Growing Hope Foundation

Hello friends, 
Last week a panel of local farmers spoke at a public event to educate people on the efforts underway within the agriculture community to work towards improving water quality within the state of Iowa.  One of the most noted solutions towards that effort was including cover crops as a part of the yearly plan. 
  
Some of the great benefits of cover crops have already been written about in this blog over the years - benefits such as increasing soil health by increased microbial action, and also the significant reduction of erosion.  Another case for cover crops has to do with reducing nitrate run-off.  The presence of cover crops means there are roots in the ground for almost the entire year.  Instead of relying solely on roots from corn and soybeans, which are in the ground for about five months of the year, roots from cover crops such as rye, oats, or wheat, can fill in the remainder of the months. 
 
At the local event, a slide was shared that shows the portion of the Gulf of Mexico where much of the aquatic life has died from excessive nitrates and phosphorous in the water.  Iowa's goal is to cut nutrient run-off by 45%.  That is an ambitious goal, but a noble one. 
 
Nitrate run-off is a real problem that deserves attention.  Agriculture is not the only culprit in the amount of nitrates finding their way to the Gulf of Mexico.  But, it is exciting to see farmers participating in finding a solution to this serious problem.  And, that one of their answers is cover crops is especially encouraging.  The benefits of cover crops just keep growing.  It is what is known as a "win-win-win." 
 
Until next time, 
Julie ​

Hello friends, 
One thing I love about my "job" is I get to ponder, and be involved with, such a wide variety of subject matters.  And, the scope of topics I present in my blogs is definitely the evidence of that. 
 
Today, I felt compelled to share an article about the role cover crops can play in building soil fertility.  I know, this is one I write about A LOT.  That is because it is such an interesting topic, but also one that does not receive nearly as much attention as it deserves.  It is one of those things that when it is being talked about, we can really be impressed by just how diverse an environment soil is, but that we just so easily "forget" as soon as the conversation is over.  That is another reason I like to bring it up often - keep it forefront in our minds because soil health is just plain THAT IMPORTANT.  And so, for today, I give you the article "Building Soil Fertility and Tilth with Cover Crops" by Marianne Sarrantonio. 
 
 
BUILDING SOIL FERTILITY AND TILTH WITH COVER CROPS 
by Marianne Sarrantonio 
 
Soil is an incredibly complex substance. It has physical and chemical properties that allow it to sustain living organisms--not just plant roots and earthworms, but hundreds of thousands of different insects, wormlike creatures and microorganisms. When these organisms are in balance, your soil cycles nutrients efficiently, stores water and drains the excess, and maintains an environment in which plants can thrive. 
To recognize that a soil can be healthy, one has only to think of the soil as a living entity. It breathes, it transports and transforms nutrients, it interacts with its environment, and it can even purify itself and grow over time. If you view soil as a dynamic part of your farming system, unsustainable crop management practices amount to soil neglect. That neglect could worsen as the soil sickens and loses its life functions one by one. 
Regardless of how healthy or alive your soil is right now, cover crops can play a vital role in ensuring that your soil provides a strong foundation for your farming system. While the most common reasons for including cover crops in a farming system may relate to the immediate short-term need, the continued practice of cover cropping becomes an investment in building healthy soil over the long term. 
Cover crops improve soil in a number of ways. Protection against soil loss from erosion is perhaps the most obvious soil benefit of cover crops, but providing organic matter is a more long-term and equally important goal. Cover crops contribute indirectly to overall soil health by catching nutrients before they can leach out of the soil profile or, in the case of legumes, by adding nitrogen to the soil. Their roots can even help unlock some nutrients, converting them to more available forms. Cover crops provide habitat or a food source for some important soil organisms, break up compacted layers in the soil and help dry out wet soils. 
 
I hope you have enjoyed yet another foray into the world beneath your feet that is SOIL. 
 
