Veganic Agriculture Network

The Ruth Stout System of permanent hay mulching

Stéphane — 2013-06-18T17:31:36Z

Nicknamed the "Mulch Queen", Ruth Stout was born in the United States in 1884. As early as 1920, she realized that all traditional methods of working with the soil (digging, weeding, watering, plowing, hoeing), could be replaced by simply adding a layer of hay on the ground. She wrote a chronicle about this particular approach for the magazine Organic Farming and Gardening from 1953 to 1971. She also published several books about her methods.

Stout emphasized the simplicity of her methods, and the way the gardener benefits from extra free time and rest. It's easy to see with the titles of her books: Gardening Without Work, I've Always Done It My Way, and How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back (unfortunately, many of these books are now unavailable, other than a few used copies). In light of the fascinating results she obtained in her gardens, she didn't shy away from challenging traditional methods of gardening. She made it a principle to speak only from experience, only from the results she had observed herself.

Description of her method

Click here to see a photojournal of a Ruth Stout garden being established

Quite simply, the method consists of keeping a thick layer of hay mulch permanently on the soil. We can sum this up as the "law of least effort", where we allow nature to do most of the work for us, and we stop needlessly interfering.

Ruth Stout didn't invent the technique of permanent mulching (nature has been doing it for millions of years!), but it seems that she is the first who wrote about the topic. She was also an influence for other figures in the ecological gardening movement, including Emilia Hazelip who developed the "synergistic gardening" approach (which later evolved into the "self-fertilizing gardening" approach in Québec).

Equipment

None needed! Only our own two hands! However, a trowel, a fork, a spade and a hoe can sometimes come in handy.

Inputs

In terms of the materials needed, Stout bought the hay that she mulched with. We can never have too much! It's a good idea to have some extra set aside. Anything that doesn't decompose too quickly can also be used as mulch: old hay, straw, pine needles, corn stalks, grass clippings, seaweed... Nevertheless, hay has the best results.

From time to time, Ruth Stout would buy cotton meal or soy meal as a complementary source of fertility. She would spread about 5 pounds over 100 square feet. However, she said she would stop using it completely, if it weren't for the numerous visitors who toured her garden, and wanting to ensure that the garden was beautiful for their visits.

Other than that, the only inputs for the garden were seeds.

Starting the garden

For Ruth Stout, the best time to start this type of garden is last year! As time passes, the soil quality improves and it becomes more fertile. She believes that the results really kick in after a few years of growing this way. To the frequent question from her readers, "When should I start to mulch?" she would answer "Now!"

More precisly, Stout recommended starting a garden in the summer or the fall. Early in the springtime, the soil is still cold, and the mulch would tend to keep the soil from warming up. If we cover the ground in the autumn with 8 inches (20cm) of hay, it will be ready for seedlings in the springtime.

To the question, "How much hay do I need?", Stout answered, "Twice as much as you think!" More specifically, she recommended a thickness of 8 inches (20cm). This may seem thick, but with the effects of rain and decomposition, soon enough it will be only 2-3 inches (5-7cm) thick.

For beginning a new garden with the Ruth Stout System, the hay can be added directly on an existing lawn. Do not remove the underlying grass and plants: they'll decompose under the hay and add to the fertility of your soil.

In the case of converting a traditional garden into a Ruth Stout style garden, she recommends planting in your usual manner, and then adding mulch around the plants.

Between the rows of vegetables, she recommends adding fallen leaves from trees.

Soil type

For Ruth Stout, soil type has little importance. Even if it was acidic, she didn't do anything in particular. As for rocky soils, she considered them good soils. Mulching is particularly beneficial for sloped surfaces, because the mulch protects against erosion and the leaching of nutrients.

How to plant

For planting seeds, ensure that they're in direct contact with the soil. In terms of the distance between seeds, use the distances recommended in traditional gardening methods. Nevertheless, Ruth Stout said that the plants can be more closely spaced after a few years of using her method. For transplanting seedlings, use a trowel or a small shovel.

Crop variety

Ruth Stout grew a wide variety of crops, including sweet spanish onions, sweet corn, cabbage, radish, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, beans, peas, young soy beans, carrots, parsnips, peppers and tomatoes.

Examples of several plants that work well in the Ruth Stout system

Onions
Easiest when grown from young bulbs.

Asparagus

There's no need to dig a trench. We just ensure that the asparagus crown is in contact with the ground, and cover it with mulch. To protect these perennial plants during the winter, cover them with an extra 8 inches of mulch when the weather cools.

Strawberries

Transplant them in the springtime with a space of 1 foot (30 cm) between each plant.

Potatoes

In the region where Ruth Stout lived (Connecticut, United States), she could plant her potatoes in the autumn. She planted whole potatoes, spaced every 14 inches (35cm), and covered them with 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) of hay. Just after flowering, the tubers are 1-2 inches in diameter. Her favourite harvest was the young potatoes of the variety Irish Cobbler. For a mature harvest, it's best to wait until the potato plants turn dry.

