So often, traditional farming claims that we have to do things faster or better than nature in order to “win” in this world. But, what happens if we decide to live in harmony with nature, follow its lead, and try to farm that way?
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When looking at the grand design of the earth, one might wonder how well humans actually fit into the overall picture. Do humans tend to live in harmony with nature or against it? And, what does it even mean to live in harmony with nature in the first place?
To live in harmony with nature means to observe, learn, and live in the way that things naturally occur. It means to trust in and live by the natural processes of the Earth, rather than to modify or alter them.
Oftentimes, the demands from consumers, along with a need to produce a product quickly to make a profit means that conventional farming generally goes against nature instead of with it. Learning ways to coexist with the animals and elements around you can naturally help you to live in harmony with nature.
A Real Life Example
While we were still deep in the midst of planning out our homestead dreams, we spent a lot of time watching different YouTube videos and channels, gaining inspiration. But it was actually a DVD that was given to my son for Christmas that made one of the biggest impacts on my husband and me in terms of how to live in harmony with nature. The movie, The Biggest Little Farm, is a documentary sharing the story of John and Molly Chester as they built up their regenerative farm in California. With beautiful shots of Mother Nature and their farm, and a relatable story much like the dream that we held, it was a story that pulled us in and spoke to our souls.
What we learned from this video is that everything is connected in a really big way beyond our understanding. Mother Nature is designed perfectly to be in balance, and everything has a purpose. Pests, predators, plants, and weeds; it all plays an important role in the natural ecosystem relationships that make up our Earth.
One of the biggest lessons that we took away from this documentary was learning what to do when things went wrong. John and Molly had a mentor, Alan York, who helped as they learned to live in harmony with nature. His advice when things went wrong: Step back and observe. How does Mother Nature handle the issue? Because truly, Mother Nature does have something in place, almost always, to keep everything in balance and harmony.
Everything is Connected
Everything on this Earth serves some type of purpose. Even the most annoying or tiny animals and plants play a role in keeping everything balanced in nature. Mosquitoes, for example, seem pointless and irritating to us as humans. Yet, they serve as an incredibly important part of the food chain. Without them, many other species like birds, bats, frogs, fish- and even some plants- would suffer.
In the documentary The Biggest Little Farm, John and Molly became immersed in nature. With this immersion came struggle. Coyotes killed their chickens constantly. Gophers and snails destroyed their peach trees, and the fruit that was produced was eaten by birds. It would be easy to give up and quit, to spray with pesticides, and to shoot and kill the predators.
But John and Molly chose to live in harmony with nature, and step back and observe. They came to realize that ducks love snails, and so, they released the ducks into their orchard. They built owl houses, and soon, owls came to hunt for the gophers and birds that had been destroying their fruit trees. And one day, John found a paralyzed coyote that had broken its back while chasing a gopher along a fence line. The coyote, the same species that had devastated their chickens, was also helping to lower the gopher population.
Everything has a purpose. To live in harmony with nature means to find everything’s purpose and use it to your advantage.
How to Recognize Connections
When you have a problem occur on your homestead, take a step back and observe. Ask yourself these questions:
- How would nature handle the problem?
- What purposes do the problems contribute to the overall ecosystem?
- What can I do naturally to help combat this problem?
We’ve had a fox hanging out around our yard quite a bit. We’d been seeing the tracks all winter, but now, the fox itself has been presenting itself during daylight hours.
One morning after chores were done, we noticed the fox across the pasture. It was close enough to the house to make us cautious for our free range chickens who pecked around, unaware.
“Do you want me to shoot it?” my husband asked. We stepped back and watched.
The fox playfully rolled around on its back, but then got down to business. It walked across the top of the snow, stopped, and jumped high into the air. He was catching mice.
Mice had been an issue for us for a while here. There were so many and they were into everything. Our potatoes and tomatoes were covered in holes. They were in the chicken coop eating feed. In the barn. Even in my husband’s truck, which cost us a lot of money to repair.
But this winter? We haven’t seen more than one or two.
Perhaps the fox had something to do with it. Maybe his presence is helping to balance the problem of the overabundance of mice.
“Let’s just see how things go.” I answered my husband. As long as the fox isn’t directly hurting our flock, he’s serving our homestead too by helping us with the mice population.
Natural Solutions to Common Pests
Working with Mother Nature is always a balancing act. Too much of anything is never a good thing. It’s always important to keep this in mind when trying to find solutions so that you can live in harmony with nature.
In rural areas, some animals or plants are more pesky than others. They can cause devastation to gardens, crops, and even equipment (like the mice). So how can you naturally deter these animals or plants from destroying everything you’ve worked for?
Search for Natural Enemies and Attract Them
In the garden, consider planting beneficial flowers amongst your vegetables to attract predatory insects that can help keep pests at bay.
Flies come with owning cows. Consider pasturing your chickens with the cows, feeding them on the cow’s manure. The chickens will scratch the cow manure pile apart and eat the fly larvae, lessening the amount of flies you’ll see on your homestead.
Mice and squirrels are a common nuisance on homesteads and often look for an easy meal. Building owl houses near your garden to attract these predatory birds can help combat the issue. Just make sure you don’t attract them too close to your chicken coop!
Deer can be burdens to farmers, and we ourselves have struggled with these animals as well. Deer have broken into our hay storage and eaten many dollars worth of valuable hay that was intended for our cows. We’ve been able to keep them out of the garden with a 6 foot fence that has a strand of barb wire another foot higher. Adding a dog to your property can also help keep deer away at night.
Hawks can be notorious for hunting down chickens. Consider attracting crows to your property as a natural defender. Crows hate hawks and eagles, as they recognize the danger they pose to their own eggs and young. They will often come together to force hawks and eagles out of an area to protect their own. And while crows can potentially be predators themselves to chickens, they most likely will leave them alone while keeping the hawks and eagles away too.
Observing Nature
The biggest way you can live in harmony with nature is to watch and learn from it. Nature has lots to offer and teach if we can learn to listen. So often, humans seem to think nature is here to serve and benefit us, when in reality, we are just a small part of a larger system.
When trying to live in harmony with nature, listen and see what nature can teach you. Nature teaches us how to behave. Notice how the leaves remain on the ground when they fall from the tree? There is purpose for it. See the importance of water to the animals? We should value it as such too. Notice how there is no hurry in nature- everything grows at its own pace and in its own time. See the plants that grow naturally together? There is a reason they have thrived in that spot. There are lots of lessons for behavior that we can learn by observing the natural processes of the Earth; we just have to listen.
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