Our goal is to grow a wide variety of the best quality food we can, while increasing the life carrying capacity of the land through the power of the sun.
Unpacking that statement fully would easily mean writing a book so this is the super short explanation. The science underpinning these ideas is solid for sure, a scientific paper reference list for this article would be far longer than the article itself. We also see that these ideas work out in practice in our farm, as the real proof is in the eating. We’re always up to talk about our philosophy so come on by if you want to talk about it more fully.
Scientists have come to learn a great deal about the relationships between plants and and soil microbiology in the last 25 years. Back in the day we were taught that roots went into the ground and sucked up whatever they needed. It turns out though, that healthy plants rely on a vast web of bacteria and fungi in the soil to procure their food. In many instances plants can be considered to be farmers themselves as they feed microbiology the starches they create via photosynthesis so that they can harvest minerals and other compounds from them. Unfortunately, most modern industrial farming practices damage these soil communities making it impossible to grow great quality food.
Because the life in the soil is key to healthy plants there are some common farming practices we don’t do like apply chemical pesticide or herbicide, use antibiotics in animal need, or apply chemical fertilizer. These are all detrimental to the soil biology. We also minimize soil disturbance and compaction as these activities also inhibit natural soil ecosystems.
So what do we replace those common practices with? We use our influence on the land to harness the natural relationships between the plants, animals, and microbiology to build great soil which is the foundation of the ecosystem. We are always looking at how the natural world produces life and try to adapt those practices into ours. For example one of the biggest rules we take from the natural world is to keep the soil covered as much as possible. Coverings include perennial grass fields, organic mulches, cover crops, annual crops grown for food, and composts from our animals bedding packs. As these coverings are decomposed by the soil biology over time they provide all of the fertility the soil needs to fuel abundant life.
This is not everybody else’s definition but when when we talk about regenerative farming we mean that it is our goal to build soil without relying on off farm inputs. This is of course possible as natural ecosystems do it all the time without any diesel fuel. Natural systems like forests do build soil but it is a very slow process as one can see by the very thin layer of soil in our local forests even though the glaciers left here thousands of years ago. What we are harnessing is the much faster natural process of herbivories freely ranging on perennial pastures. The common example cited for this is the deep topsoil that was created under the millions of Bison that roamed the midwestern prairies before the white people almost wiped them out and started mining the soil.
Considering that “conventional” farming practices don’t add soil carbon or soil life at all, it is a huge improvement to build a farm’s soil with bought in compost or animal feed rather than hosing it down with life destroying chemicals. Farmers that have walked away from chemical farming so that they can rebuild the soil have been first the big step in healing the land so that we can have healthful food to eat.
We are seeking to get to the next and harder step by closing the loop in using our own sunlight/soil/plants/animals to build the soil. We will reach our goal when we are able to send more food off the farm than comes in to feed the food we grow while still building soil quality. We would be quite close already if it were not that we love having chickens in our system. They get the good life of ranging outside eating bugs and such and bring great benefit to other aspects of the farm, but we do not yet have the means to grow enough food for them without bringing in off farm grain. Because of the grain we bring in and the hay for the sheep in winter we do not have to bring in other inputs like compost or fertilizer for the garden. Our purpose is not to be “self sustaining” as if that were possible, but to be a net benefit to the land, animals, and people around us.
