Introduction
As days end, seasons change, people grow older, and years pass. During this time, we are shaped by our experiences, human interactions and the media we are exposed to. This same concept applies to all the discoveries and revelations we make while growing our own food. While gardening is all a big experiment it is still important to always question your methods as every year is different and comes with its own set of challenges. It is very rare if not impossible for me to have a perfect gardening season where everything goes as intended. The past few years a lot of my corps have struggled with high temperatures, extreme storms, lack of rainfall throughout long periods season, and high pest pressure.
None of these issues are isolated to me I am sure but at times it does feel like I get hit the hardest. I know that this is all just in my head and that it is best to focus on my own successes and shortcomings rather than to compare myself to everyone else at my community garden plot or the highly manicured gardeners of Instagram and YouTube. As of recent, I have been doing a lot of reading and feel as though my already outlandish perspective of gardening has somehow gone more extreme from a few new gardening/permaculture books. If you clicked on this blog, you are either already familiar with the book or you are curious as the title of the book is in the title of this blog.
Masanobu Fukuoka, famous farmer, author and philosopher wrote the One Straw Revolution and published it in September of 1975 (50 Years from the time me writing of this blog). If you are part of any permaculture circle or are planning to take a permaculture design class and exposed to most media within the niche you will eventually run into a lot of recommendations by people to read Fukuoka’s book.
This was my gateway to read the book as my instructor of my permaculture design course had recommended the book immensely. It took me a few years after college, but I eventually got around to looking up the book on YouTube to see if I could listen to it while finishing up some office work during my 9-5. It took me maybe two or three days to finish up the pirated audiobook on YouTube but I recall feeling awakened by what Fukuoka had to say in his book. It resonated with a lot of permaculture values and principles while still focusing largely on a more annual based system rather than mainly perennial. I ended up taking the time and actually read his book after listening as well.
Fukuoka was able to prove that you can sustain yields in grain and fruit production without the need of high amounts of external inputs or modern machinery as is common in conventional agricultural settings. He pushed the boundaries on a lot of different “truths” in conventional agriculture and research at the time and proved his method to be true or successful on his land. The question then lingers about how he was able to sustain such an operation with such yields despite not doing almost everything one is told to do when growing grain. This concept of “not doing” fits perfectly into permaculture but is still arguably too advanced (or primitive depending on how you look at it) for the entire mainstream who take the time to try and achieve the unachievable as to support a business/brand or sell a “method”. Many people promote the book but are hypocrites to the message they praise and promote.
From this I wish to give to you my philosophy on why Fukuoka was on to something, how he came about to develop such a method and how it worked for his landscape. This philosophy does take a bit of tinkering and time to get established as well as a few initial inputs to kickstart severely abused land but once you get it going it is easier over time. I will highlight some of my biggest takeaways from the book and do my best to inspire you to read his book and take away the essence of his writing. The main goal of this article is to inspire you to have all or parts of his method take form in your garden or landscape for the gain of both your quality of life and the health of the ecosystem as a whole.
1. Based on Observation
Fukuoka’s “method” is really an observation of nature. There is no new discovery being made and patented. His work is merely an observation from decades of trial and error for what worked for his land in his climate. Do note that when I write “trial and error” I am talking about doing less instead of doing more. An example of this would be to try not tilling; not spraying weeds, not amending your land with compost or fertilizer every season, not eradicating pests or disease, etc. This mindset is often the opposite mindset we would see in the United States or overall conventional farming operations. I am surrounded by land focused on conventional agriculture. Not only is this type of agriculture bad for the soil, water, and human, it is also bad for the plants in the long run.
Yes, you read that correctly. When we do everything as to gain better control over a plant or crops yield we end up coddling the plants. We make them weaker and each season that passes creates crops that are more reliant on human inputs and effort for the same yield. One could argue that in the age of GMO commodity crops that this mindset is outdated, but I assure you it is not. Many of these GMO crops are bred to be able to withstand herbicide intended for other “weeds”. This may not impact the crop directly but it will slowly select for “weeds” that are resistant to everything humans have to throw at it.
