permaculture

[dwoodard@becon.org]

From
http://yahoogroups.com/group/RunningOnEmpty2/message/17748

In one of Fukuoka's books or articles he said that he had ruined three
mandarin orchards learning how to "not do" things in the right way.
E=m x c squared
is pretty simple but I hear the applications take some skill.
I also am not sure I want to swallow Fukuoka whole hog.
However, I do suspect he's a genius.

It's pretty much the way I feel about Bill Mollison.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario

---------------------------------------------------

With Masanobu Fukuoka, Sensei of Natural Farming

by Jim Bones (1995)

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops,
but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.
- Masanobu Fukuoka


In October of 1994, I traveled to Japan with a team working on a book
about the leading methods of sustainable agriculture found around the
world. Members included project director Howard Shapiro; writer
Catherine Yronwode; myself as photographer; publisher Anthony Rodale;
and poet Naomi Otsubo Ash, our guide and translator from Tokyo.

We arrived in Osaka with the unsettled weather that precedes a
typhoon. Next morning, under thick clouds we flew over the inland Sea
to Iyo City on the Island of Shikoku. We traveled by trolley and
train through densely populated neighborhoods where dazzling signs
advertised many expensive things. Fat marbled Kobe beef was the most
astonishing at $80 a pound. Valuable lots in town lay closely planted
with vegetables, rice and flowers. In more suburban areas railside
gardens grew larger and more varied in fruit and seed.

We arrived after noon near the sea coast and checked into an old
hotel. After a brief rest and tea we prepared to meet the venerable
Masanobu Fukuoka. He was born in 1913, of a family that has farmed
the region for over 1400 years. Educated as a microbiologist, he is
now a Mahayana Buddhist who practices simple agriculture as a
spiritual path. He is the father and master teacher, the Sensei of
the art of Natural Farming.

A taxi took us to his home at the edge of town where the rice fields
and hillside orchards began. We were greeted at the door by Mrs
Fukuoka and politely invited inside. Mr Fukuoka soon hobbled in on
stiff legs bent with age. He was wiry and alert, and wore a loose
blue farmer's pants and shirt. With his simple clothes, and wispy
hair and beard, he reminded me of white clouds in a midday sky.

We each bowed, and settled onto the floor around a chabudai, a low
table in the middle of a simply appointed room. Shoji rice paper
doors slid shut from outside, and we were surrounded by an awkward
silence.

Mr Fukuoka looked at each of us, then asked through Naomi, "Why are
you here?"

Howard replied, "We have come for answers to a list of questions
about Natural Farming for a book on global sustainable agriculture".

"Questions, what questions?" Mr Fukuoka inquired.

Howard showed him a list of standard questions prepared for those to
be interviewed for the book. They were mostly technical details
related to such things as design, soil, tilling, mulch, fertilizers,
pest and weed control--gardening and farming methods broken down for
ease of review.

Mr Fukuoka took the questions, paged through them, and frowned. "No
thank you very much!", he said sternly. "Do you understand anything
about Natural Farming?"

"Yes", said Howard, "but we want to hear it directly from you and
share your knowledge and experience with the world".

"No", Mr Fukuoka replied brusquely, "I do not think you really
understand. If you wish, take my books, study them tonight, and if
you still want to learn about Natural Farming, come back tomorrow
morning."

We were bewildered, for we had arrived believing all arrangements had
been made weeks before, and that Mr Fukuoka would answer the
questions. Obviously it was not going to happen that day. We returned
to town, wandered around the market place, then went to our hotel in
confusion. Mr Fukuoka had sent us away with many things to read,
including The Natural Way of Farming, The Road Back to Nature, and
The One-Straw Revolution.

Reading through the evening, I learned about the profound vision of
Nature revealed to him at age twenty five that led to his holistic
philosophy. He recalled how in the depths of doubt and dark
depression, a night heron's cry at dawn awoke him to Nature's
perfection. He then described experimenting for scores of seasons
with farming methods that imitate the natural cycles of birth and
decay. Most intriguing of all was his idea of seed balls for
promoting plant growth under difficult conditions. He lamented not
training more students and expressed concern that simple ways of
farming might be suppressed or lost just when the world most needs
them.

In the morning, warm heavy air forecast the gathering storm as we
hurried along to meet Mr Fukuoka. He was somewhat more willing to
talk when we arrived and wanted to know, "Have you read the books?"

We affirmed so, as much as possible.

"Did you understand?" he asked.

"Yes", said Howard, "but we would like to go over the list of
questions just to be sure".

Shaking his head Mr Fukuoka said, "If you are still interested in
learning about Natural Farming, go with my daughter and her helpers
to the citrus orchards, then come back this afternoon".

