The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

animal manure and human waste, thinking it primitive or dirty. Todaypeople want "clean" vegetables, so farmers grow them in hothouseswithout using soil at all. Gravel culture, sand culture, and hydroponicsare getting more popular all the time. The vegetables are grown withchemical nutrients and by light which is filtered through a vinylcovering. It is strange that people have come to think of these vegetablesgrown chemically as "clean" and safe to eat. Foods grown in soilbalanced by the action of worms, microorganisms, and decomposinganimal manure are the cleanest and most wholesome of all.In growing vegetables in a "semi-wild" way, making use of a vacantlot, riverbank or open wasteland, my idea is to just toss out the seeds andlet the vegetables grow up with the weeds. I grow my vegetables on themountainside in the spaces between the citrus trees.The important thing is knowing the right time to plant. For the springvegetables the right time is when the winter weeds are dying back andjust before the summer weeds have sprouted [ This method of growingvegetables has been developed by Mr. Fukuoka by trial and experimentin accordance with local conditions. Where he lives there are dependablespring rains, and a climate warm enough to grow vegetables in allseasons. Over the years he has come to know which vegetables can begrown among which weeds and the kind of care each requires.In most parts of North America the specific method Mr. Fukuokauses for growing vegetables would be impractical. It is up to each farmerwho would grow vegetables in the semi-wild manner to develop atechnique appropriate to the land and the natural vegetation.] For the fallsowing, seeds should be tossed out when the summer grasses are fadingaway and the winter weeds have not yet appeared.It is best to wait for a rain which is likely to last66