CC Chen of the LLC encourages me to simultaneously focus on the 5 acres and imagine how to integrate the 65 acres currently in vineyard. 70 acres seems like a large undertaking for one person and seems greedy in light of how many farmers are looking for land. I'd like to explore the possibility of sharing the land with like-minded farmers who might want to collaborate on some projects and share equipment.
It so happened that soon after my conversation with CC, Doug introduced me Julia Dakin, a young yet extremely experienced farmer. She interned at Live Power years ago and with other biodynamic farmers in the area, along with ranchers across North America. She is particularly interested in working with her draft horses to convert vineyards to farmland. We're thinking of how to combine her aspirations with plans at the CTTB property to shift the vineyard to a holistically-managed farm.
We're on the same page of wanting to get away from fossil fuels, working with animals, using no-till methods of cultivation, and replacing vineyards with other forms of agriculture. We imagine orchards, pasture, perennials, and veggies. It's nice to dream and scheme with someone. Hopefully the LLC will be into this idea.
Here's a blurb Julia wrote for the LLC about what motivates her work:
I am working to test farming methods that are already proven in other areas, but that have mostly not been adopted in California. Inspired by “Organic No Till” (Rodale Institute), “Natural Farming” (Masanobu Fukuoka), “Holistic Management” (Allan Savory), and “the Soil Food Web” (Elaine Ingham), and these methods all aim to work with nature instead of fighting it.
I started using draft horses in farming as a way to address our dependence on tractors and fossil fuel, and at the time I was working exclusively in vineyards. Over time, I realized it would not be possible to replace the tractors with horses unless we reduced the tillage. Researching that led me to realize that most of the cultivation we are doing in organic vineyards and farms is a major environmental problem, and that not only is it unnecessary, it is extremely damaging to soil and to the climate.
Through the use of horses, hedgerows, cover-crops, not tilling, and understanding soil science, I believe we can transform agriculture from a carbon source to a carbon sink. If we can increase the soil organic matter and health of our soils, we will be performing soil carbon sequestration, and even large-scale agriculture could become environmentally friendly. Draft horses make managing larger acreages of farm-land possible, while still reducing our dependence on mechanization and fossil fuels. However, I plan to implement and document methods that are repeatable by large or small farmers, using tractors, hand tools, ATVs, or draft animals. The horses aren’t my main focus, only the method of farming that reduces our need for external resources is.
That being said, I love horses. I have worked with horses since I was 6, sometimes part time, sometimes full time. I am fascinated by how to communicate with them most effectively, and setting up work so that they enjoy it. It is important to me that my working horses are happy, healthy, and enjoying their life. If they weren’t, I would do something else. Before cars and tractors were common, and when draft animals were a necessity, the people working with them may not have appreciated or respected their emotional intelligence, and used fear and dominance to get what they wanted. In modern times, working with draft animals is a choice, and the people doing so are more likely to be working with the horse because they enjoy it, and so spend the time learning how to communicate in the horse’s own language to get the best results, and the happiest horse. I don't beleive that draft animals are a solution for improving agriculture, just for me, right now, farming makes sense when combined with horses.
-------------------------------
In case you're unfamiliar with the reference made by this entry title, this will fill the gap.
It so happened that soon after my conversation with CC, Doug introduced me Julia Dakin, a young yet extremely experienced farmer. She interned at Live Power years ago and with other biodynamic farmers in the area, along with ranchers across North America. She is particularly interested in working with her draft horses to convert vineyards to farmland. We're thinking of how to combine her aspirations with plans at the CTTB property to shift the vineyard to a holistically-managed farm.
We're on the same page of wanting to get away from fossil fuels, working with animals, using no-till methods of cultivation, and replacing vineyards with other forms of agriculture. We imagine orchards, pasture, perennials, and veggies. It's nice to dream and scheme with someone. Hopefully the LLC will be into this idea.
Here's a blurb Julia wrote for the LLC about what motivates her work:
Over the last 90 years, agriculture has become fully mechanized,
and totally dependent on fossil fuels. From soil fertility to tractors,
we need major resources to sustain our current method of farming, both
organic and conventional. We’ve become so dependent on large tractors
and cheap fuel to grow our food, that we are literally consuming fossil
fuels. At some point, the resources needed to grow food the way most
people think it needs to be grown will start getting scarce. At that
point, methods will need to change, but if there is no model or
knowledge for a better way of farming, many people will feel the effects
of food scarcity.
I am working to test farming methods that are already proven in other areas, but that have mostly not been adopted in California. Inspired by “Organic No Till” (Rodale Institute), “Natural Farming” (Masanobu Fukuoka), “Holistic Management” (Allan Savory), and “the Soil Food Web” (Elaine Ingham), and these methods all aim to work with nature instead of fighting it.
I started using draft horses in farming as a way to address our dependence on tractors and fossil fuel, and at the time I was working exclusively in vineyards. Over time, I realized it would not be possible to replace the tractors with horses unless we reduced the tillage. Researching that led me to realize that most of the cultivation we are doing in organic vineyards and farms is a major environmental problem, and that not only is it unnecessary, it is extremely damaging to soil and to the climate.
Through the use of horses, hedgerows, cover-crops, not tilling, and understanding soil science, I believe we can transform agriculture from a carbon source to a carbon sink. If we can increase the soil organic matter and health of our soils, we will be performing soil carbon sequestration, and even large-scale agriculture could become environmentally friendly. Draft horses make managing larger acreages of farm-land possible, while still reducing our dependence on mechanization and fossil fuels. However, I plan to implement and document methods that are repeatable by large or small farmers, using tractors, hand tools, ATVs, or draft animals. The horses aren’t my main focus, only the method of farming that reduces our need for external resources is.
That being said, I love horses. I have worked with horses since I was 6, sometimes part time, sometimes full time. I am fascinated by how to communicate with them most effectively, and setting up work so that they enjoy it. It is important to me that my working horses are happy, healthy, and enjoying their life. If they weren’t, I would do something else. Before cars and tractors were common, and when draft animals were a necessity, the people working with them may not have appreciated or respected their emotional intelligence, and used fear and dominance to get what they wanted. In modern times, working with draft animals is a choice, and the people doing so are more likely to be working with the horse because they enjoy it, and so spend the time learning how to communicate in the horse’s own language to get the best results, and the happiest horse. I don't beleive that draft animals are a solution for improving agriculture, just for me, right now, farming makes sense when combined with horses.
-------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment