Maya Fowler discovers the restorative magic of mulch, and why farmer Flip Nel is the king of compost.

He talks about his farming method - Farming for the Future - with enthusiasm. It's a marriage between conventional and organic farming, giving the high yields guaranteed by the former, but showing respect for the environment as embraced by the latter.

Klein River farm is a pioneer of this new approach. Flip explains the beginnings in 2004. We realised we weren't getting the same crop as in years gone by and called in a consultant, who told us our soil was utterly depleted. He advised us to get organic matter into the soil as a matter of urgency", he recalls. "And that’s when we started making our own compost. Mealie stalks and leaves, crops spoilt by birds, cattle manure, you name it, it goes into our compost."

So, why compost? There are plenty of advantages, says Flip. Firstly, organic matter kickstarts all kinds of life cycles. "Putting compost into the soil brings back your micro-organisms. Think bacteria, fungi and other little critters. They enrich the soil, produce nitrogen, break down  pathogens and improve plant health."

The benefits are great. When you have active micro-organisms, the need for fertiliser declines. "Our soils are such that we’ll always need to use some fertiliser, but now we use just enough to feed the plant, without harming soil life."

The next major advantage is a drop in water consumption. Because compost retains water, you need less irrigation. According to Flip, they’ve cut water usage by 20 percent. Then of course, there’s the benefit of topsoil staying put. With the improved water drainage compost provides, rain soaks into the soil rather than washing it away.

Because Farming for the Future doesn’t allow old-school preventative spraying, workers inspect plants to see where harmful insects are lurking so that the appropriate pesticide can be used, sparingly, if at all.

Flip says it's a boon having Woolworths as partner. "They’ve supported us tremendously in this venture, providing training and defining what Farming for the Future means to them. They’ve also set out goals and measurable objectives for us."

Flip shows us some of his books, including Malcolm Beck’s The Secret Life of Compost and Ian McCallum’s Ecological Intelligence. He talks animatedly about ecosystems and how it all fits together. Being a custodian of nature is part of this deeply spiritual man’s soul.

He quotes Beck, who says "everything that lives has to die, and everything that dies must be recycled, otherwise all the materials of planet earth would soon be used and tied up either in living things or those recently deceased."