Set the agenda on climate change, growers warned Farmer's Weekly Interactive Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Fruit plants to be imported in J&K Economic Times Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Small farmers find strength in numbers Toronto Star Take a look at an interesting article we found.
With all the "facts" being thrown around about global warming, it's hard to know which end of the planet is up.
 by dbeck03 |
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 by dbeck03 |
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 by J. Peterman |
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March 08, 2008
On a quiet northwestern hilltop, farmer Doug Flack is planting the seeds of a movement he believes will change the way people think.
A biodynamic farmer, Flack grows vegetables and maintains a herd of 40 American Milking Devon cattle on 320 acres, gathers eggs from his hens and stores his harvest for the winter through a process called lacto-fermentation. He says the food he produces is more than organic, and his farming practice is beyond sustainable -- it's regenerative.
Flack believes the answers to problems as diverse as global warming and health care can be distilled from one essential element: dirt.
Healthy soil, Flack says, fosters growth of healthy animals and plants, which feed healthy people.
Biodynamic farming methods take into account the seasons and other natural factors influencing the soil, and plant and livestock growth, according to Demeter USA, an organization dedicated to biodynamic awareness and certification. The group defines the practice as an attempt to maintain balance among the factors that influence a living farm: climate, wildlife, the sun and the distant cosmic influences of stars and planets.
The practice also involves the creation of specific compost preparations, mixed according to esoteric guidelines and applied to the soil, or sprayed on plants to stimulate growth according to the biodynamic calendar.
"The farm is a self-sufficient, self-regulating organism connected to the whole, the local economy," Flack says. "And out of it comes food that supports vitality."
J. Peterman
Share the Eye:
What Is Soil Erosion? soilerosion.net Take a look at an interesting article we found.
What Is a State Soil? Natural Resources Conservation Service Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Soil 101 42explore.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
still thinking about today...
In the U.K., where I was born, there were farmers on both sides of my family. My mother's father was a farmer in North Wales (he was actually Irish) and my father's grandfather ran a large farm/apple orchard in Worcestershire (England) that had been in the family for at least a couple of hundred years (I'd heard it was longer).
These farms were self-sustaining, fed the immediate family and provided food to the surrounding communities.
These farms are gone now to make way for housing developments. I heard the development in Worcestershire is named after the farm (go figure) and the apples in the stores are imported from France (no comment).
When I asked if my Irish grandfather grew potatoes and cabbage to go with the corned beef on St. Patrick's Day, I was met by a blank stare...at least that's how I interpreted it. It could have been a cold stare. But that's story for another day.