regenerative agriculture
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Bumblebees Love Oregano
Was delighted to check on the herb garden and see an enormous amount of Bumblebees having a great time on Oregano flowers…and not just one species of Bumblebee but two. Nothing is more fascinating than watching bumblebees in late summer. They are easy to approach, and slowly walk all over each flower. Having a wide… Continue reading
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What Ghost Pipes Can Teach Us About “Nutrients”
Recently I was lucky enough to see some Ghost Plants aka Ghost Pipe on a hike. These creatures are fascinating enough but when I got back to farming, I noticed some in my own back yard. One of the things I hear most when talking about farming is the topic of “nutrients.” The Ghost Pipe… Continue reading
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Dealing With Crop Failure
Anyone who has ever grown something or cared for a living thing (of the plant or animal variety) has inevitably had some demoralizing times. On one end of the spectrum, there’s the “nothing you can do about it” category which includes things like weather or the completely unexpected. On the other end of the spectrum,… Continue reading
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Integrating Agriculture Back Into Communities
What does integrating agriculture with communities look like? For many, agriculture is something that happens “over there,” on a big scale, incompatible with suburban living. Perhaps there are illusions of what agriculture means: an industrial scale, huge machines, chemicals and processing facilities, waste that has to be managed, odours that have to be contained and… Continue reading
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Combining Crops: Mushrooms and Carrots
Last year I decided to try stacking crops, and inoculated a wood chip path in-between two beds of kale with Wine Cap mushrooms, or Stropharia rugosoannulata. Mostly the trial was to see if/how they would overwinter, and overwinter they did. This week we’ve decided to dig out a carrot bed we seeded in last year’s… Continue reading
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No-Mow for Monarch Butterflies
Last week was orchids, this week is Milkweed. We’ve been leaving a little stand of Milkweed on the edge of one of our fields and it is a hotspot. We aren’t going to mow this section and let the insects do insect things. The Milkweed emerging from bushy flowering clovers makes for quite a hub… Continue reading
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Mulch for Soil Protection
This season we have really doubled down for mulch, which all of our long-season crops will have. Our goal is to keep as much soil covered as possible for as long as possible. We want to have a soil rich in life, provide a food source for decomposers and keep everything from drying out. Additionally… Continue reading
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Hello, World
Would like to begin this project by stating some goals and aspirations, a sort of mission statement. Every Wednesday, starting today, one short post will be published. I hope to share some knowledge I have, or observations I make via my work, to shine a light on different aspects of the agricultural industry from an… Continue reading
About Graham
Graham is an ecologist-farmer from Canada working on educating about the wonders and beauty of the natural world, and how we can design biodiverse food production systems.
Complimentary Blueberry Juice 