Six years ago Mirum Creek Organics story started with a simple desire to produce tasty and healthy vegetables which led to organic certification. It turns out that there is a lot more to growing healthy and happy plants. We discovered quickly that our story had to be balanced with that of the soil, land, energy and climate around Dairyville. Finding that balance required repairing ourselves as well as the soil and we discovered somewhere in that balance is happiness. It was my wife that pointed out where we are heading when she coined the phrase Happy produce.
So, what is Happy produce? It’s simple, it feels right and you know it when you eat it. Anyone lucky enough to have their own vegetable garden knows when their plants are happy by how they look, feel smell and taste. All you have to do is treat the plants with kindness and they will “tell” you what they need. Well perhaps it’s a bit more involved than that, hear is what we are doing.
The first step towards happy produce is not forcing something to grow where it does not want to.
The second step is of course certified organic growing so that we are not poisoning the plant or you nor forcing it to plump up with growth stimulants.
The third and perhaps the most important step is to grow the produce in soil where the minerals are balanced so the plant can fully express itself and be very happy and have a nice complex taste. Of course, all of this has to take place without damaging the environment but hopefully making it better.
This third step is the hardest, it’s not just a matter of adding more compost as it requires a lot more time, effort and understanding the intra relationship between each mineral, the plant and the soil biology. I find Michael Astera’s view stimulating.
After an Applied science degree, TAFE course and 5 years working on the soil, I am still learning, luckily the plants are good teachers.
Also, there are lots of other people smarter than me designing growing systems. Funny thing is they all think it has to be their way. This is where I listen to nature and my TAFE teacher Sid, his standard answer is “it depends”. So my answer for now is observe and stay open and learn.
There are so many ideas that I like from Organics, Permaculture, Slow Food, Biodynamics and yes even physics and chemistry. I think putting them altogether, add in nature itself and we collectively have an answer. For example
In Certified organic practice. I like the idea of using natural inputs, complexified by nature. I don’t like the way things are going in the US where large companies just replace chemicals with the organic equivalents. More is needed to improve taste and happiness.
In permaculture, I like their focus on smart design to minimise manual labour, their ideas of working with nature and nutrient recycling and water retention. I don’t think they understand nor place sufficient emphasis on re mineralising and balancing their soils. Relying too much on the unproven concept of accumulators. How can plants be happy without cobalt to make their vitamin B?
Slow food people offer the idea of everything in its time and the stupidity of buying bananas grown in your area, transported to Sydney and back again but they don’t understand how valuable say Selenium is and that it is mined half way around the world nor that we do need to power tractors with something or go back to the dark ages.
Biodynamics embraces most of the other concepts and adds in the idea of rhythms and a connection to a greater unseen world which I like but some of their practitioners see thinking and intension as a valid substitute to sweat and physical work. Also, commanding the forces of elemental iron to enter the plant works a lot better if the iron is already available in the soil. Happy plants I am sure appreciate the intension but as farmers we need to do more than put out a few well-timed sprays each year.
So by now I have probably upset almost everyone. I would like to read your views and please feel free to correct mine. Collectively we may be able to make sense of it all.
I would like to thank Marc Percival the Agronomist from Agrisense who got me started and continues to provide helpful insight.
