Rivenrock Gardens Philosophy
Welcome to Rivenrock Gardens. We are a small family owned and
run nursery and market garden. Our nursery is for the propagation of the
plants we use in our landscape business which specializes in xeriscaping
and desert landscapes. Our market garden is run in the old-world traditions
of French-intensive. All our operations and the plants we sell are certified
organic by California Certified Organic Farmers.
(CCOF)
Why Garden organically?
I have been gardening most of my life, I do it because it is a natural activity for the human animal.
The sense of being in contact with the Earth, with the soil and the great outdoors is not easily replicated with other
outdoor activities.
Many of us were raised gardening by parents who were raised on farms, in those days and locations one
had to garden to have fresh vegetables. We are luckier now days, we can go and buy vegetables any day of the year of an
astounding variety that would have been unimaginable a few decades ago.
Yet there has been a price gathered from this grocery shopping mentality, the price can be measured in the reduced
knowledge of, and appreciation of the fact that we are all interconnected. Because we are not intimately connected with
the cycle of life and death; our estrangement has resulted in a loss of connection between actions and their consequences
vis-à-vis the interrelation between what is living and what has died to make being for the newly born. For instance, most
people in the USA have never killed a chicken to eat a meal, in a natural process the chicken would be killed and the blood
and entrails would go into the soil to feed the plants that will in turn feed the new batch of chickens and us. If we poison
the chicken with antibiotics and harmful ingredients we poison the soil and in turn ourselves. Man has lost touch with the
bounty of the land in a personal sense, that is not to say that we do not utilize that which the Great Creator gave us, but
the average person does not appreciate it. This has led to a demoralization of the entire society whereupon even members of
one's own 'tribe' are seen not as fellow inhabitants, but merely 'resources' to exploit as we exploit the Earth.
Is there a way out of this quagmire of moral decay in which we find ourselves? Besides inner awareness, and a
personal religious awakening, one can garden to sooth the soul and rekindle the realization that all systems interconnect.
When one gardens one has to consider the repercussions of one's actions, and the effects to the environment in which one is
working.
A way to consider this is the correlation between pesticide use and crop insect damage. Even though we in the
'Western' world use prodigious amounts of pesticides we still experience the same amounts of insect crop damage as occurred
at the turn of the century. This is due to several factors, one of which is the process of 'natural selection. In time
insects will develop a resistance to the poisons we use, this means that we must constantly switch poisons in order to keep
up with the insect breeding. The problem is that the insects like most prey species have a much quicker life cycle than
their predator opponents, the vegetarian insects will always be quicker to adapt to the poisons than the predators. This
means that the amount of insect control provided by the predators will be negligible, yet the poisons will soon be rendering
little effect on the target species.
Could it be that going the 'natural' way will result in little or no reduction in the food supply? Could be, the
problem is that much of the research in this area is done by the large agricultural schools, they receive large grants from
the chemical companies who are reluctant to have adverse results obtained. I have seen tests that were skewed to show that
organic farming will reduce yields by unacceptable amounts, and cost twice as much for input at the same time. These tests
forget to take into account the interrelationships between the fungal, bacteria, insect and animal populations of the soil.
The main idea behind organic farming and gardening is to encourage the animals and micro-plants of the soil to flourish
and generate food particles from the native soil and a small amount of additives such as compost. If the soil is sterilized
from years of chemical saturation and then organic methods used, the crop will indeed be meager. The sterile soil cannot
support the plant growth required without the constant additions of chemical 'soup' that the soil requires once the
micro-population is gone. It can take up to five years for a soil to be 'renewed' to the requirements necessary for optimal
organic growth.
So in order to renew your soil, stop using the fertilizers and pesticides that cause undue hardship on all that
comes into contact with it, switch to organic methods and expect and ready yourself for reduced yields, and increased insect
damage for the first couple years, after a time you will learn more about the organic methods and have better soil that can
well support the plant life that you expect.
This page will be updated and more information added in time, so be sure to come by in time to see the information
that I will add, and the links that will be added to appropriate text.
FRESHLY HARVESTED EDIBLE CACTUS LEAVES
Rivenrock Gardens Home
Cactus adaption to arid environment
Cactus Growing Tips
Organic Insect Control Tips
Modern Soil Conservation Techniques
Benefits of Compost
How to Compost
Frequently Asked Questions
The Benefits of Soil Microbes
Ancient Agriculture and studies of
Organic Cactus removal
Terraces for home and farm
Water Conservation in the garden
Thoughts on Weeding
Copyright ©Rivenrock Gardens, 1997-2004
All rights reserved.
http://www.rivenrock.com/philosophy2.htm
Last updated 28 August, 2001
