GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK,
Workshops: USA - TX, MS, FL [ECHO], CA, AR, NM;
México, Rep. Dominicana, Côté d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi,
Mozambique, Haití, England, India, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Indonesia, Liberia, Ghana
Box 1901, Lubbock TX 79408-1901 USA
Workshops in organic, no-till, permanent bed gardening, mini-farming and mini-livestock farming,
using bucket drip irrigation, worldwide, in English & Español
Organic, No-till Farming
The solution to world hunger is to teach farmers organic, no-till farming and there is unlimited, documented proof it is the best way to farm. “The hungriest people grow food for a living: 70% of the developing world’s extremely poor people are in rural communities and work in agriculture. They barely produce enough food to survive, which is why they’re referred to as subsistence farmers.” compatibletechnology.org The farmer does not need to buy anything, from anybody, at any time except seed for new crops.
These are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable. These practices can feed the world regardless of how high the population goes. UN Report Says Small-Scale Organic Farming Only Way to Feed the World. [2014] iatp.org My experience is that there are farmers in every country farming this way already but no way to find them.
Poor, unhealthy soil is the reason for low yields. Soil is unhealthy due to chemicals and low organic matter. The solution is to stop using chemicals and increase organic matter.
Organic, no-till farming, in permanent beds, with permanent paths, using only a machete, doubles or triples yields, reduces labor 50% to 75%, reduces inputs-expenses to nearly 0, creates healthy soil with high fertility, stops soil erosion, rain water runoff, soil compaction and eliminates most weed, disease, insect problems.
SRI – system of rice intensification: 50%-100% increased yields, up to 90% reduction in required seed, up to 50% savings in water. SRI has been adapted for rain-fed rice. panna.org/blog/bumper-crops-india-no-ge-required. sri.ciifad.cornell.edu in 70+ languages.
With no-till, organic matter [green manure/cover crops, weeds, crop residue] generates the following results:
v The mulch gradually rots into the soil providing a constant supply of nutrients while eliminating composting.
v Moisture retention due to the mulch layer means reduced need for watering; saving both resources and labor.
v Mulch prevents weeds from growing, reducing another laborious chore.
v Because of greater nutrients, plants can be positioned twice as densely as normally recommended.
v The combination of denser spacing and healthy soil means a fourfold increase in yield. Josef Graf
Roland Bunch has promoted green manure/cover crops, worldwide, since 1982. In Honduras, it made farming profitable and stopped migration to the city. Singing Frogs Farm, USA, since 2010. Fukaoka Farm, Japan, organic, no-till [rice, small .grains, vegetables] since 1947. Farmers, Yilou, Burkino Faso, mulching since 1965, At the time of my visits the following were organic, no-till: an Indian farmer [vegetables] for 5 years, a Malawi farmer [vegetables] for 25 years [model farm], Ghana farmer, 3 years [only one farmer knew it out of 385 farmers in the association] and Honduras farmer [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Reduced cost by 30% the first year and tripled profits in five years [Argentina]. I was on a farm [Honduras] where the farmer, alone, farms 4 hectares using a machete. In Uganda, farmers average 73 days weeding but only 5 days when using no-till. USA, farmer has been no-till since 1985 using tractor. 262,000,000 acres in no-till and 85,000,000 acres organic, worldwide.
No technique yet devised by man has been anywhere near as effective at halting
soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as 0-tillage (Baker)
1. Financial: no tractor, no implements, no chemicals, no fertilizers.
2. Healthy soil produces healthy plants which resists pests & diseases, for high yields.
3. Healthy soil is made by increasing organic matter using green manure/cover crops.
4. Soil always covered. Crop, mulch, cover crop.
5. Use green manure/cover crops. [mucuna/velvet bean but there are many others, legume and non-legume]
6. Weeds; never let go to seed. Cut and leave as mulch
7. Broadcast crops: alternate with seasonal cover crops
8. Intercropping and/or crop rotation
9. Leave all crop residues on top of the soil for mulch.
10. No-till: no plowing, no digging, no cultivating
11. Permanent beds: used since 2000 BC in Guatemala, Mexico. [1-2 m. wide; any length; paths between. Run beds north & south or on contour]
12. Permanent paths [15-20% of the land is in paths and that saves 15-20% of the seed, time and labor. If drip irrigating, saves 15-20% of the water.
