Living Food Farm

Let's get into a time machine and go back past the year of 1979, when Living Food Farm was originated, past the hippie years of the '70s, to the classy '60s. We're talking about the time when Ronald Johnson, the current founder of Living Food Farm, was a young boy in his early teenage years. As the time machine flies back in time, let me tell you a story about Ronald and how his mindset got him to where he is today.

A sick boy is the words to describe Ron when he was in his middle school years. Growing up, Ron, at one time, was stuck at a hospital for one month, with rheumatic fever, unable to do anything. Ron enjoyed playing basketball, often he would become very sick the day after a game. As a cornerstone of his motivations for better health after high school, Ron had an older brother who passed away from rheumatic fever at the age of 20 with heart problems, taking medications was said to be part of the cause of his death. Throughout those years as a youngster, Ron didn't understand why all of this happened, he just accepted it. As wisdom comes with age, when Ron got older, he realized what he needed to do to be healthier and prolong life. After graduating from high school, free to make his own decisions, Ron firmly decided to stop taking medications of any kind. In fact, he threw all the medications he was taking at that time in the trash can.

Ron began reading and experimenting with various health related ideas for better health. It's the foundations on which Ron built upon, experiment after experiment, to what he knows today. On experiment came about after, he read a book written by Dr. Bragg who was a well-known health enthusiast. He died at the age of 95, not because of age, but because of an accident. The book said if one drinks distilled water only, with no food, for a certain number of days, the body won't get sunburned as easily as those who drink various fluids, such as soda or juices which contains sugar. Ron proved it to himself, after drinking distilled water for days before a big softball tournament. Ron had his shirt off most of the day, along with his friends, in the hot summer sun during the tournament. At the end of the day, many of his friends who had their shirts off got sunburned badly while Ron walked off the field with a nice tan, not at all sunburned. Thus, one successful and beneficial experiment after the other, Ron learned those ways to better health but wasn't satisfied on the quality of the foods he ate.

The genuine opportunity came in 1979, when Ron's father gave his 100 acre hobby farm to him. Immediately, Ron moved in with his wife, Shirley, and as they drove up to the farm's land, parked their car, and looked at the vegetation around them from their car seats, they vowed two things. They would never use any chemicals whatsoever on their soil, and never give up. Living Food Farm was born, with its quest to produce fruits and vegetables that are "living" with nutrients that will help the body.

The very first year in 1979, Ron had high hopes to be a successful farmer who could raise high-quality foods from the soil. Ron asked his father which area of land had the "good" soil in which Ron could "kick off". Mother Nature mercilessly denied Ron's high hopes like a dark storm.. Weeds quickly overgrew his crops, bugs came and ate, irrigation was unprepared, and Ron learned the hard way. He learned one thing. Never believe anybody quickly, like his father, who claimed there is "good" soil. Through it all, Ron refused to use any of the tempting and instant chemicals to kill the weeds or the bugs, and stuck with his agreement with his wife.

In the earliest stages beyond 79, a lot of work had to be done to improve the "sick" soil at the farm. The soil was light grey, hard, and puddles of water stood after every downpour. Crawling and flying, insects invaded the crops but still, Ron did not give up. Year after year, Ron grew many different fruits and vegetables, and had many failures but each year Ron learned something new for the next year. The late Dr. Reams, from whom Ron picked up the farming methods, had over 60 years of farming experience that provided "the stepping stone" for Ron. It takes a lot of back-breaking work to provide the soil with essential minerals. For instance, Ron needed tons of calcium, after water-soluble tests showed calcium shortage. Ron spent one month shoveling and spreading 55 tons of pure calcium on the field. The pure calcium can't be spread through a spreader machine because 100% calcium, when going through the narrow opening in the spreader machine, will clog up. The "calcium" most farmers use has 20 to 30 percent of synthetic additives to allow the "calcium" to go through the narrow opening in the spreader machine without clogging up. Ron is always fussy on what he adds to his soil at the farm. The reason is to preserve "living" bacteria that are developing in the soil with the help of remineralization of various minerals such as calcium, zinc, pure iron ore, and many others. With careful attention, responsibility, and determination over the years, the soil gradually improved. The improvement are evident in the taste of the plants' fruits and vegetables, softer soil, less invading insects, and higher measurements from the refractometer showing nutrient contents levels in plants. There is one more method used to improve the soil. Acting as a giant earthworm, to help those little ones down below the surface of the soil, Ron uses a subsoiler. When attached to the back of the tractor, it looks like three huge knives scratching through the topsoil. Each blade reaches about 3 to 4 feet deep, cutting and separating the topsoil. Ron has used the subsoiler every year, before and after he plants his crops, for 25 years. To see how much the soil has improved over the years, we can look back in the early 1980s. At that time, Ron couldn't get even one blade halfway down into the soil while "scratching" the topsoil. Today, Ron and the tractor can pull all three blades easily, fully to the hilt, about 3 to 4 feet deep! Rain water can be absorbed by the "well massaged" soil, going right through into the soil. With subsoiler's help, the soil and its plants can "breathe" better, and allow roots to grow deeper to absorb more essential food and water. Even more so, the soil four feet under has the same amount of vital minerals as the soil on the very top, well mixed over many years by " remineralization" and subsoiling.

Ron's farming ways are simple, free of chemicals and heavy machinery, and to accomplish that, it requires hard work. Ron continues his quest to improve the soil to receive high quality plants that will produce essential nutrients for the body.

Why barley grass? Why did Ron pick barley grass above all other grasses or vegetables? Let's read further about the short history of barley grass at Living Food Farm.

In the '80s, Ron tried growing barley grass in his house, out of a thin layer of soil in a pan, and came up with poor results from the refractometer. At that time, Ron knew barley grass, which beats out other grasses, has the potential of being the great "vegetable" because of its high capacities in vitamin C, zinc, potassium, and many other essential nutrients. The barley grass was not successful when grown in a thin layer of soil. However, now, with a highly improved soil holding essential minerals, growing high-quality green barley grass is finally possible. Thus, our Barley Grass Powder was born!