Soil Farm

 

Boskanter is (like many permaculture and organic farms) a soil-focused farm. As well as growing fruit, we also cultivate the soil. We concentrate the biomass (wood and greenery) from the whole of Boskanter (40,000 m²) to the vegetable garden (4,000 m²). We do this in the form of composted manure from our sheep, chickens and horse, via mulch and charcoal. The aim is for the fertile soil to increase, despite the harvest. The biomass from the surrounding natural environment is constantly replenished by the plants. With minerals drawn deep from the subsoil by the tree roots and the basic elements of life supplied by water and air, the sun’s energy constantly conjures up new shoots and budding buds. We seek a management approach for this natural environment that supports biodiversity. This is also healthy for the vegetable garden.

A finite resource

Fertile soil is a finite resource that we are rapidly using up and which provides us with a great many benefits. At present, it is not protected by any treaty. Yet its buffering capacity can protect us from much harm. First and foremost, climate change. The soil can capture the majority of excess carbon. With current farming methods, we are doing the opposite.

Small-scale experiments …

Anyone wishing to work differently comes up against a funding system tailored to the old, unsustainable system. With different subsidy rules, farming that respects the soil and provides healthy food for the population can also be profitable. Changing the course of such a unwieldy ship without guarantees of feasibility is, of course, daunting. That is why (legal and financial) scope must be created and land made available to small, independent soil-based farms that are trialling new techniques and introducing the world to them.

 

 

 

 

… and policy work