A. More than one I’ve mentioned I don’t use any sort of fertilizers or soil amendments in my garden. However, I don’t know if I have provided the background as to how was I able to stop using these products and still have a 1……….So today, I thought I’d spend a few minutes addressing this topic.
B. I would like to start by saying that I am not suggesting that anyone should just 2……..using these products. Rather I would like to add it in a small way or an approach that I think that over time may reduce or even eliminate the needs for these products. But first let me do the illustration the Massunobu Fukuoka’s book-the One-Straw Revolution. This book is not only 3……of my YouTube channel, but it also changes my way of thinking about growing food.
C. At the time when the modern agriculture was first taking strong foothold into Japan, instead of asking “what if we try this, what if we try that?” would ask, “what if I don’t do this? “ what if I don’t do that?” So when the neighboring farms were buying a heavy machinery to plough the fields. Fukuoka stopped ploughing altogether.He didn’t use any 5……, herbicides and pesticides. And as a raised farmer he even abandoned the ancient practice of flooding the rice fields. But he had the result that was compliable or even superior to neighboring farms who invested a 6….. in heavy machinery, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
D. To built his soil, Fukuoka would return the organic matter back to the soil as mulch. In addition, he planted 7….. clover crops and trees. Using this support, soil became richer and richer year after year. At the same time, the soil of the neighboring farms became more and more depleted as the result of the modern 8…..,resulting in the needs of the greater and greater investment in fertilizers. Finally, Fukuoka avoided manual cultures and planted a 9…… thereby attracting wide variety of insects, birds and other wild lives which created a nature balance of predators
and prays and help prevent any pests from causing too much damage without having to 10………
E. There is a greater more I can say about this wonderful little book. But I couldn’t possibly do it just as in the time that I have here. Suffice to say, The One-Straw Revolution was an instrumental in leading me to a “ less is more” approach to gardening.