What is sustainable Agriculture, and how does it relate to your urban vegetable garden, guerilla grafting, or homesteading?

Cover crops sign. Image taken at a farm in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in 2015

I took an Exploring the Small Farm Dream course in 2015. The course was offered through a local conservation organization whose mission was to lend support to the farms of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and that’s how I was introduced to sustainable agriculture. One of the farmers in the program explained how he used a combination of cover crops to suppress weeds and improve the soil. He talked about “green manure,” how he integrated livestock into his farming, and how the healthy soils retained moisture, which lessened his need to water the crops. As a Botanist, the idea of using different plant species in combination to aerate the soil, to out compete weeds, and to add nutrients to enrich the soils sparked something inside my brain … I was thrilled. I was hooked, and I wanted to learn more.  When the pandemic changed my career path, I enrolled in my community college’s Sustainable Agriculture program that fall 2020. The following spring, I was selected for a farm internship program that taught sustainable crop production methods. Those two programs showed me that Sustainable Agriculture is about much more than simply farming. The programs embrace non-traditional agriculture (urban agriculture, community gardens, backyard gardens, vertical gardening, container gardening). Tt’s a movement that promotes growing your own food in an environmentally responsible way while giving back to your community. Tt encompasses homesteading, self-reliance, and social justice concepts such as increasing food access (the slow food movement, as an example) and addressing food insecurity. My takeaway is that anyone who wants to grow their own food can benefit from incorporating sustainable agriculture techniques into their home gardens. Read on as I highlight what I’ve learned, and you can judge how these concepts might apply to your own food growing and gardening needs.

But first, let’s define what it means to be sustainable. What is sustainability?

A.    The Merriam-Webster dictionary online dictionary definition of sustainable

“1: capable of being sustained

2: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged”

B.    “In 1987, The United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’” Quote taken from the United Nations definition of Sustainability, and can be found here.

C.     The Sustainability at UCLA defines on their webpage What is sustainability? as “the balance between the environment, equity, and economy,” and that “Sustainable practices support ecological, human, and economic health and vitality.”

What is Sustainable Agriculture, then?

Sustainable Agriculture has three basic goals. The three basic goals of sustainable agriculture are to:

1. Be good ecological stewards of our land, air, water, and natural resources;

2. Be economically stable and to be profitable in the long term; and

3. Promote quality of life and social equity for farmers, farm workers, and their communities.

While the definition of sustainable agriculture is focused on farming, the methods and techniques employed to attain the 3 goals apply to more than traditional farming. Below, I’ve taken each goal and listed sustainable agriculture techniques and principles. As you read through the lists, consider how these methods can be utilized to meet your own food production needs, no matter how big or small your growing situation may be.

Goal 1: Environmental Health – Likely the first thing that comes to mind when we think about sustainable agriculture - being good stewards of our land and natural resources.

a.     Gardening/Farming with nature

i.  Whole landscape/yard/farm system approach

One of my sister’s chickens.

ii.  Integrating livestock and crops (if applicable) – Many urban and suburban areas are allowing homeowners to raise chickens or keep bees, too. Chickens can be useful for more than a source of fresh eggs. They can be helpful with pest control as well.

iii.  Working with your existing landscape and natural elements when making decisions on where to grow your crops, place your raised beds, situate your containers, etc.

b.     Ecological/integrated pest management – Explore mechanical or biological alternative control methods to chemical pesticides for pest management.

c.     Increasing biodiversity on your farm or property – Plant pollinator gardens, install rain gardens or install riparian buffers, plant heirloom varieties, raise heritage breeds.

d.     Utilizing alternative energy

e.     Composting

f.      Water management - Use rain barrels, keep your soils covered, build healthy soils (healthy soils retain more water), create a bioswale.

g.     Build healthy soils

             i.  Conservation tillage through No-till or low-till practices

            ii.   Cover crops (Improves soil, reduces soil erosion, lessens runoff)

           iii.   Companion planting and intercropping (can also improve pest management)

           iv.   Crop rotation

Goal 2: Economic health. Profit over the long term.

a.     Seed saving – Plant heirloom varieties and save the seeds for next year.

b.     The art of the scrounge – My favorite concept that I learned during my farm internship. This principal is basically reusing and repurposing items on your property to meet your gardening, homesteading, or farming needs.

c.     Water conservation – Finding ways to conserve water is not just environmentally friendly, but it saves you some money, too.

d.     Soil conservation – Keep soils covered to limit erosion through water and wind actions. This will limit the need to purchase soils to replace what eroded, but it also helps to build healthy soils.

e.     Decreasing outside of home/farm inputs – This refers to limiting what you purchase if there are other ways to meet your needs. If you make your own compost, you won’t need to buy it or as much of it. If you repurpose some old fencing as trellising for twining vegetables, it keeps the fencing out of the landfill and reduces the need to purchase. If you use mechanical means to reduce garden pests, you spend less money on chemical pesticides.

f.      Smart use of space – Time is money and planning your growing spaces efficiently can save time and extra work. In my garden, I placed my garden beds near my rain barrels to save time and effort hauling water. Also, you can grow a lot more in smaller urban spaces than you may realize. Try vertical gardening, for example.

g.     Season extension – This refers to techniques used to grow and/or offer produce earlier in the season and later than the typical growing season would allow. For home gardeners, season extension increases your food production (and lessens what you must purchase in store) as well.

h.     Embrace imperfect appearing foods – The nutrient dense foods grown in healthy soils without the use of pesticides or herbicides may not always appear “perfect.” They are likely healthier for you though.

i.       Food preservation – Explore canning, freezing, or dehydrating your extra produce. You’ll reap the benefit of your hard work all year round.

