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John Caradith

Webmaster of Custom Logo Design

Keep on the good work, we enjoy reading your sories.

Best regards,

Emily Arayo

Organic, No-till Mini-Farming & Mini-Stock Farming
[Home & School & Farm]

The solution to world hunger is teaching the farmers to farm profitably. There is a grassroots movement, around the world, for families and groups to produce their own food due to cost, flavor and chemical contamination. “There’s this belief that in order to stop poverty, we have to find ways to get people to stop being farmers. What we need to do is find ways to stop them from being poor farmers.” Amy Smith, MIT The following can feed the world regardless of how high the population goes. There is unlimited, documented proof.
These are based on the internet, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research data and farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden. They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable.
Poor, unhealthy soil is the reason for low yields. Here is the solution. Organic No-Till is not a fixed set of rules but a method that gardeners/farmers adapt to their local conditions. No one plows the jungle and it produces; no one plows the forest and it produces.
Organic, no-till farming, in permanent beds, with permanent paths, using only a machete/corn knife, doubles or triples yields compared to traditional farming, reduces labor 50% to 75%, reduces inputs-expenses to nearly 0 [buy only seed for new crops, green manure/cover crops], increases fertility, stops soil erosion [no rain water runoff], eliminates most weed, disease and insect problems and greatly increases profits if marketing. Use DIY drip or DIY bucket drip irrigation [made by farmer] to produce during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall.
SRI – system of rice intensification: 50%-100% increased yield, up to 90% reduction in required seed, up to 50% savings in water. SRI principles and practices have been adapted for rain-fed rice.
SCI – system of crop intensification: wheat, sugarcane, millet, maize and teff with yield increases.

With no-till, organic matter [green manure/cover crops] generates the following results:
 The mulch gradually rots into the soil providing a constant supply of nutrients while eliminating composting.
 Moisture retention due to the mulch layer means reduced need for watering; saving both resources and labor.
 Mulch prevents weeds from growing, reducing another laborious chore.
 Because of greater nutrients, plants can be positioned twice as densely as normally recommended.
 The combination of denser spacing and healthy soil means a fourfold increase in yield. Josef Graf

These practices stopped the migration of farm families to the cities. [Honduras]. There are 262,000,000 acres in no-till and 85,000,000 acres organic, worldwide.

Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been organic, no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years. At the time of my visits the following were organic, no-till: an Indian farmer [vegetables] for 5 years, a Malawi farmer [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years [model mini-farm] and a Honduras farmer [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Ruth Stout [USA] had a garden for 30 years and 7,000 people visited her garden. I have been on farms where the farmer, alone, farms 10 acres [4 hectares], using only a machete/corn knife.
No technique yet devised by man has been anywhere near as effective at halting soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as 0-tillage (Baker)

1. Financial: Little funds are needed. No tractor, no equipment, no fertilizers, no chemicals.
2. Inter-urban, urban, peri-urban [use land free?]
3. Restore the soil to its natural health. Contaminations: inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers
4. Maintain healthy soil: Healthy soil produces healthy plants, for high yields.
5. Feed the soil; not the crop: Inorganics feed the plants and poisons the soil. Organics feed the soil which feeds the plants.
6. Increase soil organic matter every year
7. Soil always covered Weeds are Nature’s soil cover.
8. Feed the soil through the mulch.
9. Use green manure/cover crops.
10. Intercropping and/or crop rotation
11. Use external organic matter [leaves, etc]
12. Leave all crop residues on top of the soil.
13. No-till – no digging, no tilling, no cultivating Worms and roots till the soil.
14. Permanent beds
15. Permanent paths
16. Hand tools: machete/corn knife, planting hoe, etc
17. All year production: DIY hoop houses, high tunnels, shade cloth, row covers, etc.
18. Organic pesticides, herbicides if ever needed
19. Do not buy anything except seed
20. Open-pollinated seed
21. Tree crops: fruit, bananas, coffee [shaded]. Perennial cover crop.
22. New crops for your area
23. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, fibers, grains, etc
24. Muscovies [insect control: no housing, etc. In every country]
25. Bucket drip irrigation should be used during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall: Bucket drip kits are US$25 in most countries. A bucket drip line can be made locally using poly tubing [US$3, Nicaragua]. One, 33 meters, will irrigate a row of crops using only 20 liters of water per day. A drip line can be moved to irrigate several rows per day. Water can be from a stream, pond or well. A drip kit returns US$20 per month to the farmer [FAO study].
26. Imitate nature. Most farmers fight nature. ¡Nature always wins!

http://rodaleinstitute.org/20101005_birke-baehr-food-fighter-and-future-farmer

Farmers using tractors, email for information.