Corn

Just plant the seeds in the ground, and the young plants will grow through the mulch. It can help to add a string to indicate a row. The seeds are spaced every 6 inches (15 cm). Ruth Stout recommended the varieties North Star, Golden Beauty and Golden Bantam. Her corn harvests were well above average. With 5 rows of 25 plants, she'd harvest 15 dozen ears of corn. After the harvest, she'd crush the corn stalks and cover them with hay. In the spring, we can sow or transplant without a problem, with quite impressive results. As for animals, Ruth Stout had a fence to keep raccoons away from the corn. Crows weren't able to eat the newly sown grains because they were protected by the mulch.

Crop Rotation

In her book "No-Work Garden", Ruth Stout's co-author, Richard Clemence, recommends a rotation of strawberries, sweet corn and potatoes: three productive cultures that are easy to install with the Stout System, and that can bring an income through the sale of these popular foods. To learn more, here is an extract from Ruth Stout's book that describes the rotation.

Cold-weather crops

For the cooler seasons, Stout recommends choosing cold-resistant plants like kale, that we can harvest even when there is snow... or parnips, that we can leave in the ground all winter and harvest in the spring. To help them get through the winter, we can cover them with a layer of hay.

Stout also suggests growing squash (for example, buttercup and blue hubbard), since they preserve well indoors during the winter months.

Buying seeds and seed saving

Ruth Stout had two recommendations. First of all, she recommended buying seeds from a reliable seed producer, which helps to support their business. And since they are specialized in the production of seeds, it would be ambitious to think that we could do better ourselves. At the same time, she recommends that gardeners use their own seeds. The idea is to benefit from "volunteers": leaving good-quality plants and good-quality fruits in place at the end of the season, so they can regrow the following spring. Ruth Stout nevertheless had the habit of transplanting volunteers to the place where she'd like them to grow the following year.

Tasks in a Ruth Stout garden

Springtime

Add hay if there isn't enough.
Sow and transplant.
Harvest what's still growing from last year.

Summer

Stake climbing plants (ex. climbing beans), and plants that have difficulty supporting their own weight (ex. tomatoes).
Weeding consists of laying the plants down and covering them with hay.
Add hay if there isn't enough.
For the cabbage family, Stout suggests using salt to counter cabbage butterflies.
Harvest

Autumn

Harvest.
Plant cultures like garlic.
Everything is left in place. Nothing is ripped out. We just cover everything with hay.

Advantages of the Stout System

Easy to do
Easy to understand
No machinery needed
Few inputs, other than hay and seeds
Everything is returned to the soil
The mulch retains moisture, which eliminates the need to water
Gives good results
And, above all, little work!

Less time and physical effort are needed because:

No tilling
No digging
No harrowing
No ground cover to plant
No weeding
No watering
No spraying
No compost to make

Comments and criticisms

Ruth Stout realized that her system required large amounts of organic matter and was better adapted to small surfaces. What's more, the visual look of her gardening system is in constrast with traditional methods and might be an aesthetic problem for some people. And, even if Stout doesn't mention it herself, to create a more dynamic ecosystem and increase the real autonomy of our garden, especially related to garden "pests", we could consider adding trees and ponds to the system.

In terms of the criticism relating to weed seeds in the hay, here are a few answers:
When we use hay, it's best to avoid working the soil. If the hay contains weed seeds, as long as we keep piling on more hay as it decomposes, the seeds will be buried and likely won't germinate.
It's usually when we work the soil that the seeds are brought up to the surface, which leads to their germination.
If we see weeds that are germinating and growing, we can pull them out (Ruth Stout gardened with 100% hay, so instead of pulling them out, she'd cover the weeds with more hay).
If you're worried, you can leave the hay outside of the garden for a few months to start the decomposition process before adding it to the garden.

Similar systems

Self-fertilizing gardens
Permaculture
Hans-Peter Rusch
Kurt Kretschman

Ruth Stout's books:

Gardening Without Work (September 1, 1974)
Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy, and the Indolent (May 22, 2002)
I've Always Done It My Way
Don't Forget to Smile or How to Stay Sane and Fit over Ninety
How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back: A New Method of Mulch Gardening by Ruth Stout (Author), Leta Macleod Brunckhorst (Author) (Paperback - February 1, 1990)

Photojournal of a Ruth Stout garden

Meghan — 2013-06-18T17:18:20Z

With the Ruth Stout technique, gardens are established and maintained using a thick layer of hay mulch. This eliminates the need for digging, fertilizing and watering.

Here is a photojournal of a test patch established by Stéphane Groleau using the Ruth Stout technique in 2005. To learn more details about the technique, please read our detailed article about the topic.

Test patch: Ruth Stout system

Saint-Casimir, Québec, 2005
Stéphane Groleau

Preparing the soil

Early in the springtime, I covered the patch of grass with old hay.

The hay stops the grass from growing, keeps in humidity, feeds the soil life and enriches the soil (by adding nutrients, and eventually humus)

A month after starting the test, once the temperature was warmer and the hay had started the decomposition process, I transplanted tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, ground cherries, sunflowers and cabbage.

The progress of the plants

June 10th, 2005: The peppers and cucumbers react well to this environment.

At this point, I had a bunch of extra potatoes, so I planted them throughout the garden.

