How He Turned Desert Sand Into Fertile Farm Land In 3 Months!

John Graham is a specialist in desert farming who has taught hundreds of farmers how to run profitable organic farms. He has 30 years experience creating farms out of arid sand in Mexico's desert region of Baja California, successfully transforming sand into fertile soil to cultivate a large variety of vegetables. He worked for many years as an organic farm inspector and co-founded Baja's organic market that's been running for two decades.

John's home garden is a highly abundant paradise of fruits and vegetables and although he has been in a wheelchair for 25 years after a road accident, he has constructed a system of ramps and paths all around his property so he can access his incredible garden.

John is currently helping a local co-operative of farmers on a new farm producing organic food for the local market, restaurants and a delivery service. @LeafofLifeWorld met up with John to find out about the techniques he uses to transform desert sand into fertile soil, as well the different methods he uses instead of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

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music by LiQWYD

[piper]

That’s my Dad!💖 Thank you all for the kind comments and to Leaf of Life for sharing his story! 👨🏻‍🌾✊🏽FARM ON

[lowriderhd]

“We take care of the soil and the soil takes care of the plants”. Outstanding!

[tractors-plant-machinery]

He's a perfect example of "playing the hand you are dealt" not only from his land/soil point of view, but also his health. I tip my hat to him, a shining example of a person to respect and look up to.

[judyreynolds]

I remember Alan Chadwick! I read a book from library title “Enchanted Garden”! and went from being a farmers daughter to a city backyard vegetable gardener following his methods! In drought stricken west Texas hard red clay soil! Still follow his methods at 64!

[down-to-earth-mystery-school]

As a person with a disability that may eventually shift into the necessity for a wheelchair, I really needed to see this! My husband and I moved to Mexico a year ago, we live in the Chihuahuan desert, and we are growing food, I am applying for programs on herbalism. My family was very concerned when I moved to Mexico, but the culture and people are so much better that the US. Thank you for role modeling how to be self sufficient and in concert with the land!

[TheByard]

Thank you, Alan, you stirred up memories from my childhood. My father was one of two brothers that were left the family market garden farm in N. Wales UK. As WWII loomed my father was conscripted into the Welsh Guards and went into France in 1939. Uncle Herbert ran the farm and helped feed the nation through those dark times. My father managed to survive the war and I was the celebration, well part of it.
As a kid I watched dad double dig the veg patch, put a sack of rotted manure in the water tank, the water was piped from the shed & greenhouse roof. He would water the tom and cue plants each other day, water one day and manure water the other. The toms were rich like nothing sold in supermarkets.
School holidays I would be put on a steam train in London and met by Uncle Herbert at Wrexham, then it was joined my nieces and nephews in the chores around the family farm. Uncle Herbert would double dig the greenhouse plots, there was a huge tank with manure. There was compost heaps and a fire pit, the plots veg, and fruit changed yearly, when a farm animal died like a dog or horse it was buried in the orchard and a tree marked the grave. So the animal gave life on life. When alive these animals were treated with respect, Uncle Herbert carried a stick not to hit them but to make his arm longer. After a day's work we would go with the draft horses to the pond, where they would wade in and cool off, take sips of spring water until they had taken their fill. They would decide when to stroll to the paddock or stable where their meal had been set and a fresh straw bed laid.
We lived in London and when I started back at school after the summer hols, we wrote an essay on what we had done. Well, I wrote much of the above and the teacher accused me of lying and kept me after school to write lines. I must not lie Dad was waiting at the gate to take me for a new school uniform, he came looking and approached the school head. I and the teacher met with the master and dad. Father confirmed my essay was true and demanded an apology from the teacher, that she reluctantly gave. The next day I gave her a basket of produce I'd brough from the farm and wished Bon Appetit. She smiled and thanked me.
Alan thank you for taking this 78-year-old back to then, I'm just in from my Vietnamese garden where I grow all the Asian fruits, veg and edible weeds. The compost heap is going great, the fire pit has just burnt down. The water butts are looking sad with no rain, but we had sacks of cow manure, rice and peanut husks. So, you have confirmed I'm doing it right.

[hyacinthjarrett]

I hope that he is writing these wonderful lessons down for the future generation. 3 months in a desert land is amazing.

[rineric]

Wow! Alan Chadwick inspired me to become an organic farmer in 1973. Keep up the good work!

[jabblesowen]

Thank you much. Gardening in west Utah Desert, 4700 elevation, windy, arrid & dry. We use 40% shade block to get produce, some raised garden & the majority in ground. We evolved in our success and we are in year 4.

[jonettemurray-n.z.artist]

I love passionate gardener's and teachers like this. The joy in his eyes is so heartwarming. 🌱

[PeglegNav]

As someone who is just starting out in a wheelchair, this inspires me so much that my ability to do what I want isn’t over or gone

[varalta.floresta]

what an incredible man! Just a tip: he could use and plant some grass that grows well in his region, prune this grass and place it next to plants of economic interest. In addition to fertilizing, it helps protect the soil and improves water retention. Agroforestry hugs from Brazil

[neilhassanali]

He's also an inspiration to those who are able-bodied and don't know how to progress.

[robverdoold]

GREAT! Old fashion becomes new and finally normal again. In harmony with nature with everything what is available and required nearby. Thank you for the great inspiration. The garden and you as well! 🙏

[martinbisschoff]

Respect to you. A shining example of the fact that life OWES NOBODY a favour. It is what you make off it.

[edwinportillo]

This is really intriguing, I took an agriculture class in my high-school and recently joined my father on a ranch in the northern part of the baja California peninsula, the dirt is quite different being a clay sand type and my father was curious as plants dont grow as much in the soil, its nice to hear about this as ive been kinda experimenting to improve the fertility and trying to learn everything I can with the class fundamentals. Quite inspirational

[columlynch]

*Cheap food is not cheap* it cost the environment and your health. Brilliant.

[TheColosiss]

I live in Nevada. This man is exactly why we can make produce wonderful crop in the middle of nowhere with little water.

The genius of our farmers would shock most. I implore you all to speak to a local farmer. Some are beyond calculable levels of intelligence. In fact, the worlds most intelligent man is a farmer and is currently calculating the variables of existence. His intelligence is so off the scale that he simply gave up on those testing him.

Our farmers are why we exist.

[berkeleymom-]

Whole heart respect a man with so big love for soil and busy strong hands for life. I learnt so much from this video. Thank you.

[Bees]

I also heard about Terra preta 5 years ago. I experimented with a 5 gallon worm bin and let it sit for a year, adding material as it broke down. After one year I had a solid block of dark, rich recycled material that’s definitely boosted my soil. Now, I have 24 x 5 gallon buckets constantly working. The other upside to these bins is it’s packed with seeds that sprout in the spring giving you that poly culture farming. ❤