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As everyone knows, the growth of our crops is driven by the dynamics and forces of Growth. As it now turns out, the dynamics of Growth are driven by a fundamental and immensely powerful universal law - a law which governs from one end of the universe to the other.
(see PROGRESSIVE COMPLEXITY in these pages).
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The vitally important function of Decay is that it provides the raw materials for new stars, new galaxies, new black holes, planets, plants and people - in an infinite cycle of birth, growth, maturity, reproduction, decline, death, decay and re-birth - be this of stars, planets, biospheres, plants or people. In this manner, finite resources are constantly recycled for the infinite re-creation of new stars, new planets, new plants and
people. (Our own star, our Sun, is a third or fourth generation star, for instance).
The following little familiar image is a beautiful illustration of the polar complementarity of the universal laws of Growth and Decay, and of Evolution and Decay. This is how the universe works. This this is how our biosphere works. Our modern N-P-K agriculture, however, works exactly the opposite way.
GROWTH |
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DECAY |
Here, the up-cycle describes the progressive Complexity of all Gestation, Growth and Evolution; the down-cycle illustrates the progressive simplicity of all Decay and Death; and the horizontal phase at the bottom stands for Stability over time. We now have the vast universal laws which create, generate and govern all things in this universe, and among them, the universal generating forces of a rich and abundant, and fully biodynamic agriculture which is not only permanently sustainable, but becomes richer and more fertile season by season and year by year. Exactly the same dynamics have transformed the primeval Earth from an originally totally barren and lifeless planet to one teeming with what was, at least until recently, an incredibly rich and teeming biosphere. We will see how this comes about in a minute.
The following image describes the 'natural cycle' as generated by the governing universal laws, as discussed here. And although it only depicts a symbolic berry bush, it essentially encapsulates the forces and dynamics which create, build and govern the immense Complexity of our biosphere.
Here, the 'up' and 'down' arrows arrows illustrate the universal, or natural, driving forces of Growth and Decay, respectively. This simple little diagram also encapsulates the path of the Progressive Complexity of evolution from simple elements to complex compounds (photosynthesis is chief among them), to living plants and animals - which ultimately also includes our kind and selves.
The fallen leaves, the dead bird, and the life-wastes of living animals illustrate the role of decay which returns all life products and wastes to the soil. A crucially vital factor of the process of decay is that decay is not total. It does not go all the way back down to the level of simple elements. Instead, and as governed by the integral and specific "Strata of Stability" (also a fundamental universal law) of chemical compounds, decay stops at the level of relatively complex chemical and biological compounds, such as carbon compounds and amino acids, for instance.
The addition of these complex chemical and biological compounds to the soil, via incomplete decay, substantially raises the physical, chemical, and biochemical complexity of the soil. This dramatically increases the quality, fertility, friability and water retention capacity, as well as the fabric of soil biota of the soil. In short, and in time, it turns once barren soil into highly complex, rich and fertile loam (as illustrated by the cross-hatching in this diagram).
In exactly the same way, the law of Progressive Complexity has created all of the fertile top soil of the Earth, and in the case of the Ukraine, a 10 feet deep layer of richly fertile topsoil. The totality of our teeming and immensely complex planetary biosphere has been created - or grown - by these fundamental laws, forces and dynamics of our universe.
Finally, the little blue dots in this diagram are supposed to stand for the trace elements which are so fundamental to our health and well being, as discussed in these pages. These trace elements are taken up by all vegetation, and via its leaves and fruit, then find their way into the substance and metabolic processes of those animals which feed on the vegetation - including our kind and selves, of course.
And via the constant decay and return of all life wastes to the soil, these trace elements - although they typically amount to only one part in a million - are perpetually maintained and available in the soil. In this manner, a miniscule resource is effectively maintained and available indefinitely.
We now have an understanding of the vast and powerful laws and creative forces of our biosphere, and with this understanding, the ability and power to use them to our advantage and benefit in our agriculture. One thing remains to be said. In nature, these forces and dynamics work slowly and a bit haphazardly - but nevertheless surely. But given the high cognitive power of our kind, our ability to manipulate our environment, and our capacity of focused intent, we can accelerate these universal dynamics a thousand-fold in our agriculture. In short, we can do in a year what nature accomplishes in a thousand.
We now turn to the subject of our present-day agriculture. It is now perfectly clear that today's agricultural methods have broken the 'natural cycle', as mandated by the creative laws and forces of our universe. We do not return all life-wastes to the soil, nor do we monitor and maintain the natural range of the more than 72 biological trace elements in the soil, and our inorganic fertilizers are incapable of maintaining, never mind increasing the quality and friability of our soils.
Instead, the combination of our modern agricultural methods, our modern system of growing vast crops in specific areas and shipping them to distant markets, and our modern sewerage system which sends all life-wastes and by-products to dumps, rivers, and eventually to the sea, results in a progressive decrease of the complexity of our agricultural soils - as illustrated by the following diagram.
Instead of increasing the quality and fertility of our agricultural soils, we are decreasing it at a rapid pace. The annual loss of topsoil in the US stands at about 8 million tons per year, and at about 5 million tons per year in Canada. And as everyone knows, our modern agriculture is unsustainable.
This three-pronged sabotage of the natural path of Progressive Complexity - channelling the life-wastes to the sea, failure to replace the full 72+ spectrum of the trace elements, and inorganic fertilizers - can have only one result; the eventual collapse of our agriculture.
To take a more 'concrete' example, let's suppose we are growing 50 acres of cabbages, let's say. These cabbages take up the nutritional elements and trace elements from the soil and incorporate them in their substance. Upon harvest, these cabbages are shipped to distant markets, and with them go the elements and trace elements they contain. Here then, they are prepared for consumption, and the trimmings go into the garbage, including their trace element content. The remainder is consumed, and the elements and trace elements it contains become part of us. Sooner or later, we have to go to the bathroom, and with our body wastes go the trace elements we got from these cabbages. And our metabolic wastes go into the sewers, and from there, into dumps, rivers, or the sea. After over one hundred years of this process, all those elements and trace elements which are not replaced in the soil via our fertilizers, have become either severely deficient or entirely exhausted.
And we have just begun to suffer the inevitable consequences. Most of the diseases which plague us and our crops now are caused by nothing more than deficiency or lack of more than 60 trace elements in our daily food.
Meanwhile, the neglect of more than 60 vitally important trace elements by our agriculture also results in many crop diseases, as well as increased susceptibility to insect infestations. This we fight with poisons, at great expense, as well as great expense to our individual and collective health. The bitter irony of it is that this is entirely unnecessary. The simple, and cheap, provision of a 72+ trace element fertilizer will not only prevent most plants diseases, and increase resistance to insect pests - but it will also dramatically increase the growth and yield of our crops - in some cases four-fold! - and even 7-fold (see
THE 1500 LB PEARTREE in these pages).
Our modern agriculture is doing so many things bass ackwards - all of them well known - that it is too depressing to list them all here. Let us only say that it is unsustainable; poisons our land, water, environment and food; and robs us of our birthright to perfect physical and mental health - as outlined in these pages.
One final fact. Our environment, our food, and our kind and selves, are one indivisible unit. Everything we have introduced and added, and are adding into our environment and our food, will show up in us, either negatively, or positively. (to whit, the DDT, agricultural poisons and other industrial pollutants that now course through the veins of all living things).There is no way around this. We do not, and cannot exist apart from our environment.
And given our badly misguided modern agriculture, it is no wonder that cancer is steadily rising, despite all medical advances, and that we are plagued by a whole host of new and mysterious diseases. Breast cancer in males (!) - never encountered before - is just the newest of 9 brand-new and mysterious diseases in the last 12 years.
What we are seeing now is just the beginning; unless we change to a supremely healthy, permanently sustainable and completely poison-free agriculture, it will get much worse.
Fortunately, we now have these powerful methods for an incredibly rich, completely poison-free, supremely healthy, fully biodynamic, permanently sustainable, and extremely economical agriculture. All we need to do is - do it - and the sooner the better.
All comments are most welcome, and I'll gladly answer any questions you may have. pweis@shaw.ca
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