Farming While Black

by Leah Penniman

  The secret to making durable terraces on marginal land is organic matter. In our case, we observed that soil had washed down the hillside and accumulated against a stone wall at the bottom of the field. We decided to reclaim this precious resource and dedicated several days to schlepping the soppy earth uphill. In Kenya this practice is called fanya-juu, meaning “throw it upward” (see the Uplift sidebar). Other sources of soil include the muck from the bottom of ponds, topsoil or compost from municipalities, or topsoil suppliers who sell by the yard. Regardless of its source, pile the reclaimed soil behind the stakes that mark your contour lines, until there is enough earth for a level terrace. In the absence of an abundance of soil, you can use undecomposed organic matter. Gather leaves, sticks, grass, wood chips, hay, or other organic material and pile it up behind your contour line. Get your friends to help you stomp it down and compact it, then cover with several inches of topsoil or compost until the organic debris is no longer visible. It will take several months to a year for the debris to break down, but shallow-rooted crops can be grown in the interim.

  UPLIFT

  Terraces of Kenya

  The practice of terracing sloped farmland is an agricultural technique perfected by Indigenous farmers in several regions of the world. In East Africa this practice is called fanya-juu, meaning “throw it upward.” In practice, farmers revive degraded land by recovering soil from the bottom of the slope and throwing it upward to form terraces, or steps of roughly level land. The practice of fanya-juu results in soil organic matter levels 35 percent higher than found on conventional farms, comparable to natural ecosystems. This practice also results in 25 percent higher crop yields than from conventional farms. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is sequestered in the terraces, mitigating climate change.15

  Finding Slope

  To find the slope of your hill, you need a line level and string, and usually three people.

  Start at the high point. Person 1 stands at the high slope and holds one end of the string at the ground.

  Person 2 walks to the low point of the slope with the other end of the string, holding it tight.

  When the line level and string are level, person 2 measures the distance from where they are holding the string to the ground.

  Person 3 measures the length of the string from person 1 to person 2.

  Now you have the measurements you need to calculate the slope. Divide the vertical distance (person 2’s measurements) by the horizontal distance (person 3’s measurement), then multiply by 100 to get percent.

  To create a contour line, work your way across the land, keeping both the vertical and horizontal distances equal between terraces. In our case, on a 16 percent slope, terraces were built 25 feet (7.5 m) apart (horizontal) and 4 feet (1.25 m) apart (vertical).

  A line level and a string can be used to determine slope. Photo by Jonah Vitale-Wolff.

  Once the stakes and soil are in place, the next step is to weave your terrace basket. Gather ample branches and sticks from the forest and bring them up to the terrace. Using the stakes as uprights, weave the branches in and out to form the terrace wall that will hold the soil in place. The terrace wall should extend to the height of the bottom of the next terrace. The tighter the weaving, the more powerful soil conservation potential it will have.

  With the terrace wall secure, use shovels and hoes to shape the soil into a flat bed. Pull soil toward the terrace wall and backfill completely. Pull soil up to the bottom of the next wall and use your skills in contour determination to get the soil as level as possible. To hold the soil in place, it’s best to plant a fast-growing, strong-rooted cover crop right away, like buckwheat, rye, or oats. If you used pure soil rather than a mix of soil and forest debris, you may be able to plant fruit tree saplings immediately.

  Volunteers at our konbit (community work day) helped build terraces on the sloped areas of the field.

  UPLIFT

  Sahel Reforestation

  In the 1980s Yacouba Sawadogo of Burkina Faso revived a traditional tree-based approach to farming called zai or tassa. This technique uses pits dug in the preseason to catch water and concentrate organic matter. Sawadogo innovated on the genius of his ancestors by filling the pits with manure and compost to attract termites, whose tunnels further decompose the organic matter.

  At the time there was a mass exodus from his community after severe droughts slashed food production and turned the savanna into a desert. Millions of people starved. However, Sawadogo’s father was buried on his farm. Leaving was not an option.

