All human life depends on plants. Without them we wouldn’t be here. All plants are under threat
There’s a plan therefore, called The Millennium Seed Bank Project, to save seeds by collecting seeds from 24,000 species of plants by 2010, representing 10% of the worlds dry-land flora.
I’m not talking about losing (agricultural) diversity in the same way that you lose your car keys. I’m talking a bout losing it in the same way that we lost the dinosaurs: actually losing it, never to be seen again.
I’m not talking about losing (agricultural) diversity in the same way that you lose your car keys. I’m talking a bout losing it in the same way that we lost the dinosaurs: actually losing it, never to be seen again.
Can Healthy Eating Affect How Long You Live? Can you add 14 years to your life expectancy by choosing to eat a nutritious diet?
A 2008 study in the “Public Library of Science Medicine” revealed that the foods you eat on a regular basis play a role in not only helping your body to function, but also in promoting longevity by preventing disease. Your risk for health problems declines when you fill your plate with nutritious foods.
Over 35% of the Food Tested in 1998 Contained Pesticide Residues – US FDA
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), over 35% of the food tested in 1998 contained pesticide residues. Fifty-three pesticides classified as “carcinogens” are presently registered for use on major crops, including apples, tomatoes and potatoes.
Is Your Body Alkaline?
Just like your soils functioning better around a pH of 6.5 – 7.5, our bodies also function better with a pH of 7 or more. It is important that our bodies are alkaline as many common problems such as arthritis and cancer thrive in an acidic body.
Is this true? Vegetables aren’t as good for you as they used to be
According to new research, produce in the U.S. not only tastes worse than it did in your grandparents’ days, but also contains fewer nutrients. In fact, the average vegetable found in today’s supermarket is anywhere from 5 percent to 80 percent lower in minerals such as magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc than those harvested just 50 years ago.
Organic Food is Too Expensive or Cheap?
You often hear folks say that organic food is too expensive. What do you think? As far as we are concerned the answer is a resounding “No!!” In fact we always say that going organic is cheaper.
Do you believe that to feed the world we need bigger farms with bigger machinery and with more inputs in order to produce higher yields?
Just the existence of the Russian Permaculture Gardening Movement is proof that the answer is a resounding “No!!” Statistics show that over 70% of food is produced in Russia using under 5% of the arable land.
Are You Mindful When You Eat?
We have made it a habit that when we all sit down to share a meal together to take turns and to say what we are thankful for. Quite often our gratitude is for the food and in turn for the farmer who has grown some of the food on the table and who usually is some-one we have not met.
Why is it Impossible to Know Nature?
Scientists think they can understand nature. That is the stand they take. Because they are convinced that they can understand nature, they are committed to investigating nature and putting it to use. But I think an understanding of nature lies beyond the reach of human intelligence.
Toward a “do-nothing” farming as proposed by Masanobu Fukuoka in his book: “The One-Straw Revolution”
The usual way to go about developing a method is to ask “How about trying this?” or “How about trying that?” bringing in a variety of techniques one upon the other. This is modern agriculture and it only results in making the farmer busier.
Soil CARBON means WATER to me!! Do you want more SOIL or less? More CARBON or less? More WATER or less? Part 2
Most conventional agricultural practices include one or more – or all – of the above. Over the last 50 to 100 years, soil organic carbon levels in many areas have fallen by about 3%. This represents the LOSS of the ability to store around 504,000 litres of water per hectare.
Soil CARBON means WATER to me!! Do you want more SOIL or less? More CARBON or less? More WATER or less? Part 1
Water storage in soil depends on many factors, including rainfall, soil depth, soil texture and the clay minerals present. We cannot control rainfall or soil type. But we certainly CAN influence the capacity of the soil to store water.
Twelve Good Reasons to Improve Soil Health – Part 3 of 3
Crop-crippling pest infestation and disease occurs when there is a lack of biodiversity. A mono-crop grown in soil without a healthy biology is extremely vulnerable to massive pest infestation because it is a concentrated food source with no protective ecology.
Twelve Good Reasons to Improve Soil Health – Part 2 of 3
The organic substances produced by biological nutrient cycling (e.g., clay and humus) have an ionic charge that holds nutrients in soil. When there is little organic matter in soil, nutrients are easily leached out by rapidly moving water.
Twelve Good Reasons to Improve Soil Health – Part 1 of 3
Soil health is defined by its ability to perform essential ecosystem functions such as: nutrient cycling, water filtration, and habitat provision for plants and animals. Some properties that determine soil health include texture, depth, density, water infiltration and holding capacity, amount of organic matter, nutrient holding capacity (CEC) and respiration.
What is Natural Food?
Is it food which contains no artificial chemicals or additives? Is it wild food as found in nature? Is it cultivated food as grown by farmers? Let’s take a look at what Masanobu Fukuoka has to say when comparing an egg laid by one of his native hens running free compared to the egg laid by a hen cooped up on a typical farm.
The Importance of Eating Well When on the Move
When you’re home, you are master of your domain. You control what comes into the kitchen and what lands on your children’s plates. But what happens when you’re not at home – when you’re traveling, fighting traffic, waiting at the airport, running late or stuck at the mall and your child is starving?
Super Nutrition for Revitalised Soils
It has been recently demonstrated that soils man- aged organically, revitalised by a range of natural minerals and enriched with organic matter have pro- vided vegetable produce with superb flavour and rich in health promoting mineral nutrients.
The Importance of Producing Nutrient Dense Foods and the Value to the Grower and the Consumer – Part 2
The hand-held Brix meter was originally designed for farmers to measure nutrient levels of their produce and when to harvest crops. This precision instrument (refractometer) has a drop or two of the sap (juice) of the produce placed on the glass and held up to the light to read the Brix scale of zero to 32, the higher the Brix reading, the higher the nutrient levels.
The Importance of Producing Nutrient Dense Foods and the Value to the Grower and the Consumer – Part 1
A handy tool that every farmer interested in nutrient density and maximising production and quality is the refractometer, also known as a brix meter. The refractometer is a precision device used to measure the brix, mineral sugar content of saps and liquids.
Refractive Index of Crop Juices
Within a given species of plant, this adds up to a sweeter tasting, more minerally nutritious food with lower nitrate and water content, lower freezing point, and better storage attributes.
Weeds As Messengers – Part 4
This is a big subject, where we are just starting to experiment. Specific weeds come up for specific crops. For example in potatoes, Apple of Peru (Nicandra physalodes), Thornapple (Datura Stramonium) and Redroot (amaranthus) like areas where the soils have been loosened and mounded.
Weeds As Messengers – Part 3
If land is left uncovered due to land clearing or drought, certain weed species will rush in to cover the land. If it has had bush cleared then you will attract the phosphorus type plants.
