July
14, 2005: When it comes to dreaming up and
successfully operating a sustainable small farm enterprise,
Barbara Berst Adams covers all the bases in her very readable
book, Micro Eco-Farming: Prospering from Backyard to Small
Acreage in Partnership with the Earth (New World Publishing,
2004).
The first few times I heard about this book, I assumed it
was a how-to tome offering a new blueprint or technique in
the vein of Mel Bartholomew’s Square-Foot Gardening
or John Jeavons’ Biointensive gardening. While both
methods—and many others—are referenced in this
quick-paced compendium of small-scale farming, what is presented
is not a specific technique but a collection of stories reflecting
how a variety of farmers across the country have applied these
different methods—and invented many of their own—to
suit their specific conditions, crops, livestock, and communities.
Interwoven with these real-life examples of micro-farming
success are lessons in agronomy, animal husbandry, and marketing,
all backdropped with a socio-spiritual curtain and glimpses
of Utopia.
This book speaks immediately to the soul that’s already
grounded—or maybe I should say floating—in a world
of magical possibilities, where visualizing is realizing and
all would be well if everyone could just feel the vibe. To
the non-converted, the text might read—as one farmer
put it while somewhat apologetically trying to explain the
underlying principles of biodynamic agriculture—a little
“airy faery.” It would be a shame, though, if
the flower-child language scares anyone away, because this
book is packed with solid information and practical advice.
While a few of the book’s anecdotes seem grandiose
and a little far-fetched—a farmer who spared the life
of a coyote who in turn protects his chickens and eats his
rodents—for the most part the book is chock full of
diverse and inspiring stories, anecdotes and techniques useful
to anyone dreaming about earning extra income or making a
living off of a small piece of land ranging in size from a
modest backyard up to several acres.
Adams, a successful “micro eco-farmer” herself,
walks the reader through concepts such as local economies
and their environmental and social benefits; heirloom varieties,
their attributes and the importance of the stories they tell;
and niche marketing, including how to assess one’s customer
base in relation to one’s own vision. The author continually
returns to the concept of the “whole farm,” where
each part integrates with the whole in a mutually beneficial
relationship—from the animals, to the insects, to the
soil, to the plants, to the farmer and his or her family,
expanding outward to the local community and region. She offers
an abundance of examples of how farmers have come up with
one-of-a-kind products—from specialty wool to simply
the experience of interacting with animals—or turned
a problem into an advantage—such as the couple who sold
homemade salsa “kits” like hotcakes right smack
in the middle of a tomato glut.
Other themes Adams covers include remineralization (restoring
the earth’s perfect balance of micro- and macro-nutrients),
permacultural concepts of letting nature do the work for you,
intercropping, successional and companion planting, growing
vertically, choosing crops for regional adaptability, permanent
raised beds, vermicomposting, paddock rotation and species
diversity, animals as farmhands, foliar feeding and compost
tea, and working with and creating microclimates.
Adams also addresses nontraditional methods of new—New
Age, some might say—agriculture, such as restructured
water and radionics/paramagnetics.
Throughout the book, Adams counsels the reader to go slow
and to observe. That goes for the garden (noting what grows
best where) and the marketplace (taking account of what niche
might need filling with a particular specialty crop or value-added
product).
For the successful micro eco-farm, Adams reminds us, diversity
and adaptability are key. She demonstrates this with anecdotes
as far ranging as the story of “Chile Man” Robert
Farr—who bailed on a corporate job to relocate to a
10-acre Virginia farm where he picks an estimated 2 million
peppers annually for his specialty sauces—to Jeremiath
Gettle, the young founder of Baker Creek Seeds and publisher
of The Heirloom Gardener, who travels the world in
search of the best old-time, open-pollinated varieties he
can find.
Adams encourages aspiring farmers to take a good look at
the resources that already exist around them when planning
an enterprise. The less overhead, she wisely counsels, the
less pressure and the greater chance of success. She offers
an abundance of ideas, lessons and advice from real farmers,
including a back section on 25 unique enterprises not otherwise
covered in the book. There is also an excellent “Resources
& Networking” section of useful organizations.
It’s easy to rib Adams for being a little “out
there,” but when she engages the reader in reflections
of small farm as home space—her own two children were
raised in such an environment—there can be no doubt
about the sincerity of her convictions. She writes about what
she observes and what she holds to be true.
“Family meals around the table were times of great
enjoyment that reinforced family unity,” she writes.
“As the outdoors came indoors to nourish us, we also
felt a unity with the greater universe.”
And for these successful micro eco-farmers, she justly observes,
that’s the most important part of the equation.
Dan Sullivan is senior editor for NewFarm.org.
|
