water
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Compost Squash Insights into Soil Function
The reason I love watching things grow in compost piles is that it’s a very visual and clear example of how plants respond to high microbial activity and organic matter. There’s an overflow compost here, a sort of secondary pile where anything extra I can’t process through a worm bin first ends up. It’s a Continue reading
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Under The Canopy
This week I was able to get away from farming for two days and went camping in Nopiming Provincial Park. The heat had finally arrived and after going non-stop since the end of April, with the cool season we’ve had the heat hit hard and fast. There’s no point to getting heat exhaustion this early Continue reading
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Farming Requires Empathy
An errand for some supplies. The product we usually get was sold out, or awaiting delivery. We were offered a similar product as a replacement. Upon closer inspection, this “similar product” included some odd trademarked “additives,” which were of mysterious patented origins. The package also included this very helpful note: WEAR GLOVES WHILE HANDLING THIS Continue reading
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Wetlands are Critical Agricultural Infrastructure
Like many other types of ecosystems, wetlands have had more-than-significant destruction and elimination over the past century. Where I live there was once a place called St Andrews Bog which covered some 116, 000 acres. It was nearly all drained, leaving only a small section of the south portion of Lake Winnipeg and, later, a Continue reading
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Just Passing This On
Some of the most fascinating and important research being done in the area of forestry is happening right here in Canada by a Canadian scientist. Suzanne Simard’s work over the past decades in forest biology and tree communication has wide-reaching implications. There have been many who have stated in some form or another that all Continue reading
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The Tale of Humble Tea and the Sea
The sea is the gift that keeps on giving this winter (and it is rare to have so reliable a subject as an amateur nature photographer). The lesson learned from last week is that visiting the same place every day allows nature to reveal herself slowly and gain new appreciations for the forces that shape Continue reading
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The Incredible Oceans
Something magical can happen if you return to the same place every day to document it. Nature works slowly and reveals the methods of her beauty over time. After 8 consecutive days and nights of -15C to -20C and colder, the sea crusted over in a beautiful pattern of hardened slush. Visiting the same site Continue reading
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The Fragility of Water
The phenomenon known as “sea smoke” happens when temperatures drop. Relatively warm water meets very cold air, and we can see condensation occur, making it appear as though there is steam rising from the body of water. It is a strikingly beautiful thing, and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to take amazing photos Continue reading
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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
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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
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 