I volunteer my time to teach workshops, worldwide, in English or Spanish, when all expenses are paid.

Ken Hargesheimer minifarms@gmail.com

Home: Every family needs a garden/farm to produce food.

School: Organic, no-till farming should be taught in every school. Provides food for the students and provides vocational training.
When Soil is Plowed
Dr. Elaine Ingham, describes an undisturbed grassland—where a wide diversity of plants grow, their roots mingling with a wide diversity of soil organisms—and how it changes when it is plowed.
A typical teaspoon of native grassland soil contains between 600 million and 800 million individual bacteria that are members of perhaps 10,000 species. Several miles of fungi are in that teaspoon of soil, as well as 10,000 individual protozoa. There are 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes from as many as 100 species. Root-feeding nematodes are quite scarce in truly healthy soils. They are present, but in numbers so low that it is rare to find them.
After only one plowing, a few species of bacteria and fungi disappear because the food they need is no longer put back in the system. But for the most part, all the suppressive organisms, all the nutrient cyclers, all the decomposers, all the soil organisms that rebuild good soil structure are still present and trying to do their jobs.
But tillage continues to deplete soil organic matter and kill fungi. The larger predators are crushed, their homes destroyed. The bacteria go through a bloom and blow off huge amounts of that savings-account organic matter. With continued tillage, the “policemen” (organisms) that compete with and inhibit disease are lost. The “architects” that build soil aggregates are lost. So are the “engineers”—the larger organisms that design and form the larger pores in soil. The predators that keep bacteria, fungi, and root-feeding organisms in check are lost. Disease suppression declines, soil structure erodes, and water infiltration decreases because mineral crusts form. Dr. Elaine Ingham, soilfoodweb.com
“Plowing the land over and over damages the soil almost as much as chemical weed killers do. It kills off nitrogen-fixing bacteria.” Onmivore’s Dilemma
“No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing. It can be said with truth that the use of the plow has actually destroyed the productiveness of our soils.” Edward Faulkner
Plow to kill the weeds; that brings to the surface more seeds to sprout; more weeds to plow up.

Dear Ken,
Thank you for all the info. I am applying it in my own vegetable patch. It is working. Got half a pocket of potatoes off a square metre. So would imagine about 10 pounds per square yard. This off previously dead low, carbon soil. Sure next crop will be better. Got yams coming up on same spot already. Want to plant herbs and spices. Your advise is so simple. People do not believe me when I tell them. I am so excited about growing things now. This coming from a commercial plum farmer. Jeremy Karsen, South Africa

We have already started several gardens in Jinkfuin community and the people working on them have benefitted from the DVDS we received from Ken. We watched the DVDs and got so many lessons and there women and men already running gardens, good ones! Lia, Kimilili

I confirm Ken’s advice. I’ve been using mulch and no-till since the late sixties. It works. It really works. I now manage a 5,000 ft² community garden in its fifth season. It started on hard clay with turf grass using cardboard and mulch. Leaves are added to the beds every fall and it has never been tilled. It’s a beautiful, fruitful garden. I have friends who have sand and advised them to do the same. They’ve been very successful as well. It will work anywhere. Judith Hainaut

Uganda: We have been working on improving farming techniques for almost a year. Unfortunately, the farmers are planting small plots of land that only feed their family. There is no other choice but to try new techniques to improve the output of their plot. Ken Hargesheimer suggested the “no till” farming techniques as well as the “drip system”. Both have proven effective at increasing production by at least 5 fold. The time is now for Kyomya to become a model agricultural village. [nabuur.com]

Ken has instructed us that by introducing cover crops we will improve the organic nature of the soil. This involves less work than the previous method and has resulted in double the yield from crops where this method has been implemented.’ Busukuma, nabuur.com

Free farming dvd on request.

Livestock Farming

1. Meat, milk, egg, fiber production
2. Provide water at all times
3. Grains [as needed]
4. Straw for bedding
5. All bedding/manure returned to soil
6. Pens; no cages/no tying in stalls
7. Moveable pens, small animals, over beds
8. Never feed straw to animals [no food value]
9. 12 month of grazing [if possible]
10. Hay and/or silage
11. Legume & grass forages
12. Permanent pastures
13. Rotational grazing
14. Cut and carry [as necessary]
15. Staked grazing
16. Holistic animal health care
17. Have males
18. Buy breeding service
19. Artificial insemination
20. Miniature animals: donkeys, goats, cattle , horses, sheep, bantams
21. Small animals: Muscovies [eggs, meat], goats [meat, milk, fiber], chickens, peacocks, ducks, geese, rabbits, sheep [meat, milk, fiber], hogs, turkeys
22. Large animals: beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, buffalo, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, camels

