Ravensfield Farm: Titia's Land Loving Journey

Apr 22, 2015

by Jonathan Davies

Titia Posthuma believes that all land deserves to be loved. Anyone who farms knows that land is classed by its current capacity to grow desirable, marketable crops, and Frontenac County, while it has a beautiful diversity of landscape, and some great agricultural ingenuity, is not known for an abundance of prime land.

More than 20 farmers from across the region, brought together by CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training), gathered at Ravensfield Farm on April 8 for a full day of touring fields and back country - not to bask in pristine, manicured pastures but to become more fully aware of the complex bio-systems that farms are, and consider what the farm wants to become above what we want from it.

"Observation is king," says Posthuma.

When she bought a 200-acre farm in the Maberly area in 1981, it was an overgrazed desert, a condition that would not be cured with a quick high-tech fix. It was not until 1989 that she began to earn a livelihood from the farm, growing vegetables and raising animals for meat and for fertility. Over the decades, she has paid attention to soil in ways that most farmers never consider.

For example, when she sees thistle - the "worst of the weeds" that "won't let go", instead of simply eradicating it, she first takes its presence as a sign that the soil is communicating a likely calcium deficiency - and a need for amendments, including an increase in humus.

When she sees prickly ash - an equally offensive plant - she sees a shade source and deterrent to animals that would otherwise disturb tree seeds.

And where farmers first settled the region by burning forest to clear cropland, Posthuma recognizes their immense value: namely that a soil's stable nutrients are derived not from grasses and animal manures, but from tree matter like leaves and chips, which form the basis of any healthy soil.

As the tour group stood in a grove dotted with a mix of evergreens and deciduous trees, Posthuma asked, "How many trees do you see that would have been here 30 years ago?" Apart from a few sturdy oaks, almost all were not much older than me. The forest is slowly being regrown.

While Posthuma's land has seen transformations since she began working it, she knows how quickly ecosystems can be degraded. She introduced me to the writings of Sir Albert Howard, who studied soil in the early 1900s and reported, in his book "The Soil and Health," "The foundation of industrialization has been impoverishment of the soil."

He noted that between 1914 and 1934, there was more global soil loss than in all of history prior to that time. As the soil is neglected, rains become unabsorbed and floods abound, as do wind erosion and drought.

The United Nations has declared 2015 “The International Year of Soils.” The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has cited issues such as a loss of organic matter, salination, and erosion of soils as being tied to unsustainable land management practices. These can include a variety of industrial practices, from mining to oil and gas extraction, but also agriculture.

A 2013 United Nations report, titled "Trade and Environment Review 2013: Wake up Before it's too late" recommends an increased prioritization of farming methods like those Posthuma espouses - small-scale and ecologically-focused – as a measure in helping preserve soil, and in doing so, ensure food security. In essence, the report suggests a counter-intuitive argument that organic and small-scale agriculture - often perceived as being less efficient than industrial agriculture - are crucial to feeding a growing population, in contrast to chemically intensive, biotechnology-based practices.

Meanwhile, food industry groups and government food and agriculture agencies have put forth the argument that organic agriculture is no better than what is currently the norm in Canada, and prioritizing it would lead to a great increase in land use for the same output volumes.

A recent publication, entitled "The Real Dirt on Farming" (published by Farm and Food Care Foundation) states, "there is no evidence that organically produced food is healthier or safer than food that is [conventionally grown]."

When I presented Posthuma with this quote, she noted that the merits of organic practice depend on the degree of commitment to its principles.

"It's how you're doing it that matters. There are a lot of dedicated people that are going the extra mile to work with their soils, to increase the nutritive quality of the food that is being grown on that soil, and that food has been demonstrated time again to have a seriously increased nutritional impact of a positive nature."

For consumers, or "eaters," the issue of price is often as important as nutrition and ecological viability. As “The Real Dirt on Farming” states, "Canadians enjoy one of the lowest-cost 'food baskets' in the world, spending only about $0.10 of every dollar on food," reminding the reader that low food prices are dependent on maintaining current industrial-scale production methods.

However, as Albert Howard noted long ago about industrial agriculture, "The food was cheap, the product was cheap because the fertility of the land was neglected." It is these connections that reinforce Postuma's and others' concern with the tension between what humans want and what the land will provide.

"You cannot take the economy of nature," says Postuma, "And supplant it with the nature of humans and come out ahead."

The tour wrapped up in Posthuma's home. Attendees ate lunch in her living room and talked more about observing what goes on in our surroundings. Posthuma began a discussion on the way animals transform what they eat and how the manure they produce enriches soil.

A chicken, for example, is able to accomplish the impressive task of digesting rocks with its gizzard. The friction involved in the process creates energy, and that energy goes back to the soil, depositing calcium and other minerals. Cows, meanwhile, which are micro-accelerators of digestion, impart high levels of bacteria. Every animal, when closely observed, makes its own soil-enriching recipe.

As a farmer, Posthuma has been called upon to impart her knowledge and observational expertise to others through presentations and on-farm tours like this one, but she is, as she puts it, "first and foremost a farmer, tending farm." She is a vendor at the Kingston Public Market, and runs two CSA programs, one in Kingston and the other serving the Perth area.

As a vendor, she is not keen to proselytize on the merits of her practices and the quality of her products. "I send out information with every single vegetable I sell, in the vegetable itself," she says. If her efforts toward creating good soil really are making for better food, then, it seems, the food should speak for itself.

Jonathan Davies is a farmer himself, and operates Long Road Eco Farm near Harrowsmith with his partner X.B. Shen. Jonathan is contributing a series of articles called Frontenac Farming Life, which profiles the lives of local farmers who are trying to make a living through farming, navigating struggle and hope. If you would like to have your story considered, please contact Jonathan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..