For decades we've heard how our soil is depleted, which makes our food depleted, etc.. but they never explain the whys and hows. So, thank you so much for breaking it down like this. Such important info!
This is a great piece . Living in Western North Carolina, we try to source our veggies from local regenerative farmers in the region. Our local regenerative farmers have better tasting produce than anything labeled organic in the grocery stores. Thank you for highlighting this !
Reading this article, I can almost taste the scent of my raised garden beds! Can't wait until the day the soil warms enough to push aside the deep mulch layer of leaves from last fall, and run my hands through the dark, rich, crumbly, worm-filled soil! Your points were very-well articulated, especially the mycorrhiza (yes, I got that spelled right...and with no help from auto-correct!) aspect! Wouldn't it be lovely if the "new and improved" subsidy available was for quantities of powdered mycorrhiza to speed up the process between so-called "conventional" and "organic" growing?
We were at a wine bar the other night, and ordered two Pinot noirs. The wine was nasty, possibly corked, had been sitting on the shelf for three days. We sent it back, but the people before us were happy to drink it. Point is, this will only change en masse when consumers can tell the difference.
Unfortunately, we have been taught to fear microbes in the soil and in the gut. Chemicals are not only destroying the health of farming soil, but the same degradation is transpiring in the gut of humans due to chemicals. Splenda is one that should be closely examined. More microbes in a teaspoon of soil than all the people on earth? Hard to comprehend.
absolutely. Hope you will appreciate the book we are working on now, which has nothing to do with COVID, or vaccines, or propaganda ..... Well, maybe propaganda, in an indirect way.
Being a big tomato lover, as you said, method of production very noticeable in taste. Actually the whole topic of farming methodology is so important!! At least 30 years ago farmers markets started to appear in cities and towns because folks realized they wanted to support local farmers. In VT where we locate in the summer, the small farming choice has been reinvigorated all over the state. No doubt other states as well.
But moving away from mass spraying of pesticides and herbicides is so important to establishing fields and streams and rivers to the natural realm. And evidently helping local residents not be impaired by these toxic chemicals.
I did appreciate the reporting of science articles in the report, showing differences due to farming techniques and the aspects of contribution by natural soil via presence of fungi.
So I am really voting to support local farmers using the suggested tactics to increase greatly their ability to provide our population with more nutritious product.
Yes!!! Very well done piece Docs Malone! 🙏🏼 Regenerative farming is the only way we can heal the land, ourselves, our families, communities, nations and world simultaneously!! 🙌🏼 we need to most notably restore fiber and seed hemp as our number one crop again if we want to truly make this a viable option on the industrial scale. It remediates the soil much faster whilst outperforming any crop on the planet in its speed of growth and number of industrial uses. Would love to see you do a deep dive into that and make a post about it! But it would likely turn into a book like it did with me! Haha happy to give you the cliff notes if you did decide to go down that rabbit hole! 🫶🏼
Tip of the hat to Areugnat for the homemade mayonnaise recipe. My stick blender was delivered and I obtained some avocado oil, so I recently whipped up my first batch. Perhaps the first time in my life I was ever excited about mayonnaise. Made a nice tomato sandwich with my also-homemade bread.
😋 May we have some, please? Sounds de-lish! OK, OK, we should make our own, but we’re lazy.
We make sprouts right on our kitchen counter though. So good, so much fun, no weeding, no soil, and only 4-5 days from seed to salad and sandwich topper.
James, I have had to re-adjust my taste buds so many different times! I was a Miracle Whip lover as well as Western French dressing. What says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!
