After what had seemed a long-ish, fairly cold winter here at the organic, eco micro-holding in the UK midlands, spring came rushing in thanks to a spell of warmer and sunnier weather, with nature 'bursting out everywhere', and giving that boost to spirits that's so welcome after the winter season. The crops here have responded well and are looking ok/good, all now making good growth, under the watchful eyes of circling buzzards ----
Nature is surely a powerful force and best to be 'worked with', say some, rather than as others might have it, to be subdued and dominated - ? She surely though needs a helping hand to form satisfying 'partnership' creation, and it's been the busy 'a-sowin' and a-plantin' season here at the micro-holding (small smallholding) as well as other work such as trash burning and building maintenance. An industrious female blackbird seems to have been a virtually constant companion.
The organic or biological mode of growing can seem to be for many the natural - or the 'working with nature' - system to employ, based on feelings rather than logic, that it's the 'right road' to travel, along with similar indicating that animals involved by man in food production should at least have opportunity to be able to practice natural behaviour patterns. Such nature-based sytems work on longer-term cycles to maintain soil fertility and health, then involving cropping rotations to deliver the same, the restrictions of which limit the level of production from the various crops in any one year. Often such systems are 'mixed' (crops and animals) to fully use the outputs from the rotational patterns and then using the bye-products such as animal droppings as manure to further contribute to on-going soil fertility.
Just as on the bigger land areas such as farms, the rotational patterns need observing on micro-small growing installations such as here at the micro-holding, with one or two adjustments, then to not only produce healthy tasty and economic produce, but also other benefits such as fitness, enjoyment, creatiion satisfaction, and maybe last, nut not least, that ineffable feeling of independence ----