Naomi, Cat and Anthony rode silently with his daughter, while Howard
and I squeezed into a utility truck with a young man who spoke fluent
English. He sped up a steep road that turned into a trail through
dense forests of mandarin oranges. We soon crested the ridge and
stopped in the mist surrounded by trees heavy with green fruit.

The hired orchard workers walked in all directions casually
scattering seed. They tossed them under and between the trees, into
open spaces and off down the hillsides below. We saw dried radish
stalks, clover and green grasses everywhere, even under ridgeline
cedars and among the oaks, maples, pines, and acacias.

It took only fifteen minutes to seed several acres. Then we boarded
the trucks and rolled into a valley filled with fruit trees, horse
chestnuts and huge bamboo. Again workers broadcast seed, and I asked
if I could take pictures. One man agreed so I moved in for a shot of
his hands. I was startled to see dozens of kinds of seeds, many
clothed in the vivid chemical colors of biocides. "How could this be
on a natural farm?" I quietly asked myself.

Cold rain came in earnest and we started back. In route I asked about
the treated seeds. The worker said the younger family members
consider it too risky to practice strict Natural Farming. It is
really hard to find people who understand Mr Fukuoka's philosophy and
recognize orchard plants easily. It seems modern farmers no longer
work closely with soil, so each day fewer people know how to grow
healthy food.

After lunch, we returned by taxi and hurried onto the portal to
remove our wet coats and shoes. The door opened and we were let in,
then like a whirlwind he gave us a lecture on "Not Doing".

Energetically he said, "Most farmers begin by asking, what if I do
this or what if I do that, but only dissipate themselves that way. My
approach just the opposite, seek the pleasant, natural way of
farming. In order to make the work easier, not harder, I ask, how
about not doing this or how about not doing that? By actual practice
I finally reached conclusion there is no need to plow, no need to
apply artificial fertilizer, no need to use pesticides at all. Most
of the work of farming is created by tampering with Nature which
causes negative side effects. Very few agricultural practices are
even necessary, just scattering seed, spreading straw on the soil and
harvesting."

Concerning soil and plant systems, he stated, "The secret of growing
grain is as simple as the symbiosis of rice, barley or wheat, and
clover". In October he broadcasts clover and barley over the ripening
heads of rice. A few weeks later harvesters actually trample the
seedlings, but they recover quickly. The gathered rice is dried for
three days, thrashed, and the uncut straw scattered randomly back on
the field. If ducks or chickens are not free to roam then
occasionally he adds a little manure as well.

Before the New Year arrives he coats rice seeds with clay and
broadcasts them over green barley, then waits for spring to come. By
harvest in May the winter crop is ripe, white clover covers the
field, and rice shoots are sprouting from clay pellets. Barley is
harvested, dried and thrashed, and the uncut straw mulch is again
returned to the field. He then floods for five or six days, just to
weaken the clover while the young rice shoots break through. In June
and July his field goes dry though his neighbors keep theirs under
water. In August he irrigates every week or ten days. "That's about
all there is until harvest", he said, "And the cycles begin again".

There was a lull in the discourse so Howard brought up the questions.

"No", Mr Fukuoka shook his head, "Go to my old hillside orchard. See
for yourself. If you are still interested come back tomorrow morning."

Just past the rice fields we found a new asphalt road that ended near
the entrance to a forest on round green hills. From there a broken
cement lane climbed sharply, then ended abruptly. Only a footpath
continued on through deep old woods.

Another way circled back toward a clearing with work sheds and a
forty foot high, wide open classroom that spiraled toward an overcast
sky. Dark weathered straw covered the platform floor where, placed
carefully to one side, lay several clay-coated wooden rollers.

Left in disorder were carved beams, a wooden mill for cleaning seeds,
a steel cement mixer, handmade shovels, sickles, rakes and hoes.
Everything was covered with dirt and leaves, as though completely
forgotten. Feeling the emptiness I thought, where are his students,
the future teachers, the ones who once used these rusty tools? When
he finally departs, will anyone notice, and save his treasured
orchards and farm? Except for the wind, like a voice in my head, all
else fell utterly silent.

Chilled, I walked north on a path that tunneled into new growth,
strange at first to my western eyes. Then I began to recognize old
friends like mulberry, sumac, acacia and fig. I found myself in a
small meadow grown wild, and to the untrained eye, abandoned. Iyo
gleamed below, new and pulsating, while above, the early autumn
orchard possessed a timeless feeling. The wind rose and the light
died as a frustrating rain forced us back to town for another anxious
night of waiting.

