Farming for the Future

While I was looking at info on Biochar (see this post) I ran across the above documentary about sustainable farming. The information is sobering but something we should all consider.

The narrator explores options for her family farm which is suffering from the rising costs of fossil fuels. Through her drive to create a more sustainable farming environment, she discovers revolutionary methods in farming. The part that struck a cord with me was the farmer/gardener who was using tips from nature to make a farm that grew in levels, ground plants, bushes, trees and all the plants needed to make a farm basically thrive on its own.

In essence he explained that rather than fighting nature farmers can learn to work with nature and use its natural abilities to produce amazing and more sustainable results. Not only does his method require no dependence on fossil fuels, but it also requires very little manual labor and allows for maximum production on a minimum amount of land.

As I've stated in other posts (see here and here), I'm concerned about the centralization of our food supply. As a farm girl myself, I'm glad to see that local farming and gardening is making a comeback. Many have taken a page from the WWII lesson of victory farms and started growing their own food. This step could very well save many of us in the future, especially as the problems with fossil fuels increase.

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.

As an afterthought, a few months ago I heard about a place in Scotland called Findhorn. Shortly after, I found a book about Findhorn in the Library's for sale section. Now, the reason I haven't posted anything about it previously is because the history of Findhorn and its founders is a bit, shall we say, strange. However, the founders were able to create gardens that defied all explanation. Not only did they grow plants in sandy soil, but their plants were miraculously large and vibrant. 

Over the years, Findhorn evolved to a sustainable village that uses eco-friendly methods to grow food and sustain life.  They have a sewage treatment system that uses plants as filters (Findhorn isn't the only one using plants for sewage treatment successfully: See here) and homes that use solar and wind power for energy. So strange beginnings and all there is something there worth learning. Here is a video about the place and if you can overlook the hippie-esqueness, there is much to be learned:

As another afterthought of which I'm full it seems, I've been watching a show called Doomsday Preppers, but what I found after a while was the theme of "us vs. them," whoever the "them" are. While I've learned good tips on preparedness in watching the show, I've also noticed the survivor mentality or the theme of fear driving the actions, whereas places like Findhorn or people who are searching for sustainable futures are working on a survival theme as well without the "us vs. them" fear. The idea is to create (rather than defend), a future that everyone will be able to participate in--not just those who've holed up in bunkers loaded with ammo. I rather prefer the idea of creating a future rather than just defending one based on mere survival.