Organic, No-till Mini-Farming & Mini-Stock Farming
[Home & School & Farm]

The solution to world hunger is teaching the farmers to farm profitably. There is a grassroots movement, around the world, for families and groups to produce their own food due to cost, flavor and chemical contamination. “There’s this belief that in order to stop poverty, we have to find ways to get people to stop being farmers. What we need to do is find ways to stop them from being poor farmers.” Amy Smith, MIT The following can feed the world regardless of how high the population goes. There is unlimited, documented proof.
These are based on the internet, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research data and farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden. They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable.
Poor, unhealthy soil is the reason for low yields. Here is the solution. Organic No-Till is not a fixed set of rules but a method that gardeners/farmers adapt to their local conditions. No one plows the jungle and it produces; no one plows the forest and it produces.
Organic, no-till farming, in permanent beds, with permanent paths, using only a machete/corn knife, doubles or triples yields compared to traditional farming, reduces labor 50% to 75%, reduces inputs-expenses to nearly 0 [buy only seed for new crops, green manure/cover crops], increases fertility, stops soil erosion [no rain water runoff], eliminates most weed, disease and insect problems and greatly increases profits if marketing. Use DIY drip or DIY bucket drip irrigation [made by farmer] to produce during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall.
SRI – system of rice intensification: 50%-100% increased yield, up to 90% reduction in required seed, up to 50% savings in water. SRI principles and practices have been adapted for rain-fed rice.
SCI – system of crop intensification: wheat, sugarcane, millet, maize and teff with yield increases.

With no-till, organic matter [green manure/cover crops] generates the following results:
 The mulch gradually rots into the soil providing a constant supply of nutrients while eliminating composting.
 Moisture retention due to the mulch layer means reduced need for watering; saving both resources and labor.
 Mulch prevents weeds from growing, reducing another laborious chore.
 Because of greater nutrients, plants can be positioned twice as densely as normally recommended.
 The combination of denser spacing and healthy soil means a fourfold increase in yield. Josef Graf

These practices stopped the migration of farm families to the cities. [Honduras]. There are 262,000,000 acres in no-till and 85,000,000 acres organic, worldwide.

Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been organic, no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years. At the time of my visits the following were organic, no-till: an Indian farmer [vegetables] for 5 years, a Malawi farmer [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years [model mini-farm] and a Honduras farmer [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Ruth Stout [USA] had a garden for 30 years and 7,000 people visited her garden. I have been on farms where the farmer, alone, farms 10 acres [4 hectares], using only a machete/corn knife.
No technique yet devised by man has been anywhere near as effective at halting soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as 0-tillage (Baker)

1. Financial: Little funds are needed. No tractor, no equipment, no fertilizers, no chemicals.
2. Inter-urban, urban, peri-urban [use land free?]
3. Restore the soil to its natural health. Contaminations: inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers
4. Maintain healthy soil: Healthy soil produces healthy plants, for high yields.
5. Feed the soil; not the crop: Inorganics feed the plants and poisons the soil. Organics feed the soil which feeds the plants.
6. Increase soil organic matter every year
7. Soil always covered Weeds are Nature’s soil cover.
8. Feed the soil through the mulch.
9. Use green manure/cover crops.
10. Intercropping and/or crop rotation
11. Use external organic matter [leaves, etc]
12. Leave all crop residues on top of the soil.
13. No-till – no digging, no tilling, no cultivating Worms and roots till the soil.
14. Permanent beds
15. Permanent paths
16. Hand tools: machete/corn knife, planting hoe, etc
17. All year production: DIY hoop houses, high tunnels, shade cloth, row covers, etc.
18. Organic pesticides, herbicides if ever needed
19. Do not buy anything except seed
20. Open-pollinated seed
21. Tree crops: fruit, bananas, coffee [shaded]. Perennial cover crop.
22. New crops for your area
23. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, fibers, grains, etc
24. Muscovies [insect control: no housing, etc. In every country]
25. Bucket drip irrigation should be used during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall: Bucket drip kits are US$25 in most countries. A bucket drip line can be made locally using poly tubing [US$3, Nicaragua]. One, 33 meters, will irrigate a row of crops using only 20 liters of water per day. A drip line can be moved to irrigate several rows per day. Water can be from a stream, pond or well. A drip kit returns US$20 per month to the farmer [FAO study].
26. Imitate nature. Most farmers fight nature. ¡Nature always wins!

http://rodaleinstitute.org/20101005_birke-baehr-food-fighter-and-future-farmer

Farmers using tractors, email for information.