We all went to Mr Fukuoka's hilltop orchard at first light, although
the day was ominous, still and cloudy. I clattered around with my
cameras and tripod as the others searched about. I had photographed
the pagoda and rollers, and had just moved on to the seed mill, when
Howard said simply, "Have a look at this".

Lifting the wet cover from the cement mixer, he reached in and pulled
out incredible jewels, just like the ones in the books. Between his
fingers were three brown clay balls, half an inch in diameter, each
bursting with germinating seeds. The typhoon rains had brought them
to life in spite of a prolonged drought.

Excited, we fanned out along the upper path announcing plants we
recognized. I knew in my heart we had found no ordinary orchard for
it was wild, yet edible, spiritual and nurturing in a way only
unbound Nature can be. Around us grew peach, plum, maple, citrus,
pine, acacia, melon vines and scores of plants we could not identify.
The ground was littered with twigs, straw, clover and grasses,
countless emerald leaves that wove a deep tapestry. And there was no
bare earth at all!

Cat called out ginko, persimmon, hydrangea, and oak, then asked, "Is
this a dawn redwood?" Howard found a cypress copse patiently trimmed
for poles, with trees growing straight and tall. Naomi wandered
blissfully throughout, exploring the reassuring forest, while I was
stilled by the hollow music of silver bamboo gently clicking. Anthony
strolled off alone looking for solitude and more open views of the
fish pond in the valley below.

As our appointment neared we walked quickly back through neat paddy
fields, some with green unharvested rice, others with pale seeded
straw fresh cut and hung to dry. Only later would we understand that
on the way we had passed Masanobu Fukuoka's natural field of maturing
grain.

Mr Fukuoka received us inside, then inquired, what had we found? He
listened as we recited our morning highlights, then asked us one by
one about our religious or spiritual background. Attentive to each
reply, he sat quietly studying our faces, gauging I think, how much
he could share. "Ignorance, hatred and greed are killing Nature", he
said. "Down, down, everything goes. As we kill Nature, we are killing
ourselves, and God incarnate as the world as well."

"The world is digging itself into a bottomless pit with modern
agriculture", he admonished. "The simple hearth of the small farm is
the true center of our universe. Scientific thought is leading you
away from a healthy life. Even the practice of conventional organic
agriculture is a dangerous digression. It cannot be sustained if you
have to rob one part of the earth to feed another."

Mr Fukuoka described his oriental view of evolution, from before the
beginning of particle birth to the very present. As the material
universe expands, he explained, all Life follows the same harmonious
patterns of inwardly spiraling energy toward the Nothingness,
called "Mu".

He told how Darwin's linear vision was clouded and incomplete, due to
western "deconstructionist" thoughts. Blind to a total reality of
Nature, Darwin saw figure and ground reversed and so found only
struggle and competition, where unity of function exists. The Great
Way, Sensei explained, has no pests, no disease. Only faults when
seen in parts.

He told us the evolutionary process itself is not just singular and
branching like a tree, but cyclic, more like a multitude of volcanic
islands emerging and subsiding from the same sea floor. All kinds of
creatures have grown simultaneously, from universal progenitors,
according to the rise and fall of their individual genes. Yet by
common origin each shares traits that prove the overall Oneness of
Being.

The monera, he said, the bacteria and algae, the single-celled
creatures so simple in structure, yet no less advanced hold a common
bond with the rest of us, as co-descendants from the very beginning.
Countless parallel punctuated evolutions, webbed and interconnected,
derived the greatest diversity of forms from Ichiban, the original
ones, that have always lived within, without, and beside us. When new
kinds of food appear, new life forms in turn develop to eat them, and
eventually everything becomes food for the Great One, in a perfect,
self-balancing way.

Suddenly he left the room, then reappeared with a heavy polished
stone. Rippling through it were orange and black bands of oxidized
sediment and fossil bacteria, three and a half billion years old. He
leaned slightly forward and without a word placed the ancestors in
the palms of my hands! "Come back in two hours", he nodded, and
dismissed us.

We returned a little early and sat on the porch to rest, but the door
flew open and Mr Fukuoka immediately asked us in. He left the room
two or three times to gather books and art supplies. Finally he
nodded, spread rice paper on the floor, and with brush and ink, sat
ready to calligraph his story.

He began his long discourse simply: "What I want to tell you is that
it is not human beings who create and grow plants. I want to talk
about the roots of things in the world we cannot express with words,
the world we cannot usually see. When we sow seed, we think we will
grow plants. But actually plants grow without our knowledge or care.
When we accumulate knowledge, we get lost. Accumulation of knowledge
brings about our own ruin. I deny knowledge. God creates and grows
plants. So, my foreign friends call me, "A Man Doing Nothing". These
ideas of mine about Nature came to me when I was twenty five years
old. People think that I must have gotten this idea through my fifty
years of agricultural study. No! But it is impossible for me to
describe the moment that suddenly changed my ideas."

