Bringing the Land Back to Life

The predominant approach to most agriculture today is one of death. Most of what farmers apply to the land, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, etc. even if they are organic, is intended to kill life. It is a tempting approach to take, especially when different life forms are threatening the crops and animals we are producing. But, although I am not opposed to protecting our crops and animals, my perspective on what results in health on my farm is a bit different. When we look at healthy eco-systems vs. unhealthy eco-systems in creation we see that health is a result of an abundance and diversity of life, not a lack of it. The sterility approach does not, therefore, offer a long term solution for challenges on our farms and ends up producing more problems. The picture for this happening shows a compost pile, which is one way we add life back into the soil. Compost is not just rotted materials, but it is decomposed organic matter teaming with healthy soil microbes! When we add this back to the land it adds the missing ingredients we need to have healthy soil. And healthy soil results in healthy, living food for you and I to eat! So cool.