July 23rd, 2005: The ground cherry and sunflower plants are starting to take off.

The most impressive part is that only a superficial layer of the hay is dry. The rest of the hay is quite humid and is actively decomposing.

The same cucumber plant pictured above has finally decided to stretch out! In the bottom left, there's a tomato plant that I'm allowing to grow however it chooses.

August 13th, 2005: The hay mulch is completely covered in vegetation. The potatoes that I planted have shot up and are growing quickly.

I discover a few hidden cucumbers.

August 30th, 2005: I realize that my pepper plant has about 10 peppers!

Yearly follow-up

The following are photojournals (in French) that follow the progression of the garden each year. Some parts of the garden were maintained using only the Ruth Stout method, while other parts of the garden were expanded using similar permanent mulch methods, such as sheet mulching with cardboard and hay, or with cardboard and chipped branch wood. Fruit trees and berry bushes were added a few years later.

Autumn 2005 and the 2006 season

Sheet mulching with cardboard and potatoes

Meghan — 2013-05-11T18:11:25Z

This is a technique that revolutionizes the way we typically think of starting a new garden, and the way we typically think of growing potatoes. After learning this technique, it's hard to go back to the old time-consuming and higher-maintenance methods!

This technique only involves 4 ingredients: cardboard, a knife, potatoes that are starting to sprout, and organic matter like hay, straw and leaves. Inspired by permaculture principles, with this technique you can convert an existing lawn into a new garden patch, and have a harvest of potatoes with almost no maintenance.

How-To

Starting the potato patch garden:

Ideally, start in the springtime within a month after the snow has melted and the ground has defrosted.

Pick up a lot of cardboard that was destined for the wastestream. The bigger the better. Ideally, visit bike shops or furniture stores to get large pieces of cardboard. If you have smaller pieces, you'll need a larger quantity to do the technique successfully. Remove anything from the cardboard that shouldn't be in your garden (tape, staples, etc.).

Pick a spot to start your potato patch. You can start the potato patch on a lawn, in a prairie, or in an existing garden. If there is vegetation present (grass, dandelions, etc.) there is no need to remove it. Though, you should flatten any existing vegetation---for example, by placing a piece of cardboard on the vegetation and dancing on it for a few seconds.

Cover the parcel with big pieces of cardboard. The underlying plants will be blocked from the sunlight and will eventually die off. You need to make sure that your pieces of cardboard overlap each other significantly (by 30cm or 1 foot). This ensures grass and dandelions underneath can't manipulate their way past the cardboard toward the sunlight.

Overlapping the cardboard

Grab your exacto knife or a kitchen knife. Make an X in the cardboard to create an opening. Add another X about every 25-30cm (10-12 inches).

Place a potato in each of these openings. The potato should be sitting directly on the ground (on top of a lawn, for example). Ensure that one of the potato's eyes is coming out of the opening. Slightly close the opening---ideally the potato should be hidden under the cardboard, with the eye of the potato exposed to the sunlight. The eye of the potato will become a stem and will produce leaves. There shouldn't be any grass or other vegetation coming out of the opening.

Cutting X's in the cardboard and adding potatoes

Cover all the cardboard with a thick layer of airy organic matter. Hay and straw are perfect, added in a layer about 15-20cm (6-8 inches) thick. The potato eye will eventually make its way through the straw or hay to the sunlight. At the Veganic Agriculture Network, we have never tried this method with leaves... if you try it, let us know if it works for you or not!

Note: if the soil is dry and if rain is not in the forecast over the next few days, it's recommended to water a little at each step while constructing the new potato patch.

Hay vs. straw: Hay is high in nutrients and will act as a fertilizer when it decomposes, though it may also harbour perenniel weed seeds. Straw should be free from any weed seeds, though it is poor in nutrients. Straw will add organic matter to your soil, but will not act as a meaningful fertilizer. Hay also blocks the light more efficiently than straw, so straw may need to be added in a thicker layer. Use what you have available!

Maintaining the potato patch garden:

The potato patch requires essentially no maintenance. If your layer of straw or hay mulch is thick enough, theoretically you can go on vacation for the next three or four months, and return for the harvest.

Why the straw or hay mulch has to be thick:

no weeding: the mulch helps block the sunlight from any underlying weeds
no watering: the mulch retains moisture and limits evaporation, so regular watering shouldn't be necessary except in very dry climates or very dry seasons.
no toxic potatoes: if potatoes are exposed to sunlight, they turn green and are toxic to eat. Having a thick mulch ensures that the potatoes are always covered, even if the cardboard begins to biodegrade.

*You may need to add more mulch mid-season to ensure that the potatoes are not exposed to sunlight.

Harvesting the potato patch garden:

Pushing back the mulch and leftover cardboard to harvest the potatoes

This is the best part. As the days get cooler and the potato plants start to look dry and somewhat brown, it's harvest time. Push back your mulch, lift up the cardboard... and voila! Potatoes! No need to dig---the potatoes are just sitting there, on the surface of the soil, waiting to be harvested.

