1402, 2013
Internships at Raices del Sol!
Announcing 4 internship programs at RDS.
702, 2013
Some of our growing pineapples
Some of our growing pineapples!
2501, 2013
Farming vs mining
farming versus mining as an approach to living. give it some thought.
2501, 2013
Getting started with Kombucha
20L. oak wooden barrel for continuous Kombucha brewing.
In this picture the Kombucha barrel is being sealed with a water and vinegar solution in preparation for Kombucha brewing which will start tomorrow. Stay tuned!
1401, 2013
Once plants and animals were raised together…
Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm – which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to be wasted and to pollute the water supply, nor depended on such quantities of commercial fertilizer. The genius of American farm experts is very well demonstrated here; they can take a solution and divide it neatly into two problems.
— Wendell Berry
501, 2013
On natural farming
wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_farming
Natural farming is an ecological farming approach established by Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008), a Japanese farmer and philosopher who described his agricultural philosophy as shizen noho in Japanese. It is also referred to as “the Fukuoka Method”, “the natural way of farming” or “do-nothing farming”. The title refers not to lack of labor, but to the avoidance of manufactured inputs and equipment. Natural farming can also be described as ecological farming and is related to organic farming, sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, ecoagriculture and permaculture but should be distinguished from biodynamic agriculture.
The system exploits the complexity of living organisms that shape each particular ecosystem. Fukuoka saw farming not just as a means of producing food but as an aesthetic or spiritual approach to life, the ultimate goal of which was, “the cultivation and perfection of human beings”. He suggested that farmers could benefit from closely observing local conditions. Natural farming is a closed system, one that demands no inputs and mimics nature.
Fukuoka’s ideas challenged conventions that are core to modern agro-industries, instead promoting an environmental approach. Natural farming also differs from conventional organic farming, which Fukuoka considered to be another modern technique that disturbs nature.
Fukuoka claimed that his approach prevents water pollution, biodiversity loss and soil erosion while still providing ample amounts of food.