Heal the soil, feed the world
Farmer says natural fertiliser is good for more than plants
GARDENERS are the custodians of the earth, nurturing it for future generations, but if we want to be able to hand over a healthy planet, we need to start at ground level, literally.
Being a friend of the earth is the ethos of an organic Cumbrian farming business that produces nutritionally balanced, vegan, liquid plant food as a by-product of the farm’s day-to-day business.
EcoGro was started by Richard Harrison six decades ago. He built an anaerobic digester (a ‘concrete cow’s digestive system’) to break down the farm’s organic waste and then realised that the liquid residue had excellent plant-growing qualities and would benefit the soil as well.
A need to produce maximum yield
This end product is a natural plant food now marketed by the farm as BioPower. It contains balanced NPK (nitrogen, phosphate, potash) as well as lots of other essential micronutrients and, because it’s completely plant-based and natural, it feeds the soil as well.
The business is run by Richard’s son Chris – Richard sadly passed away from coronavirus earlier this year – and his business partner Kevin Beaty, and they currently sell BioPower across the north of the UK, with plans to expand.
Chris said: There’s so much talk about the environment and fertilisers, and it’s driven by the need to produce the maximum yield in each area of soil.
“But it should be the other way around: the soil should come first. My uncle used to say that every primary school classroom should have a bowl of soil by the door for the children to run their hands through, so they can appreciate where they came from.”
BioPower helps feed natural flora
Chris explained that because BioPower is completely natural, it encourages plants to grow at their own rate so they strengthen and mature naturally, rather than shooting up in order to meet with maximum crop production.
It also helps improve the health and structure of soil, which could have many beneficial knock-ons.
I have used it on our garden, and can definitely say that plants fed with BioPower responded well and have grown healthily this summer.
Kevin Beaty said: “I’m not saying it is better than artificial fertilisers, but they can alter the structure of the soil and make it more compacted. This in turn causes run-off of rainwater, which leads to flooding, and chemicals that contaminate streams and rivers.
“BioPower binds with the soil and helps feed the natural flora, which works against soil compaction. It goes straight to the roots of the plants and any run-off is harmless. It basically heals the soil.
“Very often, farmed soil doesn’t have any worms in it because it is poor and compacted, but once it becomes more healthy, worms return and open up the
“The health of our soil should be put first”