Just put it in the garden.
A voice from the 1800s rocked our world.
Reg and I began an organic master gardening course in January 2015. The learnings have been a significant shift in paradigms for us. We are excited about the journey we have started, and we plan to put our ideas down on paper for a record of our journey, and if others read and become excited about this path that would be serendipity.
Our first significant enlightening moment was the shift from the belief that our job was to nourish the plants to help them create food. As it turns out, we are to be stewards of the soil. When we nourish the soil, the soil creates what each plant needs in a just in time delivery. We were amazed by a story out of the 1800s that has taken so many of us down a path that does not lead to healthy nutritious foods.
Justin Freiherr Von Liebig (2) (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was German chemist who made significant contributions to the agricultural and biological chemistry, and he was regarded as the founder of organic chemistry. (3) He is considered the “father of the fertilizer industry” for his discovery of nitrogen as an essential plant nutrient. https:// archive.org/details/JustusVonLiebigAgricultureChemistry
Justin Von Liebig was the inventor of fertilizers in the mid-1800s. When he realized his mistake, he wrote this.
“Unfortunately, the true beauty of agriculture with its intellectual and animating principles is almost unrecognized. The art of agriculture will be lost when ignorant, unscientific and short-sighted teachers persuade the farmer to put all his hopes in universal remedies, which don’t exist in nature. Following their advice, bedazzled by an ephemeral success, the farmer will forget the soil and lose sight of its inherent values and influence.”
Justin Von Liebig, 1855. https://medium.com/@evanfolds/sea-energy-agriculture- ea3711a8233a
By then, it was already a big business, and he was unable to correct his mistake.
That mistake has cost us much time, energy, and money. We all have walked that path for years. If Von Liebig knew he made a mistake, then we need to look at the principles that do teach us regenerative soil management. Dr. Zach Bush states that we need to go back to our grandmother’s grandmother and observe their practices of good soil management.
It was a very incredible moment to realize that we have walked this path in error for way too long. It was as if the earth was moving underfoot, and we knew we were beginning a journey of correction.
