Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

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When I was a child in the Spain of the dictator Franco, the borders of the
Nation were closed to all foreigners trying to come and to locals wanting
to go out. The agriculture that was practiced those days by the peasants
didn't use tractors or chemicals, but what farmers where doing to their
fields was clearly not good to the soil. One of the earliest memories I
have is of one summer in the countryside. It was of dried up and sick
looking soil after the Castillian cereal fields had been harvested.
Although I did not know why, to me it was obvious that something the
grownups where doing was wrong. That conviction of a fundamental error in
their agriculture has directed my life towards finding a way to reconcile
agriculture with Nature.

In the very early 60's while living in Big Sur, I met a few people involved
with social reform (aka "hippies"). They were into growing their own food,
and thanks to them I learned of the work of Ruth Stout. She was the first
person to lift the veil of understanding how to handle the production of
annual plants on a non-tilled soil.

Reading Faulkner's book "Plowsman Folly" made clear the urgent need to
change the tilling habits used in agriculture. Later on, from Alan Chadwick
while living in Santa Cruz, I integrated and organized the garden with
raised beds (but not double-dug!), and with the experience of Masanobu
Fukuoka's work, I was able to confirm the agronomic validity and
possibility of a chemicaless, zero-till method.

By the time I found out about permaculture I had very much figured out a
strategy that could be applied to places with many limiting factors so as
to obtain healthy and abundant harvests on self-fertile, zero-tilled
agricultural soils. I have traveled much in my life (as is often the case
with political exiles). In gardening terms it means that I had to adapt to
many different soil and climatic conditions which forced me to find
solutions to many different problems.

About 26 years ago I came to the French mediterranean-pyrenean foothills,
where I purchased 40 hectares of land for the settling of an intentional
community. Today, although I'm not living there, the settlement, the
gardens, goes on unfolding as I was hoping it could happen. This region has
been my homebase since then, although I have also been involved with
eco-agricultural projects in other regions as well. And at the present I
may again move to a place near Geneva, Switzerland, where my 2 daughters
and grandchildren are living, to start a hands-on teaching garden .

During all those past many years I have met quite a number of people
interested, like myself, in the work of Fukuoka-san. Many wanted to repeat
what they understood of his work, but practically nobody could obtain
sufficient results to keep on their interest in Natural Agriculture.
Because I had gone myself through the phase of doing a lot of "do-nothing"
with not much food produced, and since my need to grow food was real and
pressing, I came to accept that what was essential was to follow the Four
Natural Agricultural Principles, but as well, to integrate plastic hoses
for drip irrigation, plastic greenhouse to start subtropical seedlings, and
even mechanical traction for the first structuring of the raised beds.

I have given the name of Synergistic Agriculture to soil's autonomous
feeding process and all the additions and modifications done to the
original model, so that producing copious annual crops with soil's
self-fertility could be possible even in places with all kinds of limiting
factors, like extreme heat, or cold, or rain or draught or "bad" soils.
Chemicaless ecological zero-till agriculture, by whatever name may it be
called, needs to be developed to become, without much delay, a real option
to feed the exponentially growing human population without hurting or
exploiting the planet's soil organisms.
"How can we ever have peace on earth if we don't even have peace within the
earth?"
Emilia Hazelip

[Editor's Note: Emilia died in her sleep on the night of February 1, 2003
at Centre Hospitalier, Carcassonne, France. She left behind two daughters,
two granddaughters, and a third grandchild due in early February. She also
left behind many people whose lives have been enriched by knowing her, and
a world that is a little better for her having been here. She came to
understand the secrets of truly sustainable agriculture that few others
ever have or ever will, and freely shared her hard-earned knowledge with
any and all who asked her. She was a guide, a mentor, and a very special
friend who's loss is deeply felt. Thank you Emilia.

One of Emilia's articles on Synergistic Gardening, complete with many
photos of her garden, is in the Articles section, and her video can be
purchased through links in the Books and Videos page. A few weeks prior to
her death she sent me a collection of articles she wrote over the years,
and these too will be posted as quickly as possible.]