Teaching Proper Gardening Methods

Garden Missionary Part 3 ORGANIC FARMING

NEED FOR CHRISTIAN FARMERS

Christian farmers can do real missionary work in helping the poor to find homes on the land and in teaching them how to till the soil and make it productive. Teach them how to use the implements of agriculture, how to cultivate various crops, how to plant and care for orchards. {MH 193.2}

TEACH PROPER METHODS

Let proper methods be taught to all who arewilling to learn. If any do not wish you to speak tothem of advanced ideas, let the lessons be givensilently. Keep up the culture of your own land.Drop a word to your neighbors when you can, andlet the harvest be eloquent in favor of rightmethods. Demonstrate what can be done with theland when properly worked. {MH 193.4}

Many who till the soil fail to secure adequatereturns because of their neglect. Their orchardsare not properly cared for, the crops are not put inat the right time, and a mere surface work is donein cultivating the soil. Their ill success they chargeto the unproductiveness of the land. False witnessis often borne in condemning land that, if properlyworked, would yield rich returns. The narrowplans, the little strength put forth, the little studyas to the best methods, call loudly for reform.{MH 193.3}

Farming has been pronounced unprofitable.People say that the soil does not pay for thelabor expended upon it, and they bemoan thehard fate of those who till the soil. In thiscountry (Australia) many have given up theidea that the land will pay for working it, andthousands of acres lie unimproved. {ST, August13, 1896 par. 8}

In tilling the soil, in disciplining and subduing the land, lessons may constantly be learned. No one would think of settling upon a raw piece of land, expecting it at once to yield a harvest. Earnestness, diligence, and persevering labor are to be put forth in treating the soil preparatory to sowing the seed. So it is in the spiritual work in the human heart. Those who would be benefited by the tilling of the soil must go forth with the word of God in their hearts. They will then find the fallow ground of the heart broken by the softening, subduing influence of the Holy Spirit. Unless hard work is bestowed on the soil, it will not yield a harvest. So with the soil of the heart: the Spirit of God must work upon it to refine and discipline it before it can bring forth fruit to the glory of God. {COL 88.1}

The soil will not produce its riches whenworked by impulse. It needs thoughtful, dailyattention. It must be plowed often and deep,with a view to keeping out the weeds thattake nourishment from the good seed planted.Thus those who plow and sow prepare for theharvest. None need stand in the field amid thesad wreck of their hopes. {COL 88.2}

HISTORY OF FARMING SYSTEM

In the PAST, 1950-1971, there were:

• No commercial fertilizers

• Compost fertilizers direct to the farm

• Organic fertilizers

• Manual systems of farming

• Abundance of fish/mud fish/eel

In 1972 up to the present:

• Commercial fertilizers/pesticides are used.

Effects are:

- Soil became acidic

- Spring water is contaminated

- There is less harvest

- More debts

- More sickness

• There is single cropping/cash crops.

POSSIBLE/ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

POSSIBLE/ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

POSSIBLE/ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONORGANIC FARMING/NATURAL FARMING

- Recycling- Using available resources as

fertilizers like grasses- No hazardous chemicals- Use of composted fertilizers- Friendly environment

ORGANIC FARMING

ORGANIC FARMING

A production system that avoids or largely excludes the use ofsynthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulatorsand livestock feed additives. To the maximum extent feasible,organic farming systems rely upon crop rotation, crop residue,animal manures, legumes, green manures, off-farm organic wastes,mechanical cultivation, and mineral bearing rocks. It also relies onaspects of biological pest control to maintain soil productivity andtithe, to supply plant nutrients and to control insects, weeds andother pests.

WHY DO PEOPLE CHOOSE ORGANIC FARMING AND BUY ORGANIC PRODUCTS?

WHY DO PEOPLE CHOOSE ORGANIC FARMING AND BUY ORGANIC PRODUCTS?

1. They want to be good stewards of the environment.

2. They are concerned about pollution of air, water and soil.

3. They care for the health of the family and community (Moral Act)

4. Chemicals destroy life.

5. Tending organic garden connects them with the soil and makes them feel closer to the nature.

HOW DOES THE ORGANIC METHOD WORK?

HOW DOES THE ORGANIC METHOD WORK?

Natural ecosystems make their own fertilizer. • Natures’ cycle of growth and decay is continouos.

• Some insects eat plants but predators and parasites keep their number in check. So there is no need for synthetic pesticides.

• Nature allows some damage. (In the law of nature, there is balance)

• When organic farmers intervene- they choose control tactics that have little impact on the natural system.

NEEDS OF A HEALTHY PLANT

NEEDS OF A HEALTHY PLANT

1. Fresh air

2. Complete mineral nutrient (soil)

3. Clean water

4. Plenty of sunlight (At least 6 hrs of sun)

• Less sunlight weakens the plants and does not produce products.

