Sustainable agriculture vital to our future
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Editor,
I know that the Extension person, Mr. Stivers, with a PhD. in turf might propose suggestions that you "dig out your sod, kill your weeds, use toxic lumber, line with tar paper, and add soil as a solution for raised beds on poor soil,” but that is the old paradigm that is ruining this earth and your body through toxicity. Here's a solution: if it creates harm on any level, don't use it. How about in Montana we write legislature called the "Cease and Desist Law on Toxic Substances, GMOs, and commodities (speculating) on food.”
The better way to do a raised bed for any poor soil (or over asphalt), is to add cardboard, b/w newsprint, or carpet, pile on lots of mulches in layers, (non-pesticide sprayed straw, alfalfa, leaves, peat moss, composted manure or fish, bone meal, blood meal, coffee grounds, good organic potting soil like from Peaco, and the plant material from your gardens or yard waste) to basically create a compost pile of layers that you plant in. You leave the roots in place each year, clipping off the dead and laying it down on the beds to create more nitrogen-rich, worm-happy productive soil that is not tilled, just planted anew each year in a polyculture "guild" of fruit trees, berry bushes and annuals or perennial edibles to create a forest garden that is permanent and productive. Permaculture and sites such as www.permies.com (from our own Missoula's Paul Wheaton, permaculture expert extraordinaire) can show you a lot about many aspects of better technology in the new way of doing all things better.
We need to change now and change big our practice to transition from non-sustainable to thriving. You can find that out through all the resources in permaculture available online. The Extension office said they could teach Permaculture if it were an accredited course at any University, and now it is available at many universities in the Northwest and across America. We are planning a Permaculture Design Course in late February of next year to bring the best teachers of our climate here to the area (SKC, FVCC, UM). If sustainable and ecological indigenous policultural agriculture and eco-building practices interest you, look into permaculture principles here and online. It is a world of difference that matters to our families worldwide. It is the transition to our future that is top priority. Join our Raw Food Preparations class on Mondays at 4 p.m. starting April 11. The classes will be held at the Art Bistro (Coalition for Kids), Fourth and Main, Polson and are a must for people with health issues such as diabetes and cancer, or malnutrition diseases, or those just wanting to feel better. We must link up and share the wisdom to transition from these times to better days. Blessings.
Kelly Ware
Polson
