Now that the initial excitement and shock of moving has begun to wear
off, I have begun observing my surroundings and started making a few
notes.
My mother has continued many of the same traditions on this farm that
her mother passed on to her, as did her mother before her. However, each
generation ads new ideas and new techniques and drops outdated concepts
and undesired projects. I continue the tradition of change. For a
couple generations, the idea was, "out with the old, in with the new."
But to quote one of my favorite bands, Abney Park, my motto is "Out with
the new! In with the old!" Out with commercial chemicals and gasoline
powered equipment! In with hand tools and compost and natural solutions
for garden pests and problems.
Observation #1
Gas powered rototiller is loud, stinky, and difficult to muscle around
the garden.
Whoever runs the tiller comes out smelling like they bathed
in gasoline! How much of all the gas exhaust is getting inhaled into
their lungs? How much exhaust soot is settling on the garden? And the
noise! Who can enjoy a garden when you can hardly hear yourself scream?
These modern gadgets are supposed to make the work easier, but
considering exhaustion levels and buckets of sweat,... I'm not buying
that it is all that much easier than the traditional plow! Now...
There's been a few modern tweaks to the old fashioned plow. As soon as
money allows, I plan to try out one of these modern antiques.
Observation #2
Commercial fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide: Ick. Yuck. Barf!
Not in my garden! I am growing my own food to eliminate toxic chemicals
from my diet. If I put any of this garbage on my food... Then what was
the point of all this work?! I can go to the grocery store and buy
pesticide enriched produce and save myself the money, time, and trouble!
Organic is the only way to go. It's the only thing that makes sense! But
even buying organic stuff is not the best way to go. You still can't be
sure what ends up in your bag of manure, for instance. The term
"manure" sounds great until you wonder what the cows were eating that
made the manure. Were they grass fed? Or did they eat the usual blend
of cooked chemical, hormone, and antibiotic enriched genetically
modified corn slurry most of our commercial cattle eat? Garbage in,
garbage out. And the packaging on commercial "organic", "natural" stuff
is usually non-compostable and difficult or impossible to recycle! So
how do we avoid adding all the chemicals to the garden and more garbage
to our landfills? Two words- com post!! Compost by the truckload! Get
organic matter into the soil. Healthy soil equals healthy crops. Period.
Dig it in. Mulch the top for weed control and water efficiency. Use
compost tea for nutrient boost during peak growing season. Forget the
crap! No, wait. Add the crap. Forget the chemicals!!!
Observation #3:
We need companion planting.
There is a really great book called Carrots Love Tomatoes. This is one
of my favorite reference books. No plant in nature just grows out in a
little space all by itself. Sometimes it might seem that way, say in the
desert, but if you look closely, that little cactus growing in the
crack in the rock will have a friend or two. Perhaps lichen. Perhaps a
tiny bit of grass. Plants grow together to offer support and mutual
benefits to each other. It's a yin/yang thing. For instance, if you find
a poisonous plant in nature, you usually find its cure growing right
next to it. (Scratches poison ivy and wonders where the jewel weed is)
The same is true in the garden. A well known favorite companion planting
handed down from Native Americans is known as "the three sisters".
Corn, beans, and pumpkins or other winter squash are all planted
together. The corn gives poles for the beans to climb. The beans help
anchor the corn and fix nitrogen to feed the corn and squash. The large
leaves of the squash shade the ground and conserve water for the corn
and beans. Usually when grown this way, all are allowed to mature and
then all are harvested at the same time. Natural companions help reduce
the need for weed and pest killers, water, and fertilizer.
Observation #4:
The rabbits are eating the scorpions! Kimosabe, nature is out of
balance! Here in the South we seem to have an ongoing plague of ticks,
chiggers, poison ivy, mosquitoes, fire ants, termites, horse flies,
kudzu, etc.
Most of the South is part of what used to be a deep, dark, lush forest
of huge pine trees. This is still the land's natural state of being. We
will always be in a battle against Mother Nature here if we prevent her
from returning to her desired state of being. If we wish to use this
land to grow crops other than giant pine trees, then we will have to
reach a compromise with Nature. When a forest is cut down, there are
several stages the land goes through to return itself to forest.
The
first stage is the meadow. All kinds of grasses, herbs and wildflowers
grow in abundance to enrich the soil, break down any dead wood, and
prepare shelter for young tree seeds to sprout and grow. This is the
stage we want as this is the stage that will help our vegetables thrive.
However, if left unchecked, in no time at all, taller woody plants,
shrubs, and young deciduous trees of all kinds spring up everywhere.
Many young trees grow fast and compete for space, growing so dense
sometimes that larger animals (like people) simply cannot move around
through them. (By the way, someone asked me why we mow our yard rather than let it grow wild into a meadow. Well, if you do not mow, in
two months your yard looks like this picture. -> The problem is, in less than a year, it
can look like the bottom picture!) This is the thicket stage. When this stage occurs
naturally, in the spaces left by a few fallen trees, all is well in the
forest. But this thicket stage, on a massive scale, is where things get
out of hand. Everything that grows in the thicket is built for
aggressive competition. Thorns, vines, shrubs, and trees. The bugs that
grow here are just as
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aggressive. They grab anything that
passes by,
aggressively feeding and then jumping back into the thicket to breed.
Most parasitic plants and bugs thrive best in the thicket. When over
half the countryside is in a state of thicket, it is easy to see how
parasites can become plagues! Sadly our plot of land was left in a
thicket state after our timber was sold a number of years ago. What used
to be a mix of deep wooded areas and open fields is now an impenetrable
mass of tangled underbrush and sapling trees 10-15 feet high brimming
over with ticks, poison ivy and thorns, oh my!! It is going to require a
massive amount of work to reclaim our land! ... Time to hire a herd of
hungry goats! Goats eat everything including thickets! I hear they even
love poison ivy!
*searches Craigslist for goats*
