Sun Cycles

This was published in the March 5, 2020 edition of The Fish Wrap

The sun goes through seasons and cycles just like the earth. There are storms on the surface of the sun called sunspots. Storms and other sun ‘weather’  are on an 11 year cycle that fluctuates between low and high levels of activity. Scientists have recorded sun spots for hundreds of years gathering a lot of information about the cycles and we can see their effects in the geological record of the earth.

Sun cycles also have an effect on our climate. In the 1600s and 1800s, there were grand solar minimums corresponding with cooling trends or mini-ice ages. Now, we may be at the beginning of another trend of lower activity after several decades of very active sun cycles. Pollution and industrialization are definitely contributing to climate change, but the sun cycles also play a part. Climate change like all change is inevitable. To every season, turn, turn, turn!

For as long as humans have been on the earth, our lives have depended on the sun and its interaction with the earth. Conventional farmers seek to tame and control nature and her cycles. They treat a field like a factory where controlling inputs can give you a predictable outcome. Nature isn’t a complicated machine, it is a complex system. We can seek to control the effect of CO² emissions on temperature. But we are powerless to change the effects of the big yellow ball in the sky.

So what’s a gardener to do? On Regenerative Life Farm, we do our best to support the soil to allow the sun to work its magic. Like our ancestors, we honor the genius of nature and work with her instead of trying to control her. The sun has its own cycles and schedules. We hope the sun is shining on you today!