Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

PEACEFUL WORLD OF COEXISTENCE.

Dear friends
Here is writings of Fukuoka in Natural Way Of Farming.
NO-WEEDING
------       The moment that the farmer started caring for and raising
crops, he began to regard other herbs with disgust as weeds and has
striven ever since to remove them. But because the growth of weeds is
natural, there is no end to their variety or to the labors of those
who work to remove them.
       If one believes that crops grow with the aid of fertilizer,
than the surrounding weeds must be removed because they rob the crop
and plants of fertilizer. But in natural farming, where plants grow of
their own accord without relying on fertilizers, the  surrounding
weeds do not pose any problem at all .Nothing is more natural than to
see grass growing at the foot of a tree; no one ever think of that
grass as interfering with the growth of the tree.
       In nature, bushes and shrubs grow at the foot of large trees ,
grasses spread among the shrubs, and mosses flourish beneath the
grasses. Instead of cut –throat competition for nutrients, this is a
peaceful world of coexistence. Rather than seeing the grass as
stunting shrub growth, and the shrubs as slowing the growth of trees,
one should feel instead a sense of wonder and amazement the ability of
these plants to grow together in this way.

Weeds Enrich the Soil: Instead of pulling weeds, people should give
some thought to the significance of these plants. Having done so, they
will agree that the  farmer should let the weeds live and make use of
their strength. Although I call this the "no-weeding" principle, it
could also be known as the principle of "weed utility".
         Long ago, when the earth begin to cool and the surface of the
earth's crust weathered, forming soil, the first forms of life to
appear were bacteria and lower form of plant life such as algae. All
plants arose for a reason, and all plants live and thrive today for a
reason. None is useless; each makes it own contribution to the
development and enrichment of the biosphere. Such fertile soil would
not have formed on the earth's surface had there been no
microorganisms in the earth and grasses on the surface,. Grasses and
other plants do not grow without a purpose.
        The deep penetration of grass roots in to the earth loosen the
soil. When the roots die, this adds to the humus, allowing soil
microbes to proliferate and enrich supporting earth worms, which
eventually attract moles. Weeds and grasses are absolutely essential
for a soil to remain organic and alive.
        Without grasses growing over the surface of the ground, rain
water would wash away part of the top soil each year. Even in gently
sloping areas, this would result in the  loss of from several tons to
perhaps well over hundred tons of soil per year. In twenty to thirty
years, the top soil would wash entirely away, reducing soil fertility
to essential zero. It would make more sense than for farmers to stop
pulling weeds and begin making use of their considerable powers.-----

Typed by Raju Titus for sharing.