Amish Farmers Study Plant Immunology, Avoid Using Pesticides Completely

Amish farmers are studying plant immunology in order to grow healthy organic produce free of harmful chemicals.

Amish farmers avoided the draft during WWII, even choosing to face jail time over going to war because they didn’t believe in combat, and now they are taking up a different fight altogether – peacefully – by studying plant immunology in order to grow healthy organic produce without pesticides, herbicides, and other harmful chemicals that biotech companies are lavishing on crops like cheap perfume on an uncouth lady.

Samuel Zook, an Amish farmer recently explained to a reporter:

“If you really stop and think about it, though, when we go out spraying our crops with pesticides, that’s really what we’re doing. It’s chemical warfare, bottom line.”

Zook should know what its like to try to grow without pesticides and still get rid of pests that would ravish his crops. He owns a 66-acre farm that was once riddled with fungus and other plant-killing insects that he could scarcely eradicate.  The 39-year old farmer talked at length about trying to run a homestead that had been in his family for five generations, and how miserably he was failing. He became disillusioned with the Big Ag methods promoted as ‘agriculture’ when they are nothing more than war on the natural world.  His frustration led him to the writings of an 18-year old Amish farmer from Ohio, named John Kempf.

This young upstart is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a consulting firm the farmer established in 2006 to promote science-intensive organic agriculture. That’s right – it wasn’t just going to be an inconclusive guessing game about what to grow and how to grow it – his achievements would make any pro-GMO agriculturalist or biotech scientists eat their genetically modified words.

Read more: http://www.nationofchange.org/2014/10/21/amish-farmers-study-plant-immunology-avoid-using-pesticides-completely/

Frugal lessons from the Amish

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Amish people and communities are unique in many ways, and their “Christian” doctrine and beliefs shall not be to discussion here for we can degree or disagree with them.

To most outsiders, they are known mostly as soft-spoken people who live a simple life, don’t use (mains) electricity, have no telephone (inside the house) and don’t drive cars. I have put some aspects here in brackets for the Amish are not just one entirely homogenous group with the same set of rules. Some allow electricity, as long as it is not from the grid, which means they may use generators, solar or wind, or other means of generating it, in the same way that some will not have a telephone at all while others simply will not permit one in the house and thus have an outhouse with a phone.

They’ve also had just enough bad press to make some people wary. No matter what your opinion of their beliefs, the traditional Amish lifestyle offers some (financial) advantages that anyone might consider adopting. Obviously, some adjustments involve sacrifices and commitments that not everyone is going to want to make, but the principles can still help you find ways to save. Here are some lessons to be learned from these “plain people”:

Sometimes “Need” really means “Want”

Most people cultivate a sense of need for things they could live without. Since most aren’t driven by a culture that abhors amenities, it can take a financial crisis to help a person realize what he or she can give up. How many times have you said, or heard said something like, “A person has to have some comforts.” to justify that second television, or a luxury car, or something similar? If saving money is your goal, take a look around and figure out what the real necessities are.

As I have said more than ones in my many writings on the matter of needs and wants is that many of our perceived needs are but wants, more often than not created by advertising.

Simple is good

In many ways, the things we spend extra money on either complicate our lives or end up costing more in the long run. A self-propelled lawnmower doesn’t cut grass any better; it’s just easier and has more moving parts to replace. A brisk hike in the fresh air is just as effective as that 30 minute stroll on an expensive treadmill and you’ll enjoy it more. Manual hedge clippers are half as expensive as electric, less noisy and give your arms some exercise.

Simplicity is also making a comeback with technology in many instances with a retro-trend as far as cell-phones are concerned, for instance, where a fair number of people have begun to abandon the smartphones for the older forms of mobile telephones which were just that, mobile telephones.

When it comes to simplicity there are many aspects of our lives that would benefit from being simplified again and that also includes our reading and our filing and whatever else.

Pen, pencil and paper still have their place and in fact the place is getting bigger again as there are also many people who are returning to the real letter and to using pen and paper for taking notes and also storing hard copies of stuff rather than keeping it digitally on some media or even “in the cloud”.

There are many other things in our lives that also benefit from being kept as simple as possible as to complicate things often makes things more expensive and when something goes wrong with them makes them, nowadays, (almost) impossible to fix, to repair.

Grow your own

I know, not everyone can raise livestock or big crops, but most of us can grow a few vegetables or herbs, even if they’re of the miniature, indoor variety. You’ll save some money and get better tasting, healthier produce, too.

It is possible to grow your own in the smallest of places, as Vertical Veg proves on his site and in his courses. You do not have to have acres of land on which to grow healthy vegetables for yourself (and your family). Even a small balcony can provide at least some.

In addition to that, if you don't have the space to grow the amount that you think you want to grow or need to grow, there is always the possibility to have an allotment garden (though the waiting lists are rather long in many places in Britain). In other countries those plots go by different names but in essence it is all the same.

