Sitting Rock

Thursday 17 January 2008

I’m afraid there isn’t really that much excitement going on. I am enrolled, as are all the other American students visiting here, in a short, condensed ‘presessional’ course on British Politics and Culture since 1945. I have to walk the 2 miles to class in the morning; usually around 9 and either listen to the lectures or take part in rather tedious seminars. I often get a break for about an hour or so between seminar and lecture, or lunch for instance. Here I go to the beach and read on a rock. It is a very nice view, and I can observe the tide changes and the people going out to explore the newly exposed sand and shells after the tide rolls back out of the bay. Here are the photos from today, http://picasaweb.google.com/RossDMcKinney/SittingRock

Class today was on music of the 50's and 60's in Britain. We got to listen to Beatles songs, of course I knew them all already, but he also lectured on Elvis's effect on British music, and the Skiffle style. Naturally, the stereo he chose to employ had a faulty speaker on one side, so listening to All You Need Is Love in mono was a new experience. Hooray.

The weather today was very chilly with occasional rain and lots of wind. This made reading on the beach a bit difficult, but I persevered and got through some great pages of Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma. I highly suggest the read to all, particular the part on Joel Salatin’s Grass Farm. For a quick rundown on this particular man’s brilliance, here it goes:

Salatin describes himself as a grass farmer because his methods are aimed at optimizing grass production and biomass. Just as an Indiana farmer strives for higher yields of corn, Salatin with his grass. But he does not use any petrochemical fertilizers or tilling methods or infusions of anhydrous ammonia. By noting the grass’ natural growth rate and patterns, he optimizes his pastures. Grass grows very quickly and feverishly for around 14 days before entering a slow growth pattern focused on seed production. But if one interrupts the pattern by cutting, it will restart the 14 day fast growth cycle. It also forces the grass to shed its excess roots and start growing new ones as demand over the next two weeks increases. This makes more nutrients and biomass in the soil for all the worms, insects, and microorganisms to thrive on and creates more and more great soil. He doesn’t mow the grass though. Instead, he rotates cattle on the sections of pasture. The cattle eat the grass and also provide rich manure for the ground to reabsorb the nutrients. Every time the cattle return to the site there is more grass to be eaten and the pasture is replenished, reinvigorated, and even more plentiful than the previous time around. Since flies and parasites grow in the manure and can become bothersome and dangerous to the cattle, he sends in chickens after the cows have been through the pasture. The chickens feed on the fly larvae and other insects and parasites while either producing rich, free-range eggs, or roaster meat. They also do their part for the grass by depositing their own manure, theirs however, is rich in nitrogen, only now it is natural and free. So, by taking strides to optimize grass production, farmer Joel Salatin’s byproducts are extremely healthy beef cattle, rich and delicious eggs, and thousands of chickens. All this is without chemicals and agricultural implements, an impressive feat indeed.

There are other important aspects of Salatin’s grass farm which help it run and keep it intriguing, but I don’t want to ruin the rest of the story, which luckily is all true. I’ve been inspired not only by the washing of the Atlantic waves on the Welsh seashore, but also by the works of innovative farmers who decide to use more wit than pesticides and more quality than quantity.