Living soil

Did you know that soil; people and animals have a lot in common?.

We all contain the very essence of life in the enzymes that we carry in our bodies; enzymes that help us to digest our food, enzymes that bring minerals to the plants from the soil and enzymes that tenderise the meat we eat. When we have all the essential minerals we will have a strong immune system. Soil that is rich in minerals means healthy plants and healthy animals - everything is related.

Living soil contains microbes, fungi, worms and myriads of other tiny creatures and this is what makes healthy soil. Soil that has all its minerals available can then pass them onto you as you eat through the vegetables that grow in it. This will give you all the minerals you need without taking any supplements.

Is the food you eat vital and nutrient dense or is your body crying out for missing minerals? Do you often feel a bit below par and catch a cold or flu quite often? Conventionally grown foods are usually grown with chemical fertilisers and are most likely grown in mineral deficient soils and therefore cannot pass onto you all the minerals you need. They may look OK but they are often force fed with nitrogen in the form of urea so this makes them watery and as a result they taste less. Artificial fertilisers force- feed the plants the macro minerals but the trace elements are often deficient. We are living in an age where food is cheap and plentiful but never has food been so nutritionally inferior. The only real solution to good health is by growing and producing as much as possible our own food, and then sharing the surplus by bartering with others in the community. This section on soil health- building soil will help you to understand what soil is made of, of what goes on below the surface. It will help you to understand what makes good soil and how to achieve this. We will look at soil structure; soil fertility and how to build a fertile, living soil.

Composting and worm farming are an essential part of this process, as is making your own bokashi to help breakdown organic matter directly on your garden beds. When you understand how to build a living soil you can easily grow your own healthy food that will in turn give you blooming good health. Plants grown in healthy living soil will grow themselves with very little attention. Most of the work is done in the preparation before planting; I call this the set and forget method. Most of my time in the garden is spent walking around with a cup of tea in my hand and simply enjoy watching the plants grow! I have worked in various gardens and by comparison I know that my soil health is superior by looking at the results. Having healthy, living soil makes all the difference when you want to grow food all year round without too much effort.

Organic Care of Livestock

Healthy animals are trouble free to keep and they can give you so much in return. We have kept cows, sheep, goats and pigs for over ten years and we have seldom needed the vet. The important thing to remember is that when your livestock have all their mineral needs met then there is very little to worry about. I give all my milkers a daily addition of mineral supplement in their feed and I'm sure this gives them more than what I take from them. Their manure also benefits the garden and helps supply all our mineral needs as well. Keeping their minerals up to them also protects them from parasites.

Except for prolonged dry spells when supplement feeding might be necessary, there is very little cost to keeping livestock for milk, manure and meat. Pigs of course are a different matter as they need more calorie dense food &endash; but more about that later. When you are using Permaculture principles, it will be much easier to be self- sufficient and a whole new world can open up for you. Everything you do has at least two or three reasons to be put into the system. For instance, you can grow lots of pigeon pea shrubs for mulching material for the gardens and you have the added bonus of harvesting the peas and make a delicious dahl as well. That's two reasons, but consider the nitrogen fixing effect this legume has in your soil, this means increased fertility. And do you also know that all livestock adore this tasty legume and that it survives during long dry spells? Do you get the picture?

There is also a whole range of livestock fodder you can grow for your animals, including the pig, but do you realise that a lot of these easy to grow foods are tasty for humans as well? Most of these are tropical in origin and those of you who are living in the sub tropics and tropics can very easily tap into these unusual foods. The permaculture way of farming and gardening really suits the self- sufficient farmer as it offers so much diversity. Once you are familiar with the Permaculture principles, it becomes a handy tool for your own individual needs and circumstances. No two farms are alike nor any two gardens, as every situation has its own particular needs.

elisabeth@permacultureproduce.info

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