THE THREE MUSKETEERS OF ORGANIC GROWING

by Wallace Tharp

Published in The Home Gardener, April, 2005

In all the world there were three men most responsible for reviving the Organic methods of growing our food and crops. These men are, Sir Albert Howard of England, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfiffer, a refugee from Hitler’s Germany, and Dr. Joseph Coccanauer of the United States. This writer is highly honored to have personally known the last two.

Sir Albert Howard was sent to India to supervise a rubber plantation and was presented with a serious problem. All the workers were required to live on the plantation, which grew all their own food. There was a lot of sickness and many deaths, which was hard to understand, as the relatives of the workers, living on their own, outside the plantation, growing the same food as that inside had excellent health.

After a lot of study, Sir Albert came to the conclusion that the difference was in the way the soil was prepared. He experimented by growing food the same way the natives did and the Sickness stopped!

Dr. Pfiffer moved to New york in the Apple belt and, in an area where surrounding apple orchards were sprayed 12 to 20 times per season with poisonous chemicals, was able to produce worm and poison free apples.

Dr. Coccanauer was sent to the Philipines to work with native peoples that had been totally self-sufficient for hundreds of years, and who had developed irrigated terraces on the hill sides that modern engineers would find difficult today. He was supposed to introduce them to modern agricultural practices.

Using poisonous insecticides and chemical fertilizers on the hill sides, all the organic matter was burned out of the soil and erosion set in. This wonderful natural system was totally destroyed, and these people, who had been totally self sufficient for many years, were now completely dependent on the U S government for their actual existence.

Not only were the people in danger of starving, but they now had many health problems to contend with, something that was very uncommon in their culture.

Modern medical care was forced on these people and their way of life was completely destroyed and they became a lot of sick beggars, no longer able to take care of themselves.

Modern industrial nations with their Psuedo Science have helped destroy the way of life of many cultures around the world. When they can find something they can sell, they will organize and plan and bambuzzle people into thinking they need all these modern products, some so deadly that a tiny drop in the eye will mean instant death.

When one product quits working, they have a number of others to take its place, until hundreds of thousands of acres of formerly productive land is now unable to feed the people living on it. Right today, it is estimated that 50% of the world’s population goes to bed hungry.

Many of these are children will grow up mentally handicapped and physically challenged, raising their own children in circumstances that get poorer every year.

Before the first scientist was born, people the world over were able to feed and clothe themselves by plants that were produced by nature. The plants died where they grew, with ingredients returning to the earth that produced it. Organic matter was added to the soil, enriching it, making better food for future plants.

My understanding is that wheat in western Kansas in 1940 had 10% protein, but now has less than 9%. The grain looks the same but it certainly cannot furnish the nutrition it could before.

Our soil is being depleted, and when it finally gets to the point where it cannot produce a profit, it is abandoned.

Always, there have been areas where Modern Farming Technics were not followed, and those areas continue to produce lots of good healthy food. Luckily, enough of those people lasted until the organic movement finally got started and it has grown wonderfully, until now. Organic Producers produce around 5% of all the food grown in the US.

Every single person who owns a piece of land, even a small plot in the back yard in the city, should learn to make that soil more productive. Organic minded people do not throw away any Organic Material that should go back into the soil. They compost it.

For generations, Americans have been eating foods grown with Chemicals, and, because of the poor nutrition, have become a nation of sick people. Poor soil produces poor food and poor food produces sick people.

This writer is an organic back yard gardener and produces far more of most foods than the family can eat, and takes great pleasure in giving the surplus to neighbors who are astounded at the taste, which is far superior to produce bought in conventional markets.

Every home gardener should set aside as much space as possible and take great pleasure in growing wonderful vegetables for their own table.

This back yard has had absolutely no artifical fertilizers or poison sprays since 1954. We challenge you to to follow suit!