How is this possible? Because potatoes don't actually need to grow in the soil. They just need contact with the soil so their root system has access to water and nutrients. Potatoes are typically buried in the soil because they sprout and turn green if they have contact with light. But in this technique, we achieve the same goal of preserving the quality of our potatoes by covering them in cardboard and mulch rather than with soil.

Why to consider this method for starting a new garden

Often when people start a new garden, they remove the top layer (the lawn). The consequences: loss of organic matter, loss of topsoil, loss of microbial life. Gardeners often then dig or till the underlying soil, and then leave the soil exposed for the season. The consequences: an inhospitable environment for soil fauna, increased erosion, and dry or caked soil on the surface.

In ecological gardening, we need to think outside the box. Or, more fittingly, we need to think about the box. Covering the existing vegetation (lawn) with cardboard boxes brings the advantages we seek, without any of the problems.

Building our soil: Rather than removing the grass and weeds, we leave them in place. They become our first layer of compost. The cardboard will eventually biodegrade, and the straw and hay mulch will biodegrade in a season or two. These also provide organic matter for the soil. Instead of tossing out our soil, we're building it up.

Supporting soil life: Instead of removing or disturbing the valuable microbial life in our soil, we're providing them with a suitable habitat and sources of nourishment. In turn, they'll make the soil more fertile and improve its structure.

Protecting the soil: With a thick mulch in place, there is little chance of erosion. The soil will remain humid and have a more steady temperature.

So, what's the catch? Can this potato patch method fail? That depends on your goals. If you have poor soil quality, compacted soil or a heavy clay soil, you can't necessarily expect a great potato harvest, and you may be disappointed by the results if your main objective is eating potatoes. However, over the coarse of the season you will have improved the quality of your soil both in terms of organic matter content and soil structure, so the land will be easier to work with and more fertile when you begin a more diversified garden the second year.

If you envision having a large garden, you can start a portion each year using the potato patch method. This method is also appropriate for preparing the land for trees, shrubs and forest gardens.

Why to consider this method for growing potatoes in an existing garden

The traditional way of growing potatoes involves digging the soil to loosen it, creating a trench, and burying the potatoes in the trench under the soil. During the summer, to ensure that the potatoes aren't exposed to light (since they would become green and toxic), more soil is hilled up around the potato plants on a regular basis. At the end of the season, the soil mounds are disrupted to dig up the potatoes. Overall, this technique involves more presence and energy from the gardener over the coarse of the season. And working the soil will deplete the soil of nutrients and microbial life, while leading to increased erosion.

The cardboard method may require more involvement during the initial planting (finding cardboard and hay or straw), though afterwards the technique is incredibly low-maintenance, with essentially no weeding or watering. For gardeners who enjoy the ease of a low-maintenance garden, this is a much easier way to grow potatoes. And, most importantly, the soil is protected from erosion, the soil structure is improved, and the microbial life is supported.

This is also a great technique for dealing with weedy patches in an existing garden: instead of removing the unwanted plants by hand, you can simply stifle them by covering them with cardboard and organic mulch, while reaping a harvest of potatoes at the end of the season.

Animal Place Veganic Farm

Meghan — 2013-03-17T18:02:44Z

Animal Place (www.animalplace.org) has been providing refuge to neglected farmed animals since 1989 on their sanctuary in California. More recently, they launched a 3-acre veganic farm, a working proof of the concept that domesticated animals are not necessary to grow food. In conjunction with the resident animal ambassadors, Animal Place's veganic farm educates visitors about how their food is produced and demonstrates a healthier, more compassionate way of eating and living.

The farm is managed by two farmers, Stephanie and Greg, along with the help of one or two interns, and occasional help from volunteers. To learn more about interning, visit animalplace.org/vegan-farm-internship. Please note that the internship positions are quickly filled, and applications are accepted in the fall for the upcoming spring. The farmers also provide regular information about the veganic farm through a blog (http://growitkindly.wordpress.com/) and a facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/growitkindly).

Animal Place's veganic farm participates in the USDA funded national program Farm to School. They stock an after-school veggie cart for a local elementary school, where children and their parents can take home free (or by donation) veganic produce and information about Animal Place. The kids visit the farm in the springtime to get hands on experience with veganic farming, and to meet Animal Place's resident animal ambassadors and hear their stories. Animal Place donates seedlings in the spring to encourage families to grow their own food veganically.

In 2013, Animal Place's veganic farm begins their first season as a CSA. They also sell wholesale to a local natural foods store and several vegan restaurants in the Grass Valley and Sacramento areas, as well as at a farmer's market.

Part of the harvest is also shared with the resident animal ambassadors who live on the sanctuary. All sales from the veganic farm directly benefit the rescue, care and advocacy for farmed animals at Animal Place.

Animal Place's veganic farm uses a full spectrum of proven techniques that have been developed by innovative farmers such as John Jeavons and Iain Tollhurst and they “veganize” the techniques that many successful organic farmers having been using for years.

For green manures and cover crops, they use a readily available mix of peas, cowbell beans and oats. As soil amendments, they use soybean meal, kelp meal, rock phosphates, alfalfa tea, and green waste compost. For potting soil, in addition to the base of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite, they are beginning experiments with alfalfa tea and complementary veganic fertilizers.

