Free-Range Living

April's a busy month on the organic eco-holding normally, but particularly this year due to the virtual complete absence of rain, translating then into more  watering work. The upside is that plant growth has been phenomenal and the crop area looks pretty good. Although it's a lean time of year for eatable produce, onions are still available from store, the recently installed 'early production' glasshouse in the small paddock has yielded very timely salads produce, and of course, the good ol' spring greens, having survived a savage winter, have 'burgeoned' brilliantly to provide fresh, healthy and TASTY veg. 

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The ‘big’ free-range idea is to give animals such as egg-laying chickens and dairy cows a natural (to them) environment which then allows them to express their innate, unique behaviour patterns, for their own sakes, and to facilitate their natural proclivities and productivities. The ‘spiritual’ foundation to this appears to be a feeling that as ‘top animal’ man should be working ‘in partnership’ with them and recognising their needs, rather than just trying to dominate and control them; husbanding and caretaking rather than merely exploiting, paradoxically though often leading to good sustainable levels of productivity. There’s just something so satisfying, too, about seeing those chickens scratting busily and contentedly about in the paddock.

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‘Delicious dosh’

No, of course it’s not the money that’s consumed, though, it’s really just a medium -  it’s what it can give access to that really counts: survival, security, exclusivity, social standing, clout, protection, conviviality, pleasure, personal development, philanthropy to name but a few.

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Four-Course Rotation

Maybe older ways and concepts may make a comeback as modern resources such as oil become scarcer, particularly as world-wide demand for material goods and comforts seems to be ever growing. Modern food growing uses considerable amounts of fossil fuels in the production of fertilisers for instance. In 'olden' days before fertiliser and spray availability, people had to plan and think ahead long-term, to ensure that soil fertility was on-going, just as modern organic farmers have to do. Maybe thinking and operating longer-term is an additional attraction of organic growing? .

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