My father took an acre of grass and tilled it and then added a tandem load of horse manure. Within 4 years he had dark rich top soil about 12 inches deep. His garden was unreal in that he planted everything from corn to tomatoes and watermelons for us kids. Three different types of peppers Bell’s, cubanelle’s( Italian or fryers)
He had carrots, radish, three different lettuce. Brussel sprouts. I know I’m missing things but it was thoroughly organic and we had a stand on the side of the road and in the late 70’s early 80’s we could make 250 bucks a week cash free and clear of Uncle Sam. It was a lot of work of course. As a kid manning the stand I learned how pounds were measured and how to make change without using a damn calculator or computer. This is a pet peeve of mine now that nobody can do it and god forbid you hand someone $12 for something that costs $7. He rotated his crops every year and the yields were always phenomenal. It seems simplistic because it is. It was passed through generations and that was how he did it and what I do now except the selling part. It’s still working. I won’t change a thing.
It's been a bunch of years now when sales tax in Texas was a nickel. Bought an item at the downtown lumber yard that cost $1.00. The clerk looked up how much the tax was on the sheet, got out his calculator, punched in the numbers and said, "That will be $1.05, sir.
The worst part going through that is you could have told him before and he still would’ve gone through the process making sure you weren’t ripping him off. Lol
Once again I need to bring up Zach Bush M.D. He has been at the forefront of teaching regenerative farming and has also formed "Farmers Footprint". a non-profit org. He actually travels the world getting his hands dirty. This is what one person can do. in the meantime I take liquid trace minerals from a company called, (wait for it,) trace.
Me too, D D. I drink water from Natural Groceries which has no minerals in it, like they say tap water has. It gets transfered to a big ceramic water jug in my house. So, Trace Minerals to the rescue!
Being a lifelong fish-head, I have a book on my shelf authored by Dr. David Montgomery titled "King of Fish", ( referring of course to Salmon directly and all anadromous fish indirectly ). He possesses a unique talent for learning biological food chain interaction and interdependency's. Without picking it up I'm remembering an observation of his differing from all others and the general field of consensus on the decline in fish populations. He observed that the loss of old growth trees, ( conifers in particular ), has reduced their huge masses falling into our rivers, creating log jams and islands, which re-channels the rivers path, which in turn creates ideal spawning gravel. Whoda thunk ? With conventional farming practices and their resultant loss in nutrition feeding the masses it is no wonder the supplement industry is thriving. I'm one of the supplement industry's best customers. Expensive urine is where it's at.
Thank you for this well tailored read on the realities of transitioning to regenerative farming. It offers a valuable basis for consideration whether the reader is a longterm farmer, a family member considering a lifetime career, a new homesteader or a city dweller longing to move.
The realties of todays instant/quick/early gratification peoples warrents a needed reflection. The financial implications are becoming more critcal by the day. Having just received a months utility billing that will consumed all but $25 of my monthly income, I am particularly focused on costing. Engaging in a regenerative future takes moneys, commitment and grit!
This sounds like a vital read for both would be participants and government sources hoping to support these transitions to benefit both transitioners and consumers.
Much success in producing a tome that furthers this just cause!
Thank you for the informative post. I’m trying to learn more about regenerative versus organic farming. As far as I understand the biggest differences I see are zassthat regenerative doesn’t use tilling and organic often does though it doesn’t have to. Also that organic involves official certifications and doesn’t use any artificial/ chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. Does that imply that regenerative farming often uses chemical assists?
Regenerative farming seems to have a lot to do with crop rotation and letting fields go fallow rather than always being planted with a lucrative crop. They plant with something like alfalafa and put the animals there to fertilize. That is my understanding. I'd guess that some organic farming is also regenerative, but maybe not all?
We now live in town with a dinky back yard, and with sandy soil and pocket gopher assassins so we grow our veggies in containers on the ground. My plan was to supplement the existing soil with a combination of organic matter and manure, but was going to mix it all up and let it sit before planting. After reading, now wondering if it's better to just add those items on top and nix the mix. And thanks for the book references as well as the timely article!
For decades we've heard how our soil is depleted, which makes our food depleted, etc.. but they never explain the whys and hows. So, thank you so much for breaking it down like this. Such important info!
This is a great piece . Living in Western North Carolina, we try to source our veggies from local regenerative farmers in the region. Our local regenerative farmers have better tasting produce than anything labeled organic in the grocery stores. Thank you for highlighting this !