I volunteer my time to teach workshops, worldwide, in English or Spanish, when all expenses are paid.

Ken Hargesheimer minifarms@gmail.com

Home: Every family needs a garden/farm to produce food.

School: Organic, no-till farming should be taught in every school. Provides food for the students and provides vocational training.
When Soil is Plowed
Dr. Elaine Ingham, describes an undisturbed grassland—where a wide diversity of plants grow, their roots mingling with a wide diversity of soil organisms—and how it changes when it is plowed.
A typical teaspoon of native grassland soil contains between 600 million and 800 million individual bacteria that are members of perhaps 10,000 species. Several miles of fungi are in that teaspoon of soil, as well as 10,000 individual protozoa. There are 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes from as many as 100 species. Root-feeding nematodes are quite scarce in truly healthy soils. They are present, but in numbers so low that it is rare to find them.
After only one plowing, a few species of bacteria and fungi disappear because the food they need is no longer put back in the system. But for the most part, all the suppressive organisms, all the nutrient cyclers, all the decomposers, all the soil organisms that rebuild good soil structure are still present and trying to do their jobs.
But tillage continues to deplete soil organic matter and kill fungi. The larger predators are crushed, their homes destroyed. The bacteria go through a bloom and blow off huge amounts of that savings-account organic matter. With continued tillage, the “policemen” (organisms) that compete with and inhibit disease are lost. The “architects” that build soil aggregates are lost. So are the “engineers”—the larger organisms that design and form the larger pores in soil. The predators that keep bacteria, fungi, and root-feeding organisms in check are lost. Disease suppression declines, soil structure erodes, and water infiltration decreases because mineral crusts form. Dr. Elaine Ingham, soilfoodweb.com
“Plowing the land over and over damages the soil almost as much as chemical weed killers do. It kills off nitrogen-fixing bacteria.” Onmivore’s Dilemma
“No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing. It can be said with truth that the use of the plow has actually destroyed the productiveness of our soils.” Edward Faulkner
Plow to kill the weeds; that brings to the surface more seeds to sprout; more weeds to plow up.

Dear Ken,
Thank you for all the info. I am applying it in my own vegetable patch. It is working. Got half a pocket of potatoes off a square metre. So would imagine about 10 pounds per square yard. This off previously dead low, carbon soil. Sure next crop will be better. Got yams coming up on same spot already. Want to plant herbs and spices. Your advise is so simple. People do not believe me when I tell them. I am so excited about growing things now. This coming from a commercial plum farmer. Jeremy Karsen, South Africa

We have already started several gardens in Jinkfuin community and the people working on them have benefitted from the DVDS we received from Ken. We watched the DVDs and got so many lessons and there women and men already running gardens, good ones! Lia, Kimilili

I confirm Ken’s advice. I’ve been using mulch and no-till since the late sixties. It works. It really works. I now manage a 5,000 ft² community garden in its fifth season. It started on hard clay with turf grass using cardboard and mulch. Leaves are added to the beds every fall and it has never been tilled. It’s a beautiful, fruitful garden. I have friends who have sand and advised them to do the same. They’ve been very successful as well. It will work anywhere. Judith Hainaut

Uganda: We have been working on improving farming techniques for almost a year. Unfortunately, the farmers are planting small plots of land that only feed their family. There is no other choice but to try new techniques to improve the output of their plot. Ken Hargesheimer suggested the “no till” farming techniques as well as the “drip system”. Both have proven effective at increasing production by at least 5 fold. The time is now for Kyomya to become a model agricultural village. [nabuur.com]

Ken has instructed us that by introducing cover crops we will improve the organic nature of the soil. This involves less work than the previous method and has resulted in double the yield from crops where this method has been implemented.’ Busukuma, nabuur.com

Free farming dvd on request.

Livestock Farming

1. Meat, milk, egg, fiber production
2. Provide water at all times
3. Grains [as needed]
4. Straw for bedding
5. All bedding/manure returned to soil
6. Pens; no cages/no tying in stalls
7. Moveable pens, small animals, over beds
8. Never feed straw to animals [no food value]
9. 12 month of grazing [if possible]
10. Hay and/or silage
11. Legume & grass forages
12. Permanent pastures
13. Rotational grazing
14. Cut and carry [as necessary]
15. Staked grazing
16. Holistic animal health care
17. Have males
18. Buy breeding service
19. Artificial insemination
20. Miniature animals: donkeys, goats, cattle , horses, sheep, bantams
21. Small animals: Muscovies [eggs, meat], goats [meat, milk, fiber], chickens, peacocks, ducks, geese, rabbits, sheep [meat, milk, fiber], hogs, turkeys
22. Large animals: beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, buffalo, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, camels

