Simon, our latest Austrian Civil Servant, after three months working on Nishtha’s organic farm, reflects that organic agriculture is not just about cutting out the use of inorganic chemicals but entails nourishing the earth from which plants take their nutrients. Only if a complex and fine network of invisible helpers in the soil: fungal strands which attach to the plant’s roots to trade for sugars, bacterial communities, which graze for minerals and a huge variety of predatory microbes that keep the system in check is the earth truly ‘alive’ and becomes a truly organic organism.
At Nishtha we are working to cultivate compost rich in these nutrients and microbial life. During recent months we have built more than 100 raised beds and planted a diverse mixture of vegetables and trees. Simon says: “Learning about nature, experiencing as well as developing its beautiful relationships, is making volunteering for this Organisation worthwhile.”
