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  • From: Marimike6@cs.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] Book report
  • Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 20:58:30 EST

Salutations all.

I hate to butt into what has obviously become a popular subject, list
governance. But I also have an interest in permaculture. And I would like to
recommend a book:

The Earth Moved: On the remarkable achievements of earthworms

...by Amy Stewart. Besides having lots of exciting worm lore, of the "unsung
heros of the soil" variety, it is rich in comments about the natural health
of
the land. It's told from the point of view of someone moving to a new
location and trying to establish a garden using natural methods. And it's
very basic
stuff. For instance

"The case for returning to organic farming goes something like this: farmers
have, over these last several decades, taken the multivitamin-and-antibiotic
approach to agriculture. When people take a multivitamin instead of eating
fresh fruits and vegetables, they lose out on the nutritional value offered
by the
whole food. The fiber and juice in an orange, the beneficial oils in a
walnut, the micronutrients in a spinach leaf are simply not readily available
in
pill form. In our fast food society, a multivitamin is a poor substitute for
a
healthy diet. The same is true of chemical fertilizers in agriculture. In
fact,
there is a saying among organic gardeners: chemical fertilizers may feed the
plant, but organic fertilizers feed the soil. More specifically, when farmers
add amendments like manure, kelp, alfalfa and vermicompost, what they are
really doing is providing a food source to bacteria, fungi and protozoa in
the
soil. These microscopic creatures in turn feed the plants.

"There's a parallel between human antibiotics and pesticides as well. As
people rely on antibiotics instead of their own immune system to fight off
infections, bacteria grow resistant to the antibiotic, and newer, stronger
medicines
are required to fight the newly resistant strains of bacteria. Likewise, over
the past several decades, farmers have relied on pesticides, herbicides and
fungicides to rid their fields of crop-damaging pests, weeds and diseases.
Resistance to chemicals develops quickly, and farmers look to a new wave of
chemical treatments for help. Meanwhile, they've killed off some of the
living
organisms their soil and beneficial insects in their fields. (In fact,
high-nitrogen
chemical fertilizers can be so deadly to earthworms that they have been
recommended as a way to rid golf courses of nightcrawlers while greening up
the
lawn at the same time.) This growing dependence on chemicals concerns some
farmers, who worry about their increasing cost. It does not sit well with
many
farmers that their newly sprayed fields are toxic to their children. Add in
concerns that many agricultural chemicals are petroleum-based and draw on a
limited
supply of fossil fuels, and the case against conventional agriculture seems
pretty persuasive.

"What's even more troublesome is that the disappearance of microbes from the
soil means that more water is needed to irrigate the same area, because soil
low in organic matter retains less moisture. Runoff from fields finds its way
into lakes and streams, where it can harm fish and pollute drinking water.
And
as the health of the soil declines, the nutritional value of the produce
grown
in the fields declines as well."

The book is great for light reading, and geared toward someone with little
previous exposure to natural garden and field cropping methods. Debates like
no-till methods vs. deep plowing are explained in detail. And there is a
remarkable little section about using worm castings to control unwanted
insect
parasites, like corn borers.

Here's another snippet:

"I once heard a farmer say this: 'The problem with the way we farm now is we
treat the soil like dirt.' Indeed the soil-- and the earthworm that lives in
it-- is in itself a crop, one that can be cultivated in the same way that a
radish or tulip is cultivated: by paying careful attention to its particular
needs and habits. More and more, I was starting to believe that earthworms
may, in
fact, be the most important crop I grow."

The natural history of earthworms will be all new to most anyone, for
instance Darwin's book on earthworms, or the disappearance of many native
species
since the spread of European worm populations. All around fun stuff, and
recommended.



  • [permaculture] Book report, Marimike6, 01/07/2008

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