"On this planet we do not have something we can call Nature any more.
We have lost it. We do not have Nature we can go back to. What we
must do is search for Nature. But human knowledge cannot do it. We
can only ask Nature. So we, and especially seed companies in the
world, should collect all kinds of seeds on the planet and offer them
to God, Nature, and pray. This kind of attitude toward Nature is
necessary. Of course, even if we pray, God will not say anything. We
may not be inspired, either. But the plants which start growing are
God's answer. Nature will teach you.

"Cultivating land is not good. It removes the green cover and exposes
the bacteria to sunshine. Just as we need clothes to protect our skin
from sunshine, our planet needs green. I have used my farm for fifty
consecutive years. There is no need to let it take a rest because I
have never cultivated it. If you just sow clay seed balls with one
hundred kinds of seeds, do not worry about water. Where there is
green, water comes. Do not think I do this, for only God has created
perfect things."

He completed a drawing, then as the silence grew long, we asked how
he got the idea of seed balls. He replied, "You know that daikon
radish seeds are in hard shells, well, I noticed that when they drop
on the ground, they decay as they start to sprout. So I realized if
they need a shell like that, then clay can be the shell for a ball
with many seeds inside."

Amazed, I said, "So they do not have to sprout on the surface, they
have the protection of the clay shell to begin with, and soil and
moisture. Its a small earth, a miniature earth, how beautiful, and so
simple." He regarded us carefully then said, "Many people are
interested in seed balls, but they do not act. I love best to give
children boxes of seeds as gifts because they scatter them so
innocently."

"Seed balls need at least one hundred kinds of seeds", he then
asserted. "One seed eventually makes ten thousand seeds. If you sow
seed balls, and wait three years, you will understand what Nature is.
It works much better than reading books about Natural Farming. Seed
balls are a small universe in themselves. I have written six books,
but I was unable to express what Nature is in words. So I decided to
manifest Nature in form. A seed ball is a one centimeter model of a
Natural Farm, with trees, fruits, vegetables and grains. I do not say
my one hundred kinds of seeds are the best. It is just an entrance to
Natural Farming."

"God's love grows plants. Nature grows crops. Birds sow seeds. In
three years, even the soil starts changing spontaneously. There are
no ideas like big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, in Nature.
No idea like 'the struggle for existence'. There are bugs and
diseases, but they do not cause problems. Many kinds of bugs co-exist
in natural harmony. We cannot know why plants grow. I dare say, God's
love. For example, the soil on my mountain is the same as that in the
deserts and was not green fifty years ago. But now, even though I
have not changed the soil, plants grow there."

"In the beginning, man-made deserts were also green", he
cautioned, "And the most important thing is to stop the advancement
of arid lands around the world today". He said we can do this quickly
by spreading seeds, hundreds of different kinds suitable to each
locality, by the ton, from airplanes. His method involves making half
inch balls like those we had found, containing hundreds of mixed
seeds, microbes and humus, all rolled inside protective clay
coatings. Clay shells defend the seeds from drought, insects, rodents
and birds that would otherwise eat them before they sprout. Timely
rains then release the seeds and no matter where they land something
appropriate inside will grow. Once established, the resulting plants
naturally reseed themselves with the help of gravity, wind, water,
insects and larger animals.

"At first I picked five or six kinds of acacia", he added, "then
transplanted them. But transplanting was a big mistake, I do not do
it any more. You can check that trees planted by birds are really
straight, grow two meters per year. Check how old by branching. Roots
like this", he drew out the motion, "Upper parts of tree are the
same. If I go to desert now I say, 'I am a foolish old man', and
proceed that way".

"Big trees, between forty and one hundred meters high, and short
trees, are also needed", he explained. "If trees grow tall enough, to
about one hundred meters, that indicates a one-hundred per cent
return of Nature in that area. Anyway we need trees of various
heights. But I want to use three thousand kinds of seeds in Africa,
because one hundred kinds are not enough. Unfortunately seeds are
hard to get. It is easy to make seed balls, but we have to be careful
in choosing seeds, especially for Africa. It all depends on the area,
type of country, how quickly the desert is spreading and so on.
Animals need to eat too, so spread seed balls over as large an area
as possible. Otherwise, even as seeds sprout, they will be eaten."