They grow a diverse selection of vegetable crops in order to provide ample variety to their CSA members and farmers markets. Their young orchard features figs, asian pears and permissions, and the perennial flower and herb garden attracts pollinators and other beneficial insects.

The veganic farm sits on a 600-acre piece of property, as part of the nonprofit Animal Place. Most of the land is a nature preserve, with another large portion reserved for pastures and barns for the rescued animals. The acreage of farmed land for food production is 3 acres but can be expanded in the future.

The soil on the farm is a clay loam. The climate is Mediterranean: hot and dry in the summer, cool and wet in the other seasons. The challenges on the farm include heavy rains which deplete the soils of nutrients and organic matter, and sloped land with poor drainage near the bottom. They are working to improve the soil fertility with an extensive program of cover cropping and amendments, and they will be taking measures to improve the hydrology while assuring that there is no net loss of wetland habitat.

The vegan ethic of least harm is extended to all areas of the farm. For example, they don't use violent and fatal traps to deter wild animals such as gophers and voles; instead, they make use of live traps and the adjacent nature preserve to relocate the animals. They offer habitats for song birds and native predators, which helps reduce the problems of insects and overpopulations of rodents on the farm, while reestablishing the natural ecology of the land around them.

Animal Place's veganic farm provides a working example that food can be grown without the use of domesticated animals. This links into Animal Place's overarching goals of providing education and outreach activities that promote compassion, respect and responsibility for all life.

Farming to Create Heaven on Earth

Stéphane — 2013-02-14T23:48:09Z

In the book Farming to Create Heaven on Earth, American journalist Lisa M. Hamilton provides an overview and her insight into the farming movement called Natural Agriculture. This approach to farming is based on a deep reverence for nature. Born in Japan, the Natural Farming movement now has numerous farms and demonstration centres throughout the world. In this book, you'll find the stories of different Japanese farmers and consumers who practice this philosophy-based approach to growing and eating food.

Note: The Natural Agriculture movement uses fertility techniques that, in general, do not include animal products.

HAMILTON, Lisa. Farming to Create Heaven on Earth, Shumei International Press, 2007, 185 p.

Growing Sustainability

Stéphane — 2013-02-14T04:06:58Z

The book is a compilation of the writings of Dave of Darlington – a treasury of useful information for gardeners and farmers, gleaned from Dave's long experience and enhanced by well-informed thoughts on the ethics and politics behind farming.

Available at the Vegan organic Network.

DARLINGTON, Dave. Growing Sustainability. Vegan-Organic Network, 2011, 320 p.

Veganic Forest Gardening Workshop: Québec, May 10-12

Meghan — 2013-01-29T18:06:15Z

Forest Gardening Workshop

May 10-12, 2013

http://www.thelivingcentre.com/cms/forest-gardening-quebec

An experiential learning experience will reveal the nature of ecosystem architecture, social structure, and our interconnectedness.

Forest Gardening and Deep Ecology is a practice, yet it also represents a radically new way of seeing our landscapes and our world. Seeing nature as a model of wellness; we can grow a diverse range of plants together in mutually beneficial groupings that are primarily self-maintaining.

An achievable Paradise that can be created in a rural field, a suburban yard, or even a vacant city backyard.

Forest Gardening is the art and science of growing plants in patterns that support mutually beneficial relationships, which create a garden that takes its vision from nature and the natural ecology of a young forest. We can grow fruits, vegetable, herbs, medicinal plants and other useful plants. By mincing the way nature creates healthy eco-systems we can create beautiful, high-yield, diverse gardens that are largely self-maintaining. Forest Gardening offers design systems that support a diversity of landscapes from rural to dense urban settings. This particular training is focused on how to create your garden in a temperate zone.

Forest Gardening allows us to achieve the same benefits that natural systems demonstrate: stability, resilience, self-maintenance, self-renewal, and increased nutrient conservation at personal and ecological levels.

Deep Ecology is a holistic approach to facing world problems. Bringing thinking, feeling, spirituality and action together it looks deeply at humanity's relationship with the natural world so that we can move beyond the individualism of Western culture towards seeing ourselves as part of the earth, no longer something 'out there' but something that we are intricately a part of. It helps us to creatively address our feelings as we face the social and ecological crisis in our world. Deep Ecology draws on the new science of Living Systems and ancient Indigenous wisdom.

Facilitators: Passionate, long-time gardeners, forest gardeners, permaculturists, herbalist and ecospiritual guides, Shantree Kacera D.N., Ph.D. and Lorenna Bousquet-Kacera, invite you to discover this remarkable model for creating inner and outer gardens that support self, community and Earth.