Many hands make light work – and less expense

When big projects arise in an Amish community, family and neighbors pitch in to get it done. Granted, if you live in the city, a barn raising is pretty much out of the question, but that doesn’t mean that family and friends can’t pitch in to mend that back fence or build a deck. Building codes in most cities will allow a homeowner to do their own home improvements and “employ” someone to help. You’ll need a permit for most work, and there will be inspections, but if you can’t afford a contractor, some free meals and maybe a case of beer might go a long way toward paying your friends.

But not everywhere is it that strict as in the Land of the Free, which does not seem to be as free as it is always made out to be. In some countries you can pretty much do a great deal more though a permit for extensions and such like may be required or for outbuildings on your property.

Craftsmanship isn’t about expensive tools

The reputation of Amish woodworkers is based on attention to detail, patience and secrets handed down through generations. Many of their tools are hand-made. You’re probably wondering what that has to do with saving money. It’s simple. Photographers can create awesome images without the top-of-the-line DSLR. Web developers can create great sites without owning the latest computer or software. Whatever you do, don’t get caught up in needing the biggest and best. Be the master of the tools you own and save some money.

Take care of your tools

Keeping the tools of your trade longer doesn’t mean letting them fall apart. Any skilled craftsman knows that without proper maintenance, tools fail. Keeping your equipment in shape means it will perform better, longer. Having to replace them because of premature failure isn’t cost-effective. Therefore, buying good tools, which may be a little more expensive than the cheap ones, are a much better investment than buying cheap ones that fall apart after only a short while.

Also, you don't have to buy new tools. Look for old quality tools that, with a little TLC, can be rescued and resurrected to outperform any new modern tool. This is because old tools were made by craftsmen who knew what the craftsmen who were going to use demanded in quality.

Quality is worth the investment

One of the reasons Amish furniture is in such high demand is that it lasts. Because of the meticulous construction methods and hand-selected materials, many Amish pieces become heirlooms. Sometimes saving money means paying a little more for something that you’re not going to be throwing away soon. Naturally, this applies to much more than furniture.

A handmade wooden spoon, a handmade knife, or other goods and products made lovingly with care to ensure that they last for several lifetimes are a much better investment than something that has built-in obsolescence and will break or otherwise no longer function in less that three years.

The biggest problem that we have today and why things don't last is the built-in obsolescence, designed by the manufacturers (and, dare I say, governments) so that we have to buy new every few years (to keep the economy growing) and that almost nothing made today can be repaired (easily and cheaply). When repair is more expensive than buying new then something has seriously gone wrong with our society, and that is the case today. Often spare parts can be more expensive than a new product and that just does not make sense at all.

Make the most of resources at hand

To an Amish farmer, a cow is a source of dairy products and fertilizer. A grove of trees can provide building materials, but needs to be managed well, because it also produces game for the dinner table, as well as other natural foods. Crops are rotated carefully to optimize soil condition and help control crop disease. Careful resource management helps Amish communities sustain themselves with little help from the outside. We can all save money by learning to manage, recycle and repurpose what we have.

Reuse and repurposing is also something that you will find on every Amish farm and it was – I stress the word was – commonplace once on every farm, homestead and the majority of homes everywhere.

To a degree, this is true, it was due to the fact that finances were tight and thus you did not just “pop out to the stores” to buy something or order it from a catalog or today on the Internet.

You did not goo out and buy glass storage jars; you used those that cam with stuff you bought. The same went for drinking glasses. You repurposed glass jars for those. Empty tin cans became pencil bins, scoops for chicken feed and soil for potting, and the list goes on and on. Other things were made from scrap wood in simple DIY fashion or more elaborate even.

Get the Most Out of What You Have

Those horse-drawn prams the Amish are so well known for are also handed down, and repaired or reconditioned many times over. So it is with their other possessions. The basic principle is that if something serves its purpose, it doesn’t need to be replaced. Imagine how much money you can save by keeping your car a few years after it’s paid off. How about refinishing the dining table instead of replacing it? Make what you own last a little longer and you’ll save.

The old adage from America “If it ain't broke don't fix it”, to a degree embodies this in that, if it is not broken and works well then do not replace it but keep using it and if it is broken and repairable then do so. It is worth it in the long run for (1) it more than likely saves you money and (2) as it has been working for a long time it will, repaired, work for another long while.

The Amish and other frugal folks also look after their belongings in a different way than do many of our contemporaries today. They do not seem to care that they have, for instance, lost something during a visit to the local park, as an example, and as I find on an almost daily basis, and go back to retrieve. They rather go and buy a new one. This is something that is so alien too me that I just cannot comprehend it.

Gifts Don’t Have to Break the Bank

Traditional Amish gifts for birthdays, etc. are simple, practical items and usually singular. A tool or an item of clothing is typical. More often than not handmade also. This was also the way when I was growing up, whether for birthdays, or other occasions. Bought gifts were very rare indeed.

While there’s no need to adjust your gift giving quite that radically, it wouldn’t hurt to consider buying one very thoughtful gift instead of a dozen expensive ones.

When it comes to surviving hard times, the Amish have sustained their culture and communities in North America for centuries, while relying mostly on themselves. What better example for those of us trying to provide for ourselves and our families in today’s economy?

© 2014

The size of farming

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Farms in the western world and we include in this term the Antipodean countries, and such places, are becoming bigger and bigger and we are being told that we have to accept this trend as this is the only way to go forward.