Cheers
Reading this article, I can almost taste the scent of my raised garden beds! Can't wait until the day the soil warms enough to push aside the deep mulch layer of leaves from last fall, and run my hands through the dark, rich, crumbly, worm-filled soil! Your points were very-well articulated, especially the mycorrhiza (yes, I got that spelled right...and with no help from auto-correct!) aspect! Wouldn't it be lovely if the "new and improved" subsidy available was for quantities of powdered mycorrhiza to speed up the process between so-called "conventional" and "organic" growing?
We were at a wine bar the other night, and ordered two Pinot noirs. The wine was nasty, possibly corked, had been sitting on the shelf for three days. We sent it back, but the people before us were happy to drink it. Point is, this will only change en masse when consumers can tell the difference.
Unfortunately, we have been taught to fear microbes in the soil and in the gut. Chemicals are not only destroying the health of farming soil, but the same degradation is transpiring in the gut of humans due to chemicals. Splenda is one that should be closely examined. More microbes in a teaspoon of soil than all the people on earth? Hard to comprehend.
Crop yields pushed by volume of international sales Lose the "feed the world" concept and regenerative farming becomes more possible.
absolutely. Hope you will appreciate the book we are working on now, which has nothing to do with COVID, or vaccines, or propaganda ..... Well, maybe propaganda, in an indirect way.
Being a big tomato lover, as you said, method of production very noticeable in taste. Actually the whole topic of farming methodology is so important!! At least 30 years ago farmers markets started to appear in cities and towns because folks realized they wanted to support local farmers. In VT where we locate in the summer, the small farming choice has been reinvigorated all over the state. No doubt other states as well.
But moving away from mass spraying of pesticides and herbicides is so important to establishing fields and streams and rivers to the natural realm. And evidently helping local residents not be impaired by these toxic chemicals.
I did appreciate the reporting of science articles in the report, showing differences due to farming techniques and the aspects of contribution by natural soil via presence of fungi.
So I am really voting to support local farmers using the suggested tactics to increase greatly their ability to provide our population with more nutritious product.
100%
Yes!!! Very well done piece Docs Malone! 🙏🏼 Regenerative farming is the only way we can heal the land, ourselves, our families, communities, nations and world simultaneously!! 🙌🏼 we need to most notably restore fiber and seed hemp as our number one crop again if we want to truly make this a viable option on the industrial scale. It remediates the soil much faster whilst outperforming any crop on the planet in its speed of growth and number of industrial uses. Would love to see you do a deep dive into that and make a post about it! But it would likely turn into a book like it did with me! Haha happy to give you the cliff notes if you did decide to go down that rabbit hole! 🫶🏼
Tip of the hat to Areugnat for the homemade mayonnaise recipe. My stick blender was delivered and I obtained some avocado oil, so I recently whipped up my first batch. Perhaps the first time in my life I was ever excited about mayonnaise. Made a nice tomato sandwich with my also-homemade bread.
😋 May we have some, please? Sounds de-lish! OK, OK, we should make our own, but we’re lazy.
We make sprouts right on our kitchen counter though. So good, so much fun, no weeding, no soil, and only 4-5 days from seed to salad and sandwich topper.
New Leaf Market is a great source: https://trueleafmarket.com/collections/wholesale-sprouting-seed/non-gmo+heirloom+organic
I'm sure I could spoon some into an envelope and Fed Ex it to you E. Just say the word.
You’d probably get arrested for shipping toxic waste across state lines! Just sayin’ But love the idea! 🤣
James, I have had to re-adjust my taste buds so many different times! I was a Miracle Whip lover as well as Western French dressing. What says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!
