Ad Free

There are two reasons that my blogs only link to certain things. I pretty much stopped blogging at paganspace.net because hypertext links within my posts were taking people to the very things that I was encouraging people not to do in my posts. The things I wrote there as Saladman were, perhaps some of my favorite things to write, but once corrupted, I wanted nothing to do with them. I think that I can blog "there" now, without the intrusive ads, but I moved on and until I find someone with like Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors or Rudolph Steiner's devotees, biodynamic farming folks or perhaps whoever is willing to reshuffle the deck and give little guys, like you and I, a fair shake. Let the advertisers eat their money. I learned that you can get a hybrid minivan, in Japan! It is funny that in a place like the U.S. of A., where "free markets" are supposedly the economic holy grail, you can't buy some products. remember the original Mini Cooper? Done in by the fact that their bumpers were too close to the ground, regulated market killed them in this country.

No matter what "product or service" one allows to be advertized, when money enters into the picture, commercial endeavors skew perspective. I could tell you of a foundry, local to Wisconsin, USA at which you could purchase a broadfork. This simple tool with no moving parts is inserted in the Earth, gently rocked back and forth and breaks the soil somewhat deeply to allow air and water to penetrate. Even marginal soils benefit greatly from this process. It is more important that you know that both air and water are relatively abundant in healthy soils. Using a broadfork, integrating compost and biochar and protecting the surface of the soil from UV sterilization/dehydration are key to maintaining soil health. Agriculturalists who have committed to the highly mechanized and fossil energy heavy-handed approach to agriculture just stare and blink when you begin to talk about soil health. They have grown up on a heavy dose of advertizing themselves. Doing the right thing often makes the biggest players in industry the least money and the oligarchs hate that.

I read a book when I was first out on my own. It was called, How to Live On Nothing. I can put in a plug for it and say that it was the best book ever. Anyone just moving out on your own, find this book. If you have had the luxury of having whatever you want, it is still a good book, just for perspective. I almost put it back down at the bookstore, but I felt compelled to at least read the first few words. "First, steal this book." is what I read when my eyes fell on the page. The reason that human beings can do it is because fifty percent of the food we produce ends up as waste. We have large portions of our brain that can reflect on and plan complicated processes for survival. Soil microbes need food, shelter, moisture and a habitat that is conducive to life. What soil microbes "get", in many agricultural soils is tilled a few times each year, dosed with chemicals, little if any mulch, and the occasional cow pie if you live near dairy operations.

Microscopy reveals carbon tubules for water adsorption and potential homes for billions of organisms. Char has been made since the first fire, learning to make it efficiently and use it wisely and then, doing just that, can double agricultural output.

I have had numerous farmers tell me that their land is especially rich because their property has been in hay for a generation. In my soil centric mind, I think three cuttings each year, for twenty years, harvesting those amounts of energy and nutrients has stretched available resources and nutrients needed for hay production to the breaking point. If we render ourselves as fodder to be advertized to, without at least understanding the responsibility we have to filter and critically understand the process, we are dead in the water, adrift upon the ocean of chaos that capitalism has become. The ship of state has foundered under the onslaught of big money. We are amid a tumult created by having 1% of the population controlling over half the wealth. What they do not have, or have exclusive access to, they want. I encourage those who are finding it difficult to make ends meet, grow more of your own food and give away your overproduction equitably.

Since this whole page is like a free ad for me,  I'm gonna lay it straight for you. I have spoken repeatedly about the three-legged stool that supports sustainable agriculture. It must be good for people, good for the planet and profitable. I urge you to try the trifecta of gardening. Utilize biochar, aerate soils and conserve microbes and moisture through mulching. I have never been disappointed with the results of such activities and neither will you be. I am now offering three hour classes in making biochar. Please let me know if you are interested in hosting a class or joining in one nearby.

In the future, this may be the most important thing that humankind needs to know.