Organic, No-till Mini-Farming & Mini-Stock Farming
[Home & School & Farm]

The solution to world hunger is teaching the farmers to farm profitably. There is a grassroots movement, around the world, for families and groups to produce their own food due to cost, flavor and chemical contamination. “There’s this belief that in order to stop poverty, we have to find ways to get people to stop being farmers. What we need to do is find ways to stop them from being poor farmers.” Amy Smith, MIT The following can feed the world regardless of how high the population goes. There is unlimited, documented proof.
These are based on the internet, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research data and farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden. They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable.
Poor, unhealthy soil is the reason for low yields. Here is the solution. Organic No-Till is not a fixed set of rules but a method that gardeners/farmers adapt to their local conditions. No one plows the jungle and it produces; no one plows the forest and it produces.
Organic, no-till farming, in permanent beds, with permanent paths, using only a machete/corn knife, doubles or triples yields compared to traditional farming, reduces labor 50% to 75%, reduces inputs-expenses to nearly 0 [buy only seed for new crops, green manure/cover crops], increases fertility, stops soil erosion [no rain water runoff], eliminates most weed, disease and insect problems and greatly increases profits if marketing. Use DIY drip or DIY bucket drip irrigation [made by farmer] to produce during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall.
SRI – system of rice intensification: 50%-100% increased yield, up to 90% reduction in required seed, up to 50% savings in water. SRI principles and practices have been adapted for rain-fed rice.
SCI – system of crop intensification: wheat, sugarcane, millet, maize and teff with yield increases.

With no-till, organic matter [green manure/cover crops] generates the following results:
 The mulch gradually rots into the soil providing a constant supply of nutrients while eliminating composting.
 Moisture retention due to the mulch layer means reduced need for watering; saving both resources and labor.
 Mulch prevents weeds from growing, reducing another laborious chore.
 Because of greater nutrients, plants can be positioned twice as densely as normally recommended.
 The combination of denser spacing and healthy soil means a fourfold increase in yield. Josef Graf

These practices stopped the migration of farm families to the cities. [Honduras]. There are 262,000,000 acres in no-till and 85,000,000 acres organic, worldwide.

Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been organic, no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years. At the time of my visits the following were organic, no-till: an Indian farmer [vegetables] for 5 years, a Malawi farmer [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years [model mini-farm] and a Honduras farmer [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Ruth Stout [USA] had a garden for 30 years and 7,000 people visited her garden. I have been on farms where the farmer, alone, farms 10 acres [4 hectares], using only a machete/corn knife.
No technique yet devised by man has been anywhere near as effective at halting soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as 0-tillage (Baker)

1. Financial: Little funds are needed. No tractor, no equipment, no fertilizers, no chemicals.
2. Inter-urban, urban, peri-urban [use land free?]
3. Restore the soil to its natural health. Contaminations: inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers
4. Maintain healthy soil: Healthy soil produces healthy plants, for high yields.
5. Feed the soil; not the crop: Inorganics feed the plants and poisons the soil. Organics feed the soil which feeds the plants.
6. Increase soil organic matter every year
7. Soil always covered Weeds are Nature’s soil cover.
8. Feed the soil through the mulch.
9. Use green manure/cover crops.
10. Intercropping and/or crop rotation
11. Use external organic matter [leaves, etc]
12. Leave all crop residues on top of the soil.
13. No-till – no digging, no tilling, no cultivating Worms and roots till the soil.
14. Permanent beds
15. Permanent paths
16. Hand tools: machete/corn knife, planting hoe, etc
17. All year production: DIY hoop houses, high tunnels, shade cloth, row covers, etc.
18. Organic pesticides, herbicides if ever needed
19. Do not buy anything except seed
20. Open-pollinated seed
21. Tree crops: fruit, bananas, coffee [shaded]. Perennial cover crop.
22. New crops for your area
23. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, fibers, grains, etc
24. Muscovies [insect control: no housing, etc. In every country]
25. Bucket drip irrigation should be used during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall: Bucket drip kits are US$25 in most countries. A bucket drip line can be made locally using poly tubing [US$3, Nicaragua]. One, 33 meters, will irrigate a row of crops using only 20 liters of water per day. A drip line can be moved to irrigate several rows per day. Water can be from a stream, pond or well. A drip kit returns US$20 per month to the farmer [FAO study].
26. Imitate nature. Most farmers fight nature. ¡Nature always wins!

http://rodaleinstitute.org/20101005_birke-baehr-food-fighter-and-future-farmer

Farmers using tractors, email for information.

I volunteer my time to teach workshops, worldwide, in English or Spanish, when all expenses are paid.