My father took an acre of grass and tilled it and then added a tandem load of horse manure. Within 4 years he had dark rich top soil about 12 inches deep. His garden was unreal in that he planted everything from corn to tomatoes and watermelons for us kids. Three different types of peppers Bell’s, cubanelle’s( Italian or fryers)
He had carrots, radish, three different lettuce. Brussel sprouts. I know I’m missing things but it was thoroughly organic and we had a stand on the side of the road and in the late 70’s early 80’s we could make 250 bucks a week cash free and clear of Uncle Sam. It was a lot of work of course. As a kid manning the stand I learned how pounds were measured and how to make change without using a damn calculator or computer. This is a pet peeve of mine now that nobody can do it and god forbid you hand someone $12 for something that costs $7. He rotated his crops every year and the yields were always phenomenal. It seems simplistic because it is. It was passed through generations and that was how he did it and what I do now except the selling part. It’s still working. I won’t change a thing.
horse manure is magic stuff
I'd like some of that in an envelope for my garden!!
It's been a bunch of years now when sales tax in Texas was a nickel. Bought an item at the downtown lumber yard that cost $1.00. The clerk looked up how much the tax was on the sheet, got out his calculator, punched in the numbers and said, "That will be $1.05, sir.
smile.
Hope he did not have to make change.
The "MACHINE" does it all now. Clerks just hand back a wad of fake money.
The worst part going through that is you could have told him before and he still would’ve gone through the process making sure you weren’t ripping him off. Lol
But I didn't have a calculator with me although I do have all of my fingers...
Once again I need to bring up Zach Bush M.D. He has been at the forefront of teaching regenerative farming and has also formed "Farmers Footprint". a non-profit org. He actually travels the world getting his hands dirty. This is what one person can do. in the meantime I take liquid trace minerals from a company called, (wait for it,) trace.
Me too, D D. I drink water from Natural Groceries which has no minerals in it, like they say tap water has. It gets transfered to a big ceramic water jug in my house. So, Trace Minerals to the rescue!
Interesting what you say about size. We noticed decades ago that the bigger fruits and veggies had less taste. Watered down.
Being a lifelong fish-head, I have a book on my shelf authored by Dr. David Montgomery titled "King of Fish", ( referring of course to Salmon directly and all anadromous fish indirectly ). He possesses a unique talent for learning biological food chain interaction and interdependency's. Without picking it up I'm remembering an observation of his differing from all others and the general field of consensus on the decline in fish populations. He observed that the loss of old growth trees, ( conifers in particular ), has reduced their huge masses falling into our rivers, creating log jams and islands, which re-channels the rivers path, which in turn creates ideal spawning gravel. Whoda thunk ? With conventional farming practices and their resultant loss in nutrition feeding the masses it is no wonder the supplement industry is thriving. I'm one of the supplement industry's best customers. Expensive urine is where it's at.
Thank you for this well tailored read on the realities of transitioning to regenerative farming. It offers a valuable basis for consideration whether the reader is a longterm farmer, a family member considering a lifetime career, a new homesteader or a city dweller longing to move.
The realties of todays instant/quick/early gratification peoples warrents a needed reflection. The financial implications are becoming more critcal by the day. Having just received a months utility billing that will consumed all but $25 of my monthly income, I am particularly focused on costing. Engaging in a regenerative future takes moneys, commitment and grit!
This sounds like a vital read for both would be participants and government sources hoping to support these transitions to benefit both transitioners and consumers.
Much success in producing a tome that furthers this just cause!
Thank you for the informative post. I’m trying to learn more about regenerative versus organic farming. As far as I understand the biggest differences I see are zassthat regenerative doesn’t use tilling and organic often does though it doesn’t have to. Also that organic involves official certifications and doesn’t use any artificial/ chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. Does that imply that regenerative farming often uses chemical assists?
Regenerative farming seems to have a lot to do with crop rotation and letting fields go fallow rather than always being planted with a lucrative crop. They plant with something like alfalafa and put the animals there to fertilize. That is my understanding. I'd guess that some organic farming is also regenerative, but maybe not all?
We now live in town with a dinky back yard, and with sandy soil and pocket gopher assassins so we grow our veggies in containers on the ground. My plan was to supplement the existing soil with a combination of organic matter and manure, but was going to mix it all up and let it sit before planting. After reading, now wondering if it's better to just add those items on top and nix the mix. And thanks for the book references as well as the timely article!