I asked him exactly what clay to use for making the seed balls. "Red
clay", he answered confidently, "like for tiles, red bricks, like the
soil deep down. Red clays, not white porcelain clays. Point is, clay
is shell, seeds should be protected like that. You must hide seeds so
animals cannot see them. Diameter of seed balls should vary according
to size of the seeds. A layer of soil humus and clay about two and
one half times the collective diameter of the mixed seeds should
cover the seed clusters. For aerial seed spreading, hardened clay
covers all. Bigger seeds means bigger seed balls. Single seed crops
like rice may have only one grain in each clay pellet. Huge seeds
like coconuts just need to be covered."

"A clay ball has all the fertilizers needed in it, but they
are 'sleeping'. Clay is sleeping soil. But water can wake it. People
think that red clay has no value. But all fertilizers are in red
clay. For example, nitrogen, calcium, many minerals are in red clay.
To wake clay up we need 'cutting' with acids from rain and ground
water, and acids from plant roots and organisms living around them."

"Many atoms are in seed balls. But they are sleeping, because they
have not dissolved. Since they have not dissolved, plants cannot
absorb them. Clay catches these components. To the components, red
clay is like a blanket. We have to take the blanket off. To do that
we need to 'cut with scissors'. The 'scissors' are green growing
plants such as acacias and clovers and the carbonic acids produced
around their roots. In seed balls, there is everything. You will see
it if you check the elementary clay particles."

"Red clay was the first soil when the Earth was made. People think
that plants, fertilizers and soil are different. People think that
lifeless things and bacteria are different. But all were in clay from
the beginning. That is why I say, there is no need for chemical
fertilizer. If you look at the elementary particles in clay you will
understand. Seed balls have everything. That is the way I think about
seed balls. Plants, animals, soil and everything are connected,
brothers and sisters, relatives. But human beings are short-sighted
and we cannot see that all are connected by love."

"If we do nothing, mountains will be able to get their green cover
back. Forty years ago, there were five or six people living here. At
that time, my mountain could not easily recover its green. So I did
not let people go to my mountain for a while. And trees started
growing. Especially, these last four or five years, because I have
not been able to go to my mountain very often. I am too old. Trees
are growing bigger and bigger. Also more birds have come and they
carry more seeds from the trees, and more trees are growing from the
seed sowed by birds. These trees have a more natural shape and grow
faster. Every year they bear fruit."

"Most of the trees on my mountain are six or seven years old. The
acacias are ten years old. I forgot when, but a man who planted trees
in the Himalayas for sixteen years, and a man who planted trees in
Bangladesh for four years came to me and learned how to make seed
balls. Also there was an American woman and a Japanese priest. They
came because they realized that they could not keep up with the speed
of desertification by planting trees. They cut eight Japanese cypress
on my mountain and made a place to stay. Japanese cypress are very
expensive, so usually people do not use them to make a temporary
lodge. But we did it to let people know that if you sow seed balls,
it is easy to build houses made from the trees from your own
mountains. You can plant only three hundred trees a day, but you can
sow seed balls one hundred times faster. The cost is one-
one/hundredth that of planting trees. Seed balls are the only way to
catch up with the speed of desertification on our planet!
."

"Food, clothing and shelter are very easy. If you sow seed balls for
just one hour in your life, you can have enough wood to build a few
houses in your lifetime. You can make clothes from your plants. You
can get food. One day of sowing for trees, one day for vegetables and
fruit, one day for grains. If you sow seed balls of rice and barley
in an area of one thousand square meters, you can get six hundred
kilograms of each grain, which is enough for one family of five
people for one year. If you work three or four days a year, you can
have a good life."

"The power of Nature is great, because the natural structure is
solid, three dimensional, not horizontal or two dimensional. Some of
my mountain peach trees have kiwis climbing on them, and above the
kiwi vines, there is a kind of melon. So three kinds of fruit exist
together at different heights. I get one or two kilograms of fruit
from one square meter of ground. This is a good sustainable yield.
Natural production is greater than man-made production, because the
structure is solid."

"On my mountain there is a place where I sowed seed balls twenty
years ago and now it is like a jungle. But there are fruit trees and
there are kiwis. Now I know that even in a place like a jungle, kiwis
can grow. Humans are just destroying the power of Nature. We have
only one-fourth of the growing power of Nature left. We are not
increasing fertility or production, but rather trying to prevent
production from failing by using fertilizers."

"We are only looking from the outside at Nature, not from the inside.
There are a limitless number of points in time and space. For
example, there is one point here, another there. You go right and
left to accumulate knowledge." He filled a page with symbols and
asked, "So, Naomi, where are you in this picture?" Deeply reflective,
she replied that she was not there, and he smiled with approval.