Ken Hargesheimer minifarms@gmail.com

Home: Every family needs a garden/farm to produce food.

School: Organic, no-till farming should be taught in every school. Provides food for the students and provides vocational training.
When Soil is Plowed
Dr. Elaine Ingham, describes an undisturbed grassland—where a wide diversity of plants grow, their roots mingling with a wide diversity of soil organisms—and how it changes when it is plowed.
A typical teaspoon of native grassland soil contains between 600 million and 800 million individual bacteria that are members of perhaps 10,000 species. Several miles of fungi are in that teaspoon of soil, as well as 10,000 individual protozoa. There are 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes from as many as 100 species. Root-feeding nematodes are quite scarce in truly healthy soils. They are present, but in numbers so low that it is rare to find them.
After only one plowing, a few species of bacteria and fungi disappear because the food they need is no longer put back in the system. But for the most part, all the suppressive organisms, all the nutrient cyclers, all the decomposers, all the soil organisms that rebuild good soil structure are still present and trying to do their jobs.
But tillage continues to deplete soil organic matter and kill fungi. The larger predators are crushed, their homes destroyed. The bacteria go through a bloom and blow off huge amounts of that savings-account organic matter. With continued tillage, the “policemen” (organisms) that compete with and inhibit disease are lost. The “architects” that build soil aggregates are lost. So are the “engineers”—the larger organisms that design and form the larger pores in soil. The predators that keep bacteria, fungi, and root-feeding organisms in check are lost. Disease suppression declines, soil structure erodes, and water infiltration decreases because mineral crusts form. Dr. Elaine Ingham, soilfoodweb.com
“Plowing the land over and over damages the soil almost as much as chemical weed killers do. It kills off nitrogen-fixing bacteria.” Onmivore’s Dilemma
“No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing. It can be said with truth that the use of the plow has actually destroyed the productiveness of our soils.” Edward Faulkner
Plow to kill the weeds; that brings to the surface more seeds to sprout; more weeds to plow up.

Dear Ken,
Thank you for all the info. I am applying it in my own vegetable patch. It is working. Got half a pocket of potatoes off a square metre. So would imagine about 10 pounds per square yard. This off previously dead low, carbon soil. Sure next crop will be better. Got yams coming up on same spot already. Want to plant herbs and spices. Your advise is so simple. People do not believe me when I tell them. I am so excited about growing things now. This coming from a commercial plum farmer. Jeremy Karsen, South Africa

We have already started several gardens in Jinkfuin community and the people working on them have benefitted from the DVDS we received from Ken. We watched the DVDs and got so many lessons and there women and men already running gardens, good ones! Lia, Kimilili

I confirm Ken’s advice. I’ve been using mulch and no-till since the late sixties. It works. It really works. I now manage a 5,000 ft² community garden in its fifth season. It started on hard clay with turf grass using cardboard and mulch. Leaves are added to the beds every fall and it has never been tilled. It’s a beautiful, fruitful garden. I have friends who have sand and advised them to do the same. They’ve been very successful as well. It will work anywhere. Judith Hainaut

Uganda: We have been working on improving farming techniques for almost a year. Unfortunately, the farmers are planting small plots of land that only feed their family. There is no other choice but to try new techniques to improve the output of their plot. Ken Hargesheimer suggested the “no till” farming techniques as well as the “drip system”. Both have proven effective at increasing production by at least 5 fold. The time is now for Kyomya to become a model agricultural village. [nabuur.com]

Ken has instructed us that by introducing cover crops we will improve the organic nature of the soil. This involves less work than the previous method and has resulted in double the yield from crops where this method has been implemented.’ Busukuma, nabuur.com

Free farming dvd on request.

Livestock Farming

1. Meat, milk, egg, fiber production
2. Provide water at all times
3. Grains [as needed]
4. Straw for bedding
5. All bedding/manure returned to soil
6. Pens; no cages/no tying in stalls
7. Moveable pens, small animals, over beds
8. Never feed straw to animals [no food value]
9. 12 month of grazing [if possible]
10. Hay and/or silage
11. Legume & grass forages
12. Permanent pastures
13. Rotational grazing
14. Cut and carry [as necessary]
15. Staked grazing
16. Holistic animal health care
17. Have males
18. Buy breeding service
19. Artificial insemination
20. Miniature animals: donkeys, goats, cattle , horses, sheep, bantams
21. Small animals: Muscovies [eggs, meat], goats [meat, milk, fiber], chickens, peacocks, ducks, geese, rabbits, sheep [meat, milk, fiber], hogs, turkeys
22. Large animals: beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, buffalo, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, camels

