differences between the Langstroth historical methodology of honeybee keeping and our Honeybee Habitats are: size, shape, weight, materials, portability, water supply, methods of operation, placement, inspection, observation, electromagnetic permeability, acoustical protection, thermal regulation, disease control, laser-protection from hornets and other pests — including bears — and ease of harvesting procedures.
By providing honeybees with ease and efficiency, technology can serve nature for the benefit of honeybees and humanity — and a day in the life of a honeybee can be truly healthy.
July 15, 2019
Optimizing Gardening for a Renewing Planet: Diversity
This is the first of a series of blogs featuring new perspectives about food production in our changing world. Increasingly, sustainability is being recognized as essential. Producing nutritious, delicious and affordable food can be accomplished without depleting our natural resources. Additionally, diversity of crops can add new vitality to the food supply.
Recently, José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the UN Food & Agriculture Organization said:
People would expect me as Director to say, ‘We need to produce more food.’ No. If we continue to produce more food, we will throw more food out because we don’t need more food to be produced. Nowadays about 40% of what we eat comes from three crops: corn, wheat and rice — three staple foods. In our history we have more than 4000 species that were utilized for food production. Nowadays we have about a hundred. So we lost all this diversity. We need to bring back the diversity of food production. We need more research at the country level, at the local level, being developed in producing these different species — these different kinds of food that adapt better to that condition. We cannot adapt the weather to our needs. We need to adapt our needs to the weather. That’s the change, the big change, for the future.”
[Note: Since this blog was posted on July 15th, Dr. da Silva completed two terms as Director-General of the FAO. As of August 1st, there is a new Director-General.]
Globally there is an over reliance on too few crops. And, for the most part, the nutritional content of existing crops is less than ideal.
In June of 2016, Green Oasis Now created “Criteria for Plant Consideration”, our own botanical guidelines to evaluate the overall potential of the 4000+ species recently mentioned by Dr. da Silva.
In our proprietary Green Oasis Now greenhouse system, we address the issues of both diversity and weather. Our greenhouse system provides various microclimates within a hermetically sealed, impervious, state-of-the-art architectural greenhouse structure. This has broad implications for optimum plant growth in a world of capricious weather patterns.
After decades of research and development, we are positioned to make a significant contribution to planetary agricultural change.
August 01, 2019
Evolving Agriculture Practices
Our ancestors grew their food in surrender to Nature’s mood swings. There was no other choice. As societal structure changed, a system evolved where the relative few grew food for the many. Within this system, practices developed which were considered efficient for their time. We now know that the environmental cost has been huge —
• overused soil
• excessive water use
• long-term effects of pesticides
• depleted nutritional value of food
• a high percentage of food wasted
We have asked ourselves: What are the solutions that are meaningful now? What will be viable for generations to come? We see our relationship with plants as a dialog. In harmonizing with nature, there is an inter-dependent cooperative relationship. We know that plants like to take direction. Here is where we have a new opportunity — technology serving nature.
Our plant friendly ultimate greenhouse system, which has at its core the Heart Greenhouse, is our answer to the questions we have asked ourselves. It also demonstrates our point of view about cooperative relationship with nature in these times of change which require innovation and new solutions.
Hydroponic indoor agriculture has been gaining a foothold over a number of decades because it addresses some of the cumulatively adverse agricultural issues.
Organic, hydroponic and biodynamic methods of agriculture all have important places in botanical understanding.
Our system utilizes the best qualities and unique gifts of each of them. Co-creative with the plants themselves, our technology serves nature in harmonious relationship.
Our non-hydroponic advanced and specialized system, in which we use our unique cultured fermentation media (created, controlled and pure), optimizes the union of the potentials that result from plant-sensitive understanding and creative technology. Thus, we can ensure a diverse food supply that is continually of high quality and impervious to environmental issues.
Our botanically pristine scientific systems and proprietary methodologies allow us to exceed all current standards and levels of expectation for plant growth, vitality and productivity — while also re-creating an Eden-like plant-friendly agricultural symbiotic way of being.
Our gardening for a renewing planet —
• creates its own interior world
• supplies optimum growing conditions
• eliminates all environmental stresses
• recovers and recycles all water and resources
• is widely environmentally adaptable
• is renewable energy focused
• creates nutritionally superior produce
August 15, 2019
Societal Stability and Food Supply
Food supply is about more than food.
It has been demonstrated that children who are well nourished have a vastly increased ability to learn. This, in turn, leads to the opportunity to excel.
Correspondingly, those adults who have the option of choosing nourishing foods — and do so — are far more likely to have sustained vitality and enjoy productive lives.
Not everyone has these options.
Food supply is at the core of stable civilization, both locally and globally.
Many of us in developed countries may notice food prices are increasing, and some of the foods we are accustomed to having available may be in short supply. For us, this situation is — thus far — a mere inconvenience compared with the fact that global hunger is on the rise and large populations are significantly affected.
During the spring and summer of 2019, we have been seeing the effects of weather anomalies — flooding, drought, hail, and record breaking temperatures (both lows and highs). It is not possible to predict, at this juncture, how the food supply will be impacted by these weather events which dramatically affect the viability of growing seasons.
The changing weather patterns add another element to that which was already an increasing concern.
Nutritional deprivation often produces unrest, disharmony, aggressive behavior, inability to discern rationally and other imbalances. Consequently, the stability of a collective group is undermined by food scarcity. This may result in a need to migrate, a search for a more favorable location.
In contrast, a well nourished population is low on aggression and social disruption. People who are well nourished will tend to stay where they are. Any decision to move to another location would be driven by positive choice, instead of desperation and basic survival issues.
On July 31st the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced:
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today handed over the helm to Qu Dongyu with a call to improve quality access to food for all.
“I intend to work for an FAO that applies modern science and technology, and adopts innovative approaches,” said Qu Dongyu. The new Director-General began a four year term on August 1st.
Green Oasis Now is certainly well positioned within this point of view. Our innovative approach applies modern science and technology to work in harmony with the environment. Uniquely, what we offer as part of the food solution is adaptable to many terrains and climates and is unaffected by weather considerations.
BBC has recently published, on BBC Reels, a series titled “Follow the Food”. It is a playlist of 12 videos on various aspects of the changing perspectives on, and approaches to, agriculture.