Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Laurie Ann Powell <laurie@powellclan.com>]

Harvey wrote: 
"What we're talking about, really, is a new sense of what constitutes 
"efficiency." We've been sold on the giant air-conditioned tractor in 
which a single man can do the work of hundreds as the model of 
efficiency. The only way to make that model fly, however, is ignoring 
all the inefficiencies of undercutting natural (and human) ecologies. "

This also ignores human nature - which needs to feel a sense of
accomplishment that does not come from this kind of mindless, repetitive
activity. Gardening is the number one leisure activity for good reason -
people need to feel their work is meaningful,to have variety in their
activities and need to see something tangible come from their effort.

Efficiency and Cost are grossly over-rated in our culture. Work is what
we were created for - so the fruit of a leisure centered life is
discontent. Money is only a marker for our labor, and leisure activity
loses its luster when it is the purpose of living.

Any system that fails to take into account the quirks of human nature is
doomed to fail. We want to work - but not too hard. We need to play -
but not too often. We need to feel a sense of accomplishment and reward
that seems commensurate with our effort. We also need to have a
long-term sense of community. Communism failed because it missed some of
these essential principles, trying to turn humanity into "efficient
machinery". The American experiment may fail for the same reason. 

Laurie Ann