An ENFJ Novice’s Farming Diary
On this flat, open and fertile loess soil, I shared days with a vast sky, deep dark earth, free-roaming animals, healing herbs and trees, and people who burn with passion for ecological agriculture. I let my inner wildness run free and felt, with startling clarity, my own life bursting into full bloom.
As for farming methods and techniques, I learned and retained not a great deal. So what was my greatest harvest? What do I treasure most in memory? Perhaps the stories, observations, feelings and reflections below are worth sharing more than any specific piece of knowledge.
I. Unlocking New Skills, Life Energy Up!
In April, Da Hei showed us the unnatural, unhealthy state of crops grown conventionally, and taught us to regard plants as living beings — to give them the nourishment they need under natural conditions.
In May, the roses burst into bloom. We picked wave after wave of buds just about to open and made rose jam and hydrosol. Apart from the fear of offending our competitor, the bees, it was an absolute joy.
June brought the busy harvest season for wheat — harvesting, sun-drying, winnowing and storing the grain — a good workout for the body. The hard physical labour was tiring, but fortunately we had our teammates with us; more people meant more energy. That same month, Green Me Farm expanded its land, and we needed to lay water pipes across the new fields. To finish before the rain arrived, we worked late into the night. Meanwhile, to welcome the rain, our tractor drivers Da Hei and Xiao Hei were endlessly sowing green manure across the new ground. Collaborating with the team under deadline pressure was truly exhilarating, and there was a deep sense of satisfaction when we finally called it a day.
In July, we all pitched in to build a 300-cubic-metre reservoir. First the excavator came in, then we levelled the floor and walls by hand, and finally laid down the waterproof sheeting. From a distance, you might have thought we were on an archaeological dig.
In August, Da Hei noticed my interest in handmade soap and invited his friends to teach us how to make eco-friendly handmade soap. We were amazed by the richness and density of the lather, and the moisturising glow left behind by the natural glycerine. It turns out that a product with simple ingredients can still be incredibly impressive.
Then, gradually, without even realising it, my weeding skills grew more and more sure. One evening at sunset, we were sent out to weed again. Da Hei drove the tractor up our row, sweeping through the green manure. To dodge the cloud of dust his pass would kick up, I switched into weeding mode — night vision, double speed. Guided by the tractor’s headlights, I cleared the whole stretch and won the round.
I glanced back at my teammates, still lagging behind, and felt a surge of triumph — before hurrying over to help them finish the thrilling after-dark challenge too.
Yes — once a person finds their drive, courage follows.
II. Sensing the Soil, Perceiving All Things
But how is that practised? Da Hei demonstrated the right way to turn the soil for us. He explained that the goal of digging is to loosen the earth — you need not bring the lower layers to the top. The aim is to minimise disturbance to the soil, keeping the structure of each layer as undisturbed as possible while still letting air in. So a slow, gentle turning is enough. This process was vividly called “Let the Soil Crack for a While.”
Da Hei would also use the digging fork to lift a small patch of soil, cupping a handful at a depth of 15–20 cm in his palms and showing us the state of the soil’s aggregate structure .
If plants can draw their nutrients from the humus, there is no water–salt imbalance or swelling of the kind seen in conventional farming. Instead, plants grow upright and are less prone to pests and disease. Water that flows through such soil emerges clean on the other side, with no loss of fertiliser or contamination of the environment.
Australian Biodynamic farming also holds that a plant’s root system comprises two distinct types: the dark brown taproot, which absorbs water around the clock, and the white root hairs, which draw in nutrients when they feel the warmth of the sun.
If water-soluble fertiliser is applied to a plant, it is forced to take in nutrients while absorbing water. This leads to a build-up of water and salts, weakening both photosynthesis and transpiration. The plant’s appearance turns bloated and heavy, taking on a dark green or even blue-green hue, and the flavour turns bitter and astringent.
A trip out to the field confirmed it — sure enough, the wheat at Green Me Farm was noticeably paler than the neighbouring wheat grown conventionally.
In the past, people revered science; now they depend on it, and some place their faith in (mainstream) science alone. In my view, trusting nothing but (mainstream) science is far too conservative, even narrow-minded — for science’s own abstractions and reasoning cannot exist apart from the living world it inhabits. The ways of understanding the world are by no means limited to science. There is also one’s own observation, reflection, imagination and willingness to leave room for the unknown, and none of this is possible without sensing.
I understand sensing the land as an instinct for perceiving phenomena through observation, touch, all the senses, and lived experience. For farming, observing the condition of crops, soil, weather, water and the small animals around you is vitally important.
III. Where Life’s Paths Converge
Meeting these vivid, wholehearted people who stay true to their own convictions is far more compelling than reading the pleasant but abstract words “sustainable agriculture“. It also made me realise that ecological agriculture is not only about environmental protection — it is equally about the everyday food safety and public health concerns of our daily lives.
Meals at Green Me are generally lacto-ovo vegetarian. I quickly got used to eating no meat. For vegetables, we tried to buy from Xiao Hei’s uncle, who grows organic produce. But the range of seasonal vegetables was limited. Accustomed to the wide selection available in the city, and very dependent on leafy greens, I worried about my nutrition and began occasionally buying vegetables outside the farm.
It was only later, chatting with my teammates, that I realised we each put different priorities ahead when it came to food. I put balanced nutrition and varied flavours first, while some of my teammates put seasonal, fresh, healthy organic produce first.
IV. The Many States of Life
Every window of the pig farm was shut tight. Once, one of them was half open. I stood on tiptoe and peered inside: a few small pink pigs were crammed in a tiny “cubicle”.
Passing by that farm so many times, hearing their cries rise and fall in waves, I couldn’t help wondering — how do they endure the darkness, the stale air, the fear and the hopelessness, trapped in those cramped “cubicles”?
I’ve heard that people fatten the pigs up so much that they have to stand in their stalls all the time; they grow so heavy that once they lie down, they can never rise again. By that logic, a fat pig is hardly a natural sight.
One night, lying in bed, I heard the heart-rending screams of pigs being slaughtered at a distant farm. Piecing together what Xiao Hei later told us about the killing process, I recalled the pig slaughter I’d witnessed at home during the Spring Festival as a child. It was genuinely hard to bear. I thought — if only they could suffer a little less in their lives.
Since then, when it comes to buying meat, I try to choose free-range or organic pork, and I have cut down on how much and how often I eat it.
Those six months at Green Me made me deeply aware of how much we owe to the land and to every creature that lives upon it. Faced with chemical fertiliser and pesticides, the discharge from pig farms, and the plastic rubbish easily spotted at field edges and along waterways — what should we do?
A remark Da Hei once made resonated deeply with me: in truth, we don’t need to keep striving to do the right thing. Simply not doing the wrong thing is already good enough. Let’s hold that thought together.
Introduction to Australian Biodynamic Farming
Preventing Illness Before It Arises: Australian Biodynamic Farming Practised in China
Unless otherwise noted, all images in this article were taken by the author.