  Sawadogo dug zai pits to capture rainfall and nutrients for his millet and sorghum crops. He found that his grain yield increased; additionally, native trees started to grow out of the zai. These trees anchored the soil, buffered the wind, and helped retain soil moisture. They also provided mulch for the crops and fodder for the livestock. As others adopted Sawadogo’s technique, water tables across the Sahel began to rise for the first time in decades. Sawadogo explained, “My conviction, based on personal experience, is that trees are like lungs. If we do not protect them, and increase their numbers, it will be the end of the world.”16 His leadership is transforming the Sahel desert into a landscape of green.

  Fruit trees are planted in early spring as soon as the ground can be worked.

  Agroforestry for Soil Restoration

  The forest is a superorganism comprised of trees that “talk” to one another using the internet of fungal mycelium, which quite literally send warning messages, share carbon and minerals, and take turns helping one another out when environmental conditions are rough. Not only is the cooperation of the forest a profound guide for how we need to exist in human community, it’s also a practical survival strategy. We want our cultivated lands to be part of that network with the native forests. One of the best ways to do that is to establish an agroforest between the wild forest and your annual crops.17 Our sibling farmers in Haiti understand the value of agroforestry systems and plant jaden lakou (courtyard gardens) in every compound. Jaden lakou are planted with vegetables, herbs, and fruit trees in a closely intertwined system. Livestock provide manure for fertilization, and kitchen wastes are composted to enrich the soil.

  We have made a few missteps in our attempts to establish a jaden lakou agroforest, and are finally homing in on the best methods. We plant fruit trees on the well-drained terraces, including apples, peaches, plums, Asian pear, persimmons, cherry, and apricot. In the marshy wet areas at the bottom of the hill, we have a row of happy elderberries. Closer to the house we grow the berries that require more frequent picking and care, including blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, jostaberry, juneberries, and honey berries. We also have a hedge of hazelnuts that just started producing fruit, and trellises laden with hardy kiwis and seedless grapes. Interspersed with these woody perennials we have medicinal and pest-preventing herbal plants as well as a thick layer of wood-chip mulch to encourage the fungal mycelium to connect with the tree roots.

  Table 4.3. Spacings for Fruit Trees and Vines

  If you choose to plant trees, it’s best to do so early in the spring, as soon as a hole can be dug. If you wait until too late in the season, the plants will be unduly stressed. Prepare the ground in the fall, months before planting. Pile a full wheelbarrow load of well-aged compost over the area where the tree will go. Additionally, add limestone (if needed) to bring the pH to 6.5. In the spring dig a hole right into the compost, twice the width and about as deep as the tree roots. The tree should be planted at the same depth that it was in the nursery; look for a dirt mark or change in bark color to indicate that point. “Puddle in” the young tree by adding 2 to 3 gallons (8 to 12 L) of water to the hole. Use the soil around the tree to form a berm that will direct water toward the tree roots. Add a thick layer of wood chips to mulch the tree, allowing a 6-inch (15 cm) mulch-free circle around the trunk itself to discourage rodents. In the interim years before the tree roots establish and hold the terraces in place, it’s crucial to maintain your mulch layer and fa
st-growing cover crops around the trees.

  Around and between the trees on our terraces, we plant concentric circles of perennial herbs that have a beneficial relationship with the trees. Some of our favorite companion plants for the orchard are:

  Chives. Plants in the allium family attract pollinating insects, discourage burrowing animals, and repel insects.

  Sage. Sage grows horizontally to provide a satisfying ground cover, and its aroma wards off pests.

  Mint and lemon balm. Members of the mint family are powerful insect repellents and contain organic insecticides. The citronella in lemon balm even deters mosquitoes.

  Comfrey. A dynamic nutrient accumulator, comfrey has a knack for mining the subsoil for minerals and bringing them to the surface to improve the topsoil. Comfrey can be cut back several times in a season and its large leaves used to mulch the trees.

  We also grow chamomile, echinacea, bee balm, arnica, skullcap, and other medicinal herbs in the understory of the orchard. The care and use of herbs will be discussed in more detail in chapter 10.

