Where on a farm can a soap solution be used to kill weeds?
Roadsides, ditches, around buildings, around non-edible crops.
How long do you have to wait to harvest a crop after applying raw manure to the soil?
120 days if the edible portion is in contact with the soil surface or soil particles, 90 days if the edible portion is not.
Why did John Jeavons develop the Grow Biointensive method?
To grow as much food as possible on as little land as possible while enriching the soil, because of the increasing population of the earth and decreasing amount of fertile soil.
What is the one thing Ray Achuleta would like to see all across America?
Keep the soil covered. Make America green.
What are 3 problems with conventional agriculture?
Soil erosion. Loss of biodiversity. Unhealthy crops invite insects and diseases. Excessive greenhouse gas emissions. Food with low nutrient density. Toxic pesticides contaminate our air, water, and food. Death of soil microorganisms. Etc.
What types of paper cannot be used in a compost pile?
Glossy paper or paper with colored ink
Why is there a restriction on when a crop can be harvested after applying raw manure to the soil?
To prevent contamination of the crop with pathogens from the manure
Name 3 Biodynamic preparations
Horn Manure, Horn Silica, Horsetail or Equisetum, Yarrow, Chamomile, Nettle, Oak Bark, Dandelion, Valerian
What are 3 benefits of black plastic tarps?
Smother weeds, retain moisture, protect soil from erosion, create favorable environment for microorganisms
What are three purposes of the berms between sections of field on JM Fortier's farm?
Windbreak, attract beneficial insects, attract birds
What does it mean if a product has the OMRI logo on it?
It has been reviewed by the Organic Materials Review Institute and they have determined that it meets the organic standards
What is the purpose of a buffer strip and what is a typical width?
To minimize danger of contamination by chemicals from a neighboring farm. 30 feet is typical.
How is it that Grow Biointensive growing regenerates the soil even though it uses deep tillage?
Compost is added to the soil whenever it is tilled. Also, the tillage is more gentle than tillage with a machine.
Explain Eliot Coleman's wrong side of the tapestry analogy.
On the right side of the tapestry we see clearly how all parts of nature work together to create a perfectly functioning system. This is like a regenerative system that works with natural systems. The back side of the tapestry it is not clear and it is hard to see what is going on. It appears that the system needs a lot of help to function. This is like conventional agriculture trying to control nature and to supplement what appears to them to be problems with nature's systems.
What was the connection that Dan Kittredge made between his injured dog and Colorado potato beetles on his crop?
Maggots on his dog were eating unhealthy flesh. The beetles were eating unhealthy plants.
What is the National List, with respect to organic certification?
It lists synthetic inputs that are allowed and non-synthetic inputs that are not allowed for use in organic production
What should the initial carbon to nitrogen ratio be in a compost pile?
Between 25 and 40
What is the KNF preparation that is made by fermenting rice water?
Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)
How does Dan Kittredge connect our senses of taste and smell to reducing climate change
Healthy soil sequesters carbon, reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. Healthy soil grows healthy plants, which produce more nutritious food which tastes and smells better.
Steve Boss mentioned a company that makes sauces with produce that is several days old and another that makes sauces with produce picked the same day. Which sauces tasted best and what reason did Steve give for that?
The sauces made from several day old produce tasted best because of the quality of consciousness of the people making the sauce.
What are the three areas covered by regenerative organic certification?
Soil health, animal welfare, farmer and worker fairness
What are the temperature and turning requirements for a compost pile that contains manure?
Temperature between 131 and 170 for 15 days and turned 5 times
What is IMO and how does it benefit?
Indigenous Micro Organisms are organisms collected from a healthy natural ecosystem that are used to establish those beneficial organisms in the soil of a garden or farm.
Why does rotational grazing benefit the soil but continuous grazing degrades the soil?
Rotational grazing keeps the plants in the stage of rapid growth where they are producing lots of sugars through photosynthesis and exuding them from their roots into the soil to feed the microbes. The hooves of the livestock press organic matter into the soil. The plants have time to recover before they are grazed again. With continuous grazing the plants are eaten until they are too small and stressed and they never have a chance to recover. They are growing slowly and have little sugar to put into the soil.
The whole is more than the sum of the parts. How is this principle from the science of consciousness exhibited in regenerative agriculture?
All of the parts (soil organic matter, soil organisms, plants, beneficial insects, etc.) work together to create a whole system that creates healthy nutritious food.