Ricky Baruch and Deb Habib got the biggest Christmas present they’ve ever received in 1996 : a farm of their own. On that Dec. 28, they became the owners of a piece of rocky land in Orange, which eventually became Seeds of Solidarity farm.
I first met Baruch and Habib in early May of 2009 when I visited Seeds of Solidarity farm. By then, they had built six greenhouses for a variety of greens, they had built a house and planted a field of garlic, which especially amazed me. The garlic cloves were sending their green shoots through rotting cardboard and hay mulch. But even though they had been farming for 13 years by then, their land still looked rough and rocky — as it was before.
Baruch and Habib have always been concerned about the environment and live as lightly on the land as possible. They do not plow or use other machinery to prepare the poor soil on their land. Instead, they farm with cardboard.
They spread large pieces of cardboard from a local furniture store on the ground and then cover the cardboard with six inches of rich compost from Diemand Farm. Garlic cloves are planted beneath the cardboard and covered with mulch hay in October. With spring comes the beginning of healthy growth. Cardboard was the beginning of their no-till farming operation.
Before meeting them, I understood no-till farming to mean farming without tillage, or leaving harvested crops on a field over the winter. Then in the spring, the seeds would be planted in the still untilled soil and covered with the decaying plants. But it’s more complicated than that. I was about to get a lesson in no-till farming.
On a recent visit to Seeds of Solidarity farm, I stopped to admire the sprouting garlic in the cardboard covered field. I also saw sections of field that seemed to be covered by an old crop, one section covered by a huge tarpaulin, and still another section covered with mulch hay. I did not understand what I was looking at.
“There are three techniques for no-till gardening. There is the cardboard technique, the tarps technique and the cover crop technique. They all build organic matter, promote beneficial soil microbes and mycorrhizal fungi, reduce weeds, and conserve water and labor,” Baruch said. He went on to explain that one way he maximizes his cover crop technique is to ‘crimp’ the plants with a rake, killing them at the root and making the plants lie flat. Then he plants through the cover crop into the soil using a dibble, or a little wooden tool that’s sometimes used to plant garlic seeds.
He also explained that the large tarp covering a part of the field is a ‘silage tarp,’ which is very heavy duty. The tarp creates a warm moist environment that kills weeds in three or four weeks giving the farmer a clean planting bed. This technique is also called occultation because it makes use of the dark environment. While the tarp is killing weeds, the warmth it creates is making it possible for worms and other organisms to break down that organic matter. Baruch explained that these no-till techniques cut down on cultivating chores.
“This way, we are working with nature, not fighting it. We have to think about what we are doing, and why we are doing it. This way, we have a closer relationship with the Earth, and that is what I want,” he said.
According to Habib, their mission is to make good food available to everyone while being as minimal as possible.
“The only tools Ricky has could pretty much fit in a five-gallon bucket. Plus his wheelbarrow and shovel, of course,” she said.
As the three of us walked down the hill to the greenhouses, which were filled with growing salad greens, we passed a number of different shrines and colorful signs displaying quotes and sayings about farming and life. These have been built by the Seeds of Leadership (SOL) program for teens, or interns, or others, Habib explained.
“The intention is always to teach and inspire,” she said.
Since its inception, Seeds of Solidarity farm has become much more than a farm. It’s also a nonprofit organization called Seeds of Solidarity Education Center. Habib writes grants to fund farm-to-school programs and other farming projects. The two of them work with Greenfield Community College and teach a one-credit course in gardening at the Franklin County jail several times a year. The amount of effort they invest in the community is amazing.
Happily, they have just written an inspiring and delightful book, “Making Love While Farming: Field Guide to a Life of Passion and Purpose,” which you can order online through Levellers Press (levellerspress.com/product/making-love-while-farming), or you can buy a hard copy from area bookstores. The book has wonderful stories and photographs.
On Saturday, May 25, you can also visit Seeds for Solidarity Farm for a free tour from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and bring a lunch if you wish. In the afternoon there will be a workshop titled “No-Till for Life.” Baruch will teach regenerative soil building techniques for low maintenance, highly productive gardens. There is a $35 to $50 sliding scale fee. Please email solidarity@seedsofsolidarity.org to register for the workshop.
One final note: Baruch and Habib are among the founders of the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival which will be held on Sept. 28 and 29 this year.
Pat Leuchtman has been writing and gardening since 1980. Readers can leave comments at her website: commonweeder.com.