We must remember that these herbicides and pesticides are larger versions of antibiotics. They are meant to kill, but not everything gets killed with poor or improper treatment leading to the potential genes of survivors to be passed on and propagated. These weeds will eventually handicap farmers and leave them back a square one.
2. Less Work More Yield
One may be wondering what the solution is then. How can one raise a good crop harvest with weeds and a lack of human inputs? The answer is easy, change. Change in the ways which we grow food and the crops that we grow. We must focus on feeding people in our community rather than biofuel and feed for feedlots for animals intended to eat mainly grass. We must farm less land per operator; no one person should have control over thousands of acres in a county. That leaves room for low diversity in practice or mindset and can significantly harm an ecosystem (i.e. farmer John only grows milo and soybean, doesn’t believe in cover crops and farms to the ditch to maximize yield/profit).
The secret is diversity. Before there was farming and ranching there was diversity. Diversity in plant and microbial life, diversity in terrain, animals, ground cover, disturbance and more were all common. When we begin to try and mimic that and do less we will soon realize that after some time our yield is the same if not better with the more plants, animals, and microbes we have doing work for us. Fukuoka utilizes diversity in his method to reduce weeds with white clover (inter-sown with his small grains) which fertilizes his ground. He also uses the straw from his grain as mulch which puts carbon back in the soil and gives various organisms a home, further reduces pests, and reduces weeds. Whatever weeds that are left are periodically removed manually by hand and left to decompose in the field which fertilizes the field. It is important to note here that weeds have purpose to and interact with the environment in various ways.
3. Saves You Money
When you have all these different organisms doing work for you it makes sense that you expense sheet would go way down. No longer would you need to spend money on herbicide, pesticide, or fungicide. Your biggest expense at that point is your seed (unless you save your own) and operating costs for the land (taxes) and equipment (if any). This is where the idea of less land is more (to an extent) as one doesn’t need as much land as they would think if diversity is on their farm or ranch. With less land you have more time to tend to your fields with less equipment.
In the end your wallet ends up being fatter since you are saving all your money on expenses, your time is freer allowing for the pursuit of other interests or work. Fukuoka relies predominantly on hand tools and physical labor for harvesting, planting, and weeding. While the idea of manually planting, weeding, and harvesting seems exhausting keep in mind that this was how farming was done for centuries, if many could do it before it can be done again.
4. Promotes Resilience
When you are able to take away all the inputs needed to have a good yield you are no longer concerned with the price of these inputs. When you grow your own seed you are no longer concerned with the cost of seed. When all your work can be done by hand you are now free from the constraints of machines and their cost of upkeep. It is through this which you will discover your bond with the land and the sweetness which it gifts you. As you develop your own method for your piece of land and improve you soil over time your life will improve with the soil. Once you have broken free from the cycle of input expenses, you are freer to try things that are unorthodox or more creative than your neighbors inevitably giving you an edge up in the market as you experiment more and more.
5. Works for Perennial and Annual Systems
Fukuoka’s method was intended for both annual systems and perennial systems. He had both grain production and a mandarin orange orchard which was one of his biggest sources of income. He was one of the first in Japan to grow grass with his orchards and promote semi-wild crops to grow like radish. He often would allow annuals to seed on their own and disperse them freely where they saw fit. This gave the illusion of an untamed forest and was similar in contrast to a natural forest setting to some degree.
Conclusion
While I didn’t tell you the “secret” to Fukuoka’s method I do believe that I highlighted the core values which I felt were significant and potentially life changing to those who are lucky to be able to grow food either on their own land or on leased or “gifted” land. When we are able to intertwine diversity into a system whether it be species diversity or genetic diversity I say the sky is the limit, the more interactions that go on, the greater the benefits. After more than 10 species are interacting with eachother it should be noted that we are unable to really grasp all the connections that are happening beneath our feet and within the ecosystem. Remove just one of those interactions and the pieces begin to tumble. I trust that this is the key take away of this blog, do less to achieve more, cultivate an ecosystem and let it do the work it was previously doing for us.