One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka

I've been thinking about writing short book reviews for books that I think hold leading information on the subjects of certain forums. I'm going to start with this book by the Japaneese author Masanobu Fukuoka, One-Straw Revolution.

Paperback: 182 pages
Publisher: Other India Press; New Ed edition (December 1992)
ISBN-10: 8185569312
ISBN-13: 978-8185569314

This book is about natural farming, which in a couple of ways is more suitable for the environment than organic farming. While his methods are totally organic, they are natural. He is a farmer that mimics nature, and only assist the plants in getting started. Masanobu Fukuoka was raised on a very small farm in Japan. In his twenties Mr. Fukuoka worked as a fruit inspector for the Japaneese government, a job which having a degree in biology opened the door to. After a couple of years in this job, he became very unsatisfied with life as a whole. He felt empty. He spent some time alone out in nature and realized that humans as a whole were do too much for nothing, they were spinning their wheels but getting nowhere. Basically, he saw the rat race, and that he was a part of it. He left his job and began to work on organic farms in Japan, moving from one to another to learn more. At the end of that year, his father died. He returned home and began to farm on his own. He didn't just farm organically though, he began to explore and mimic nature. Mr. Fukuoka shares tremendously valuable information about natural farming and humans fit into the natural world. This book is a must read for lovers of the earth!

 

That's the way to garden, I tell ya. My partner is reading that book now and I'm researching no-till methods on the internet. We're going to start homesteading in three years. I'd love to meet someone in Canada who is using these methods.
Here in Canada we are so concerned about Global Warming. Well we ought to be practicing no-till farming to keep the carbon in the soil.

 

that is a great book ...borrowed mine from the library and it opened my mind on gardening!

 

I'm glad to know that you guys like the book. It opened my mind to lots of things. Did you notice that he mentions communes in one chapter. Also, Mr. Fukuoka has other mud huts available that people live in for periods of time. They help out on the farm in exchange for a very simple place to stay. He has his own intentional community.

I want to read another one of his books, The Natural Way of Farming.