What You Will Learn:
• Edible Forest Gardening Theory
• Vegan Organic Gardening
• Conscious partnering with Nature
• Regional Adaptation
• Importance of Biodiversity
• Conventional vs. Organic vs. Wild
• Growing your own Super Foods
• Garden planning and Companion Planting
• The on-going unity of organism/environment
• Practical tools for the regeneration of oneself & the Earth

Hands-On Learning
• Reading the landscape & Understanding Elemental Flows
• Cultivating Soil Building Practices
• Effective Microorganisms (EM)
• Role of Effective Microorganisms in Creating Healthy Gardens
• Composting and Mulching Practices
• Vermiculture: The Miracle Work of Earthworms
• Plant Identification of local wild & cultivated plants
• Ecological Sustainable Gardening Practices
• Organic Insect Control
• Growing Indigenous Plants
• How to Create Microclimates
• Seed Saving and the Essentiality of Biodiversity

Contact & to Register
Date: May 10-12, 2013
Fri. 6:30-9pm. Sat. & Sun. 9-5:30pm
Fee: $350. plus taxes
(Early Bird Special, $300. - before March 1, 2013

Contact: Jude
Phone 450-245-7870
515 Chemin de Saint Cyprien,
Saint Cyprien de Napierville, Québec, Canada
J0J-1L0
Fore more info:
www.thelivingcentre.com

The knowledge of Manfred Wenz

Stéphane — 2013-01-07T04:44:42Z

Manfred Wenz has successfully developed no-till techniques for direct seeding of commercial grain crops, all while building up the vitality and organic matter of his soil.

This article, written by Stéphane Groleau, is based on a multi-day talk offered by German farmer Manfred Wenz in Quebec in 2006. The article was written for an organic agriculture magazine in Quebec and then translated into English.

We are in Victoriaville, a small town in Quebec, Canada. It's February 28th 2006, and Manfred Wenz has just arrived from Germany to share his experiences with various sustainable and regenerative farming practices. Four days of talk and slides with an engaged audience of 180 people. The attraction: Manfred Wenz transitioned from conventional farming to direct sowing, and hasn't used fertilizer for 30 years.

Wenz started by growing corn conventionally in 1954 on his 30 ha farm, though he destroyed his soil using pesticides, chemical fertilisers, and deep-ploughing (up to 45 cm deep) while rotating wheat and corn. He started with 60cm of rich, dark humus: by 1970, nothing remained but an eroded, compacted, subsoil-colored soil. No more life. Dead soil. Facing the facts, he converted to organic. But continued tillage didn't help at all. It was only in 1980 that the answer came when he met Hans Kemink.

Kemink developed an approach and machinery in order to make permanent beds and avoid ploughing. This way, the tractor never compacts the growing area and there is an undisturbed space for the soil fauna. The machinery consists of two ridge wings to bring soil onto the beds from the path, and one sub-soiling tooth to lighten the bed. All crop residues are left on the middle of the bed to compost.

Even though Kemink's technique helped increase the life and humus in Wenz's soil, it wasn't enough for Wenz, who was inspired by his travels in Brazil. There, he saw many different organic direct-sowing techniques and even bought a direct-sowing machine to experiment with in Germany. But it took 10 years before he managed to adapt the techniques to his farm.

Learning from nature

To succeed, he had to develop a greater understanding of the way Nature works. For Wenz, Nature has all the necessary tools to heal herself. “Nature has existed for 3 billion years; human farms for 10,000 years. From rock, Nature has developed all of the quality soil and the plants around us."

Wenz identifies four main natural mechanisms:

1. Soil fauna

In the soil, there is a system, a whole chain of life with about 1 kg of living organisms per square meter. “Nature has developed a series of specialists, billions of them interacting. There is no such thing as a parasite that needs to be eliminated. Just like a tractor needs all its parts to work, so does Nature." Wenz is especially fond of earthworms because they produce the best humus ever: worm castings keep nutrients in the soil where the plants feed themselves. Worms go up to 15 cm from their holes to get plant residues, making a tiny compost heap over the hole. Once softened and pre-composted by other organisms, worms digest it. Depending on the soil vitality, the number of worm holes goes from 200 to 350 per square meter. This would bring about 1 cm of good soil to the surface, which could bring around 100 m3 of worm castings per hectare. That‘s the equivalent of 5 to 6 cows per hectare! The rest of the soil organisms equal another 20 cows/ha more! So who said we need farm animals for manure?

2. The presence of plants

For Nature, a bare soil is a desert, an exposed soil becomes pale and dead like the subsoil.

Naturally, the soil will quickly get covered by weeds, what Wenz called “healing plants”: the soil knows its needs, so heads toward balance and recovery, just like a wound closing, Nature will grow the necessary plants. So in his five-year rotation, Wenz starts by letting these healing plants grow. A free green manure! Moreover, plants are able to extract insoluble nutrients by their association with micro-organisms in their rhizosphere.

3. Shade

By covering the ground, the plants protect against erosion, and create shade. Thus conditions become favourable for the soil fauna. The absence of light, produced by plants and mulches, also prevents other plants from growing or germinating. In the shade of the cover the ground develops a very fine layer of soil which hardens after harvest. To benefit from this particular condition, Wenz makes sure that a field is resown the very same day.

4. Successive layers

In Nature, nothing is buried. Everything accumulates in successive layers on the surface of the ground. A 3 cm layer, "the litter", breaks up these vegetable residues. The seeds do not germinate in this zone. Quality hay at the stage when one gives it to the cows is best to serve as mulch.

