Anyone practising the FUKUOKA method of farming/gardening?

bob saunders

bob saunders

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The five principles of Natural Farming are that:
human cultivation of soil, plowing or tilling are unnecessary, as is the use of powered machines
prepared fertilizers are unnecessary, as is the process of preparing compost
weeding, either by cultivation or by herbicides, is unnecessary. Instead only minimal weed suppression with minimal disturbance
applications of pesticides or herbicides are unnecessary
pruning of fruit trees is unnecessary

My parents practised this with 5 acres of mixed gardens and with Chickens, rabbits....etc. I would like to know if anyone has had success with this method in the DR.
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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Huge yields on potatoes, raspberries, and most vegetables but very labour intensive ( as a kid I was one of the worker bees). The best thing of course was the taste and knowing what you are eating has no poisons in it. We were also lucky that we could trade potatoes for fresh salmon...etc. In the small community where I grew up barter was very popular as many people didn't have a lot of cash.
 
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bryan1258

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Bob, I'm curious. What small community?

I'm sure we've travelled the same ground
 
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bryan1258

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Bella Coola........beautiful.
My family used to fish salmon, cod, halibut, etc.....not herring. The neighbours up the road used to trade pickled herring for fruit from our trees. The family was the Andersons. Glen Anderson, of the Oilers, is there son.
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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I worked on a gill-netter as a teenager with Bill Robson, who was about 4th ot 5th generation fisherman. Had a lot of fun,- hard work, good food, good conversations, and coffee so strong you could stand a spoon up in it. Good memories. I know some Andersons- Grant, Terry, Vanessa...etc but left there in 1976, although my brother still goes there to fish and pick mushrooms. People that have never been there have no concept of the isolation, the roads, and the beauty. I always laugh when people talk about the bad roads...etc in the DR.
 
Africaida

Africaida

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Derfish I was wondering the exact same thing !

Bob I thought you were just describing organic farming. I feel like such a city girl :)
 
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donP

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No Poison

bob saunders said:
...weeding, either by cultivation or by herbicides, is unnecessary. Instead only minimal weed suppression with minimal disturbance
applications of pesticides or herbicides are unnecessary
Click to expand...

We keep cattle to keep the weeds down, yet we still have farm hands to do some machete work on the stuff cows would not eat...
Against all advice from locals (who seem to love 'l?quidos') we do not use herbicides nor pesticides.

It's possible but more expensive.

donP
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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Africaida said:
Derfish I was wondering the exact same thing !

Bob I thought you were just describing organic farming. I feel like such a city girl :)
Click to expand...

It is organic gardening with a twist: a system developed by Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese Agriculturalist. My parents were big fans of Robert Rodale ( Organic Gardening Magazine) We tried all sorts of farming methods and settle on a hybrid of systems but Dad was, and is a big fan of Mr Fukuoka and his ideas.
Anyone that gets the urge to travel to the wilds of western Canada you can see and do amazing things: Zenfolio | Michael Wigle Photography
 
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Gordon

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brings back sweet sweet memories of the wilds of Tahsis where I spend five years. Smoked salmon unsurpassed anywhere anytime by the Haida Indians, tasty rabbits and vegetables to die for. Gold panning before breakfast. Thank you I almost forgot about the wilds of western Canada through living the jungles of Samana.
 
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Givadogahome

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I am sure his name of FUK-U-OK-A is a direct assault on the ditherers who love to cultivate in neatness and uniform and tell us how it must be. There are many farmers who grow in rustic manners all over the place but it is for personal use, no one could ever sustain a commercial approach to this kind of farming.
It is wonderful to be self efficient, but that's as far as it goes.
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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Givadogahome said:
I am sure his name of FUK-U-OK-A is a direct assault on the ditherers who love to cultivate in neatness and uniform and tell us how it must be. There are many farmers who grow in rustic manners all over the place but it is for personal use, no one could ever sustain a commercial approach to this kind of farming.
It is wonderful to be self efficient, but that's as far as it goes.
Click to expand...

Many farmers/landowners have too small a plot to be large scale commercial producers, but these methods are a form of permaculture that, if followed produce good crops. I'm not asking if anyone is making a fortune off gardening, just if they are practising these methods or similar methods. http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...x5DNBA&usg=AFQjCNEOgC-XNBFpBvZIewZuX418Os6xgw
 
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LaLouve

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Hi Bob,

Althought we don't prune fruit trees, nor apply any pesticides, we've never tried the Fukuoka method as we till the area we plant every year. The type of soil we have here is called Holmesville, quite fertile soil and has great drainage abilities. But, I cannot see any small farmer not tilling as it can be quite rocky year after year. Will talk to hubby and ask him in he knows of any small scale farmer in the area who practices this method.
 
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