Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Ken Hargesheimer <minifarms2@yahoo.com>]

I suggest that you read two little books by Ruth Stout. Also, One Straw Revolution which I have for emailing to anyone who wants a copy.

Ken Hargesheimer

Proven Practices for Gardening and Profitable Mini-Farming

  

These are based on the internet, US & international agriculture magazines, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research and farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden.  They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just, and economically viable.  There is unlimited, documented proof.  On mini-farms the following can double the yields and reduce the labor by half compared to traditional methods.  There are 200,000,000 no-till acres and 75,000,000 acres organic worldwide.  Profits will be higher with organic and no-till because they cut costs.  ¡It works!

 

Mini-farms:  Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years.  An Indian farmer has been no-till [vegetables] for 5 years.  A Malawi farmer has been no-till [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years.  A Honduras farmer has been no-till [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 10 years.  In 2006 a Cal urban mini-farm of 1/10 acre produced 6,000 of vegetables [is not organic nor no-till].

 

No technique yet devised by mankind has been anywhere near as effective at halting soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as No-till (Baker)

 

1.        Willing to make changes  [first, in the mind and then, in the garden/mini-farm]

2.        Financial:  Little funds are needed. No tractor, no equipment, no fertilizers, no chemicals.

3.        Restore the soil to its natural health.  Contaminations:  inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers,

4.        Maintain healthy soil: Healthy soil produces healthy plants, for highest yields, to have healthy people and prevents most disease, pest and weed problems.  

5.        Feed the soil; not the crop:  Inorganics feed the plants and poison the soil.  Organics feed the soil and promotes health.

6.        Increase soil organic matter every year

7.        Little or no external inputs [Not necessary to buy anything, from anybody.  Certain things are recommended]

8.        Leave all crop residues on top of the soil

9.        No-till -- no digging, no tilling, no cultivating, [No hard physical labor is needed so the elderly, children and lazy people can garden and/or mini-farm]

10.     Permanent beds:  20% of the land is in paths but yield per acres will be higher.  Saves 20% of labor, water, seed, etc.

11.     Permanent paths  [walking]

12.     Hand tools, power-hand tools and pedal-powered.

13.     Organic fertilizers [15-17 not needed with healthy soil]

14.     Organic disease control. 

15.     Organic herbicides. 

16.     Organic pesticides. 

17.     Biological pest control.

18.     Attract beneficials  [bats, birds, toads, spiders, garden snakes, frogs, lizards, grasshopper mice, prairie deer mice, white footed mice, opossums, lacewings, ladybird beetles, syrphid flies, ground beetles and assassin bugs]

19.     Protect pollinators  [honey bees, native bees, wasps, yellow jackets, dirt daubers, butterflies]

20.     Protect soil organisms  [worms, dung beetles, micros]

21.     Organic matter  [Free.  Delivered free?  When economically feasible, transport to the mini-farm.  Use as mulch]

22.     Compost  [Do not make.  Too much time and labor.  Pile surplus OM for later use as mulch.

23.     Vermiculture  [Not necessary.   Worms will be in the beds]

24.     Soil always covered.

25.     Use mulch/green manure/cover crops.

26.     Feed the soil through the mulch.

27.     Drip irrigation [Purchase or DIY drip lines]

28.     Marketing [People want to buy local, buy fresh, buy organic. 

29.     Value-added products  [very profitable]

30.     Transportation–bicycle and bicycle trailer [DIY] with various units for selling , cargo and/or a small pickup.

31.     Imitate nature. Most farmers fight nature. ¡Nature always wins!

 

Ken Hargesheimer

  

When Soil is Tilled

Dr. Elaine Ingham, describes an undisturbed grassland—where a wide diversity of plants grow, their roots mingling with a wide diversity of soil organisms—and how it changes when it is plowed.

A typical teaspoon of native grassland soil contains between 600 million and 800 million individual bacteria that are members of perhaps 10,000 species.  Several miles of fungi are in that teaspoon of soil, as well as 10,000 individual protozoa.  There are 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes from as many as 100 species.  Root-feeding nematodes are quite scarce in truly healthy soils.  They are present, but in numbers so low that it is rare to find them.

 

After only one tilling, a few species of bacteria and fungi disappear because the food they need is no longer put back in the system.  But for the most part, all the suppressive organisms, all the nutrient cyclers, all the decomposers, all the soil organisms that rebuild good soil structure are still present and trying to do their jobs.

 

But tillage continues to deplete soil organic matter and kill fungi. The larger predators are crushed, their homes destroyed.  The bacteria go through a bloom and blow off huge amounts of that savings-account organic matter.  With continued tillage, the "police-men" (organisms) that compete with and inhibit disease are lost.  The "architects" that build soil aggregates are lost.  So are the "engineers"—the larger organisms that design and form the larger pores in soil.  The predators that keep bacteria, fungi, and root-feeding organisms in check are lost.  Disease suppression declines, soil structure erodes, and water infiltration decreases because mineral crusts form.  Dr. Elaine Ingham, BioCycle, December 1998.  (From ATTRA News, July 06)

 

 

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