How to be a good steward of the land and a good gardener.

This blog is an attempt to offer constructive criticism on becoming a better steward of the land. This involves efficient use of space so you can imitate how nature grows plants. This at the heart of Permaculture. Keeping the ground protected helps to enhance the life of the soil. Leaving the land bare is popular amongst farmers. Only humans do this. As the sun bakes the life out of it, the wind sucks the life out of it and the rains washes it away. Utilizing the principles of agroecology and intensive planting helps create balance and protects the fragile life under ground. Viewing the photos below offers ways to manifest life both below and above the ground. The first photo is cabbage planted in a staggered pattern interplanted with radishes and turnips. This is an example of polyculture and succession planting. As the cabbage grows and encompasses the space the turnips and radishes are harvested to allow more room. This is much more productive than the photo besides it using plastic mulch which releases toxins over time. The next photo is very common example of straight rows down the bed. Nothing in nature grows in this type of design. Planting in staggered patterns imitates nature, uses space efficiently and prevents weeds. The photo of beets planted next to it are broadcast which provides a much better yield. Below that photo are broccoli planted in a staggered pattern. This system more than quadruples the yield per given space. The living mulch they create develops a micro environment that supports their growth on many levels. The next photo is a box garden. I know people love box gardens. They are contained. I love transforming, regenerating and healing soil and environments. This is my passion and what I have done for several decades, but it may be too much work if you do not love it. When I see the sides of the box, I also see where it could produce a case of lettuce or a large bag of carrots. That is how I hold my beds together. People are conditioned to be consumers. This is the opposite of producing.. Gardening involves producing something with nature. So instead of buying wood, soil, plants, plastic and the latest invention, I use nature to create abundance. The argument is that the soil might be toxic. If so, have it tested. The soil or so called compost in bags might also have toxic ingredients. In my research I have found this to be true. There is no organic standard for compost. I also enjoy remediating toxic soil with plants through phytoremediation. I want box gardeners to think outside the box. There is a whole beautiful natural world under your feet waiting for you to connect with it. Near the bottom is a plastic tarp used to kill weeds. Weeds are the scar tissue of people's damage to the land. Weeds protect the soil and utilize land efficiently if you do not. In this way they are teachers. They can be very useful. I plant intensively and so only weed once or not at all. The plastic suffocates the soil and kills the beneficial microorganisms. Healthy soil breathes and pulsates like all living organisms. The photo on the bottom is a bed that allows this to happen. Invest in the soil and it will pay you back several fold. The garden creates the gardener as the gardener creates the garden. But you have to be open to the process for this to happen. There is more detail in my book, Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming.