Growing The Land, Growing People

A farm is true to its essential nature, in the best sense of the word, if it is conceived as a kind of individual entity in itself — a self-contained individuality. Rudolf Steiner - Lecture 2, The Agriculture Course Urs the Pig from an almost self-sufficient Permaculture farm I visited in Switzerland (1.1) The concept of a farm organism views the farm to be "a kind of individual entity in itself." The farm consists of different organs similar to the human body, each organ carries out its own function, in harmony with all the other organs, to collectively form a living organism. The practice of composting may be compared to the digestive system, while the thinking /conscious faculties are conveyed through the people that have a relationship to the farm, and they serve a function within the whole farm organism.The farmer must harmonise all the elements that make up the whole individuality of the farm, this includes animal life, biodiversity, composting/manure, biodynamic preparations, soil health, land-workers/students, and the life forces. Ideally, the farm organism would be self-sustaining [1] but this is very difficult to attain especially for smallholdings or educational farms. The farmer should aim for this ideal, but most importantly take great care in ensuring that nothing is brought into the farm that could cause discord within the organism of the farm. During the course weekend at Ruskin Mill, we assembled a picture of all the parts of a farm. We worked our way through the mineral kingdom, plant kingdom, animal kingdom, and into the human kingdom. Dan Powell from The Biodynamic Association Farm Services came to talk with us to understand all of the elements that make up a farm. I have collated what we covered below. Pishwanton Woods The Farm Organism Biodiversity Within The Farm Organism Biodiversity is a key indicator of the health of the farm. Most of the diverse varieties of fungi, animals, plants, and microorganisms have a symbiotic relationship with one another. A farm abundant in biodiversity is able to support a larger number of organisms, which in turn can support more organisms, which can support even more organisms, and many of these organisms help maintain healthy soils and other living organisms of the farm. The biodiversity of the farm, in my view, is comparable with the immune system of human beings. (2.1) Walking from the Ruskin Mill Cafe to the Farm Shop, there is a constantly transforming landscape, consisting of ponds, woods, streams, meadows, stone walls, pasture, cultivated land, orchards, compost heaps, and hedgerows, which provide habitats for plants, animals, and microorganisms. (2.2) The ponds in the valley provide a habitat for many species of birds. The Kingfishers, Grey Herons, and a couple of Swans enjoy feeding on the small Brown Trout, that escape from the fish farm, and out through the river. The fish farm team also release Brown Trout fry into the large lakes in the valley, this provides an important food source for the birds and other creatures. The Herons have Trout and Crayfish in abundance, meaning that they don't have to leave the valley in search of food. Otters also frequent the ponds in the valley, I have seen three of them together late at night while walking my dog through the valley. I have also seen the footage that the fish farm team have captured with their night vision cameras. (2.3) The fish farm manager has explained that the otters used to gorge on trout from the farm ponds all night, it was initially assumed that people were stealing the fish, but cameras proved that it was Otters. The fish farm today has a high perimeter fence, and every pond has a 'hat' on the outflow drainage, this is to stop Otters entering the ponds through the drainage pipes that meet with the river. The Otter still have access to the trout living in the ponds outside the fish farm. The ponds and the banks are home to a wide range of plant species, such as Water Mint Mentha Aquatica, Sedges Cyperaceae, Water Lillies Nymphaeaceae, Skunk Cabbage Lysichiton americanus, Arrow Head Sagittaria sagittifolia, Hornwort Ceratophyllum demersum, and Algae. Supporting Habitats In the valley, we generate a great quality of green waste throughout the year. This is due to the vastness of the valley, and the consistent upkeep that is needed such as pruning, trimming, mowing, pond cleaning, and hedge trimming. The material quickly builds up. The matter that can be composted is either added to compost piles, put in the Ridan, or added to long-term compost. Brambles and other hardy weeds are taken to the back of the fish farm to be burned. (3.1) Some green waste that cannot be composted within a reasonable time needs to find another place. Large branches can be made into firewood. But the valley has a very small stove that is not frequently used, as it cannot provide much heat for such an open environment, it has the purpose of providing social warmth. Anyway, the remaining green waste is often taken to be burned. This provides a good task for the students to take a wheelbarrow full of green waste over to the fish farm to be burned (as fires cannot be made near the houses in the valley) but there may be other ways of dealing with these materials that provide habitats for insects, and potentially food for other animals. Also, it would free up opportunities for other potentially more interesting, and meaningful tasks. For example, this morning I was scything goldenrod from the bank. I decided that instead of it being taken to the fish farm to be burned, I would carry it 20 metres further up the bank, and start to create a habitat. Also, when pruning some Apple Trees last week, I did the same thing, I carried all of the branches up the bank. Now, all of these piles of matter are out of sight. They are also in areas that are unlikely to be disturbed. This ticks the box of creating a valley that looks well kept, and of dealing with large amounts of green waste. But it also saves energy, and time that could be used for other tasks. At the core of this though is providing natural habitat, and allowing nature to break down materials near to where they originally were growing. (3.2) In the valley we will be more conscientious of building habitats from green waste. An apple branch will be of more service to nature if it is allowed to slowly decompose near the orchard as food for rabbits, roedeer, woodlice, worms, and micro-organisms. Bibliography [1] Whatever you need for agricultural production, you should try to possess it within the farm itself (Page 29, Lecture Two, The Agriculture Course)