How to Go Green on the Farm

Go green like yesteryear: Ten greening tips for farmers

Looking back for a moment, at my grandfather's farm, it appears that at least ten greening tips can be discovered, by examining what he did so successfully, with respect to farming practices.

Free Range Cattle:

The dairy herd was assigned certain designated areas, on the farm. As the acreage was quite large, the thirty head of cattle had plenty of room to graze. During the day, they would be allowed to roam freely, through a large well-treed, fenced area that had good water. In the evening, they would be brought to the barn for milking. At times, they would be directed to specific fields and allowed to spend their time eating the grass or resting in the pasture. Those fields, after having been fertilized naturally, would be plowed under and used for specific crops. Thus, there was both cattle and crop rotation.

Clean Water:

At the back of the farm, there was a large pond which contained a few fish. The cattle were allowed into that fenced off area and the grass came to be fertilized naturally there, too. On one side of the farm, there was running water in a creek. At times, the cattle would be allowed to graze in that field and wade through the water. As a result, the cattle were clean and content.

Fertilizer:

The fertilizer from the barn was spread over the fields, where specific crops like corn, wheat and oats were to be grown. It was used in the garden. There was no commercial fertilizer on the farm. At that time, that was almost unheard of, in terms of farming.

Composting:

Everything that had to be disposed of was composted, if at all possible. This included all of the kitchen and garden greens that could not be eaten, dried or canned for use, at a later date. Even the egg shells from the eggs laid by the free roaming chickens, went into the garden. In the garden, things like the rhubarb leaves were composted right under the rhubarb plants.

Clover:

Clover was one of my grandfather's favorite crops, partly because of the high nitrogen content, but because the cattle thrived on it. Clover fields have a marvelous scent.

(We loved to hunt for four leaf clovers and found quite a few.)

Horses:

Our grandfather had a team of work horses, so the tractor that he could have used, was parked in the shed. The horses only needed food and water, not fuel. They contributed to the natural fertilizer used on the farm.

Straw:

The same kind of straw used in the barn for the cattle, was placed between the long rows of potatoes and other vegetables, in the garden. Straw was put between the rows of raspberry bushes and strawberries to keep the weeds down. The straw served as a natural compost and was plowed under when the growing season was over.

Walking:

Walking was a natural life style, even though my grandfather did own a car. If possible, where anyone needed or wanted to go, he or she walked. We loved walking.

Food:

Everything grown in the garden could be eaten on the farm, sold or given to others. Very little food was purchased from the store, which was about four miles away or from the larger stores in the city, approximately thirty miles to the east. All of the flour, oatmeal, meat, cheese, butter and eggs, were from the farm. (Guess who learned how to churn butter.)

Seeds:

Seeds were important to my grandfather. For him, every seed held some potential, in terms of the future. Whatever could be planted from the seeds that he had harvested and dried, was planted. Little seedlings that grew out of those seeds were often transplanted. The seeds from the garden were saved for the next year's garden. The neighbors all loved to exchange their seeds.

While much of this seems out of our era, in actual reality, many of these greening tips are still valid.