Now comes the direct sowing

For direct seeding in spring, one should first have in his field a plant that has survived through winter. This plant being alive in the spring, it will drain the soil of water. At the same time, such a plant should be able to stand up, allowing the sun to warm up the soil and activate life. The seeds of the desired crop must be sown 4 cm deep in order to be under the decomposition layer.

One such technique consists in establishing a rye green manure in the autumn. In spring, this is layed down at the flowering stage with a roller which breaks the stems. The root continues to push the sap until exhaustion. If it were cut, the rye would start a new stem. The roller is in front of the tractor and the seeder is behind. This way only one pass is necessary in spring, followed by another one at harvest time. That is fuel saving! One similar technique has been practiced since 2002 in the United States. Moreover, the Rodale Institute has a research program on the subject (www.newfarm.org). With this method, soybean makes its pods over mulch and remains clean from weeds.

For cereals, Wenz developed a tool able to work the ground precisely. Composed of blades shaped like a goose foot, it cuts the cover of white clover 4 cm high and deposits cereal right under this carpet. Wenz appreciated white clover for its small surface root system with a deep spiralling root going to the water table, while producing stolons (running roots) up to 50 cm long. Thus, this clover covers ground quickly if it is mowed or grazed, preventing even couch grass from settling. This clover carpet protects wheat, acting as an insulator. The sowing rate is 6-7 kg/ha using the varieties Huia, Nanouk or Kaia.

His main rotation looks like:

Spring: light harrowing followed by white clover sowing and growth of the healing plants. During the season, first he'll cut these plants; later on he'll cut both clover and healing plants. In autumn, the clover covers the field and the winter wheat is directly seeded. This first year serves to feed earthworms.
Spring: wheat grows on a bed/background of clover. After the harvest, by the end of July, the clover regrows. In autumn, the clover is lifted to weaken it before sowing wheat again.
Spring: same as last year. When harvesting, the straw is left on the ground to feed the ground fauna. In autumn, light soil work, and rye sowing.
Spring: rye harvest, followed by light soil work to let lost rye seeds and healing plants grow.
Spring: rolling the rye and direct sowing of spelt, lupins, or soybeans.

A special crop is false flax (camelina sativa) from the cabbage family. Producing seeds for oil, it is inexpensive and a good companion for soybeans, field beans, and safflower. In mixed cropping, false flax ripens ten days before soybeans and stays until both are harvested. Being good heating oil, Wenz uses 30% of his production to fuel his tractors. As green manure, it makes a straight vertical stem that covers the soil rapidly.

Now, Wenz's farm is owned by his son Friedrich who brought in biodynamics, even though they have been using no animal manure, no compost and no ploughing since 1969. But they now use bio-dynamic ‘preparations' for soil amendments, some of which can be based on animal by-products so of course are not vegan-organic. Their wheat is sold to a local biodynamic bakery which neither buys nor sells any products grown farther than 14 kms. It seems that Friedrich went bio-dynamic in order to supply this bakery; the ‘preparations' are not necessary for the growing system. For Wenz, the idea isn't to reproduce exactly his method, but to dare to try and think about alternative ways. "The humus is the capital. One must live on interest and work to increase this capital. If not, the survival of our children is mortgaged." Today, Wenz has brought back 50% of the humus destroyed and wishes he had understood Nature earlier.

More about Manfred Wenz method: www.eco-dyn.com (in French or German)

Systemic approach more efficient than GMOs

Stéphane — 2013-01-07T04:41:20Z

The systemic approach is a method of breeding plant varieties that are hearty and resistant to all forms of stress, such as disease and drought. In the systemic approach, traditional principles of plant breeding are used, though the plants are subjected to a wide range of stresses, and only the most resistant plants are selected for continued breeding. The systemic approach offers a promising alternative to GMO's, and it produces results that go beyond our expectations.

GMO's have become commonplace in fields and on supermarket shelves, despite the uncertain health and environmental implications. GMO's can cross-pollinate with traditional and organic varieties, resulting in mutant plants and contaminated food supplies. Nevertheless, companies continue to drive forward the genetic modification of plants, under the banner of creating plants with sought-after features or increased resistance. With the systemic approach, however, we can develop plant varieties that are all-around resistant and versatile, without the negative drawbacks associated with GMO's.

Systemic seed selection with specialist André Comeau

André Comeau, a researcher for the Canadian Ministry of Agriculture for 35 years, maintains that the systemic approach offers a sustainable avenue for seed selection, and increased food security in the face of climate change. In fact, he succeeded in ‘tuning up' a wheat plant to be all-around resistant. To achieve this, he simply applied the principles of traditional breeding and genetic selection, but with a systemic approach that takes into account as many factors as possible. The results have been significant.


Selecting wheat seeds

Glassy, shiny with a smooth surface… these are some of the characteristics of the wheat grains sorted by this cereals plants' specialist. His work consists of developing germplasms and mother plants used by breeders to produce the cereal varieties intended for farmers.

