HappyDay: ‘The Relationship Between Human and Plant’

Casey O’Neill is a cannabis and food farmer in Mendocino County who has been writing newsletters about his efforts to provide sustainable produce and marijuana. We feature his column once a week.

      This is the first year that I’ve had a constant and abundant stream of biomass coming out of the gardens.  The warm spring has caused rapid growth and many plants are already shifting into flowering and fruiting.  Harvest of biomass serves multiple functions on the farm, as forage, bedding and fertility for teas and composts.

      I’ve been thinking a lot about production of biomass in terms of bales of hay.  Dry forage for animals has been collected by humans for as long as there has been agriculture, and for most of that history it was done by hand.  The production of biomass on the farm is useful and necessary, but doesn’t tend to mechanical harvesting because of the landscape.

       We have little flat land so our farming is done in terraces.  The cut banks and spaces between each bed have been fostered to produce a wide variety of plants for food, forage, medicine and fertility.  It is labor-intensive to harvest this abundance, using hand-scythes and tubs rather than a tractor and hay-baler.

       Rather than a big “hay-making” process, our biomass harvest is continuing and limited, one constant thread in the tapestry of the farm.  Rabbits, chickens, ducks and pigs all get some form of greenery each day, and the pull of this consumption draws other tasks into sharp relief.

       It becomes doubly useful to weed beds or clear tall growth from pathways when there is a need for animal forage.  This type of stacked function is one of the things that makes a small operation effective, maximizing potential use on minimal space.  There are different ways to utilize the biomass and different farms make different choices.

      Production of onsite fertility was the hallmark of traditional farming before fossil fuels made it possible to import more readily.  I import lots of stuff, but each year the farm also produces more fertility for use onsite.  These incremental gains are the steps that drive me forward, seeing the changes and appreciating the potential for the future.

       I’m planting comfrey on the edges and moist spots, digging it out of the original garden space that it keeps trying to take over.  Comfrey is aggressive, producing voluminous forage and spreading through its roots.  Like most plants, it can be an ally or a pain in the ass depending on the context.  Over the years we’ve worked hard to keep it at bay in the garden beds, and this continuous effort produces a comfrey nursery that stacks the function of weeding into a future fertility program.

      When I dig comfrey roots from the garden beds, I make sure to budget the time to pot them into 1 or 2 gallon pots depending on size of the root.  I dedicate the time to watering these pots to make sure the roots take until I find places to plant them out.  In ideal times, I already have the final location identified so I can dig the roots and then replant them without the step of potting up, but I’m not often on my game so well.  It’s also nice to have potted comfrey to send home with visitors after extolling its virtues and warning of its potential drawbacks.

       I draw strength from the deepening sense of allyship and support that comes from plants.  As I move through this journey of life, I reflect more and more on how much I love plants and how glad I am to tend them and be tended by them.  The relationship between human and plant is one of mutual learning and support, they cultivate me as much or more than I do them.

       There are so many amazing plants that one of the difficulties in farming is that you want to grow them all.  As I’m unloading another truckload of things I’ve acquired I apologize to those already awaiting their final home in the soil.  I try to rotate through and not hold things in pots for too long, although sometimes it takes many months for me to get them in the ground.

      This spring I’ve worked hard to get perennials planted, many of which have been waiting as long as a year.  When the season began I felt overwhelmed by the number of trees, bushes, herbs and other potted plants that we had accrued.  Like anything else in life, I kept plugging away at it and yesterday I found myself within sight of the finish.

      It’s always nice to get near the end of planting out all the plants, because then I can start again on gathering new ones.  The magic of farming and land management is that there are always new and interesting things coming along, new learnings and teachings to absorb.  I delight in the process, diving deeper with each passing season.  As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!