Organic, No-till Mini-Farming & Mini-Stock Farming
[Home & School & Farm]

The solution to world hunger is teaching the farmers to farm profitably. There is a grassroots movement, around the world, for families and groups to produce their own food due to cost, flavor and chemical contamination. “There’s this belief that in order to stop poverty, we have to find ways to get people to stop being farmers. What we need to do is find ways to stop them from being poor farmers.” Amy Smith, MIT The following can feed the world regardless of how high the population goes. There is unlimited, documented proof.
These are based on the internet, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research data and farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden. They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable.
Poor, unhealthy soil is the reason for low yields. Here is the solution. Organic No-Till is not a fixed set of rules but a method that gardeners/farmers adapt to their local conditions. No one plows the jungle and it produces; no one plows the forest and it produces.
Organic, no-till farming, in permanent beds, with permanent paths, using only a machete/corn knife, doubles or triples yields compared to traditional farming, reduces labor 50% to 75%, reduces inputs-expenses to nearly 0 [buy only seed for new crops, green manure/cover crops], increases fertility, stops soil erosion [no rain water runoff], eliminates most weed, disease and insect problems and greatly increases profits if marketing. Use DIY drip or DIY bucket drip irrigation [made by farmer] to produce during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall.
SRI – system of rice intensification: 50%-100% increased yield, up to 90% reduction in required seed, up to 50% savings in water. SRI principles and practices have been adapted for rain-fed rice.
SCI – system of crop intensification: wheat, sugarcane, millet, maize and teff with yield increases.

With no-till, organic matter [green manure/cover crops] generates the following results:
 The mulch gradually rots into the soil providing a constant supply of nutrients while eliminating composting.
 Moisture retention due to the mulch layer means reduced need for watering; saving both resources and labor.
 Mulch prevents weeds from growing, reducing another laborious chore.
 Because of greater nutrients, plants can be positioned twice as densely as normally recommended.
 The combination of denser spacing and healthy soil means a fourfold increase in yield. Josef Graf

These practices stopped the migration of farm families to the cities. [Honduras]. There are 262,000,000 acres in no-till and 85,000,000 acres organic, worldwide.

Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been organic, no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years. At the time of my visits the following were organic, no-till: an Indian farmer [vegetables] for 5 years, a Malawi farmer [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years [model mini-farm] and a Honduras farmer [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Ruth Stout [USA] had a garden for 30 years and 7,000 people visited her garden. I have been on farms where the farmer, alone, farms 10 acres [4 hectares], using only a machete/corn knife.
No technique yet devised by man has been anywhere near as effective at halting soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as 0-tillage (Baker)

1. Financial: Little funds are needed. No tractor, no equipment, no fertilizers, no chemicals.
2. Inter-urban, urban, peri-urban [use land free?]
3. Restore the soil to its natural health. Contaminations: inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers
4. Maintain healthy soil: Healthy soil produces healthy plants, for high yields.
5. Feed the soil; not the crop: Inorganics feed the plants and poisons the soil. Organics feed the soil which feeds the plants.
6. Increase soil organic matter every year
7. Soil always covered Weeds are Nature’s soil cover.
8. Feed the soil through the mulch.
9. Use green manure/cover crops.
10. Intercropping and/or crop rotation
11. Use external organic matter [leaves, etc]
12. Leave all crop residues on top of the soil.
13. No-till – no digging, no tilling, no cultivating Worms and roots till the soil.
14. Permanent beds
15. Permanent paths
16. Hand tools: machete/corn knife, planting hoe, etc
17. All year production: DIY hoop houses, high tunnels, shade cloth, row covers, etc.
18. Organic pesticides, herbicides if ever needed
19. Do not buy anything except seed
20. Open-pollinated seed
21. Tree crops: fruit, bananas, coffee [shaded]. Perennial cover crop.
22. New crops for your area
23. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, fibers, grains, etc
24. Muscovies [insect control: no housing, etc. In every country]
25. Bucket drip irrigation should be used during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall: Bucket drip kits are US$25 in most countries. A bucket drip line can be made locally using poly tubing [US$3, Nicaragua]. One, 33 meters, will irrigate a row of crops using only 20 liters of water per day. A drip line can be moved to irrigate several rows per day. Water can be from a stream, pond or well. A drip kit returns US$20 per month to the farmer [FAO study].
26. Imitate nature. Most farmers fight nature. ¡Nature always wins!

http://rodaleinstitute.org/20101005_birke-baehr-food-fighter-and-future-farmer

Farmers using tractors, email for information.

I volunteer my time to teach workshops, worldwide, in English or Spanish, when all expenses are paid.

