Healing Ground Chapter 3

  I found it incredible that the 1% of farmers in the Central Valley are able to have tons of different kinds of crops despite having 10 acres or less to work with. A lot of large scale farms only grow one kind of crop in an area much larger than these other farmers were. This shows how if you work with the land, you can get more out of it even in a smaller area. 

     Pollinators play a very important role in agriculture and overall biodiversity. They were more drawn to smaller scale farms, in monocultures the bees that were there struggled to find anything to eat. The bees in polycultures had a large supply to choose from, which resulted in them wanting to stay in that area. Having a more diverse farm results in having more pollinators, which then leads to happier plants. With this as a known connection, why do we stil continue with monocultures if we know that polycultures will be more successful. 

The mutual relationship between the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the plants that exist in biodiverse areas has proven to be more beneficial for coping with many different kinds of harsh conditions (conditions that could also be triggered or worsened due to climate change). The fungi there is more diverse, meaning they have different “personailities” in a sense. However, in monocultures the type of this fungi that exists there is more selfish and the relationship it has with plants is different than it is in a diverse environment. It’s fascinating that the fungi somewhat changes “personalities” based on its environment. We are just at the beginning of understanding this fungus and I find that fascinating. 

The intercropping method of planting corn, beans, and squash was a well thoughtout plan. It naturally drove away pests without the need for chemicals or other unnecessary things, while also drawing in insects that helped improve the crop. This makes me think of what other kinds of plants would best benefit from each other and “belong” together. 

I think the Mexica’s mindset of seeing soils as living organisms helps to humanize the soil in a way. This idea should be more mainstream in agriculture here in the U.S., it shows how the soil should be cared for and more carefully considered when being a farmer. If there was no soil, there would be no crop!