Jeffry Hill is convinced that your main goal as a soil-based gardener or farmer should be to build a healthy soil by nurturing it and making it sustainable. Here are the main principles that support this goal.
Use the resources that are available to you.
A sustainable system is a self-reliant system. To keep it this way you want to first look at the resources that are available to you. For example, instead of providing more irrigation, you can start conserving more water. Cut hedges and use them instead of buying wood chips. Using the resources available to you not only saves time and money, but it also makes the ecosystem more sustainable.
Use the flow to your advantage.
Instead of working against your soil ecosystem, work together with it. Start observing what happens in your garden or on your farm and then figure out how to use it to your advantage. Observe your soil through an entire year to find out what changes occur with the seasons. Where does water collect naturally? What areas are the warmest? The driest? How can you make your ecosystem work having this knowledge?
Take less than you give.
Your soil needs to be replenished in order to thrive. Remember that in a perfectly sustainable system inputs and outputs are equal. If your soil loses organic matter, find a way to replenish it. Harvesting, weeding and mowing can help you find ways to create organic matter that will go back into the system, underlines Jeffry Hill.
Use the resources that are available to you.
A sustainable system is a self-reliant system. To keep it this way you want to first look at the resources that are available to you. For example, instead of providing more irrigation, you can start conserving more water. Cut hedges and use them instead of buying wood chips. Using the resources available to you not only saves time and money, but it also makes the ecosystem more sustainable.
Use the flow to your advantage.
Instead of working against your soil ecosystem, work together with it. Start observing what happens in your garden or on your farm and then figure out how to use it to your advantage. Observe your soil through an entire year to find out what changes occur with the seasons. Where does water collect naturally? What areas are the warmest? The driest? How can you make your ecosystem work having this knowledge?
Take less than you give.
Your soil needs to be replenished in order to thrive. Remember that in a perfectly sustainable system inputs and outputs are equal. If your soil loses organic matter, find a way to replenish it. Harvesting, weeding and mowing can help you find ways to create organic matter that will go back into the system, underlines Jeffry Hill.