Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] GROWING FOR PROFIT & SUSTAINABILITY

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: drwillhite@earthlink.net, livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] GROWING FOR PROFIT & SUSTAINABILITY
  • Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:27:24 -0600


That's part of a much longer handout I wrote for market workshops in our
area, based on an even longer list of specific references. Hopefully the URL
for this list will be included when you pass it on. Over the last few years
we've anticipated the start of hard times for more of the country, and the
relevance of these methods.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 7/6/2008 at 10:05 AM Douglas Willhite wrote:

>Hi Neighbors,
>With food and gas prices skyrocketing I felt it would be a crime not to
>pass this little gem of an article on to all the wannabe food growers and
>gardeners I know -- (self included.) Another good way to save money --
>along with the points spelled out in the article-- is by purchasing
>heirloom or open-pollinated seeds initially, then collecting and saving
>them for your plantings year after year.
>Best regards,
>Doug
>
>
>
>GROWING FOR PROFIT & SUSTAINABILITY
>from Old World Gardens
>Paul & Barb tradingpost@lobo.net
>
>To be sustainable, growing must first sustain the grower. Market growing
>must be profitable and practical, or few will be growing - sustainably or
>otherwise.
>
>Growers profit most with a combination of best practices, by producing
>more and using garden space more efficiently, and doing it with less work
>and lower cost without machinery. These methods make it more practical on
>a commercial scale. Beyond organic soil building, this includes permanent
>mulched beds, intensive planting all season, and season extension
>techniques. Some of these are time-honored techniques developed in the
>gardens of Old World countries and brought to the U.S. long before the
>modern organic movement.
>
>The best yields and lowest costs are gained with:
>
>1. permanent beds that use space much more efficiently than wide-spaced
>tractor rows, remain uncompacted by footsteps or machinery, and
>concentrate amendments, mulch, water, and labor in growing beds instead of
>walkways
>2. deep, humus-rich soil that doesn't need annual tilling, absorbs
>rainfall, retains moisture, drains excess, and cuts irrigation costs
>3. intensive succession planting that keeps something growing in all beds
>all season, reduces losses to pests and shades soil to reduce weeding and
>conserve moisture
>4. no-till (or minimum tillage) that reduces need for weeding, protects
>soil biology, earthworms and structure, and eliminates the cost and labor
>for tilling equipment and moving drip lines
>5. permanent mulch that continually fertilizes by sheet composting,
>reduces weeding and conserves moisture
>6. drip under mulch or other irrigation that reduces evaporation
>7. season extension techniques that further increase production without
>raising annual expenses, such as transplants, row covers, hoop houses
>
>POINTS TO REMEMBER
>
> We can transition from rows to permanent beds gradually by starting with
>a bed or two. Beds don't have to be raised or framed with most soil
>conditions.
>
> The highest production gains with beds are with the smaller plants that
>typically go in six inches apart each direction, such as beets, turnips,
>spinach, onions, garlic. Carrots are even closer and more efficient in
>intensive beds. Beds can hold twice the plants of tractor rows in the
>garden space. Double the production, double the profit. However, larger
>vining plants in beds also benefit from not walking on the beds, from the
>ease of permanent mulch and drip, and the other cost and labor savings
>over row planting. Overall production can be far more than single row
>growing.
>
> The cost of initial setup of soil, beds, and drip actually creates a
>fixed asset that grows in value and pays for itself each following year in
>much reduced costs and labor. This is still *very low* startup capital
>compared to conventional production, and far more realistic for startup
>growers. The cost of tillers (don't need it), land (less land), and labor
>(you have to pay your own time) can be cut drastically to turn a profit
>the first season.
>
> While this system offers market growers a better living to stay on the
>land and produce healthy food, it's also ecologically sustainable. We
>stress that this system reduces water use and fossil fuel use beyond
>simple organic growing, and builds topsoil instead of depleting it.
>
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Livingontheland mailing list
>Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page