Grace Gershuny

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Grace Gershuny (born 1950) is an American organic farmer, writer, and leader in the organic farming movement. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

She is the author of books and articles on soil management and composting. She was editor of the Organic Farmer: The Digest of Sustainable Agriculture. [7]

She serves on the faculty of the Institute for Social Ecology. [7]

She lives in Barnet, Vermont. [8]

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compost</span> Mixture used to improve soil fertility

Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and manure. The resulting mixture is rich in plant nutrients and beneficial organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and fungi. Compost improves soil fertility in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, urban agriculture, and organic farming, reducing dependency on commercial chemical fertilizers. The benefits of compost include providing nutrients to crops as fertilizer, acting as a soil conditioner, increasing the humus or humic acid contents of the soil, and introducing beneficial microbes that help to suppress pathogens in the soil and reduce soil-borne diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic farming</span> Method of agriculture meant to be environmentally friendly

Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are generally prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming advocates claim advantages in sustainability, openness, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, food security, and food safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Permaculture</span> Approach to agriculture and land management

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No-dig gardening is a non-cultivation method used by some organic gardeners.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sustainable agriculture:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of organic gardening and farming</span> Overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic movement</span>

The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural practices began to appear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soil Association</span> British registered charity

The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certification of organic foods, and against intensive farming.

IFOAM – Organics International is a worldwide organization advocating for organics, with over 700 affiliates in more than 100 countries and territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Howard</span> English botanist (1873–1947)

Sir Albert Howard was an English botanist. His academic background might have been botany. While working in India he was generally considered a pathologist; this more than likely being the reason for his consistent observations of the value of compost applications being an increase in health. Howard was the first Westerner to document and publish the Indian techniques of sustainable agriculture. After spending considerable time learning from Indian peasants and the pests present in their soil, he called these two his professors. He was a principal figure in the early organic movement. He is considered by many in the English-speaking world to have been, along with Eve Balfour, one of the key advocates of ancient Indian techniques of organic agriculture.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic horticulture</span> Organic cultivation of fruit, vegetables, flowers or ornamental plants

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. I. Rodale</span> Publisher and author

Jerome Irving Rodale, né Cohen was a publisher, editor, and author who founded Rodale, Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and The Rodale Institute, formerly the Soil Health Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of organic farming</span>

Traditional farming was the original type of agriculture, and has been practiced for thousands of years. All traditional farming is now considered to be "organic farming" although at the time there were no known inorganic methods. For example, forest gardening, a fully organic food production system which dates from prehistoric times, is thought to be the world's oldest and most resilient agroecosystem. The industrial revolution introduced inorganic methods, most of which were not well developed and had serious side effects. An organic movement began in the 1940s as a reaction to agriculture's growing reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The history of this modern revival of organic farming dates back to the first half of the 20th century at a time when there was a growing reliance on these new synthetic, non-organic methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ehrenfried Pfeiffer</span> German soil scientist

Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was a German scientist, soil scientist, leading advocate of biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophist and student of Rudolf Steiner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rodale Institute</span>

Rodale Institute is a non-profit organization that supports research into organic farming. It was founded in Emmaus, Pennsylvania in 1947 by J. I. Rodale, an organic living entrepreneur. After J.I. Rodale died in 1971, his son Robert Rodale purchased 333 acres and moved the farm to Kutztown, Pennsylvania.

The Student Sustainable Farm at Rutgers is located at Rutgers' Horticultural Research Station in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on the G. H. Cook campus of Rutgers University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regenerative agriculture</span> Conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems

Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Newman Turner</span>

Frank Newman Turner, NDA, NDD, FNIMH, was a British pioneering organic farmer, writer and broadcaster, who, based on his experience of natural treatment of animals, later became a consulting medical herbalist and naturopath. His books Fertility Farming, Fertility Pastures, and Herdsmanship are regarded as classics of practical organic husbandry.

Friend Sykes (1888–1965) was an English organic farmer and writer.

References

  1. Gershuny, Grace. "Grace Gershuny Papers Finding Aid". findingaids.library.umass.edu.
  2. "Grace Gershuny". Chelsea Green Publishing. 20 January 2023.
  3. "Interview: Grace Gershuny on the Past, Future of Organics". EcoFarming Daily. June 21, 2016.
  4. Gershuny, Grace (November 2, 2018). "Grace Gershuny on the evolution of the organic food movement". Institute for Social Ecology.
  5. "ABOUT". OrganicRevolutionary.
  6. http://www.northstarmonthly.com/profiles/barnets-grace-gershuny-to-speak-march-1-and-31/article_559b7712-fc78-11e6-bf7a-9737bef0619d.html
  7. 1 2 "Nourishing the Earth that Nourishes Us: How Compost Builds the Soil". Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
  8. "Grace Gershuny". 20 January 2023.
  9. Flaherty, Julie (June 19, 1999). "Living By the Books; Vermont Publisher Succeeds With Guides for a Simpler Life". The New York Times.
  10. "Organic Gardening: Reading the weeds".
  11. "Nonfiction Book Review: Start with the Soil: The Organic Gardener's Guide to Improving Soil for Higher Yields, More..... by Grace Gershuny, Author Rodale Press $24.95 (274p) ISBN 978-0-87596-567-3". PublishersWeekly.com.