He painted a mountain like Fujiyama, covered by streams and trees,
with people toiling on the slopes. Then he asked the rest of
us, "Where are you on this Mountain of Nature?" He watched us closely
as we stumbled through our answers, then laughed, "No! You should be
sleeping at the foot of the Mountain. Do nothing. Close your eyes and
shut out the external world. This is the way to look at Nature, from
inside."

"Sow seed balls with a child-like mind whenever, wherever, without
judging the first year. During the second year birds or bugs will
carry the seeds from the plants and sow them naturally for you. So in
the third year you will get a natural design. Children sometimes sow
seeds in unexpected places, and that brings us to a big discovery
that we never even considered. Even if ninety-nine per cent fail, and
only one percent succeed, that will take us to new possibilities. If
you use human wisdom, you will only achieve the result you expect."

"I will give you an example, showing how Nature can teach us. After
giving a lecture in California one summer I was asked by some young
men to teach them how to survive on Natural Farming. They took me to
their plain. I was surprised to see it. It was almost desert. I told
them that the land was too bad and that I could not help them. But I
looked around and saw a spring. I stayed there one night and the next
morning, I went to the spring to wash my face. There was a mouse
burrow next to the spring, and when people washed themselves, water
spilled down the hole. I looked into the hole and found green plants.
I realized that the soil there was not dead, the seeds were just
sleeping through the heat of the summer, and if we watered them they
must sprout."

"I awoke the young men and started sowing vegetable seeds on the
plain and watered the land. In a few days foxtail grass, a weed,
sprouted. But in a week, it had all died because of the summer heat,
and after that the vegetables also sprouted. So Nature, the mouse
burrow, taught me that this plain was turning into desert because
only a few weeds like foxtail were covering it. Nature also taught us
the way to kill those weeds and turn the desert into a vegetable
garden. Human beings have no way of learning except from Nature. Only
God has been creating and we have only transformed what God has
created. What God creates is Truth, Goodness and Beauty."

"In Bangladesh, India, Africa, Europe, America, many, many locations,
I have demonstrated it is possible to stop the advance of man-made
deserts with Natural Farming, and bring back green plants for food
and shelter. But some governments interfered, and in places called
the people seditious when they became well fed and independent.
Although able in one year to re-grow small edible forest, poor people
were forced to return to chemically dependent agriculture. No thank
you! In Somalia, you brought food with guns, but only those with guns
got food, so you should only send seed in future."

"When I went to Somalia, I looked down on the land from an airplane.
People say that there is no water, but there is! I found a large, two
hundred meter wide, river disappearing suddenly in the desert. Where
did it go? Underground! If you dig two meters down, you will feel
moisture. So if we sow plants whose roots reach two meters, they will
get water and grow."

"Africa has only three per cent of its jungle left from eighty years
ago. Since people in Africa, after European colonization, started
growing only a few kinds of plants for export, like coffee, tea, corn
and cotton, the desert has been spreading. This unbalanced
agriculture contributed to desertification. The governments in Africa
take seeds away from people so that they cannot be self-sufficient
and have to start producing cash crops that only benefit the leaders."

"He held up a book and said, "Look at these pictures. People from the
government here in Somalia, have been planting only a few kinds of
trees such as eucalyptus, and have given them eighteen tons of water,
eight times a day. But half of them have died. They wanted to know
why. I told them not to water them. It prevented the roots from
growing deep because the plants were satisfied with the surface
water. I advised them to change the kinds of plants they were using.
I suggested acacia, whose roots grow two meters within the week they
sprout. And also sow vegetable seeds with acacias."

"Seed is sentient", he said. "Very small seed goes down into dirt. It
only one who knows how to make plants, fruits. Begin with acacia.
Acacia say, 'Water, no thank you', sends root down one meter, two
meter, bring up water. Then plant watermelon, sweet potato, daikon in
shade. Protect with brush so camels and goats stay out of green belt
and in time, with seed balls, all saved."

"At first, the government did not like this idea. But they allowed
people to sow vegetable seeds, but only in gardens. Seeds! Seeds are
the best gifts to Africa, in Somalia, I was told by the police not to
give seeds to people. Otherwise, I would be arrested. But I did.
Children were the first people who came to me to get seeds. When the
children sowed them, they sprouted. When the young people saw that,
they came and asked me to give them seeds. I, of course did it. They
started sowing seeds in the desert. A young man who sowed one of my
seeds, watched the seed for three days without sleeping until it
sprouted. Watching one seed! Look", he showed us another
picture, "You see, even orange trees grew one meter in two years. So
it is easy to convert to fruit trees in Africa."

