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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Why women in India are farming with diverse plants – and without pesticides

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: Harvey Ussery <harvey@themodernhomestead.us>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Why women in India are farming with diverse plants – and without pesticides
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:42:29 -0400

On 06/24/2014 10:08 AM, Emery Mitchamore wrote:
7D9A6E0C-8AEC-4350-ABE6-A34741F0DA9D@att.net" type="cite">On our four Texas Hill Country acres, I tell visitors that, as a one-man operation, I don’t have time or energy for pests, so I don’t have any.  The truth is that I’m absolutely amazed at the absence of pests.  For now, I’m attributing this phenomena to a multi-year focus on diversity, with emphasis on natives. For example, I don’t think that there is any place on the property where a species is repeated within ten feet, except for patches of native perennials. Hope it lasts!   ~Mitch
 
It truly is "amazing" isn't it!? Amazing how a generous Nature takes care of the problem spontaneously if we just get out of the way. And amazing that most of us have been so hoodwinked into believing that spraying our crops with toxins is necessary to "feed the world."

We too are putting in more flowering plants all the time, concentrating on natives. My wife is enthusiastically on board, declaring "If it doesn't draw lots of insects it's outa here!"

And another proof it's working: My neighbor from just a few hundred yards away was moaning to me yesterday about severe damage to his cabbages from cabbage worm. It was almost embarrassing to tell him that evidence of CW in our own cabbages is right next to zero.

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Virginia
www.themodernhomestead.us

My book The Small-Scale Poultry Flock (Chelsea Green, 2011) is available at www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_smallscale_poultry_flock



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