Our Wisest Pursuit

“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON

(CC) Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication

“The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself.”

– Franklin Delano Roosevelt​

Tillage is one of the oldest traditions of agriculture that generations of farmers all over the globe have practiced. In fact, the impulse is so strong, most cannot imagine growing food any other way. What is less known, however, is that the expediency of tillage has come at a terrible long-term cost. The biological life living in our soils is naturally responsible for building and securing health in our food. Yet, each time the soil structure covering these colonies is ripped up and turned over with tillage, they can’t perform their function.

The traditional response has been to subsidize (and sometimes replace) the labor of these colonies with fertilizers and pesticides. Consequently, our fields are left with an unnatural dependency on humans to combat pests, disease, flooding, drought and eventually, infertility.*

Supporting Life in the Soil

Although it takes mother nature hundreds of years to build soil, the rediscovery of lost methods of farming are beginning to make a come back. At LCA, we utilize a No-Dig growing method practiced by a minority of small-scale farmers all over the world. Fundamentally, No-Dig is a method that aims to prioritize the well-being of the soil over everything else. Taking care of what is under the soil and letting the soil take care of what’s above is more than a motto to us—it is the operating principle guiding every decision we make regarding our stewardship of the land.

How do we do it? First, we carefully serve the needs of the microscopic colonies by building a home for them comprised of rich organic matter. Next, the plants we introduce feed nutrients to that life through the miracle of photosynthesis by converting sunlight into energy. Finally, the life returns the necessary mineral elements back to the plants for the creation of enzymes, carbohydrates and essential oils, making them naturally resistant to pests and disease. Put simply, our role is keep the colonies happy and well-fed, thereby eliminating the need for fertilizers and pesticides.

Locally created nutrient-rich soil

*DAVID PIMENTEL, Cornell University, Environment, Development and Sustainability (2006) 8: 119–137; CHRIS ARSENAULT, Scientific American, December 5, 2014, accessed October 28, 2015.