Keeping in step with this growth pattern farm machinery, that is to say tractors, combines, sprayers, etc., also are getting every bigger and more and more sophisticated. The latter to such an extent that the driver of today's modern farm tractors and combines is just becoming someone who inputs the data and them monitors the operation. The machines can plow, etc., via satellite. Great for straight lines, but what if and when technology finally fails.

A great majority of farms in the USA, in Canada, in the UK, Australia and a couple of other such places, nowadays fall more and more under the term “factory farm”, for lack of a better expression, and the big old farming estates of Europe and such are not even close in size and operations. In fact many of the old large estates in Eastern Europe are still worked in almost the same wasy as before World War II.

With the ever bigger machinery and scale of operations, highly dependent of fossil fuels, especially petroleum products, and not just for running the machines, I just wonder as to how people think that this is going to continue with petroleum products becoming more and more expensive on an almost daily level. We are running out of cheap and abundant oil and thus it will get more and more expensive.

The huge farming operations are not sustainable and, in fact, do serious harm o to the environment, our health and the Planet as a whole.

Chemical fertilizers, based, predominately on petroleum products pollute the soil and the water and rob the soil of its ability to support life. Herbicides and pesticides pollute the environment, and us, directly and through the food that we eat and the water that we drink and even the very air that we breathe.

Use, or should we better call a spade a spade and say overuse, of antibiotics in animal farming is making us all sick and is creating superbugs, including MRSA and such like. Things have to change and they must change pronto; ideally now, this very moment.

To think that we can continue to grow farms and their operations more and more and bigger and bigger, as our governments, the farming lobby, and the general powers that be so, is absolutely ludicrous. It is not sustainable and the attempt is just to purposely destroy the (small) family farms, which is the very aim, in fact, methinks.

However, you do not have to have all the huge machines and run your farm like a factory and farming as an industry.

Instead of bigger and bigger our farms in the “developed” world – I sometimes really wonder about the “developed” bit – must be brought down to size again and everyone also must do his part in food growing.

We must return to the small, family-owned and -operated, or to community-owned and -operated, farms.

Small is beautiful also and especially in the farming sector and the Amish farms can stand as an example of this is the modern world. They are the only farms in America that don't just break even; they actually make a profit and a very handsome one at that.

© 2012

Horse and Buggy plus Wind Turbine

Indiana Amish Begin Embracing Renewable Energy

by Michael Smith

The junction of spirituality and environmental awareness seems to be getting more crowded. Even the Amish are now – and this is not actually all that new, as some of the orders that are not so strict have been at this already for a while – getting in on the act.

It is not the electricity but connection to the grid that the Amish object to.

While the majority of people probably associate the Amish with living outside of modern life, without electricity and machinery this is not entirely correct and true. While initially (like in the 1920s...) there was hesitation to adopt electricity, it was not so much the electricity itself that was the issue but the connection to the grid and therefore the outside world. Low-voltage electricity is perfectly permissible and will rising diesel prices, the cost of fueling generators is causing some people to look to renewable energy to fulfill their needs.

When it comes to machinery there are many places where the lathes and such for the workshops are either powered by water or even by steam engines. Again it is not the power, and such, but the connection, via the grid, to the outside world, that the Amish have a problem with.

When it comes to electricity some are turning to solar power and others are turning to wind power. Wind turbines can now be seen in a fair number of Amish places as can photovolatic cells on roofs and elsewhere. In many places it is a combination of anything renewable they can find, including water.

In some instances renewable sources of electricity supplements other off-grid options such as diesel generators, with which to power lights, refrigerator, freezer and machinery.

Some businesses too are getting gin on the renewable act in Amish territory Brian Burkholder owns Solar Energy Systems in Nappanee, Indiana and probably 70% of his customers are Amish. This is probably not least partially because he himself is Amish.

Off-grid is good for the Amish directly as well as for their businesses, whether they sell the technology or whether they use it for whatever they produce.

The interesting thing in this is that at least in a certain part of Indiana, a group of people associated with largely eschewing the modern consumer world seem to be adopting renewable energy faster than the surrounding population. I doubt that that is a bad thing though.

Whether we agree or disagree with the Amish on a religious basis and also on the way some seem to live and raise their families and such, some of their ways could teach us a lot as to how we could take pack some of our peace in life and on the planet. Their system, in general, has a lot lower impact on the environment than our hectic modern life has.

When we see Amish embracing the Internet and technology, even though, probably, with filtering systems, and who could blame them for that, then I know that the time is right to take a few more leaves out of their books.

However, their rather lower impact life could be a guide to some of us ate least. While I am not sure how horse and buggy would go down on the streets of London, and even in my location just outside the British capital, it is, to some extent, doable and it does not have to be horse and buggy but just the humble iron horse, aka the bicycle, and trailer.

I always do, to some extent, admire the Amish not to have taken up, in general, the infernal combustion engine. Mind you, when Henry Ford invented it, it was never meant to run on gasoline. But gasoline became to cheap hence the use of gas as fuel and what have we done...

© M Smith (Veshengro), September 2008
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