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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] (no subject)
  • Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 15:51:30 -0600


Sounds like an outline for your comprehensive presentation. This one I save
to a folder of goodies. Wish I had some organization with lots of email
addresses locally so we could host you near Abq. one of these days.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 5/27/2007 at 1:52 PM Ken Hargesheimer wrote:

>Dear Johnny,
>
> Here is the way to do it from the beginning to pay your bills.
>
> Ken
>
> GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK
> USA: TX, MS, FL, CA, AR, NM, WA; Mexico, Rep. Dominicana, Côté
>d’Ivoire, Nigeria,
> Nicaragua, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Haiti, England, India,
>Uzbekistan
> minifarms@gmail.com
> Workshops in organic, no-till, permanent bed gardening,
>mini-farming and mini-ranching worldwide in English & Spanish
>
>
>
> Proven Practices for Profitable
> Crop & Livestock Production
>
> 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, economically viable and humanely managed. There is unlimited,
>documented proof. [Farmers must get off government welfare and support
>themselves. This will restore their self-esteem, dignity and pride.] On
>mechanized farms, no-till reduced production cost 30% the first year and
>tripled profits in five years. [Argentine]. No-till requires a no-till
>planter and/or drill and a roller/crimper. 75,000,000 acres are organic
>and 200,000,000 acres in no-till, worldwide.
>
> Mechanized farms: In 2002, A D Hughes [806-866-5667] decided to go
>no-till and purchased a no-till planter. He planted the cotton, harvested
>the cotton, planted wheat, knocked down the wheat and he was ready to
>plant again. His cost went to the basement. Buster Adair [806-755-2532]
>has been no-till [cotton] for twenty years. Steve Groff
>[cedarmeadowfarm.com] has been no-till [vegetables, corn] for 30 years.
>
> Mini-farms: Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been no-till [rice, small grains,
>vegetables] for 70 years. In 2002, I visited 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, 1966)
>
>
>
>
>
> 1. Willing to make changes [first, in the mind and second, in the
>field & pasture]
> 2. Restore the soil to its natural health. [Contamination:
>inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers, etc.]
> 3. Maintain the healthy soil: Healthy soil produces healthy
>crops, with highest yields, to produce healthy animals, to have healthy
>people and prevents most diseases, pest and weed problems.
> 4. Feed the soil; not the crop: Inorganics feed the crop & poison
>the soil; organics feed the soil and its life.
> 5. Increase the soil organic matter every year
> 6. Maintain plant diversity [with crops and with green
>manure/cover crops]
> 7. 12 months crop production [economical in most climates. DIY
>cold weather equipment]
> 8. Manage crops for highest profit per acre; not the highest yield
>per acre
> 9. Manage legumes & grasses for the least cost per ton/acre; not
>highest yield per acre.
> 10. Manage livestock for lowest cost per pound; not the highest number
>of pounds.
> 11. Manage dairies for lowest cost of production; not the highest
>level of production.
> 12. Little or no external inputs [It is not necessary to buy anything
>from anybody. Certain things are recommended]
> 13. All bedding/manure recycled on the soil
> 14. Leave all crop residues on top of the soil.
> 15. No-till: no plowing, no disking, no cultivating.
> 16. Permanent beds
> 17. Sloped land [Beds on the contour; no terraces]
> 18. Permanent tracks [tractor wheels. 15% yield increase.]
> 19. Tractor [small] & no-till planter and/or drill and crimper/roller,
>if needed. [no lister, no plows, no tandem disk, no cultivators]
> 20. Organic fertilizers [probably not needed with healthy soil]
> 21. Organic disease control. [Probably not needed]
> 22. Organic herbicides. [Probably not needed]
> 23. Organic pesticides. [Probably not needed]
> 24. Biological pest control.
> 25. 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]
> 26. Protect pollinators [honey bees, native bees, wasps, yellow
>jackets, dirt daubers, butterflies]
> 27. Protect soil organisms [worms, dung beetles, micros]
> 28. Soil always covered
> 29. Feed the soil through the mulch.
> 30. Organic matter [Free. When economically feasible, transport to
>the farm or ranch. Use as mulch]
> 31. Compost [Do not make. Too much work and time. Use OM as mulch.]
> 32. Drip irrigation [Purchase or DIY using poly]
> 33. Greywater for irrigation
> 34. Waste water for irrigation purified using ponds.
> 35. Seed [open-pollinated]
> 36. Muscovies & Guineas [should be on every farm and ranch]
> 37. Grass-fed livestock
> 38. Free range livestock
> 39. Legume and grass forages [annuals & perennials]
> 40. Permanent pastures
> 41. Rotational grazing
> 42. 12 months of grazing [possible in many places]
> 43. Hay and/or silage for winter where necessary
> 44. Seasonal dairying
> 45. Small livestock in pens over forage beds
> 46. Use artificial insemination
> 47. Holistic animal health care
> 48. Purebred/crossbred livestock
> 49. Alternative livestock [miniatures, exotics. heirloom breeds, wild
>game]
> 50. Marketing [People want to buy local, buy fresh, buy organic. No
>contracts with multi-national corporations]
> 51. Alternative marketing [think outside the box!]
> 52. Value-added products [very profitable]
> 53. Agri-training and/or educational tours [train others, especially
>young people]
> 54. Protect nature [wildlife, native plants, streams & riparians,
>ponds & lakes, wetlands, forest and prairies.]
> 55. 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 "policemen" (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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