THE SHIKIMATE PATHWAY It was only five or six years ago that I started to understand the Shikimate Pathway. Sounds Japanese, doesn’t it. That’s because the name did evolve from a Japanese plant in the 1800’s. Aniseed or star anise…
The new local agronomist was travelling through the Banana Shire in outback Queensland. He does a double take as he passes a farm and sees a pig walking in the yard. And the pig has a wooden leg. This piques…
Biodynamic Frequently Asked Questions When you have been involved with a thing for more than twenty years, you use terms and words that you are totally familiar with. These words mean a lot to me, but when I am talking…
I guess you were thinking that a dog is man’s best friend. But this is a farmer’s best friend. It is an extract from a book that was written back in 1945 and is now out of copyright. It can…
Soil carbon sponge (or soil sponge) is porous, well-aggregated soil in good health, better able to absorb and retain water. Australian microbiologist and climatologist, Walter Jehne, articulated the concept of the soil carbon sponge in his 2017 paper, Regenerate Earth…
Every farmer I know has, at one stage or another bowed to the request from an agronomist to get soil tests done on multiple parts of the farm. In a lot of cases they want numerous soil tests done over…
How it all started Having chooks all started when I decided to do a composting workshop. I have always been a fan of Geoff Lawton and really liked his idea of using chooks to make a perpetually moving composting heap.…
There are a lot of new words created so that someone can create a point of difference or a logo. Everything now needs to be sustainable, in a circular economy and recycled. Some of those businesses have named themselves Eco…