Tag: sustainability

Farmer Resources

I’ve recently been certified as a consultant (and lab tech) by the Soil Food Web School . One main reason I invested four years of my time studying with the school: Elaine Ingham, Ph.D.

I don’t want to “believe” science–I want to know it, which means I needed someone to show me how to understand how healthy soil functions and what happened to our food and farms–and our Earth–to make them so unhealthy. Dr. Elaine’s school does just that. Most important to me, if you visit the school’s website and scroll to the bottom of the main page, you’ll see the Publications tab. This is the science, peer-reviewed etc., behind the school’s syllabus and courses. I appreciate having these resources.

When I first heard Dr. Elaine talk about the soil food web and her research, at the Mid-Atlantic region’s regenerative agriculture conference Future Harvest 2020, I was immediately hooked into her descriptions of how soil biology and plants symbiotically live together to create health–in natural environments and also in restored agricultural environments. In some ways, the paradigm and the necessary paradigm shift in thinking about farming is simple. But simple is not a synonym for easy! It does take work–to shift your thinking, to shift your agricultural practices.

A farmer recently asked me for resources to better understand the science behind what we’ll soon be doing with experimental plots in his hay and wheat fields. Here are the resources I shared:

Short, promotional videos from the Soil Food Web school that explain basics and also case studies—go to the main website of the Soil Food Web school, then scroll all the way to the bottom and click the link for Case Studies and Media:

Home (new)

Soil Regen Summit 2022. Note that videos from 2021, 2022, and 2023 are available—some of the best cutting-edge science and regenerative ag thinking available. Well worth figuring out how to sign up to have access. The most amazing talk might be Rick Clark’s in 2022. See:  https://www.soilregensummitcollection.com/ 

The Science of Returning Life to the Soil—Elaine Ingham, a youtube video of one of her talks—that goes into a lot of detail:

Another regen farmer doing really good work—Cory Miller, Grass Valley Farms:

Here’s to farming and farmers willing to take the leap!!

How and why to set up a worm composting bin

Materials needed:

Big plastic bin with lid, with air holes drilled into it

Shredded cardboard and/or rotting leaves, wood chips

Scraps from kitchen: think vegan, but no oils; no citrus

Worms—see Uncle Jim’s worm farm https://unclejimswormfarm.com/

Set up:

Find a good spot for your worm bin and set it up so that air circulates underneath. There may be some water dripping from the bottom of the bin. Moisten your shredded cardboard/leaves/wood chips mix and add it to your bin. Get your worms and add them to the bin. Allow a day or two for worms to acclimate—then begin feeding. Don’t feed too much! Experiment to see what foods they like.

Why:

Appropriately sized, worm composting can be an alternative to throwing kitchen scraps into the trash and adding to the waste stream.

Even a small setup will create a soil additive rich in microbes. By cycling some of your kitchen waste through your worm bin and into your garden or yard you are adding to the cycle of life that is necessary to restoring a full and healthy microbial food web in our soils and for our plants.

Soil with a healthy food web has structure, which breaks up compaction and prevents erosion, and invites water to soak into it to prevent flooding.

Soil with a healthy food web structure provides plants the nutrients they need to thrive so that they are nutrient-rich and attract many fewer pests and diseases and compete well against weeds, which means synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are not necessary.

Soil with a healthy food web structure sequesters carbon and supports more plant photosynthesis, which also captures carbon. This carbon capture, done by more of us, will mitigate climate change.

You become a beneficial actor within the living earth’s cycle. When you feed the worms your food scraps they break down the organic matter by passing it through their systems. In this process they feed on the micro-organisms within the organic matter, eliminate pathogenic bacteria, and create an aerobic and healthy microbial food web through their cast (poop) and mucus. Carrying that vermicast to growing plants puts you into the living earth cycle once again, by bringing growing plants what they need to thrive.