Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Time again to help publicize Ken Hargesheimer's site:
http://www.minifarms.com/rba.html
There are a number of clickable links on his page, so look at the website 
itself. Page contents below.

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------

Raised Bed Agriculture

- Food Production
- Traditional & Historic
- Five Principles
- Benefits
- Applications
- New Crops
- Urban RBA
- Rural RBA

For home gardening raised bed agriculture means: less work, less irrigation, 
improved soil, higher yields and no poisons. For market gardeners, 
mini-farmers and mini-ranchers it means all the above plus profits. People 
can have a comfortable income, a high quality lifestyle, provide a great 
service to their community and it's a great way to raise children.

RBA creates a healthy soil to grow healthy plants to provide healthy food to 
feed healthy people. For the human population to be healthy, we need to 
consume healthy foods [organic] which come from healthy animals eating 
healthy plants grown in healthy soil [C Scheaffer, VMD/holistic].

Health:
People suffer due to very poor diets. The greatest benefit of RBA isn't the 
increased yields but the better nutrition provided to the families. This 
reduces their medical needs tremendously.




Food Production
Agriculture is in a crisis worldwide. The Green Revolution is not 
ecologically sound, economically viable or socially responsible. The "Green 
Revolution", which attempted to impose inappropriate crops and techniques in 
the Andes, has been a miserable failure. [The same is true around the world. 
KH] Srs. I. Garaycochea and J. Palao refer to the remains of twisted 
windmills, cracked irrigation canals and rusted out tractors littering the 
rural countryside as the "archaeology of development". It is ironic that the 
groups promoting the Green Revolution had to destroy ancient agriculture 
fields, to introduce the inappropriate technology and capital-intensive 
farming practices.

    "The prehispanic raised fields are classified on government maps "for 
wildlife use only". It is a good thing that those ancient farmers didn't have 
access to those maps!"
    C. Erickson, UPA.

The Green Revolution makes farmers depend on, even economic slaves to, 
agribusiness and multinational corporations: Cargill\Monsanto, ConAgra, 
Novartis\ADM and others. Their goal is to increase profits and to control the 
world's food supply from research to production to consumer by controling 
seed, fertilizers and chemicals. These seeds must have chemicals sprayed on 
them to produce and the seed can not be saved for the next crop.

    "These companies tell the US patent office that the plants are novel and 
unique to get a patent but they tell the FDA/EPA that that they are natural 
and not new and not subject to regulations." [S. Ogden, Straight-Ahead 
Organics, 1999].

Other corporations are beginning to market irradiated food which may be 
dangerous to our health. Most governments, USAID, most ag extension services 
and ag universities in most countries help the companies by promoting the use 
of their products. They are more interested in export crop production than in 
food crops to feed local people.

    "If I had taken what I learned about agriculture at Texas A & M 
University to a third world country, I would have starved to death". Mike 
Sullivan, ECHO, Ag Missions Conference 1998, quoting his son.

The world's farmers can produce all the food the world's population requires, 
regardless of how high it goes, using RBA.

Note: A salesman promotes chemical fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, etc 
and gets paided by the chemical company from the sale. Promoters of organic 
gardening and farming have nothing to sell.
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Raised Beds - Traditional & Historic
They were used in Asia [Indonesia, China, Vietnam, PNG], Latin America 
[Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru], Europe [France] and USA [Indians] for 
centuries. They are now being used in Kenya, Nigeria and a few other 
countries. I saw a few in the 60's while living in Guatemala. They are being 
restored in Peru and Bolivia.

    "It was proven that labor costs were low, harvests were bountiful, 
production was sustainable and the technology could be managed by individual 
families using available tools." [Bolivia] C. Erickson, UPA.

    On the Web:
    http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cerickso/applied.html
    http://archaeology.about.com/msubfarm.htm 
http://archaeology.about.com/blinterviews.htm

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Five Principles of RBA
Regardless of the quality of the land, these principles will make it highly 
fertile.

       1. Maximize organic matter production
       2. Keep the soil covered
       3. Use zero tillage
       4. Maintain biological diversity
       5. Feed plants through the mulch.
                Roland Bunch, COSECHA

Organic:
All gardeners and farmers were organic until the use of chemicals in WW II 
[to kill people then, insects now]. They kill soil micro-organisms and worms. 
No one has the right, moral or legal, to poison the air, soil or water.