Goal 3: Quality of Life for farmers, their employees and our communities.

a.     Social justice – racial equity and justice

b.     Food equity – everyone should have the resources to grow their own foods of choice

c.     Food sovereignty – Simplified, this refers to a person’s right to grow their own culturally appropriate foods.

d.     Food access

               i. This can be important in both urban and rural areas

ii. Season extension can go here, too. Extending the growing season means you have access to fresh produce for more of the year

             iii. Community gardens – creating growing spaces in neighborhoods.

iv. Guerilla grafting – I’m by no means encouraging anyone to break any laws here, but there is a movement to increase access to fruits in urban areas where access to fresh produce is limited.

Large bowl of tomatoes. We harvest all the remaining tomatoes at the end of the season and eat them as they ripen.

e.     Urban agriculture

                i.  Vertical gardening

              ii.  Container gardening

             iii.  Raised bed gardening

iv.  Balcony gardening

f.      Local/regional food systems – support your local food systems, buy local, visit farmer’s markets.

g.     Fair compensation – making sure that farm workers make a living wage and farmers can make a decent living.

h.     Support for mental and physical health – In agriculture, this is important because farming can be tough, unpredictable, and stressful. This mean caring for oneself. For home gardeners, growing your own food can provide exercise, expose you to fresh air, and give a supply of fresh produce. Always take care to stay hydrated, protect yourself from the sun, and don’t overdo it though. Be present by taking breaks and enjoy the natural world around you.

i.       Know your farmer– Get to know the people growing your food. Support the local farms that are producing foods using growing methods that align with your values.

Note: Agroecology – This refers to farms managed as ecosystems. These are typically approached as a whole systems view (the 3 goals mentioned above are often intertwined).

Some examples:

Composting vegetable matter – Composting is environmental, can limit food waste if food scraps are involved, can improve soil if organic or no use of pesticides, a farmer can also sell the extra compost and consumers may appreciate the farmer’s use of environmental practices and not using pesticides/herbicides and healthy soils equals more nutritious foods. Home gardeners can save money making their own compost rather than buying it.

Grow you own – Even an at home, urban gardener can follow the 3 goals by: applying the environmentally friendly techniques that suit their garden needs, they can profit by saving money on produce (can extend that by canning, freezing or drying the foods), and can improve their quality of life by growing foods with higher nutrient content and by spending time in nature (health benefits).

How can you get involved:

1.     Review the 3 goals of sustainable agriculture and challenge yourself to incorporate the 3 pillars into your own home gardens, home landscapes, and your community.

2.      If you save flower, herb, or vegetable seeds, donate some extras to your local seed share or seed library to promote food access.

3.     Similarly, share extra seedlings with friends, family, or neighbors.

4.     Don’t have the time or desire to grow your own food? You can still help! Support farmers or urban gardeners who sell their produce by joining a CSA (community supported agriculture). Buy locally grown produce and locally produced farm/homesteading products.

5.     Embrace paying for quality, nutritious foods and goods produced using environmentally responsible growing methods.

6.     “Farm to Table” Eat at restaurants that purchase locally grown produce.

7.     Does your local supermarket offer locally grown produce or locally made products that you could purchase?

8.     Plan meals using in-season produce.

Resources

1.     United Nations, Academic Impact. Sustainability. https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/sustainability#:~:text=In%201987%2C%20the%20United%20Nations,to%20meet%20their%20own%20needs. Accessed March 6, 2024

2.     University of California, Los Angeles. (2024). What is Sustainability? Sustainability at UCLA. https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/what-is-sustainability/ Accessed March 6, 2024.

3.     UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (2021). What is Sustainable Agriculture? UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. https://sarep.ucdavis.edu/sustainable-ag Accessed March 6, 2024

4.     New England Small Farm Institute. (2023). Exploring the Small Farm Dream. https://smallfarm.org/for-new-farmers/exploring-the-small-farm-dream/ Accessed March 7, 2024.

5.     Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (2023). Sustainable https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sustainable. Accessed March 18, 2024.

6.     Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). (2023). What is Sustainable Agriculture? https://www.sare.org/resources/what-is-sustainable-agriculture/. Accessed March 21, 2024.

7.     Union of Concerned Scientists. (2022). What is sustainable agriculture? https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-sustainable-agriculture. Accessed March 22, 2024.

8.     Guerrilla grafters website. https://www.guerrillagrafters.net

9. Shavelson, L. (2012). Guerrilla Grafters Bring Forbidden Fruit Back To City Trees. National Public Radio (NPR), Weekend Edition Saturday. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/04/07/150142001/guerrilla-grafters-bring-forbidden-fruit-back-to-city-trees