While the farmer holds the title to the land, actually it belongs to all the people because civilization itself rests upon the soil. --- Thomas Jefferson
A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Soil science can be a complex subject involving cycles, chemistry, physics, and vast amounts of information, but I am not going to bore you with an article about the inner working of vermiculite clay minerals. I would rather talk about the soil at the property in Mendocino, and the possibilities of saving it. The biggest threat to our soil, in an area with such high rainfall, is erosion.
Soil loss may be the one national threat that not too many people know about. We lose so much soil in the US that it is actually counter productive to producing crops. If we were to take all of the soil lost annually, bag it up, and sell it for $5 a bag at the garden center, you would make more money than all of the combined profits of every US farm. That is a sad waste of a valuable resource.
So what can be done? The social and agricultural movement known as permaculture, is our base from which we can build and design. One concept that has high hopes for returning soil to its best conditions is the establishment of polyculture. Like many ideas in permaculture, this is not something new, but something that has been revisited from the past. The original food forest designers were the Iroquois tribes of Northeastern North America. Instead of the typical European, short term, high productivity, monoculture, style of agriculture, the Iroquois used a system of high diversity polyculture.
The classic example of this is the Three sisters planting technique developed by the Iroquois. On a small mound, corn is planted, and later beans are added around the base so they can use the corn stalk to climb. Squash is planted in between the mounds of corn and beans as a ground cover to slow water loss from evaporation. Although this is a very useful planting combination because beans are legumes that put nitrogen back into the soil, it is still not the best agricultural model, because you have to clear land.
The best agricultural innovation that the Iroquois have passed down to us is a food growing style called food forests. Food forests are agricultural food production areas that mimic the natural way that plants fill different ecological niches. The idea behind a food forest is to plant food where it naturally grows best. Shade loving food plants are grown under fruit trees. Blueberry seeds were planted near streams and groves of chestnuts were planted into massive swaths of forest. The land that was cleared with slash and burn was often managed to promote wildlife and increase the biodiversity of food bearing plants. Thomas Jefferson took many aspects of our Democracy from the Iroquois nation. If only we had tried to copy their agricultural practices, too.
You can google video "food forests" for some inspiring videos.
A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Soil science can be a complex subject involving cycles, chemistry, physics, and vast amounts of information, but I am not going to bore you with an article about the inner working of vermiculite clay minerals. I would rather talk about the soil at the property in Mendocino, and the possibilities of saving it. The biggest threat to our soil, in an area with such high rainfall, is erosion.
Soil loss may be the one national threat that not too many people know about. We lose so much soil in the US that it is actually counter productive to producing crops. If we were to take all of the soil lost annually, bag it up, and sell it for $5 a bag at the garden center, you would make more money than all of the combined profits of every US farm. That is a sad waste of a valuable resource.
So what can be done? The social and agricultural movement known as permaculture, is our base from which we can build and design. One concept that has high hopes for returning soil to its best conditions is the establishment of polyculture. Like many ideas in permaculture, this is not something new, but something that has been revisited from the past. The original food forest designers were the Iroquois tribes of Northeastern North America. Instead of the typical European, short term, high productivity, monoculture, style of agriculture, the Iroquois used a system of high diversity polyculture.
The classic example of this is the Three sisters planting technique developed by the Iroquois. On a small mound, corn is planted, and later beans are added around the base so they can use the corn stalk to climb. Squash is planted in between the mounds of corn and beans as a ground cover to slow water loss from evaporation. Although this is a very useful planting combination because beans are legumes that put nitrogen back into the soil, it is still not the best agricultural model, because you have to clear land.
The best agricultural innovation that the Iroquois have passed down to us is a food growing style called food forests. Food forests are agricultural food production areas that mimic the natural way that plants fill different ecological niches. The idea behind a food forest is to plant food where it naturally grows best. Shade loving food plants are grown under fruit trees. Blueberry seeds were planted near streams and groves of chestnuts were planted into massive swaths of forest. The land that was cleared with slash and burn was often managed to promote wildlife and increase the biodiversity of food bearing plants. Thomas Jefferson took many aspects of our Democracy from the Iroquois nation. If only we had tried to copy their agricultural practices, too.
You can google video "food forests" for some inspiring videos.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
sustainarchy:
I majored in soil science, but I'm all gradimicated and done.
bitten:
youre going to coachella too?? seriously soil science? never even heard of it. fascinating.