    "Organic gardening and farming is more than avoiding chemicals. The 
organic method requires a change of attitude and a different thought 
process." [H. Garrett, DMN]

RBA does not require the purchase of any outside inputs. The present 
generation knows nothing about raised beds or organics because their fathers 
and grandfathers have used chemicals since the 1950s. Therefore, they must be 
taught.
[Read: From The Good Earth, by M. Ableman, http://www.dirtdoctor.com]


RBA allows people to feed themselves on a local basis that provides total 
community food security and is a proven food production system that is 
ecologically sound, economically viable, socially responsible and Biblically 
based.
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Benefits of RBA
A. Organic, biointensive, double dug, permanent raised beds which can double 
or even triple the yield while reducing the labor by half compared to 
traditional gardening. Using this, a family can grow all their food for a 
vegetarian diet on 300 M². http://www.bountifulgardens.org
This works [USA: Chadwick Garden & market garden, Ecology Action; CET, Chile; 
Manor House Ag Center, Kenya; ECOPOL, Mexico; IIRR, Baptist Rural Life 
Center, Philippines] and the proof is there for all to see. This is used by 
home gardeners and small market gardeners.

B. Organic, permanent raised beds can increase yields, stop erosion and 
reduce labor. Land sloping up to 75% can be farmed without erosion. I saw 
them in Honduras after hurricane Mitch. This works [COSECHA & CIDICCO, 
Honduras; M Fukuoka, Japan; Centro de Educacíon y Tecnología, Chile; IIRR, 
BRLC, Philippines; M Cain, USA; Vietnam: VACVINA] and the proof is there for 
all to see. [read Plowman's Folly, by E. H. Faulker; Weeds-Control Without 
Chemicals, by Walters. Video: Necessity of Organic Resides, by R. Parnes]. 
This is used by home gardeners, market gardeners and mini-farmers.

Hand labor with hand tools is used such as hoes, shovels, rakes, digging 
forks, machetes. Hand tools: Scythe - cuts grass, harvest grain; Hedge 
clipper - long handles for trimming/cutting back growth of hedges, trellises, 
etc; Lopper - long handles for cutting limbs; Wheel Hoe - walk-behind with 
various implements; Planter - walk-behind which drops seed; Spreader - 
walk-behind which spreads fertilizer, etc.

The above boasts two advantages which no other production system can claim.

    First, it is easier on the soil than mechanized methods. Second, it is 
the least expensive method in terms of capital outlay. For mini-farms this 
method is not only economically viable but superior to the alternatives. Jeff 
Rast, Countryside, Nov/Dec 98.

C. Alley-cropping: Raised beds between rows of trees [food, oils, chemicals, 
medicinals, spices, beverages, crafts, lumber, forages, firewood, windbreaks, 
industrials, etc] which are a planned crop.
http://www.winrock.org
http://www.treesftf.org
http://www.unl.edu/nac
This works and the proof [USA; Nigeria, IITA; Philippines, IIRR, BMRLC; Costa 
Rica] is there for all to see.

Bucket drip irrigation kits should be used during the dry season or in areas 
of low rainfall. The kit [US$15 + Postage & Handling] irrigates 200 feet of 
vegetables by filling a five gallon bucket each morning and each evening. Two 
kits will produce all the vegetables needed for a family of seven on a 
vegetarian diet [Kenya]. Bucket drip kits can be adapted to use with trees. 
[video: Third World Irrigation Update, free with first kit or US$5 ppd.]

Seed:: Use open pollinated, organically grown if possible. Save your seed. 
Exchange with others. http://homepage.tinet.ie/~merlyn/seedsaving.html

RBA can be used to produce flowers, dyes, vegetables, nuts, fruits, trees, 
grains, fibers, herbs, spices, medicinals, oils, teas, sweeteners, 
fragrances, crafts, seeds, ornamentals, bamboo, industrials [lubricants, 
brooms, gums, waxes, oils, rubber, emulsifiers, paper], forages, feed grains, 
animal medicinals, livestock.
http://www.echonet.org
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RBA Applications
Use one or more of the methods outlined as they apply to your situation.

   1. Home Garden/Mini-Ranch: Every home should have a garden to produce food 
for the family. This assures that the family, especially the children, do not 
consume chemicals. With little land, double dig for highest production. 
Additional beds can be used for forages for micro-livestock and/or small farm 
animals and/or regular livestock. Use moveable pens or use cut and carry.
      [Grow Food & Feed, by E. Omondi, US$10 ppd.]
   2. Market Garden: High value, labor intensive crops. Double dig for 
highest yields.
   3. Mini-Farm: Additional crops requiring more land but less intensive 
labor. Some are particularly adapted to value-added.
   4. Mini-Ranch/Mini-Dairy: Use raised beds for forage/grain. Small animals 
are in pens which are over the beds and moved down the bed daily for grazing 
or use cut and carry. Micro-livestock [hampsters in the kitchen, etc.] to 
small livestock to cattle are grown.

