No-input gardening approach seeks harmony with all parts of nature through pure soil, seed saving

Natural Agriculture workshop series delves into soil health, seed-saving techniques that connect Eastern philosophy with a sustainable demonstration garden.

Pushing land to produce the maximum yield with lots of synthetic inputs is proving to be unsustainable. But can an approach that advocates using no inputs be part of the answer to finding a balance between humans and nature?

Shumei Natural Agriculture is founded on “an overriding respect and concern for nature.” It fosters “a renewed understanding of the of the harmony that exists among the natural elements of the earth,” according to a Shumei  publication. This headline captures some its values: “Balance, beauty, respect, simplicity: Rodale’s emerging Natural Agriculture demonstration garden shows elegant ways to honor, respect nature in a small space. The story describes the compact but biodiverse setting, saying: 

The bio-diverse landscape around the garden is alive with flowers, herbs, trees, shrubs, birds and wildlife. The inspiring philosophy of this space introduces and demonstrates a new way of looking at gardening methods.

 The carefully designed new garden is entering its second growing season, and will be the location for a series of three Natural Agriculture orientation and hands-on workshops this spring, summer and fall.

An interactive map of the garden, and photo coverage of its energy self-sufficient dome greenhouse and green roof seed-saving house set the scene at our farm in Kutztown. Participants will learn basic techniques for seed starting, maintenance, harvest and seed-saving.

Eileen Weinsteiger, garden manager at the Rodale Institute, in the Natural Agriculture Garden.

“Our emphasis on seed-saving is one of the most important parts of Natural Agriculture,” said Chisako Fukushima, Shumei representative to the Rodale Institute. “Our ancestors saved seed varieties for generations, and they both developed to fit the soil and weather of their farm. Buying even organic seed is easy and convenient, but it doesn’t have the genetic heritage of long-adapted seed.”

Fukushima, a trained Shumei teacher, knows that American gardeners may feel odd about not using any soil amendments. “But they can see that once the soil becomes pure and living, and the seeds improve after several seasons, we don’t need to add anything. Think of a forest, and how it grows without humans ‘helping’ it.”

Even as farmers who have spent their lives using pesticides and chemical fertilizers have a hard time believing the Institute farm produces its yields without those inputs, so organic gardeners wonder if a no-input approach can work. The workshop series will show how caring for soil by loosening it—and adding only composted plant residue from the garden itself as a mulch—is working on this site.

Space is limited in the workshops, but the benefits from learning the Natural Agriculture approach are not. As Shumei founder Mokichi Okada said: "A beautiful environment is sure to have the effect of beautifying the hearts of the people who live in it…"

To read more about Natural Agriculture practitioners, look for Lisa M. Hamilton’s book "Farming to Create Heaven on Earth."