Changing directions, Cat asked, "What about over-population?" He
thought for a moment then answered, "Population, the question sounds
important. But it is totally wrong to try to solve all problems by
controlling population. Animals do not do this. God has a plan. If
God makes people, God makes food for them. There is food and
dinosaurs appear. There is food and humans appear. We make deserts.
If we make deserts green, we can all eat. How many human beings can
be fed by Natural Farming? You have that question because you think
human beings make human beings. But we do not even know why frogs or
ants are born. When there is enough food for five million people,
five million people will be born. God's plan is perfect. But, only
when human beings stop destroying Nature, can we survive. Because of
the degree of this destruction, we have put ourselves in a situation
where we have to control population."

Cat persisted, asking for a comment on whether there would be a
temporary food shortage until Natural Farming on a big scale could
take off. Mr Fukuoka shook his head, "No problem. If all Japanese
were farmers, not impossible to do. With Natural Farming, in Japan
five people can live on one thousand square meters of land. If people
see this they cannot say all will get the same results. Not easy, but
it can be done."

Cat went on to ask if he had planted a hydrangea with blue flowers in
the orchard, to test the soil. He turned to Naomi for a moment, then
looked up and explained, "Is very interesting, that flower changed
color as soil changed. I planted it to check if soil acid or alkali,
but realized that kind of scientific observation is not necessary, so
now I just spread seeds and let Nature do the work."

"Very scientific. Natural Farming is described as science beyond
science. Natural Farm techniques are based on cycles. If you see how
the Natural Farm looks, you will understand. It is Nature, or God's
design itself. Ideas and patterns by that fellow, Bill Mollison of
Permaculture Design, if he practiced Natural Farming, waste no time,
arrive at same thing. If you go home and make seed balls, it will be
all right, even if you do not know everything. But if you expect
results, you might fail. Just do it. Do not doubt!"

Raising his hand he said, "I know you feel you must ask a lot of
questions, but if you just believe, I will show you a secret". He
climbed stiffly to his feet, left the room and returned with two rice
plants, one tall and spindly, the other short, robust and heavy-
headed, both wrapped in newspaper, muddy roots and all. I asked if he
had grown them himself. "Yes, this one", he said, pointing to the
vigorous plant. "The other is from a neighbor's field". We moved
closer for a better look, and I asked how many grains were on each
head.

"How many do you think?" he answered, and Howard suggested maybe one
hundred to one hundred and twenty five for normal high yield.

"About two hundred grains", he claimed. "Farmers plant one square
meter with fifteen plants, count stalks, twenty each plant, thirty
thousand grains. I put ten balls in same area, had thirty plants,
each plant two hundred grains, best harvest scientifically, sixty
thousand grains, also stronger plants. Theoretically, this is the
ideal rice production. It is impossible to produce more than that,
you see? Because on Natural Farm, plants can absorb one-hundred per
cent of the energy from sunshine. No artificial fertilizer, so plants
have power to absorb all available sunshine. That is limiting factor
on how much plants can produce."

Cat wanted to know if he had developed it by selection or
breeding. "First I tried breeding", he replied, "But realized bugs
were doing same thing, so I just let them, and now look for new
kinds. I always have new varieties of rice appearing in my field.
Much of the brown rice you eat in America today came from my field.
Yours is brother to mine. Years ago I gave a few grains to two men,
but they only took it, bred it and now sell it, without reward to me
or using the money for Natural Farming. I only asked one percent of
profit be promised for protection of environment, any more must be
used for educating about natural ways. But I gave seeds before a
contract was signed. They went ahead without permission, I only hope
they are using profit in good ways, but I have not heard."

"With breeding by bugs, scientific breeding is not necessary. Now I
know human beings are fools. I found out that what I was doing was
not necessary. I have studied for fifty years, I did not need to.
When I was twenty five years old, I came to this conclusion. And
after fifty years, I reached the same conclusion. We do not need to
do anything. But people know it is very difficult to do nothing, when
no Nature is left, and desertification is spreading. So, I made seed
balls. Sowing seed balls is the necessary minimum that must be done."

I pestered him about when I should put out the seed balls, in fall,
winter, or wait until spring. "No time, no place special", he
answered patiently. "You have to decide, even if snow is falling,
seeds do not sprout. That all there is to it. First roots sprout,
different from ordinary idea."

Then he shifted deliberately to the need to reprint his books, most
of which are difficult to find. Anthony, whose father produced the
first English edition, wanted to know in how many other languages The
One-Straw Revolution had appeared. At least eleven we were told. "How
many of those publishers got permission", he asked? "None, no one",
Mr Fukuoka shrugged. He could not ask the poor countries for money he
said, and the rest just published for free. Next time, Mr Fukuoka
said, he would like to republish The One-Straw Revolution himself,
and then arrange for some kind of distribution.

