Water as an Interspecific Sign

Heron cooperative, located in Belgium, is a small farm that grows vegetables according to the principles of agroecology. Water is central to the life of this farm for watering the different crops. Beyond the obvious, water can be seen as an interspecific sign between humans, plants, and even bacteria. When farmers bring to saturation the soil deeply with water before transplanting tomatoes, they do it to encourage the roots to go deeper. When manure is sprinkled with water in spring in the greenhouses, it starts a considerable fermentation that will warm the greenhouses and allow the sowing. Agroecology is based on an in-depth knowledge of the agroecosystem to guide it by actions seen as signs for the nonhumans. But water is also a sign of changing times. When the drought strikes, farmers have to deal with quasi-constant irrigation, and the lack of water reveals the fragility of the plants as a metaphor for our own fragility.