Helen Atthowe: No-Till, No-Spray, Ecological Farming

#119:  Longtime farmer, gardener, and researcher Helen Atthowe joins Dave to discuss the findings that led to her new book: "The Ecological Farm: A Minimalist No-Till, So-Spray, Selective-Weeding, Grow-Your-Own-Fertilizer System for Organic Agriculture." By focusing on creating habitat plantings for beneficial insects, Helen learned how to implement living mulches, re-seeding cover crops, and organic no till practices.
 
Helen Atthowe now farms in Western Montana where she focuses on  building beneficial insect habitat. For many years she farmed organiclly on 211 acres in Eastern Oregon with her late husband and created eductaional videos that can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/AgrarianDreams/videos

Her book “The Ecological Farm: A Minimalist No-Till, No-Spray, Selective-Weeding, Grow-Your-Own-Fertilizer System for Organic Agriculture” is set to be released on June 22, 2023:

https://www.amazon.com/Ecological-Farm-Selective-Weeding-Grow-Your-Own-Fertilizer-Agriculture/dp/1645021815

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/helen-atthowe-no-till-no-spray-ecological-farming-episode-one-hundred-nineteen

The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.

The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).

To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/farms

We believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.

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