Typically, breeders asked the researcher for a plant possessing particular characteristics, such as virus resistance, short straw, or higher protein content in the grain. But after collaborating with the Brazilian researcher Vandelei Caetano, Mr. Comeau realised that we can't isolate one characteristic from the rest. “Everything is interrelated." For example, if we increase virus resistance to fusarium, we often decrease yields. "There are dozens of parameters. The systemic approach strives to integrate and correlate these multiple factors when it comes to selecting the best plants."

In the systemic approach, we use the same selection tools as before, while we consider the overall system: pest and disease resistance, morphology, yields and root system, also taking into account the agricultural system in which these plants are grown. “The simplistic approach - where we try to simplify the situation to achieve a specific result - ends up by taking one step forward, then one step back. A systemic approach, which encompasses a high number of parameters, gives us a positive result without any bad surprises. If we continue for several years, keeping many parameters, we end up with a striking increase in genetic material possessing the desired characteristics." When using the systemic approach, Mr. Comeau says researchers should use 10 times greater biodiversity of seed, and maintain 10 times greater severity of conditions than in traditional selection, while basing the tests on a high number of different parameters.

The Wheat Plant Example


A naturally selected super wheat plant

Knowing the desired characteristics required by breeders, the researcher submitted many types of wheat plants to different sorts of stress (poor soil, disease, pest, drought, soil deficiencies) and kept only the best subjects. In 2003, during his first attempt on 9000 plants, only one plant was retained. In 2006, the quantity of resistant plants this time was over 300. “We weren't able to make them sick. Resistant to every stress, these plants showed a good capacity to produce grains. The results: less farm inputs are required because the plants' needs are null or reduced in pesticides, and because the plants have a better capacity to take and make use of soil nutrients.” Besides that, the 2006 trials were mainly conducted without pesticides in soils that had never been farmed.

Comparison between GMO's and the systemic approach

GMO	Systemic approach
Addition of the desired characteristic by modifying the genetic code of only one plant.	By elimination: discarding the least adapted plants among a multitude of plants.
We start with a wheat plant coming from a renowned agronomic line. In laboratories, we add a characteristic by inserting genes (coming from other plants, microorganisms or animals) in the cell nucleus.	We start with many different strands of wheat in order to have a wide genetic diversity. We expose those plants to different environmental stresses, and we select the most resistant plants. We repeat this for many years, crossing over the better subjects from previous years and exposing them to new stresses.
Doesn't use the natural process of pollination. Rather, the gene is forced into the cell with the use of bacteria or by bombarding the cell with a particle canon (method called biolistic).	Uses the natural reproduction processes – pollination – but achieved manually.
The new plant has never existed before: it has a different genetic code than the original plant. Many fear unexpected long term effects on health or on the environment. There ought to be mandatory years of studies to validate their safety.	The resulting plant is a wheat plant, like the others, but corresponding to the desired characteristics.
The development cost is very expensive and involves hefty fees.	Prediction: Will become less costly to create new varieties that are resistant to all forms of stress.

Unfortunately, funds are orienting research toward biotechnology and focalised research, instead of a systemic approach. For 12 years, Mr. Comeau was denied many requests for financing on the the pretext that his approach lacked interest or sense. However, in 2003, a commercial producer federation backed Mr. Comeau's ideas and now a grain research centre is preparing to research organic wheat. The development of the systemic approach also faces a lack of interest in the academic domain. “As far as I know, over the past few years no Quebec university has offered a practical course in Applied Genetics although this approach is five to ten times less costly than biotechnology and it's the only efficient method when it comes to considering several parameters at once.” Nor should we forget that genetic engineering requires significant infrastructure, and becomes complicated by issues of rights and patents granted to private companies.

Over time, Mr. Comeau's ideas have won ground and many breeders use his strands in order to create new varieties. New avenues also look fruitful. For the last two years, he has chosen not to sterilize his soils. Indeed, laboratory researchers always sterilize soil substrates to ensure no microbes or weeds interfere with the experiment. “We already find that wheat plants are able to compete with weeds, and we are rediscovering the beneficial action of microorganisms around roots, either to help plants resist disease, or to fix a bit of nitrogen (with the help of Azospirillum). During a drought period, a bit of nitrogen at the surface of the roots can be vital, because the plant has great difficulty in obtaining nutrients. As we face climate change, we must take that into account, especially with the arrival of extreme weather (wind, sleet, cold, heat, drought, and flood) where our present crops are at risk.”

In short, Andre Comeau eagerly wishes to share with academics, scientists and the general public both the great potential and tangible proof of the success of the systemic approach to adapt our crops to climate change. Such an approach can be applied worldwide and is surely helpful for veganic growers, too.

Growing Green: Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg

Stéphane — 2012-12-29T22:28:38Z

Graham Cole demonstrates how you can feed your family on your allotment and garden using vegetable compost and green manures to obtain good crops of high nutritional value. No poisons or artificial fertilisers are used. This method is the kindest to the environment and all Earth's creatures.

Presenter Graham Cole is head gardener at Holywell House, Hampshire. Graham has 20 years experience growing crops stockfree organically, sustainably and ethically.

Produced by David Graham. Made with a grant from The Movement for Compassionate Living.

View online : Growing Green: Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg