Subject: Re: one-straw revolution
From: wtmorgan@pilot.msu.edu (Bill Morgan)
Organization: Michigan State University
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 1997 02:10:33 -0400
Message-ID: <MOD$970815.24192@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$970805.6422@rec.gardens.ecosystems> <MOD$970807.2486@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
In article <MOD$970807.2486@rec.gardens.ecosystems>, William D Hulet
wrote:
>
> Another example is the way he found his vegetables growing like
> weeds. We all see examples of "volunteers" in our gardens, but why do we
> assume that lambs-quarter, dandelion, and burdock should establish
> themselves without human intervention, but not the vegetables we like to
> eat? Fukuoka simply saw that we produce the situations that what we call
> "weeds" need to thrive, and decided to figure out what different
> situations would allow "vegetables" to similarly prosper. He found that
> by making some simple changes he was able to create situations where the
> veggies took over and the weeds went all to Hell.
Realizing, of course that many of our fave food plants are pre-adapted to
growing in tilled areas because they are disturbance plants to begin with.
This makes sense when you think about how agriculture would have developed,
circa 10,000 years ago. Edible plants that survived well around humans
were the natural choice for the invention of agriculture. Since "around
humans" often translates into "in disturbed areas", it is no accident that
many of our crops started out this way. It is no accident either, that
those that seed best and come back as volunteers so easily are among the
weediest of our crops.
Some examples:
Most of the mustards: cabbage/kale/kolrhabi/broccoli/cauliflower/brussels
sprouts, turnips, radishes, mustard greens. Many wild members of the family
are important agricultural weeds.
Annual grasses (many grains)
Sunflowers.
Many of the carrot family: dill, carrot (queen-anne's lace), cilantro.
The list could go on, but listing everything isn't really of importance here.
Also note that some of what we commonly berate as weeds in the US are, in
fact highly regarded edibles elsewhere: burdock, purslane.
And some of our weeds are escaped edibles, including some plants already
mentioned.
There are, of course also crops that prefer less disturbed habitats. Many
of these are long-lived perennials. Fruit and nut trees are the most
obvious examples here (but again, the list could go on...)
There are no doubt ways to raise some of our "weedy" crops in
less-disturbed settings, but it is not remarkable that tillage has been a
common practice for 10 millenia (although 20th century methods have
certainly gone to the extreme in this realm...)
Changing these practices is an interesting idea, but not necessarily
something that will be accomplished quickly or easily. Much of that is due
to the inertia of human society, but part of it is because of the
evolutionary legacy of the crops themselves.
A parting thought: if you want to use non- or low- tillage methods, it will
be a lot easier if you use appropriate crops.
Regards,
Bill
--
Bill Morgan
wtmorgan@pilot.msu.edu
Center for Room Temperature Confusion