I am an avid reader and consumer of all things soil, nature & ecology. I am hoovering up as much information as I can get on a daily basis. As a reader of my blog you would know by now we have to turn the world around and fast. One thing that keeps coming up time and again in my reading and thinking is the way in which we talk about elements of nature. For example, you may have read my article on weeds and how they are actually helping the soil to repair and nature to heal itself. Much more than just weeds which I now like to think of as Soil Chemists because they not only hold on to soil while the next succession of plants has the opportunity to take over but they are now shown to be indicators of what’s happening in the soil at that particular moment in time. For example, are you seeing predominantly yellow weed flowers – your phosphorous cycle is out of balance. Nature is telling you by not only providing the signal but also by providing the plant that is going to assist in the repair. As farmers and gardeners, we simply need to listen and read the signs. Similarly, we know that Dandelions have deep taproots and are the Soil Chemists (note I did not call it a weed) of compaction. They will begin the repair.
As humans, we seem to have a reductionist view of the world. Many others have noticed it too. As humans we look at at nature broadly and appreciate its beauty but when it comes to we don’t want or understand why it is there we have an uncontrollable urge to bring it under our will or kill. This has to stop. We need to pivot our thinking on these elements of nature. Do you think that nature is not in control? Do we need to continue the war we wage against her? But we still do it. Our very language around these elements suggests that they are in the way and inferior to our superior knowledge.
John Kempf interviewed Entomologist Joe Lewis and I have to tell you if you haven’t heard it you really must. (Finish reading this first though :))
Joe Lewis talks about his research with parasitic wasps and plants. It’s a fascinating deep dive into the natural intelligence that is present in nature. These wasps not only are beneficial insects so they are working for you not against you but they have the ability to learn. Yes, you read that right. A bug with a brain.
Along with other researchers, Joe Lewis concluded “parasitoid Microplitis croceipes can associate, with food or hosts, widely different chemicals outside their natural foraging encounters. When learned chemicals are subsequently detected, this parasitic wasps manifest distinct behaviors characteristic with expectations of food or host, commensurate with prior training. This flexibility of parasitoids to rapidly link diverse chemicals to resource needs and subsequently report them with recognizable behaviors offers new insights into their foraging adaptability,..” Chemical Senses Journal 2003, Vol28, Is 16.
During his long career, Joe Lewis has not only detected the chemical signature used by these insects but he has also discovered that plants themselves give off a discrete chemical odour to attract the predator that will deal with the chewing or sap-sucking insect attacking it. Nature truly does have a system for everything. Plants that call the right predator for the enemy it is dealing with would seem to be a radical idea but science has proven this as far back as 1987. Moreover, each plant has the ability to change the composition of the chemical odour they emit depending on which predator it requires and each plant for example corn or cotton signals slightly differently meaning the wasps and probably other predatory insects need to learn or associate a variety of signatures with either host or food. Think for a moment about the role of insects in your garden, some are pollinators, some are there to keep order and balance and some are the garbage collectors sent in to do the clean-up or begin decomposition.
The simple act of intervention with a chemical spray to remove chewing or sap sucking insects disrupts the natural intelligence of the system. Nature is made up of systems built on top of systems. Feedback Loops that prove the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.
Working with nature is not only cheaper but it is smarter. She has it figured out if we would only just get out of the way. As farmers and gardeners we are constantly looking at our plants as something we need to protect against the weeds, pests and diseases. To do this we reach for the nearest pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide rather than looking to nature. Nature is about intelligent order. The systems that provide for each other. Consider what Darwin called Natural Selection or survival of the fittest. He was only partly right. For Nature has designed her elegance around the waste of one system to be the input of another. Providing for example the insects that begin the decomposition of an overripe fruit that feed the soil and other organisms by consuming and producing waste, feeding other larger insects, amphibians, birds etc through their bodies and all the while all we can see is a piece of rotting fruit being attacked by bugs.
“Natural Intelligence Farming is
Di and Ian Haggerty for Future Directions International
harnessing the dynamic, natural
relationships that exists
between all the organisms in the
ecosystem, environment and
particularly the soil”
Regenerative Farming has become quite the buzz of late and with good reason. It works with nature to improve the soil by keeping it covered, absorbant and abundant in life. I prefer to think of it as Conservation through Agriculture as you will see all over this website. We look to nature for the answers for a myriad of problems and innovations that we haven’t thought of yet.
One such organisation is the Biomimicry Institute is doing great things not only in encouraging innovation but in educating us all about the importance of asking nature on a daily basis the harder questions. Interestingly I personally have found it is not that I need to ask nature but that I need to stop and consider what would nature do in this situation. By asking myself this question I am forced to stop and consider the impact of my intended action or reaction and what consequences will turn up as a result.
Biomimicry is about valuing nature for what we can learn, not what we can extract, harvest, or domesticate. In the process, we learn about ourselves, our purpose, and our connection to each other and our home on earth.
Janine Benyus Co Founder Biomimicry Institute
Janine says it so beautifully in the quote above. When tune in to nature and the natural world there is so much more we learn about our place on this planet.
Listening to a radio interview the other day reminded me of this when the journalist suddenly had a profound aha moment and stated we were given a higher-order brain not so that we could sit in dominion but rather so that we could be the custodians that steward nature and our interaction with her in the right way.
Indigenous peoples the world over learned this from before birth. They will tell you it is a knowing that is in them not something that is taught. I wonder if we non-indigenous natives of the land and countries we inhabit have also this knowing but have simply lost touch with that innate personal experience of ourselves. Certainly bares thinking about.
Next time you go outside to jump in your car to rush off to work or wherever you go before you shut the door stop and breathe deeply, listen for the life that is around you and appreciate the natural world and its wisdom even if only for a moment.
Updated 26/6/24