Saving the Earth One Farm at a Time

The earth is struggling. There is no doubt. Pollution has had a toll on the planet, leaving plastics in our oceans and contaminating our air. However, there are ways we can stop if not reverse some of this damage. One of those is through restorative agriculture.

Agriculture has been blamed a lot for pollution over the last century. Tractors burn fossil fuels, pesticides and herbicides contaminate ground and surface water, and animal waste creates large lagoons of sewage. However, agriculture is vital to the survival of society. Farmers work hard for a volatile return, often at the mercy of the weather (which is only becoming more unpredictable). As a 4th generation farmer, I have seen the struggles that accompany farming first-hand. Early mornings and late nights are routine, whether for trying to keep animals safe or save crops from a storm or sudden frost. Farmers don’t want to harm the environment; they’re trying to make food for their communities as well as keep food on their own tables.

That’s why restorative agriculture is so important. Rather than working against nature, restorative agriculture works with it. It is a broad subject; restorative agriculture applies to livestock and plant crops in so many different ways, and it can work from the smallest, backyard scale to large-scale operations. However, I think it works best in the small to medium sized farms.

My membership idea is to create a series of online courses and an accompanying membership for group support to teach people how to integrate restorative agriculture practices in their small gardens or hobby farms. Each course or series of courses would focus on an individual aspect of restorative agriculture, including permaculture gardening, agroforestry, and partner-farming with livestock and poultry.

For permaculture gardening, the initial focus would be on the different preferences of the more common varieties of garden plants, such as squash, tomatoes, peppers, beans, and corn. This would go into what kinds of soils each prefers and whether they prefer shade vs. sun. This would help people understand why different plants grow well close together. The course would also discuss the herbs that can grow around or among the garden and how they can help with pest prevention as well as additional food sources. Establishing a healthy compost system would also be part of this course as well as sources of natural fertilizer that would help address the nutritional gaps in the soil that compost might not take care of. Different growing techniques, such as “lasagna gardening” (where the grower uses many layers of additive to create something like a raised bed) would also be a part of this course series.

While agroforestry is a part of permaculture, it is also its own subject. The concept is similar, except it exclusively uses the forest understory for growing crops. This would help people work with the trees to create a garden if they don’t have open space. By working with the forest, this method of gardening can improve the health of the forest, thus reducing the carbon footprint, as well as providing food.

Partner-farming with livestock is an ultimate expression of permaculture. Goats can be used to clear out underbrush as well as eat the weeds in a flat area, and their waste fertilizes the ground. They also can provide cashmere and milk to the hobby farmer. Chickens work in the next phase, scratching up the soil and fertilizing it with waste. They also make excellent “garbage disposals,” as they can eat leftover vegetables, fruits, breads, etc., and they are wonderful pest control, devouring insects and grubs. Concentrating chickens in an area makes for a beautifully prepared soil bed for a garden. Ducks also make great pest control and fertilizer factories without as much of a taste for garden goodies that chickens have. Geese find small weeds growing up to be a delicacy, and they also take their security job very seriously. All the poultry also produce eggs, and once you’ve had farm-fresh eggs, you’ll never want store-bought again.

These are just a taste of the potential courses that could be offered, and they could easily be expanded. With a membership, different participants can exchange ideas with each other and ask each other questions in a safe environment. They could also exchange seeds, young livestock, and more with each other. This membership would be so useful for people who are looking to make a positive environmental impact while gardening or creating a hobby farm to feed their community. I would love to make it accessible to people who otherwise can’t afford it, such as if they’re on the SNAP program, and make seed coupons or even a seed bank where they could get started on their own. Perhaps another part of this program would be nutrition education so that people understand how to incorporate healthier eating habits and even how to make especially delicious and easy meals out of food fresh out of their gardens.

It is possible to work with the planet and still produce good food. While it takes an unconventional look at things, it can help on the micro scale as well as the macro. By educating people how to use restorative gardening or agriculture techniques with their own yards or hobby farms, more land will be made into a carbon sink while producing food. This food can help to feed communities, addressing food security on a local scale with fresh ingredients. A membership program with a valuable network of people looking to do the best they can and share advice with each other will be so helpful for not only the planet but our communities as well.