Swift Kick in the Buttes is dedicated to being responsible with our carbon.
Carbon is essential to life. Carbon misplaced is destructive. California’s soils used to be much deeper with carbon, but soil erosion and burning put much of that carbon in the air, rivers and onto ocean floors. As a result of this run off, ocean life is suffocated, the land is less able to retain water, our aquifers shrink and our air becomes more polluted with less plants to filter and oxygenate it. Desertification progresses. Droughts become harsher. When this happens thinking can become survivalist and laws expand control and become more stringent and emotionally charged. What can be done?
Enter grasslands.
What reliably cleans more air than an acre of trees? An acre of pasture! What reverses desertification, recharges the aquifers, cleans the rivers and oceans, and puts even more carbon into the ground? Thoughtfully grazing animals in rotations on pasture! Yes, you read that right. LIVESTOCK can be used to reverse climate change and desertification. The Sutter Buttes once had significantly differently plant life and predators(including grizzly bears) not that long ago. These predators kept the animals in a tight pack while they grazed. These tight herds ate and trampled and fertilized evenly before moving to the next patch. Scientists are now starting to understand this natural movement of animals is how the local flora developed into what it was, and without these animal behaviors invasive weeds smother all other competitors. In our case we are reducing the medusahead population which is a monumental problem all over the western states only beginning in the 1950’s. Strangely, our donkey thinks it’s delicious and teaches the sheep to eat it. It is unpalatable to most. We keep our animals in tight packs using fencing and move them often to mimic nature, beginning the restoration process, and piling up the carbon. So, yes, at Swift Kick in the Buttes we are trying to make our carbon footprint as BIG and as DEEP as we possibly can, right onto the Sutter Buttes. But don’t think of it in a conventional sense, because we aren’t conventional. Think of it as cleaning loads of compost out of the air and putting it under your feet.. Aaaah, clean air, soft ground, and nutrient dense food.
We do not believe in the philosophy that each human is innately destined to be a virus that destroys the earth.
We do believe that humanity has the gift to think intelligently, consider cause and effect, and enjoy knowing the right thing to do. We have the ability to choose between right and wrong. Each person has a choice to destroy or build up our earth, and having that choice is very satisfying.
Wait, what about methane from ruminant animals like cattle and sheep?
There are amazing little bacteria that oxidize methane naturally in the soil, increasing soil life and nutrient bioavailability to us. Because we never use conventional fertilizer on our land, our methanotrophic bacteria are alive and active! According to TheNatualFarmer.org, “Farming in ways that enhance, rather than inhibit, soil biological activity, would improve the capacity of agricultural soil to act as a methane sink, helping balance the greenhouse equation. The issue with today’s industrialized approach to agriculture is that methanotrophic bacteria are chemically sensitive. Their activities are reduced by nitrogenous fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, acidification and excessive soil disturbance.”
Here are some links to more inspiration: