282 Sustainable Farming
• Save seeds from each season’s crop to plant the next season.
For information about saving seeds, see pages 303 and 246 to 247.
• Control pests and plant diseases naturally. To learn about natural pest and
disease management, see pages 296 to 301.
• Plant a variety of crops. Plant mixed crops and change where they are
planted each year. This keeps nutrients in the soil and improves people’s
health by providing a variety of foods to eat. It also controls pests and
plant diseases (see page 300).
• First make small changes. Most crops have been improved over hundreds
and even thousands of years by farmers trying new methods. But not all
new methods succeed. Try new ideas in a small field or garden first.
If they fail, you will still have food from
the rest of your land.
Improving Soil
Farmers know that healthy soil is
necessary for good crops. Many
farmers enrich soil with natural
fertilizers, such as animal
manure, green manure, and
compost. Natural fertilizers are
healthier for soil, plants, water, air,
and people than chemical fertilizers.
They add all the nutrients plants
need at little or no cost.
Sustainable farmers not only grow crops
— they grow fertile soil that has all the
nutrients plants need.
Know your soil
Soil is a mix of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter (for example, insects,
bacteria, green leaves, rotting plants, and manure). The amounts of each of
these things, and the way you work the land, affect the soil texture (how coarse
or fine it is), fertility (how rich it is for growing crops), and soil structure (how
the soil holds together). A soil that has good texture, structure, and fertility
allows air, water, nutrients, and plant roots to move through it. This improves
the soil’s ability to grow crops and resist erosion.
In addition, some soils are alkaline (also called “basic” or “sweet”) while
others are acidic (also called “sour”). You can learn the “pH” of your soil (how
sour or sweet it is) by having it tested or simply by tasting it to see if it is sweet
or sour. Most plants grow best in soils that are neither too sweet or too sour.
Adding specific nutrients can make soils sweeter or more sour (see page 288).
Adding organic matter tends to improve all soils.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012