Dear members and supporters of Oz,
As farmers, we are in fact not so much “growers” of food as caretakers of the soil. The soil is not static, uniform dirt, but rather an ecosystem thriving with life - bacteria, fungi, algae, worms, nematodes etc. Plants, including the food we grow here at Oz, are just one node of this larger web that depends on everything else.
For the last hundred years, fossil-fuel based tractor work has dominated the relationship between farmers and soil (conventional and organic), most foundationally in the realm of tillage. Tillage is essentially the preparation for planting through mechanical mixing of the soil that leaves a bare surface to plant into. The mechanics, the speed and the convenience are powerful and necessary in some sense to feed an ever-growing human population. The power and ease of it can also be blinding to larger consequences.
We are now taking a closer look at those repercussions – disturbance and destruction of the soil ecosystem large and small, dependence on fossil fuels, the release of carbon from the soil, compaction, erosion and nutrient runoff, and endless growth of “weeds” that are just trying to cover the soil back up in its natural aliveness. Our human ideas are habitual and shortsighted in the belief that we can dominate the land and find a better way to work than the systems evolved over two thousand million years.
I, too, have been trained over the last decade in the “conventional” organic methods of growing food. I have run a tractor over many fields, watching an entire ecosystem taken out in a matter of minutes through the disturbance of soil with a powerful machine. I, too, am grappling with how do I examine my conditioned understanding of farming methods, unlearning and relearning with a wider understanding and attentiveness to soil, plant, and ecosystem health? It’s easiest to go with the flow, go with what we know, but the renegade spirit here at Oz has inspired a turn onto the path of no-till, a hot and controversial subject right now in the agricultural community.
At Oz this season we are beginning to practice no-till agriculture, a system in which we try to leave the soil undisturbed as much as possible while continuing to feed and care for it. We cover fields with silage tarps to occultate, allowing the crop residue to break down underneath while simultaneously germinating “weeds” that die back without light, creating a bare planting surface with less long-term weed pressure. The apprentices run a broad-fork through the soil before planting to aerate and open without pulverizing the natural structure (and they get a good workout!). We are playing with cause and effect, keeping our senses open, paying close attention to everything, and making lots of mistakes along the way! There are no instant results in farming, and not a whole lot of results to report on yet; we are at the beginning of a new chapter and our invitation is trust, to witness the unfolding over many seasons.
This land holds a rich history of friends and farmers that endeavor to breach the norms and together create a path to explore and sustain our connection to the land and greater community. Through no-till agriculture we are striving to understand how to harmonize with the natural systems that nourish the growth of soil, plants, and people. Thank you for your support of these endeavors in myriad shapes and forms. Please take a moment to appreciate the soil this week as you roast up the roots!
Katy
Oz Farm Manager