Until next time, peace! 
Julie ​

Hello my friends,

​Forgive the tardiness of my post - I recently returned from a trip to Germany.  Today I would like to share with you reflections of one of the "stops along the way" - the Berlin Wall.  Of all the places I've visited and things I have seen throughout my life, this was quite possibly the most striking of all.  I realize that is a rather big statement, but I think it is true.

First of all, I think the reason it made such an impression on me is that it is such a current event.  I actually remember hearing in "real-time" Ronald Reagan say, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"  As I walked through the memorial of the wall, I was struck by the fact that there were people living in the very neighborhood where the memorial stands who can remember when the wall, and its guards and everything that went along with it, was still there, serving its diabolical purpose.

Not only that, but there are certainly still people living in the vicinity who actually supported, and would support yet today, the wall's construction.  It was an eerie realization looking at the buildings nearby.

Along with the actual memorial of the wall, there are, throughout Berlin, markers on the ground of where the wall had been.  Passing over one of these markers, I imagined the men who were constructing the wall, and passersby maybe stopping to "watch" the progress.  In this relatively modern era, in a Western European country, a "civilized place", how could such a thing take place?

And yet, I have to check myself as I ask that question.  Do I casually "watch" as people construct walls in my own little world?

I recently learned that the Greek translation of the word devil actually expresses the idea of someone who divides things that are supposed to be united.  Berlin was one city, but it was divided by a wall.

In our everyday lives there are walls of all kinds dividing us.  Some are fairly obvious.  The big challenge is identifying the more subtle divisions.  Divisions start by focusing first on our differences rather than our commonalities; an "us against them" mindset.  Don't get me wrong - differences are important.  They enable us to move forward farther because we have a variety of viewpoints to enlighten us.  It is when our differences lead to division that strife follows.  A more life-giving posture is to focus on the value found in our differences, and also on our similarities.

What walls can you identify within your little world?  How might you participate in tearing down those walls and replacing them with unity?

Blessings to you today.
Julie

Hello my friends,
I happen to be out and about today on some country roads and took notice of one of my favorite sights - corn stalks sticking up through the fallen snow.  There was a time in my life that I would have never thought anything of those corn stalks, if I even would have noticed them at all.  But, I have learned a lot over the years about the many ways we humans can make very deliberate choices that can have positive long-term impacts on our environment.  One of those ways is to leave the stalks standing.

Maybe you have never given it a thought before either.  But, as you drive through the countryside, I encourage you to make note of those fields of fallen snow through which you can see corn stalks poking out.  And, when you see such a sight, I want to encourage you to have another thought - imagine those corn stalks are a warm coat, providing protection to the soil through the long winter.

Oh, for sure the soil will be COLD through the bleak midwinter.  Frost will settle in deep.  The ground will become rock hard.  It is not the very same as what a warm coat means to you and me through the frigid temperatures.  But, if you can just conjure up the image of a coat covering the ground, it may help you gain a new awareness and appreciation for this wonderful sight.

Once, years ago, I even commented that a sight such as this looked a bit of "a mess."  But, isn't that the way it is with real beauty?  It looks a bit a mess to the casual observer.  However, when we take time to look more closely, to understand a thing, that is when we discover its true beauty.

And isn't that what happened more than 2000 years ago, on another cold night?  When shepherds came to a lowly manger?  Where there were animal smells and hay and dirt all around?  It's a good thing the shepherds didn't just make a casual glance and move along, figuring they must have been mistaken.  They would have missed the beauty of that night.
May your eyes be ever open to the beauty that is found amid the mess of this wonderful life.
​
Merry Christmas.
Julie

Dear friends

​Well, the Christmas season is upon us!  I try to wait as long as possible before giving in to playing Christmas music 24/7, which is hard since the radio station I listen to started playing Christmas music two weeks BEFORE Thanksgiving!  I managed to wait until November 25 to start the "festivities", but since then, it has been pretty much non-stop "Jingle Bells"!

