A couple of days ago, the Guardian published an
article by George Monbiot, entitled “We’re treating soil like dirt. It’s a fatal
mistake, as our lives depend on it”. (The full article is at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/25/treating-soil-like-dirt-fatal-mistake-human-life?CMP=fb_gu
).
George
complains that “there is no mention of permaculture either on the websites of
the two main funding bodies (NERC and BBSRC) or in any other department.” Here,
in his article on the destruction of soils, there is no mention of RoundUp/glyphosate,
atrazine, DDT, 2,4 –D, other poisons often used in his preferred no-till regime.
Instead, the author takes aim at plowing. “While it now seems that ploughing of
any kind is incompatible with the protection of the soil, there are plenty
of means of farming without it. Independently, in several parts of the world,
farmers have been experimenting with zero-tillage (also known as conservation
agriculture), often with extraordinary results.”
Yes,
indeed, farmers have been experimenting often with extraordinary results.
However, many farmers have continued with the tried and tested ways of farming
that have been practised and honed for ever and a day. Smallholders the world
over use simple plows to till their soil, using oxen and horses to draw them.
These wise farmers have farmed organically for hundreds of years and certainly
well before we all started discussing the merits of organic food.
As
an organic farmer, I prefer to eschew
chemicals and use instead time-honoured methods like certified organic seeds, crop
rotations, green manures, mulches, composts, incorporation of crop residues,
and, yes, plowing in the constant and never-ending exercise of enhancing the
health of the soil.
Soil
is a complex and beauteous thing. When healthy, it is teeming with life of
endless diversity that is exceptionally beneficial to us as human beings. Each
spadeful contains a plethora of minerals, millions of living organisms, like
earthworms, ants, bacteria, fungi, mycoryzzi….. George compares the production
of allotment holders to that of farmers. There are a variety of reasons why
small-scale produces more per square foot than large-scale. To me, there is no
difference between my plowing of fields and the allotment-holders turning over
the soil with a fork (an exercise I still treasure in our hoophouses). My small
tractor-drawn plow digs no deeper than a fork and stirs the topsoil soup more
efficiently over a larger expanse.
There
is not much sweeter in farming than sitting on my tractor on a breezy, bright
fall day watching over my shoulder as the two furrows expertly turn over the
soil. What better way to incorporate the
brittle sweet corn stems, the tangle of bean stalks, and the mass of squash
leaves, the bolted remains of the summer greens? The seagulls gather behind as
the rich insect life is exposed. The act of plowing benefits the body of soil,
by aerating the lungs, circulating the lifeblood, and stirring the dense
nutrients, working them into a rich broth, providing balance and depth. And
then the soil can go dormant. Over the winter, plant matter breaks down and the
worms mix it all up. Come Spring, the ground thaws and for a while is sodden
with moisture; not a good time to plow. (And when the ground is dry, hot and
wind-blown in mid-summer, the plow is sleeping in the shade). Once the mid-spring
soil warms and dries out somewhat, what better way to prepare a fine tilth
seedbed than with a small tractor and its rear-mounted roto-tiller? The only
thing sweeter than to plow is to plant the annual seed of the new season’s
harvest into that same prepared soil.
(Not my tractor, but probably about my age!)
