soil
-
Adding Cover Crops to our No-Till System
After admitting a little bit of defeat and looking at the positives of our system, we need to find a way to both be able to continue within the system while we work on a solution to the problem. The most obvious solution is to start over. If the weeds continue to return regardless of Continue reading
-
Looking At The Positives
Week two here of examining the Shortfalls Of Our Zero Till system, and maybe the first thing after admitting defeat should be to look at all the positives and see what lessons we can and should carry forward. This past 2023 season we saw a record amount of productivity out of the field…we were more Continue reading
-
Shortfalls of Our Zero-Till
For a few years now we have, at the end of each season, applied a large amount of compost to our zero-till beds. Through the years we experimented with different sorts of combinations of leaves, mulch and broadforking, all in attempt to loosen up our hard clay. In general it worked. We accomplished our goals: Continue reading
-
Underwater Photosynthesis
In underwater plants observed in a planted aquarium, it is possible to see oxygen pooling on the leaves and releasing a mosaic of bubbles into the water column. Even underwater, we can literally see that plants use light to drive the splitting of Carbon from Oxygen, and even underwater, plants harness microbial communities to survive Continue reading
-
4th Time Is a Charm: Growing Parsnips
Once upon a time I had a grand idea to grow Parnsips in a no-dig system. The first attempt I used some old seeds lying around, and none came up. I would learn later that to get good Parsnip germination you need fresh seeds. The second attempt I succeeded at germination, however our hard, thick Continue reading
-
What Ghost Pipes Can Teach Us About “Nutrients”
Recently I was lucky enough to see some Ghost Plants aka Ghost Pipe on a hike. These creatures are fascinating enough but when I got back to farming, I noticed some in my own back yard. One of the things I hear most when talking about farming is the topic of “nutrients.” The Ghost Pipe Continue reading
-
Leaf Mulch and the Water Cycle
This past week we planted 800 Peppers (bell and hot) into leaf mulch. Continue reading
-
Soil Temperature Measurements I
It occurred to me that I had never taken a soil temperature reading, so I’m going to start and see what we find. We use these row covers quite extensively, but I’ve never measured just how much they increase the temperature – and specifically soil temperature – underneath. We have also never applied mulch in Continue reading
-
What are we doing to our soil?
Humans have spent eons changing the landscape, clearing forests, draining wetlands, and ploughing grasslands to grow food. And we are still doing this, in sensitive and ever-disappearing ecosystems. With the advent of what I’m going to refer to as “chemical farming” (synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides) which began in the early 20th century, agriculture entered Continue reading
About Graham
Graham is an ecologist-farmer from Canada working on educating about the wonders and beauty of the natural world, and how we can design biodiverse food production systems.
Complimentary Blueberry Juice 