Ken Hargesheimer minifarms@gmail.com

Home: Every family needs a garden/farm to produce food.

School: Organic, no-till farming should be taught in every school. Provides food for the students and provides vocational training.
When Soil is Plowed
Dr. Elaine Ingham, describes an undisturbed grassland—where a wide diversity of plants grow, their roots mingling with a wide diversity of soil organisms—and how it changes when it is plowed.
A typical teaspoon of native grassland soil contains between 600 million and 800 million individual bacteria that are members of perhaps 10,000 species. Several miles of fungi are in that teaspoon of soil, as well as 10,000 individual protozoa. There are 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes from as many as 100 species. Root-feeding nematodes are quite scarce in truly healthy soils. They are present, but in numbers so low that it is rare to find them.
After only one plowing, a few species of bacteria and fungi disappear because the food they need is no longer put back in the system. But for the most part, all the suppressive organisms, all the nutrient cyclers, all the decomposers, all the soil organisms that rebuild good soil structure are still present and trying to do their jobs.
But tillage continues to deplete soil organic matter and kill fungi. The larger predators are crushed, their homes destroyed. The bacteria go through a bloom and blow off huge amounts of that savings-account organic matter. With continued tillage, the “policemen” (organisms) that compete with and inhibit disease are lost. The “architects” that build soil aggregates are lost. So are the “engineers”—the larger organisms that design and form the larger pores in soil. The predators that keep bacteria, fungi, and root-feeding organisms in check are lost. Disease suppression declines, soil structure erodes, and water infiltration decreases because mineral crusts form. Dr. Elaine Ingham, soilfoodweb.com
“Plowing the land over and over damages the soil almost as much as chemical weed killers do. It kills off nitrogen-fixing bacteria.” Onmivore’s Dilemma
“No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing. It can be said with truth that the use of the plow has actually destroyed the productiveness of our soils.” Edward Faulkner
Plow to kill the weeds; that brings to the surface more seeds to sprout; more weeds to plow up.

Dear Ken,
Thank you for all the info. I am applying it in my own vegetable patch. It is working. Got half a pocket of potatoes off a square metre. So would imagine about 10 pounds per square yard. This off previously dead low, carbon soil. Sure next crop will be better. Got yams coming up on same spot already. Want to plant herbs and spices. Your advise is so simple. People do not believe me when I tell them. I am so excited about growing things now. This coming from a commercial plum farmer. Jeremy Karsen, South Africa

We have already started several gardens in Jinkfuin community and the people working on them have benefitted from the DVDS we received from Ken. We watched the DVDs and got so many lessons and there women and men already running gardens, good ones! Lia, Kimilili

I confirm Ken’s advice. I’ve been using mulch and no-till since the late sixties. It works. It really works. I now manage a 5,000 ft² community garden in its fifth season. It started on hard clay with turf grass using cardboard and mulch. Leaves are added to the beds every fall and it has never been tilled. It’s a beautiful, fruitful garden. I have friends who have sand and advised them to do the same. They’ve been very successful as well. It will work anywhere. Judith Hainaut

Uganda: We have been working on improving farming techniques for almost a year. Unfortunately, the farmers are planting small plots of land that only feed their family. There is no other choice but to try new techniques to improve the output of their plot. Ken Hargesheimer suggested the “no till” farming techniques as well as the “drip system”. Both have proven effective at increasing production by at least 5 fold. The time is now for Kyomya to become a model agricultural village. [nabuur.com]

Ken has instructed us that by introducing cover crops we will improve the organic nature of the soil. This involves less work than the previous method and has resulted in double the yield from crops where this method has been implemented.’ Busukuma, nabuur.com

Free farming dvd on request.

Livestock Farming

1. Meat, milk, egg, fiber production
2. Provide water at all times
3. Grains [as needed]
4. Straw for bedding
5. All bedding/manure returned to soil
6. Pens; no cages/no tying in stalls
7. Moveable pens, small animals, over beds
8. Never feed straw to animals [no food value]
9. 12 month of grazing [if possible]
10. Hay and/or silage
11. Legume & grass forages
12. Permanent pastures
13. Rotational grazing
14. Cut and carry [as necessary]
15. Staked grazing
16. Holistic animal health care
17. Have males
18. Buy breeding service
19. Artificial insemination
20. Miniature animals: donkeys, goats, cattle , horses, sheep, bantams
21. Small animals: Muscovies [eggs, meat], goats [meat, milk, fiber], chickens, peacocks, ducks, geese, rabbits, sheep [meat, milk, fiber], hogs, turkeys
22. Large animals: beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, buffalo, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, camels

Keep the fire burning.

Margaret