  The first time we attempted to plant fruit trees, we naively provided them with no pest protection and lost almost all of our orchard to deer browsing. Young fruit trees have a tender, tasty inner bark that is irresistible to rodents and deer, especially in the long, sparse winters of the North. It is important to put a small cage of mesh hardware cloth around the base of the tree, buried 1 inch into the ground. This prevents burrowing rodents from girdling and killing your tree. Further, a 6-foot-tall (1.75 m) 2-by-4-foot (0.6-by-1.25 m) welded wire pen encircling the entire tree is recommended in areas with deer.

  There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” I would like to qualify this wisdom by adding that the planting of small fruits now to complement the larger, slow-growing trees gives the farmer something to eat in the interim. Raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries are comparatively easy to grow and fruit within just a year or two.

  Strawberries. Strawberries love to be planted in areas that have already been gardens for a couple of years and have lots of organic matter. They can be planted in early spring or in the fall, provided they are given a thick mulch layer to get them through the winter. Space strawberry plants 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) apart on center and mulch thickly with straw or leaves. The mulch helps the soil retain moisture, smothers weeds, retains soil heat, and keeps the berries clean. In the first year remove the blossoms so that the plant puts energy into root and foliage growth. The heaviest berry production will be in year two. After three years the berry production drops and it’s time to rotate the strawberries to a new area. Strawberries reproduce by sending out runners. You can harvest these and plant them each year to ensure an ongoing supply. At all times, we have one-year, two-year, and three-year strawberries rotating through different beds.

  Blueberries. Blueberries love naturally acidic soil with a pH of 3.5 to 4.5 and a heavy mulch of pine needles, wood chips, or sawdust to encourage fungal growth. Plant blueberries early in the spring. Depending on the variety, the plants are spaced 4 to 6 feet (1.25 to 1.75 m) apart. Their roots grow shallow and require oxygen, so they are very sensitive to disturbance of the soil at their base. Take care when weeding not to expose these tender roots. With proper pruning and care, blueberry plants live to be 40 to 60 years old.

  Raspberries. Raspberries thrive in a wide variety of soils but prefer a rich, well-drained loam with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Plant them in the spring in rows 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 1 m) apart. Use 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) of mulch in the pathways, and paper mulch or no mulch in the row. The root crowns must have access to light, so take care not to plant the raspberries too deeply. Raspberries produce fruits on a two-year cycle, so canes that have borne in their second year can be selectively pruned in the fall or winter. Alternatively, half of your raspberry patch can be mowed each fall in an alternating pattern. After seven years, it is best to restart your raspberry patch in a new area.

  We grow other less common fruits at Soul Fire Farm, from pawpaws to hardy kiwi. While the details of the cultivation of these crops is beyond the scope of this volume, we recommend Michael Phillips’s book The Holistic Orchard and Lee Reich’s Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden for further details. We have also found that the tree and shrub planting guides of Fedco Trees and St. Lawrence Nurseries have ample information for the novice orchardist.

  Medicinal and culinary herbs are planted in the understory of the jaden lakou agroforest. Photo by Neshima Vitale-Penniman.

  A wire-mesh tree cage protects the sapling from girdling by rodents.

  No-Till and Biological Tillage

  Digging, stirring, overturning, and other methods of mechanical agitation are known collectively as “tillage.” While tillage is an effective way to manage weeds in the short term, we have completely fallen in love with alternative strategies, such as tarping and sheet composting. How could any farmer say no to the opportunity to turn our soil into a carbon sink, reduce labor, and have a perfectly weed-free area in which to sink our crop seed? The major downside to our commitment to minimal tillage is the challenge of wind wrestling. Even on a day when the air feels calm on the skin, laying out 100-by-50-foot (30-by-15-meter) silage tarps looks more like parasailing than farming. We probably move several tons of rocks from the stone walls to hold our tarps in place, and we are happy to do so because the end result stirs our hearts.

