Thomas Sadlowski 18 Mountain Street Florence, MA 01062 United States +1 (413) 517 0152 voice +1 (413) 517 0155 fax hello@fotes.com

fotes From Organics to Ecological Systems

 

Current focus: · Nutrient density of crops, grasses, trees, and animals; as related to soil amendments, soil nutrition, soil and water toxicity, soil moisture, root depth and complexity, soil health (symbiotic bacteria and fungi), companion plantings, carbon dioxide, genetic lineage, air flow, and microclimate · Naturalization of species to ecosystem; resiliency of seeds as product of stress where grown, adapting cultivars to return to localization to persist in evolving climates, transitioning ecosystems to better adapted cultivars, while returning to biodiversity, as vital for the restoration of a healthy ecosystem; preservation of genetic diversity through seed saving and land stewardship by local cultures · Out-competing invasive species by introducing or adapting potentially missing preferred companion species, thereby resolving deficiencies in the ecosystem, and returning removed controls; seeing invasive species, like disease, as signals of missing links in a broken ecosystem · Integrated land design, -- orchard with pasture, farm near forest, edible among inedible; rotational land practice, -- pasture to grain, vegetable to pasture; or diverse poly-cropping; importance of hedge rows, snow fencing, and other structures to direct energies of the wind to wick or create moisture, lift or drop protective snow, filter the air, and the associated organisms which are carried with it. In that, also stream bank and terrace channel direction · Cultivating resident beneficial yeasts and bacteria to buffer against disease through inoculation of products from the land, such as, fermentation residues, effective composting, and decaying plant matter · Soil toxicity remediation; reduction of toxins entering food, fuel, textiles, materials, water, and air, -- as well as water purification · Tile drainage leading to greater inconsistency in climate, as result of its widespread use throughout farms in the middle of America; embracing the diversity of land as vital to the health of the ecosystem and productivity of the surrounding land; selecting crops to the desires of the land · California farming methods and their impact upon American food security; sustainability of the world's present food system; preservation of local cultural practices · Water quality, design, and use; healthy ecosystem to maintain or restore water tables; planting design and growing practices to decrease irrigation while maximizing retention · Animal browsing instead of chemical or mechanical clearing, especially in reservoir watersheds, for both grazing grasses and control of invasives