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New Crops, Livestock, Marketing Ideas
Crops:
I am constantly searching for new crops and new marketing ideas for 
mini-farmers. The following at successful in one or more countries and many 
can be a cottage industry. I am seeking sources for seed. The following all 
vary in regard to climate, soil, etc.

New Food Crops:

   1. Stevia. In great demand by diabetics and weightwatchers. It is a small 
bush whose leaves are 25 times sweeter than cane or beet sugar. Non-caloric. 
Cottage industry.
   2. Crotalaria [sunhemp]
   3. Sweet Sorghum cane and syrup [USA]
   4. Naturally colored cotton [Peru].
   5. Tomatillo [Mexico]
   6. Rice: African, Floating
   7. Bambara groundnut
   8. Beans: Winged, Velvet, lablab, tropical lima
   9. Grains: quinoa, ammarath, buckwheat, Teff, Spelt, Emmer, Ethiopian 
barley; Finger millet, Pearl millet: popping [India]
  10. Sorghum: popping, vegetable, red dye [India]
  11. Maize: sweet, parching; Kamut; Perennial wheat;. Fonio/Acha [world's 
best tasting cereal!]

Industrial Crops:

   1. Broomcorn, brooms [USA]
   2. Purple maize shucks for crafts,etc
   3. Industrial hemp

Livestock:
Raise animals that use forages and non-human food. Use the old native breeds 
of livestock who do well on forages. Use three-way cross.

   1. Muscovy ducks- No housing needed; little food; eats flies out of air;
   2. Quail - Major source of meat in some areas.
   3. Water buffalo - milk producer, cheese.
   4. Rabbits, Angora - hair for weaving
   5. Miniature livestock - 15 breeds available. Several countries have 
native miniatures.

Value-added:

   1. Grains, stone ground
   2. Oil seed, cold pressed

Marketing:
There is a worldwide, grassroots movement to buy local, buy fresh and buy 
organic.

   1. Farm stand or curbside stand: Customers coming to you is low cost 
marketing. People will drive to a farm to buy fresh food.
   2. Farmer's Markets: They are in every country from one day per week to 
several days per week. Three days per week is best. They are the fastest 
growing means of marketing today
   3. CSA-Community Supported Agriculture: Customers pre-purchase shares of 
produce.
   4. Cooperatives: Enables the mini-agriculturists to work together to do 
what they can't do individually in marketing and/or value-added processing. 
[example-cheese making, jelly, etc]
   5. Cottage industries/value-added: Use family labor to process in some way 
what is grown to increase the selling price. Examples: solar dried 
fruit/vegetables, jams/jellies, crafts, milk/cheese, dried flowers, etc. 
[equipment manufacturers: Cecoco, Japan]. I visted the farm of a woman in 
Honduras who grows, harvest, hulls, roast and bags her own coffee. She 
markets it only in her own community.

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Urban RBA
RBA has the potential to provide many benefits to cities - in nutritional 
improvement, hunger reduction, income generation, enterprise development and 
environmental enhancement. The poor and unemployed can grow their own food. 
Farming converts degraded and unkept vacant lots into healthy, green areas. 
Waste [grass, leaves, trees, sawdust, manure, food waste] can be composted 
and used on the farms. City governments must recognize the potential of urban 
agriculture and accord it the status given to other industries and economic 
activities in the city. Urban Ag Network: URBANAG@compuserve.com; Read: Urban 
Agriculture: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities; A Patch of Eden, H P Hynes, 
1996. Cultivating Havana: Urban Agriculture. 1999, Food First. 25% to 75% of 
all the food consumed within the large cities is produced within those cities.
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Rural RBA
Much of the land farmed by small, family farmers is usually the worst 
available: in the tropics the land may slope up to 75°, has been mined of its 
nutrients and the farmer has no choice. RBA is the answer: no or little 
outside inputs are needed and only family labor. In Honduras, land with a 73° 
slope, using raised beds, had no eroison during hurricane Mitch.

    "A difference is noticeable in even one year [using raised beds]. 
Terracing, rock walls, grass/tree borders, etc are not necessary. The beds 
plus green manure/cover crops/mulching controls erosion. When widely adopted, 
it generates sufficient income to stop immigration to the cities, raises land 
values and community health improves." [COSECHA].

People must understand that being a farmer, a granjero, fazendeiro o 
campesino, a fermier is honorable.