THE AMAZING NATURAL FARM OF MASANOBU FUKUOKA

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For the most part, a permanent green manure cover and the return of all the straw and chaff to the soil will be sufficient to ensure fertility. To provide animal manure to help decompose the straw, I used to let ducks loose in the fields. If they are introduced as ducklings-while the seedlings are still young—the ducks will grow up together with the rice. Ten ducks will supply all the manure

necessary for a quarter acre of land and will also help to control weeds.

Using straw, green manure., and a little poultry manure, one can get high yields without adding compost or commercial fertilizer at all. For several decades now, I have been sitting back, observing nature's method of cultivation and fertilization. And while watching, I have been reaping bumper crops of vegetables, citrus, rice, and winter grain—as a gift, so to speak—from the natural fertility of the earth!

In growing vegetables in a "semi-wild" way—making use of a vacant lot, riverbank, or open wasteland—my idea is to just toss out the seeds and let the vegetables grow up with the weeds. I grow my vegetables on the mountainside . . . in the spaces between the citrus trees.

The important thing is to know the right time to plant. For the spring vegetables, the right time is when the winter weeds are dying back . . . and just before the summer weeds have sprouted. For the fall sowing, seeds should be tossed out when the summer grasses are fading away . . . and the winter weeds have not yet appeared.

It is best to wait for a rain that is likely to last for several days. Cut a swath in the weed cover and put out the vegetable seeds. There is no need to cover them with soil: Just lay the weeds you have cut back over the seeds to act as a mulch and to hide them from the birds and chickens until they can germinate. Usually the weeds must be cut back two or three times in order to give the vegetable seedlings a head start . . . but sometimes just once is enough.

Where the weeds and clover are not so thick, you can simply toss out the needs. The chickens will cat some of them, but many will germinate. If you plant in a row or furrow, there is a chance that beetles or other insects will devour many of the seeds . . . for these creatures walk in a straight line. Chickens also spot a patch which has been cleared and come to scratch around. It is my experience that it is best to scatter the seeds here and there.

Vegetables grown in this way are stronger than most people think. If they sprout up before the weeds, they will not be overgrown later on. There are some vegetables—such as spinach and carrots—which do not germinate easily. Soaking the seeds in water for a day or two, then wrapping them in little pellets of damp clay should solve the problem.

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