Oftentimes I listen to music on the Internet music app called Pandora.  You can "create" your own station and it will play songs that seem similar to the type of station you have created.  So, of course I created a couple Christmas music Pandora stations.  One in particular I have is "Contemporary Christian Christmas Music."  The other day I was listening to that station and all of a sudden the old hymn Amazing Grace started playing.  I paused whatever I was doing and glanced in the direction of my radio, for I was surprised to hear that particular song on my "Christmas" station.

But, I pondered for a moment, and then realized how fitting it was.  After all, Christmas is first and foremost about God shedding his heavenly garments in exchange for earthly ones.  And not  the robes of the royalty but the humble rags of a shepherd.  Why?  To right a wrong that occurred at the dawn of time.

The wrong that occurred was that humanity disobeyed God, and as a result ushered in pain and suffering for us until the day we die.  God wanted a way for our suffering to ultimately come to an end.  Therefore he made a way for justice to be served for the wrong committed by humanity.  However, no human was righteous enough to right this wrong.  Only God himself was righteous enough.  But, the payment required the ultimate sacrifice, of life itself.  And so God, being the only one righteous enough, came to earth himself, incarnated himself in the body of a babe, and lived a life that was destined for death.

When I realized all of this, then I realized how appropriate it is to play "Amazing Grace" during the Christmas season.  For it truly is amazing that he showed such grace for us that even though the fault was ours, God paid the price.  And in so doing, has won for us peace, both now and forevermore.

May you enjoy the variety of music that adds depth and meaning to this beautiful season.

Blessings,
Julie 

​Hello my friends!

Recently I visited an old friend, and as we visited, I sensed she had a little dissatisfaction in her life.  We ran out of privacy to talk before I had to leave but her struggles weighed on my heart.  So, I decided to write her a letter.  Without revealing the identity of my friend, I would like to share with you today the letter I sent her.  Maybe you will find it helpful to you as well.

Hello my dear friend,

It was really good to see you and your family, even just for a quick overnight.  And, I love your new little doggie.  He's so cute!

Please excuse the seeming-impersonal typing.  My handwriting is quite terrible so I usually type longer notes and letters.  I wanted to send a note because I wish we would have had more time to visit one-on-one.  My heart was a bit heavy reflecting on your comment that you sometimes get a little depressed, now that you are retired.  I recently heard a lecture about finding happiness and I wanted to share with you a little of what I learned.  It might sound strange, but the speaker used a diagram to illustrate how to evaluate our level of happiness.  I am including the diagram in this letter.  And, I'll explain the gist of the meaning of the diagram.  The vertical side of the diagram is used to chart how much of a "challenge" we find a given activity to be.  The horizontal side of the diagram is used to chart our "skill level" as it pertains to an activity.  For instance, if we are doing something really challenging, but we don't feel very skilled at it, we will have anxiety or stress.  (For instance, me and sewing.  It causes me great anxiety because I find it to be a very challenging activity, and one in which I am not skilled.)  If the challenge level is low, but our skill level is high, then that will probably be relaxing.  For me that might be watching football - it is not a challenge because I am not actually participating in the game, and my knowledge of the game is high, which equates to skill level, therefore watching football is a relaxing activity to me.  The speaker (who is a psychologist from Hungary) suggests that the quadrant in which we will find our happiest state of being is that one labeled "Flow", where the challenge is high, AND our skill level is also high.

I found the concept to be quite interesting, and probably there is a lot of truth to his idea.  I just wanted to share this with you.  Maybe as you ponder things that fill your days, this will help you discern what types of things might contribute to a higher level of satisfaction more often.

I hope you don't mind me sharing this.  I know you didn't ask for my thoughts and I don't normally share my thoughts unless someone asks.  But, since we never had another opportunity for me to inquire further, I decided to just write anyway.

Thanks again for the visit.  It is always good to see you. 