13. Winter: hoop houses, high tunnels over beds.
14. Support for climbing plants: cages, trellises
15. Tools-hand: machete, planting hoe, scythe, double blade weed cutter, pruning saw, hula hoe, pruning shears, cart.
16. Seed - Open-pollinated No hybrids, No GMOs.
17. Transplants: start seed indoors as needed.
18. Seed: open-pollinated. No hybrids, GMOs.
19. Seed for new crops: More interest in this than anything I do. Edamame soybeans, tomatillos, popping sorghum, sweet sorghum [syrup], spaghetti squash, stevia [sugar], Chires baby maize, sweet maize, popping maize, broomcorn, buckwheat, Sea-rice 86, Artemisia annua [malaria control]
20. Irrigation: Use drip or bucket drip. The farmer makes the dripline [US$5]. One, 33m, will irrigate a row of crop using only 40 liters of water every other day. 20L bucket 1m above ground connects to dripline. A line can be moved to irrigate several rows per day. Water: stream, pond, well. A drip kit returns US$20 per month to the farmer [FAO study]. Request instructions
21. Moscovies: Should be on every farm. Eats bad insects, roosts in trees, needs little purchased food. Good eggs and meat.
22. Imitate nature. Most farmers fight nature.
Nature always wins.
A. http://rodaleinstitute.org/20101005_birke-baehr-food-fighter-and-future-farmer
B. Available: organic, mini-stock farming
C. craftsmanship.net/drought-fighters/ [OM is the key to soil fertility]
D. newhope360.com/trends/gmo-engineer-turns-organic-devotee-true-story
E. Free dvd on request
I volunteer my time to teach workshops, worldwide, in English or Spanish, when expenses are paid.
Ken Hargesheimer,
The agriculture corporations, farm supply stores and garden centers promote the use of chemicals, inorganic fertilizers and GMOs for profit; not because it is best for your garden or farm. No one profits promoting organic, no-till gardening/farming: nothing to sell.
"Plowing the land damages the soil almost as much as chemical weed killers do. It kills nitrogen-fixing bacteria." Onmivore's Dilemma “No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing. It can be said with truth that the use of the plow has actually destroyed the productiveness of our soils.” Edward Faulkner Plow to kill the weeds; that brings to the surface more seeds to sprout; more weeds to plow up.
Dear Ken, Thank you for the info. I am applying it in my own vegetable patch. It is working. Got about 10 pounds of potatoes per square yard. This off previously dead low, carbon soil. Sure next crop will be better. Your advise is so simple. People do not believe me when I tell them. I am so excited about growing things now. This coming from a commercial plum farmer. Jeremy Karsen, South Africa
We have already started several gardens in Jinkfuin community and the people working on them have benefitted from the DVDS we received from Ken. We watched the DVDs and got so many lessons and women and men already running gardens, good ones! Lia, Kimilili
I confirm Ken's advice. I've been using mulch and no-till since the late sixties. It works. It really works. I now manage a 5,000 ft² community garden in its fifth season. It started on hard clay with turf grass using cardboard and mulch. Leaves are added to the beds every fall and it has never been tilled. It's a beautiful, fruitful garden. I have friends who have sand and advised them to do the same. They've been very successful as well. It will work anywhere. Judith Hainaut
Uganda: We have been working on improving farming techniques for almost a year. The farmers are planting small plots that only feed their family. There is no other choice but to try new techniques to improve the output of their plot. Ken suggested the "no till" farming techniques as well as the "drip system". Both have proven effective at increasing production by at least 5 fold. The time is now for Kyomya to become a model agricultural village. [nabuur.com]
Ken has instructed us by introducing cover crops to improve the organic nature of the soil. This involves less work than the previous method and has resulted in double the yield from crops where this method has been implemented.’ Busukuma, nabuur.com
Appropriate Technology:
Bicycle trailer [cargo, passengers, tank]
1. Clothes washer [saves hours of work]
2. Composting toilet [inside house]
3. Solar cooker
4. Solar food drier [vegetables, fruit, meat]
a. i4@org/surv/solarbox.htm
b. solarfooddryer.com/mother_earth_news_article.pdf
c. solarcookers.org
d. Humanure.org [toilet]
e. youtube.com/watch?v=riqYz2WEfRQ [clothes washer
f.publications.cta.int/en/publications/publication/1802/. solar