Some things just don't biodegrade well here, and part of it is that we're still perfecting our composting workflow and making sure our heaps don't overdry and die in our arid environment. We're getting better all the time, and it's a learning process. But in the meantime, I've been doing a lot of research on biochar. Most of the USDA fact sheets only talk about using biochar from wood or agricultural "wastes" like cornstalks, straw, etc. However, I know for a fact that in much of South America it's common to burn animal bones, manure, and more.
So, talk to me about biochar! Do you use it? What do you burn? What have your results been? Do you combine it with other soil remediation tactics (compost, compost teas, etc.)?
How Neoclassical Economic Theory Fails to Explain the Modern Industrial Food System
"Neoclassical economics, and economics education cannot explain the modern industrial food system from their current perspective. Only through an honest, wholesale evaluation can we fully understand it, and only through a comprehensive understanding of this system can we begin to change it and make amends for the issues which it has created. "
I've been quiet here, but I can explain...
Last year we were lucky to buy a piece of land and old manor house near our farm. The place you see in my pictures is not our land, we have a lease.
So we were planning to expand to the second location, which is about 20 minutes away, while retaining the original place. Over the past few years we invested a lot of of time and money there, but in the end things worked out differently.
One of the partners in the farm, whose land we were on, wanted to focus on other things so we decided it would be best to move the whole farm to the new location. On the one hand that means rebuilding all the basic infrastructure and a new market garden from scratch which means a lot of work and investment.
But on the other hand it'll be on our land and we can integrate all the lessons learned over the past 4 years, so that's exciting!
Overall I'm very excited but also tired as you might imagine. Moving a farm is a lot of work... And we're not even halfway done. Luckily we have the lease on the original location for at least another year so we can maintain production while resetting.
I'll try and document as much of the process here!
New #ClimateChange study shows increasing risk for compound climate disasters - namely heatwaves deplete soil moisture making soils hydrophobic followed by extreme rainfall which runs off causing flooding, landslides, and debris flows.
"the risk of compound climate extremes is projected to increase 2–3 times over most global land masses in future Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 forcing compared with historical forcing" https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022EF003466