Natural Systems Agriculture

Those of us who turned out to hear Gary Martens talk about his conversion to Natural Systems Agricuture on Wednesday, Nov 27 were treated to a stimulating presentation by Gary. Not only do we now better understand the merits of Natural Systems Agriculture, but we were also drawn into what Gary is trying on his "nano farm" near Kleefeld.

Given the state of the world we live in. it is only logical and appropriate that we all be concerned about the sustainability and robustness of the food system we depend on.

Gary has provided us with a list of people who have influenced him as he has thought about sustainable agriulture:

• Allan Savory of the Holistic Management movement. See the link to Allan's TED talk in the right hand bar. 
• Martin Entz – crops and livestock integration. Eric referred to an online webinar given by Martin Entz earlier this week. It can be viewed here. Unfortunately when I tried to view it Saturday morning, I could only get the audio -- no video. I have written to the sponsorers, and will post here if that problem is resolved. Martin's main work is accessibe here.
• Weinberg – An introduction to systems thinking
• Mark Shepard – Farm scale permaculture
• Joel Salatin – A farmer as the conductor
• Ronald Wright – A short history of progress
• Jared Diamond – Guns, Germs and Steel, Collapse
• David Montgomery – Dirt; The erosion of civilization
• Jane Jacobs – Dark age ahead
• Thomas Homer-Dixon – The upside of down
• Michael Pollan – The omnivore’s dilemma
• Lester Brown – World Watch Institute: Plan B
• Naomi Kline – the shock doctrine
• Joshua Farley – Ecological economics
• Vaclav Smil – A beginners guide to energy
• Brian Walker and David Salt – Resilience thinking
• Blain Hjertaas – Holistic management practitioner at Redvers, SK
• Jonathon Weiner – the next hundred years
• T.P. Bayliss-Smith – The ecology of agricultural systems
• Peter Senge – the fifth discipline
• David Pimmental – Food, Energy and Society
• Fred Magdoff – Soil organic matter in sustainable agriculture
• Bruno Dyck – The gospel of luke on management

Gary's nano farm is Gary's attempt at sustainability in terms of his own food system.