With an air of finality he looked at each of us, then said, "You
cannot compare my ways to those of anyone else by breaking them down.
Do not try to mix ideas. You will only confuse people and fail. Give
yourself to whatever you do one-hundred per cent or not at all, and
do not doubt. Everything will be all right. Just spread seed balls
and Nature will do the rest." As we left, Naomi politely told him we
would get in touch about books soon, and that we hoped to see him
again. He replied, "Take your time. Anyway, time does not exist".

Our last day in Japan dawned calm with thin clouds, so Howard and I
ran to the old orchard for a final look. I worked along a narrow path
to the top of the hill where Sensei's tiny mud and bamboo hut sat
entwined in massive wisteria. Its simplicity was liberating, having
only a roof, sliding panels for walls, and an open hearth in the
middle. Pots, pans, utensils, hand tools and a futon lay on the
floor. High on one wall of the dojo was a single drawing of Nature's
Mountain, a distillation of all he had taught us the day before.

Not yet satisfied with the whole view, Howard knocked about inside
for inspiration while I desperately searched the orchard for suitable
parts to photograph. The edible vines, fruit trees and shrubs were
obvious, as were the grains, but where were the abundant vegetable
crops? Where were the progeny of the seed balls that replanted
themselves year after year?

Howard stepped out and called, "We have to go or miss our flight.
I'll give you a hand with the cameras." He started down, and in a
panic I shouted, "I feel like its all around me, but I can't quite
picture it". He reached for my pack and I asked, "By the way, what
are these knee deep weeds, do you know?" As he leaned closer and I
kneeled to the ground, thousands of intertwined daikons, sweet
potatoes, cabbages, carrots, beans, kudzus, kiwis, and more, began to
reveal themselves. "My God, this is it!" I exclaimed, "We are
standing on an edible forest floor". Lush green and wet with dew,
shining proof of the vision Sensei had, fifty years ago grew
everywhere we looked. And for a moment we too were enfolded in the
transcendent fruit of a lifetime devoted to bringing people and
Nature together again.

Foot Notes:

(1) Beginning quote from The Close To Nature Garden, a video tape
produced by Rodale Press, available from Arthur Mokin Productions,
Inc, P 0 Box 1866, Santa Rosa, California, 95402, Telephone: (707)
542-4868.

(2) God, Kami or Kamisama is the Divine power found in natural
objects and all living things.

(3) 1,000 square meters = 9,300 square feet. Natural Farming practice
requires a minimum area of about 2,000 square feet per person to live
on sustainably with a vegetarian diet. For reference, Biointensive
Sustainable Mini-Farming practice, developed by John Jeavons,
requires a minimum area of about 4,000 square feet per person to live
on sustainably with a vegetarian diet. Permaculture Design practice,
developed by Bill Mollison, requires a minimum area of about 6,000
square feet per person to live on sustainably with a predominately
vegetarian diet. Modern conventional farming practice requires a
minimum area of about 10,000 to 40,000 square feet per person to live
on according to diet, vegetarian or meat eating, and is not
sustainable.

Books:

The One-Straw Revolution, a philosophy, published by the Rodale
Institute, 33 East Minor Street, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, 18098.

The Natural Way of Farming, a manual, and The Road Back to Nature, a
history, published by Japan Publications, Inc, Tokyo, Japan, & New
York, USA, distributed by Kodansha International/USA, Ltd, Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 19 Union Square West, New York, New York, 10003.

The Ultimatum of God Nature The One-Straw Revolution A
Reccapitulation, an English revision of the original One-Straw
Revolution, published in 1996 in Japan, available from Mr Fukuoka at:
201-2 Ohira, Iyo-Shi, Ehime, Japan 799-31 Fax: 011-81-8-9983-1892

Close To Nature Garden, an excellent video tape about Mr Fukuoka's
early work with Natural Farming in Japan, made for Rodale Press,
available from Bullfrog Films, P O Box 149,Oley, Pennsylvania 19547,
Tel: 610/779-8226, Fax: 610/370-1978.

Copyright 1995 Jim Bones
All Rights Reserved. No Part Of This Document May Be Reproduced For
Commercial Purposes.

All Photographs And Text Copyright 1996 Jim Bones (Unless Otherwise
Indicated) Box 101, Tesuque, New Mexico 87574 (505-955-0956)

"Light Writings" http://www.seedballs.com

See "The Seed Ball Story" Video Tape

http://www.seedballs.com/gmmfpa.html


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