THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR’S VIEWPOINT

Where we’re coming from

Last fall we initiated some new programming at The Lodge at Pony Farm. It was a most inopportune time. Everyone was focused on two other things. One was the suddenly sinking economy that hung like a dark cloud of threatening uncertainty over everyone. The other was an election that captured the nation’s attention and promised to be historic. It was not a good time to begin something new and widely unknown.

The something new and widely unknown that we sought to bring to people’s awareness was a new level of consciousness, - not just something to talk about, but an awareness and commitment that would have significant and practical consequences and benefits in the world.

We put our attention on two emerging ways of relating creatively and constructively with the earth. One is biochar, the other is nutrient dense crop production.

Introducing biochar

A program in the fall of 2008, introducing biochar to a small group, led to a second in the winter that created a network of interested and involved individuals, then a third in the spring that brought together world class experts and an even larger audience to demonstrate a variety of ways of producing and using biochar. Biochar is a form of charcoal, created by a process called pyrolysis, that can be placed in the soil to enrich its fertility, while also storing carbon in the earth rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. These combined attributes make this a unique way to enhance the quality of our farm and garden crops while, at the same time, serving as the only carbon-negative strategy to combat climate change or global warming. It is also a way of generating energy and heat, mostly in ways yet to be developed.

Continuing with biochar this fall

Programs relating to biochar will continue this fall at The Lodge at Pony Farm, with a one-day presentation and discussion on Biochar & Forestry on September 12, bringing together foresters, landowners, representatives of government, business, and civic organizations, and concerned citizens. These people will share their knowledge and experience about the present condition and future sustainability of our forests, and how biochar can be useful in maintaining and regenerating these community resources. This event is being co-sponsored by the Harris Center in Hancock, an organization with an established commitment to forest management and preservation.

More and more people are hearing about the benefits of biochar in their gardens, and they are asking how to make it or procure it, and then apply it properly in their soil. On October 17, there will be another one-day workshop at The Lodge at Pony Farm, presented by knowledgeable and experienced experts to demonstrate the making of this material and then to show how to prepare it and add it to the soil.

Further details of both of these events can be found by clicking the link in relation to each program on the website calendar.

Introducing Nutrient Dense Crop Production

In February 2009 I was one of 100 farmers and home gardeners who attended a three-day seminar in Barre MA on Biological Farming, presented by Dr. Arden Andersen and sponsored by NOFA-MA. This event introduced me to the principles and practice of nutrient dense crop production, a specific way of producing highly nutritious crops with great flavor, longer shelf life, and diminished problems with weeds, insects and disease. A fellow seminar attendee, Mike Lombard of Ideal Compost in Peterborough, and I have begun such a garden here in Peterborough, taking the first steps in this new direction of soil and crop enhancement. Gardens at the Pony Farm are also being taken in this new direction, which goes beyond organic by rebuilding and balancing the soil to the point where more nutritious crops are grown to produce healthier human beings.

The value of this approach would seem to be self-evident, since the food we generally consume is so lacking in nutrient value that it is causing the vast amount of illness and chronic ailments we are seeing throughout our society, in both adults and youth– cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, to name a few. When we eat unhealthy food, we create unhealthy bodies. We will never resolve our national health care crisis until we address the fundamental underlying cause of poor health and chronic conditions – malnutrition - which starts in the soil.

Offering workshops on how to raise nutrient dense crops

It takes a while and some knowledgeable help to learn to grow crops in this manner, so The Lodge at Pony Farm is offering a series of four workshops in the coming months, led by Dan Kittredge, a long-time organic farmer in Massachusetts. Dan, the Director of the Real Food. Campaign, has made a study of these new methods, and is a knowledgeable and communicative teacher who will be presenting both concepts and hands-on practice in each of his workshops.

Dan will be offering four one-day workshops on Sundays this fall and winter to teach people the principles and practices of nutrient dense farming and gardening. The first of these workshops is scheduled for August 30, to be followed by others on October 25, January 31, and February 28. Very likely there will be ongoing consultation after that to further support the learning process.

Further information about this series of workshops is also to be found via a link on the calendar, so I invite those interested to read more and register. If the first of these, coming so soon, is not possible for you, the remaining workshops are open to attend on an individual basis, up to a certain limit of enrollment.

I welcome your participation in these innovative programs, and in the other programs we will be offering during the coming season. Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions or comments you may have.

Douglas Williams
Program Director
The Lodge at Pony Farm
douglaswilliams28@comcast.net
603-924-7008