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Re: Is Organic Food Better?
In article <961123212050_141376231@emout19.mail.aol.com> YankeePerm@aol.com
writes:
>Finally, I'd like to suggest that various versions of agriculture are not
>nearly as distinct as the difference between gardening and farming. In
>gardening, there are very strong elements of participation in nature by the
>"grower" (lacking a better term that would be recognized) whereas in farming
>the "grower" mainly is involved with attempts to control nature and compel a
>result.
I guess this depends on where you are. In the Far West the summers are
so dry that gardening tends to be a highly artificial proposition. Here
in the Coast Range of Oregon, the farms are planted in Christmas trees
and permanent pasture, which are well-suited for the climate and the
almost total lack of water in the summer (even though it rains 60-90
inches in the winter). Gardens, on the other hand, are totally dependent
on water from the sluggish and often unreliable local wells. The
traditional one-acre rural garden, if planted in wide rows, will consume
far more water than a local well can put out. Only through the readoption
of nineteenth-century dryland gardening techniques (which involve far
too much exposed dirt for my taste) can a vegetable garden pull through
the summer reliably. Meanwhile, the stock farms and Christmas tree
farms thrive even on the most meagre water supply.
Also, I've been amazed at how gardeners all over the country want to
grow exactly the same vegetables. For example, everyone seems obsessed
with growing tomatoes, no matter how hostile the climate or how short
the growing season. This hardly strikes me as a oneness-with-nature
attitude.
But maybe your argument holds true in areas where the possibility of
rainfall agriculture broadens the possibilities.
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, President/Managing Editor, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert@plamondon.com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139
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