It is the philosophy of this book which motivates me to come back to read it again and again. He provided practical methods for growing rice, barley, rye, vegetables, and citrus while simultaneously creating a philosophy that pertained to much more than just farming. Fukuoka was prescient in his holistic understanding of ecological systems, organic farming, and permaculture. This philosophy has the four basic tenets of no cultivation, no chemical fertilizer or prepared compost, no weeding by tillage or herbicides, and no dependence on chemicals. The basis of his epiphany sounds nihilistic, as he writes, “In this world there is nothing at all… I felt that I understood nothing.” However, I take this to mean that Fukuoka recognized the insufficiency of intellectual knowledge, and he later expounds, “Science has served only to show how small human knowledge is.” He quit his job and returned to his wealthy father’s land in southern Japan to tend their citrus orchard.ĭuring World War II, Fukuoka again worked for the Japanese government as a plant pathologist, but after eight years, he returned to Shikoku Prefecture and developed his natural farming philosophy. After a hospitalization due to pneumonia, he experienced an epiphany. This relatively short, yet deceptively insightful book undoubtedly became my favorite gardening book and through reading it, I helped Fukuoka’s agricultural revolution grow.įukuoka began his career as a plant pathologist with the Japanese government in the 1930s. While volunteering at the university’s organic farm, a friend recommended “The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming” by Masanobu Fukuoka. My time in Nova Scotia strengthened my connection to nature and played a pivotal role in my decision to study ecology at the University of New Hampshire. I quickly grew disenchanted with the artificial environment and found a paradigm for understanding the modern disconnection of humans from nature in Daniel Quinn’s “Ishmael.” Upon graduation, books including “The Unsettling of America” by Wendell Berry and “The Good Life” by Helen and Scott Nearing inspired me to apprentice as a luthier on an organic farm in Nova Scotia. “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” - Masanobu FukuokaĪs a 15-year old I moved from rural New Hampshire to suburban south Florida.
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