Have you ever wondered how a forest can grow and reproduce with no addition of fertilizers or irrigation; without tree transplants; and how insects are controlled without pesticides? Natural forests thrive and regenerate without human intervention, fertilizers or biocides. The only sources of energy are the sun and water. The forest is a living machine working with living material, and from this living machine comes soil fertility.

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I get excited about chips. Not potato chips or silicon chips, but wood chips. I believe they are a vastly underutilized resource on the organic farm. Chips are coarser than the coarsest sawdust, shavings or shingle hair. They range in size from a quarter to a slice of bread. In general, we come into contact with three kinds of wood chips: industrial chips, bark chips and ramial chips.

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