My story begins with Millet’s painting “the Angelus” because my approach to the earth and plants starts from my spirituality. I feel very strongly this thread that unites me to all living beings, the earth lives, breathes, welcomes me and supports me.
I really like walking barefoot along the rows and along the fields and then lie down and “feel” the scent of wet grass and plowed earth, imagining the life that is under the surface. Certainly a great hustle and bustle and tireless work. Sometimes I love to “feel” only silence that surrounds me; in reality the earth apparently rests in the long winter, but listening to her well you can hear her light breath.
I am a keeper of seeds of ancient grains and for me the seeds are a great resource, they are life. The grains on the market today – for the most part – are sterile, therefore to be bought back every year; and when they have germination capacity, it is so weak that it is necessary to use more and more fertilizers to give the seed the right nourishment and ensure that the seedlings grow well. The truth is that nature, left to do it, knows what it has to do: the nitrogen cycle, the production of ethylene, etc., are all processes that occur simply and naturally in nature.
Natural agriculture
The principles of natural agriculture that I follow are those of Shumei, the Japanese Association whose founder Mochici Okada known as Meishusama, promulgated in the 1950s. It is surprising to see what happens to the roots of the seeds that are treated with the principles of Shumei and those of conventional agriculture. The former are much more robust and radiate, root better as the seed becomes “related” to the soil, they learn to know and respect each other, above all they learn to support each other; the latter are weaker and need external help to expand.
Follow me, I will tell you about my travels into the love for natural agriculture and all my projects related to it.
