Sustainable Food Trust

APRIL 10, 2024

It’s now well recognised that soil is significantly affected by the presence of MPs in the soil environment and they are currently, an “ emerging contaminant ” of concern – i.e. any synthetic or natural chemicals or microorganisms that are not widely monitored and can cause known or unknown ecological or human health effects.

Straw 98

Straw Farming Farming Ecology 98

ATTRA

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Voices of farm workers, young people in shorts and muck boots and wide brimmed straw hats drift across the fields. I see myriad varieties of vegetable crops one after the other in planned succession–seedlings and vegetative and fruiting–and I can smell the musty earthiness of the compost pile in the center of the field plots.

Farming 40

Farming Farming Meadow Compost 40

UnderstandingAg

OCTOBER 29, 2023

Although no-till implies not tilling at all, many no-till market gardeners still rely on some form of light tillage to create a seed bed or apply copious amounts of compost as a mulch to create a seed bed. If you live in a high-rainfall climate, I recommend applying straw mulch after seeding to reduce crusting and soil loss.

Crop 90

Crop Cash Crop Seeding Harvesting 90

Sustainable Food Trust

JUNE 14, 2023

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology estimates that “One teaspoonful of topsoil contains around 1 billion microscopic cells and around 10,000 different species.” A claim repeated in various ways, is that a teaspoonful of healthy soil contains more living organisms than there are people on the planet.

Ploughing 52

Ploughing Crop Yield Farming 52