Connecting with Mother Nature

We've been waiting not so patiently for the rains to stop so we can get into the plots to prepare beds.  This week, we did a second pass at soil science and were reminded that Waimanalo soils are classified as mollisols that are fertile but very sticky and difficult to work with when wet.  We can even damage the soil if we work it when wet, so we may need to delay bed prep and planting, which means more changes to my crop plan.

I think most people have some sense of the hard work that goes into farming, but I suspect most people envision that hard work as the manual labor of toiling in inclement weather on hands and knees with tools and machines.  However, as of today, the time I've spent in the field has been far exceeded by the several weeks I've spent planning beds, which crops to plant, when to mow, till, plow, and add amendments, and when to start seeds, step them up, irrigate them, and transplant them.  When Mother Nature does something I didn't account for in my planning, I adjust as best as I can.  It can be frustrating and scary knowing that I have so little control over my ability to execute my plan.  Still, my cohort and I have all been trying to do what is best for the soils and continue to give to Mother Nature in hopes that she will give back to us what we need.

From before I started farming, I loved playing in nature, whether it was surfing, getting lost running Tantalus trails, or hiking new trails in national parks or abroad.  I was a taker of Earth and relied on the health of the environment to supply these breathtaking playgrounds.  Since I've started farming, I've continued to take from Mother Nature the water, nutrition, and unique biology needed to make plants grow, but it became much more necessary that I become a giver too.  The connection between what she gives me and what I give her became much clearer.  It's all the more important for not just farmers but all citizens of Planet Earth to do what we can to protect our environment and stabilize it or perhaps even undo some of the damage we've done. 

I've learned about the significant impacts that agriculture can have on the environment and people -- things like leaching excess nitrogen into water, releasing excess nitrogen from fertilizers into the air in the form of nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas), overtilling and disrupting the ecosystem of organisms in the soil, and improperly using certain pesticides.  I've learned about how all of these things can be amplified through large-scale agriculture or lots of smaller-scale agriculture and can damage the Earth.  These concerns have informed and impacted the method and scale of farming I'm trying.  The tricky part is balancing this environmentalism against the economic reality of farming for income.

What sometimes distinguishes farmers from each other is where they fall on the spectrum of environmental sustainability and financial sustainability.  One of the concepts I'm interested in is figuring out a way to farm in an environmentally sustainable way that is also financially sustainable.  I'm trying to explore that through this CSA and my GoFarm experiences, and if you have any insights, I'd love to hear them.