Your friend,
Julie




Mihaly Csikszentmihaly's diagram on FLOW 

Hello friends,
If you have been reading my blog for a while, the title of this post might not surprise you.  But that's not to say the title won't make you go, "Say what??"
Just briefly, a single horizontal tillage pass is when a cultivation tool is used in a field in such a manner that several layers of soil are disturbed, and in a manner that affects those layers horizontally.  (You may have to take a moment to visualize what I am describing.)
Okay, so then what is significant about "a single horizontal tillage pass"?  Well, recently a report was published with this title - "Study finds a single horizontal tillage pass significantly reduced water infiltration", water infiltration meaning the amount of water that penetrates the soil and gets to where crops need it, in the layers beneath the ground.
So, today's post is about one of Growing Hope's favorite banner topics - no-till.  And, I f you are so inclined to read the entire study, which has many more details than I am going to cite here, the article can be found online by searching the following:  "It doesn't take much to ruin no-till."  The article is dated Sept. 24, 2016, on the agweb.com website.  For my purposes today, I am merely going to share with you the general findings of the study, which are really rather amazing.
First of all, something you certainly already know - the amount of rainfall, and the soil's water-holding capacity, are two of the main factors that impact crop yield.  Rain needs to get to the crop's root zone.  If it can't get there, it will negatively impact the yield of the crop.  This is why water infiltration is critical.
The place where the study was conducted had an average rainfall over the last 30 years of 24.28".  They then concluded that if the soil's infiltration rate is 3" per hour, the soil can capture 75% of that annual rainfall.  But, if a soil layer, that has been created through horizontal tillage, restricts the soil's ability to absorb that rainfall, and the infiltration rate drops to a little less than 2" per hour, then less than 50% of that annual rainfall is utilized by the crop.
The difference in the amount of water that infiltrates the soil is around 6.8" of water for the crop.  Do you want to know what difference that can mean for yields?  Sixty bushels of corn per acre.  Gulp!  That is crazy!!
As for the rain that does not penetrate the soil, you know where that goes, right?  Into the drainage ditch; beautiful topsoil washing down to the Gulf of Mexico.
Do we seem biased about no-till?  I guess it's findings such as this which keep convincing us that it's the right way to go.
Have a great day, my friends!
Julie

Dear friends,
Today I am pondering a timeless concept, but one that merits being revisited and redressed from time to time to remind us of its importance.  The concept is having a "growth mindset versus a fixed mindset."  I learned the phrase from a teacher/friend in our community who stresses this way of thinking to her students.  The "growth mindset vs. fixed mindset" is the phrase she uses to get the concept to stick in the minds of the kids.

I feel a bit as if I would be insulting your intelligence by explaining the basics of this concept, but because it is so important, I don't want to leave it to chance.  A fixed mindset, you see, means that what you know now is really all you intend to know.  Your perspective on any given thing, person, or idea is already set - it is not moving, or growing.  It is "fixed."

A growth mindset, on the other hand, means you recognize that your knowledge of any given thing, person, or idea is somehow incomplete and there is room for you to learn more, to "grow" in your understanding, and thereby creating a truer picture of that thing, person, or idea.

A fixed mindset can be seen as a "safe place" because when you have a fixed mindset, you know what to expect.  You know what the future looks like because it unfolds in a way that you have decided it will.  The only problem is, more than likely it actually ISN'T unfolding the way you have decided it will.  It only APPEARS to be unfolding the way you have decided it will because you can only see what you have decided you will see.  Your outlook on the world is fixed, so what you see is limited, even if you don't think it is.

A growth mindset can be seen as a bit daunting, and rightly so, because we humans generally like to think we already know it all.  If we have "room to grow", that means admitting we DON'T "know it all."  But, ironically, the more willing we are to admit we don't know it all, the sooner we can learn MORE!

Would that we all adopted this phrase, and this concept.  Would that we all strove to have a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset.  That is a key ingredient to having harmony with our neighbors, both across the street and across the world.  A fixed mindset keeps us from really knowing our neighbor because we will already think we understand everything about them.  A growth mindset seeks to learn new things and come to a deeper understanding of one another.

Peace to you as you journey through this crazy thing we call life.
​
Julie