The Maine visit was amazing, seemed to sail by too quickly, but some good experiences on the home front. After a weekend at the MOFGA's farmer to farmer conference I visited Mark Fulford, a full-cycle farmer, and the father of Galen Fulford, with whom I'm working here in Scotland. MArk and I planted winter wheat sprouts and talked about a collaborative project I'll be helping on to develop a 10,000 chicken full-cycle farm in Shenzhen, China. What does full-cycle mean, you may ask? 'Full Cycle' is a term apparently coined by Mark to describe the type of farming that we wish most Organic farms applied. Organic farming, says Mark, is suffering from the same mass-production and earth-mining practices that have gotten us into so much trouble in the first place.
Full-Cycle farming engages the highest possible plant and microbial health and diversity, combines crop/ livestock/ and natural resource cycle input and output in a way that provides a net yield for the farmer while maintaining the greatest possible health for the earth upon which the farm sits [and as a result for the planet]. More than just crop rotation, diminished tilling, and no pesticides, full cycle farming takes a holistic look at all of the opportunities of a particular bioregion to combine crop, livestock and ecological perspectives. Lots of talk about anionic and cationic charges in your soil, proliferating maximum healthy microbial and mycchorhizal activity. Life is electrical, life is energy. Mark's perspective is about keeping as much ENERGY as possible on the land which ultimately produces the greatest yield and greatest profit for the farmer. Mark's planting of winter wheat is sparse within the bed, he's testing a new practice called SRI, System for Rice Intensification that was developed in Madagascar in the 80's, spreading like wildfire, and helping to kick Monsanto and its ilk out of small poor farming communities. Initially more labor intensive but saves water, chemicals and allows nature do do the cultivation. Learn more at http://www.ikisan.com/links/ap_ricesri.shtml
From Mark's, I picked up friend Andrew Marshall and headed up to Roque Bluffs State Park, where we dumped our kayaks in the water and paddled up Little Kennebec Bay toward Bill Coperthwaite's Yurt Foundation outpost. Bill has no phone or email, his home is a 2 mile hike into the woods, or one can paddle, as we endeavoured to do, into his millpond. Storm was brewing for the weekend, but we had days of crisp, sunny and frosty weather to paddle in. We spent Friday with Bill and his friend Gaie and explored some of his new handworking tool designs. I carried a message from Kenneth of the Carpenter's Boatshop in Damirascotta that he and his students would come up to spend a few days at the Yurt Foundation in December. Bill's book, "a handmade life", is on its second publishing run and is highly recommended. He also showed us Shelter Publications two new books, "Home Work", and "Builders of the Pacific Northwest" by Lloyd Kahn. Both incredible and inspirational snapshots of people who found democratic and accessible means to build their dream homes on a shoestring. Bill is 79 now, his hikes in and out of his land, pushing his 'trailbarrow' full of tools and gear over the beaver marsh and through the maple coppice groves, are a bit slower now, but he has set up the 12 stations of the cross (with a smile and a wink) to remind himself to rest along the way. It has been 4 years since my last visit and I'm delighted to see him full of vim and vigor. He got ramped up and asked Andrew and I what we were doing for the next 10 years..."Time to start a Folk School here in Maine!" Hmmmm. Better get to work. Emilia, meanwhile, is working through a visa mess trying to get herself to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Back in Scotland now, I have brought a copy of Bill's Book and some yurt foundation calendars as gifts for my hosts here at Findhorn. Knowing nothing of me or my journeys, my 60 year old roomate, Juditha from Greece, says in conversation, when I mention that I am from the States, that there is one American that she would marry. She can't remember his name but he has written a book called "A Handmade Life". Shivers run up my spine. She and I will write a letter to Bill and let him know that the degrees of seperation between us all are fewer with him around.
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