5. Mechanical support when needed

SOIL

SOIL• Is able to provide most of what the plants need.•A healthy soil is the key to organic farming.• The soil is where our foods come from (not from the market)

TYPES OF SOIL:

1. Clay2. Clay loam IDEAL SOIL PROFILE3. Sandy loam - Fresh organic matter(1st layer)4. Sand - Topsoil (2nd layer)

- Fine rock pieces (3rd layer)- Largest rock pieces (4th layer)

Test in Analyzing Soil

Test in Analyzing Soil• Soil must have earthworms (the small ones)- surface earthworms for

healthy soil

• Enough sand

• Enough clay (less)

• Enough crumbs (black)

“Soil fertility is the basis of the public health system of the future”.

(Sir Albert Howard)

MICRO ORGANISMS AND LIVING CREATURES IN THE SOIL

MICRO ORGANISMS AND LIVING CREATURES IN THE SOIL

Good Bacteria – lives in oxygen and easily dies with spray (synthetic pesticides/fertilizers).

•Bad Bacteria – does not live; lives in the dark.- Does not die with spray

- Solution: spray microbes (enzymes) in the soil

MICRO ORGANISM – ENZYMESIndigenous Micro-Organism

Nature Effective Micro-Organism

USES/FUNCTIONS

1. For decomposing

2. Anti-biotic

3. Deodorant

4. Fertilizer

DECOMPOSERMaterials:

• Organic rice – non commercial/commercial rice

• Banana (leaves)

• Sweet potatoes

• Bamboo/Wooden box

• Bond paper/manila paper/banana leaves

• Straw/string

Procedures:

1. Cook rice and let it cool.

2. Place it in a bamboo or wooden box, cover with bond/manila paper or banana leaves and tie with straw/string in both ends.

3. Put it in an uncontaminated place; it could be under the bamboo tree by digging 6” deep in the soil then put the bamboo cover with rotten leaves then cover with topsoil.

4. After 5 days, retrieve the bamboo then remove or segregate the black molds.

5. Put it in a plate then weigh it.

BIO-ORGANIC FERTILIZER

Materials:

Animal manure – cow, goat (at least 60%)

• Others (40%)

- RICE BRAN

- Green leaves (sun flower, THITHONIA)

- Shells-EGG SHELLS

- Pulverized charcoal/BIOCHAR)

ADDITIONALS

EPSOM SALT

MOLASSES

LIME

OTHER SOIL FERTLIZING AGENTS

A) KITCHEN COMPOST – Kitchen waste (rich in nitrogen); itshould be balanced with carbon (brown materials).

c) MANURE COMPOST – animal wastes, except cat and dogwastes, mix with EM to compost properly (high nitrogen ifmixed with brown materials).

d) SPECIAL COMPOST – for special plants

Ex. Blue berries/flowers –mostly like acid soil•Pine needle (30-50%) in ratio to compost.

e) GARBAGE COMPOST- Municipal Compost Waste

*Battery (high in lead – poisonous) not

advisable for use in food production.

• COMPOST TEA – liquid form digested materials (more superior than manure tea).

• MANURE TEA – lighter than compost tea.

*Use to water the plants (Booster).How to make Compost Tea:

Put water 2/3 full into a container then add 1/3 full of compost/manure then mix and put it aside for a while for seven (7) days.

• How to Use:• Put 2/3 of water or any quantity and mix an amount to make a

color like Lipton tea which is for drinking.• Spray in the morning but wet first the soil before spraying or

sprinkling.

• *Note: Plants concentrate in getting food during daytime and growing at nighttime. Always water plants in the morning and not in the afternoon to avoid attack of fungus due to wetness.

Reasons Why You Should Never Ever Use Chemicals Again

1. Pesticides travel and have contaminated even the mostremote regions of the world; they smell really bad.

2. Up to 20 % of the chemicals you buy legally include heavymetals like lead, dioxin and arsenic which are very toxicand poisonous.

3. Chemical fertilizers add nutrients to the soil but theydon’t add anything else. The soil structure weakens and itcan’t hold itself together and it starts to erode andcollapse.

4. It can kill the bad and good bugs, the birds and bees.Without bee pollination there would be fewer fruits andvegetables.

5. The more you use, the more you need to use just like ajunkie.

6. They can make your family, your pets, you and wildlifesick.

7. Buying chemical fertilizers and pesticides support hugecorporations who spend millions of dollar, lobbying totry surpassing research that shows how bad the stuffreally is. And they go and sell millions of dollar worth ofDDT to third world countries where it is still legal.