  In the case of marginal soils, digging down is not prudent; rather, you build up. This building-up process is also known as no-till and has the incredible side benefit of slowing climate change. In fact, if all farmers adopted the practices described in this section, we could capture 106.25 gigatons of carbon into the soil in less than five years, which would halt climate change.18

  An opaque tarp helps smother weeds without tillage. Photo by Neshima Vitale-Penniman.

  Sheet Composting

  For small areas of the land with a slope less than 15 percent, you can grow annual vegetable crops in raised beds using this no-till process. To get started, the first step is to cut the grass or shrubs as short as possible using a push mower or machete. Next, establish layers of organic matter on top of the cut grass for the dual purpose of smother-killing the sod and building up the soil. Add a thick layer of paper (newsprint, craft paper, cardboard, or feed bags all work) over the entire planting area to prevent any light from reaching the ground. As you spread the paper, place shovels of soil at regular intervals to prevent the paper from blowing away. Then add 2 to 7 inches (5 to 18 cm) of compost on top of the paper, taking care to distribute it evenly. Finally, add a 12-plus-inch (30-plus-centimeter) mulch layer, placing grass clippings, hay, straw, leaves, and/or shredded paper on top. Allow the organic matter sandwich to decompose for three to six months, over winter if you have that season in your region. In the spring, or once the paper has decomposed and the grass is killed, it’s time to dig the beds. We use shovels to dig 4-foot (1.25 m) beds on contour with 1-foot (30 cm) pathways. Essentially, the pathway is a shallow trench, 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) deep. Shovel out the pathway and place that rich, fresh soil onto the beds on either side of the pathway.

  Tarping

  We found that this no-till method works well for growing areas up to ½ acre (0.2 ha) with two strong, skilled laborers committed to the task. For larger areas, consider tarping or cover cropping.19 We like to thoroughly prepare our beds before tarping. This means that we dig out the pathways and turn them up onto the beds to give them a nice shape. We then add 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) of compost over the top of the soil. Finally, we cover the crop area with large black silage tarps, weighing them down with ample large stones along the edges and in each pathway. The maximum size tarp that we recommend is 50 feet by 100 feet (15 meters by 30 meters) because the larger tarps are nearly impossible to move by hand. Water pools on the larger tarps, as well, and can cause a “parking lot” effect where the weight of the water compacts the soil beneath. If you
are unable to purchase silage tarps, you can use old billboards, black garbage bags, camping tarps, landscaping fabric, or any other opaque cover that will not disintegrate under UV light.

  We leave the tarps on for a 6-plus-week period in the cooler weather, or 3-plus weeks in the hot seasons to thoroughly destroy weeds and weed seeds. In northern climates, we recommend against tarping over the winter if you need to remove the tarps for early spring planting, as this serves only to promote perennial weed growth. Assuming that you leave the tarps on for long enough in warm weather, the weeds germinate and then encounter light deprivation and die back. The weed seeds in the top few inches of soil cook slowly in the heat trapped by the tarp. The amount of time recommended to leave the tarp in place varies depending on the season and the climatic region. You are encouraged to experiment to determine the minimum amount of time necessary to achieve a growing area free of weed seeds. After you remove the tarp, the bed should be ready for planting immediately. While a light raking is fine, take care not to turn over the soil after tarping as you do not want to bring up weed seeds from the subsurface.

  Sheet mulching with paper, compost, and straw is a no-till method for preparing your growing area. Photo by Jonah Vitale-Wolff.

  Cover Cropping

  Cover crops are planted to feed the soil, which in turn feeds our people. The best cover crops for no-till systems naturally die back in the winter and are high in biomass so that they can serve as mulch for the vegetable crops. Our preferred cover crops for this purpose are buckwheat, oats, field peas, soybeans, and millet.20 We plant these tender soil feeders in mid- to late summer, so they have time to grow to maturity before winter. The crops die back over the winter, and we can plant spring vegetable transplants directly into the rich mulch layer they leave behind. If weeds are properly managed throughout the season, you may not need to repeat the tarping with black plastic. More details on cover cropping can be found in the next chapter.