Regenerative Agriculture on a Small Scale | What it Looks Like

In Today's video we're discussing regenerative agriculture.

Answered: What is regenerative agriculture, what does regenerative agriculture look like, what is small scale regenerative agriculture, using animals on a small scale, and more!

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References:

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Citations:

[notillgrowers]

To my friends disappointed in the permaculture comment, 1) I agree that it comes off perhaps unnecessarily dismissive which I recognize isn't a helpful way to discuss a practice, but also, 2) the "repackaging of indigenous practices" is just one issue among many that I (and notably many other growers) have with permaculture. Perhaps these issues are worthy of a video at some later date. And absolutely, no-till has its roots in indigenous practices as well (mulching, intercropping, cover cropping, etc), which is why we have acknowledged that in my book, on this channel, and in our social media. We will continue to. It's important to us. We use no-till as a keyword for people to find ecological practices that fit into our modern economic systems, and through that keyword we hope to educate folks on where these practices derive instead of claiming No-till or Regenerative or whatever is some new invention or novel practice.

[scottbaruth]

An old big farmer saying about regeneration is if you're selling hay off your farm, you're giving away the farm one bale at a time. Right now, for most of us, if you can hear a lawn mower, there is a grass collection site somewhere near you. Find it, and get it. If you see any trees this fall, there will again be a leaf collection site near you. Your point on regeneration is huge. A small trailer that can be hitched up behind most vehicles makes collecting so easy and, of course, gets used for many other things not associated with gardening. Well worth the small investment up front as a very useful tool.

[gangofgreenhorns]

Hey Jesse, I farm a 6th of an acre in a city, and I am at the point where all my compost/nutrients come from the property/free inputs. We keep bunnies, ducks, chickens, and pigeons. Use living pathways, and 3 ft beds mulched with grass/hay (directed seeded stuff gets homemade compost on top of it to seed into). By adding compost to direct seeded stuff then hay/grass mulching over I'm just slowly making lasagna beds instead of "flipping" beds. The hay mulch solves the edging problem with living pathways bc I just rake back the old hay to the edges at the end of the season and then mulch with new stuff on top. Between that and the mower (22" pathways) everything stays tight with no extra effort. Wanted to explain the rundown of my set-up bc you've helped a lot in my designing it.

[mrs.rogers]

I ferment my grains before feeding the chickens. I soak the seeds overnight in water. The water ferments, is frothy and nutty in smell. I strain the mixture and pour the liquid on my compost heap. Worms in the heap love it. Find it helping the soil.

[gardenlifelove]

I started my organic regenerative farming in my town about 2 years ago. O had a lawn and barkdusted no fruiting plant section when I starred. Now I have 9 fruit trees in ground of various apple and pear types, 2 dwarf peach trees, 5 in one pear, chickasaw pear, Satsuma plum, shinseiki Asian pear and tons of thornless blackberry varieties and grape varieties. In between I have rosemary, mint, catnip, strawberries, native flowers, blueberry bushes and super dwarf varieties of my favorite citrus species (meyer lemon, mandarin orange, sweet Satsuma orange, fukomoto navel, Washington navel) I live it and the more time goes by, the more I build and plant to help maintain and upkeep things in the garden.

[BushcraftNFun]

10 years ago i spread woodchips in my clay garden, ive used straw on limited basis and alot of horse and chicken manure. 4 years ago i started keeping a couple of goats to help with my front compacted clay field as the ponies only pooped in one spot which got to be a pain trying to spread itmultiple times a year. The goats poop pellets all over. Last fall i layered manure, grass clippings and more green woodchips down in my garden and used a potato fork as a broad fork to loosen the soil this spring. I have so many worms in my garden now and lots of moisture. I use a commercial fertilizer sparingly on seedlings in my house in late winter then switch to my organic natural once everything moves out to the greenhouse in spring when its no longer minus 50 out. Out of season my chickens have access to my garden. Ive tried hard to do regenerative gardening and its helping. Battling water supply in dry seasons has bern my hardest battle. Even with multiple rain barrels and a 2000 ltr tank.

[donnavorce]

No till is great. Not lifting and turning 50 tons of soil benefits me and all my allies living in my garden. The intensive garden area of my food forest, where I raise my veg is never turned, only tilted to about 50 degrees with a potato fork to loosen weeds I want to remove just prior to spring planting. Beds are never walked on. Mulch is applied liberally. My cover cropping remains weak but I'm improving. It's a wild-looking guild based system where the beds usually have two or more veg items growing.

Keeping the soils covered is a challenge because once you create living soil you may find, as I did, that the soil digests the mulch quickly. Hence my need to improve with cover crops. Getting local mulch materials is seasonal - some cut grass in the spring, and lots of leaves in fall. Between then I scramble for soil covering. I no longer see weeds as a problem. I see weeds as free bio-mass.

[thepeopleplaceandnaturepod]

It's inspiring to see people like you Jesse, using their platform to raise awareness and encourage positive change. 🍀

[EmpoweredWithPiper]

So I have to tell you: whenever I recommend your videos to someone new (which is like, all the time), I always describe you as, “The Alton Brown of growing stuff.” And you never disappoint, my friend. Once again, you are engaging and informative, and I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible in just a few minutes. THANK YOU for all the hard work!! It is very much appreciated!!

[andreamortimer]

You are just such a treasure trove of knowledge and I very much appreciate how witty you present the topics! You definitely put the word fun into learning!
Subscribed, thumbs up, and your book is on my wish list (more like the "Don't get me anything else but this list") for Christmas! Thank you for sharing your incredible vast knowledge with us!

[ronfontenot]

Your videos are like a masterclass in gardening. Bravo!!

[miaokuancha]

Baby nerd here, trying my hand in a 10 x10 community plot. Your videos are such a gift. Thank you, Farmer Jesse.

Reciprocating by liking, subscribing, sharing, buying your book (what a treasure), and chipping in when I can. Thank you for exemplifying an ethics of care.

[hollydimig]

I appreciate the fact that you read journal articles and compile researched information. Thank you!

[makeyourlifeeasier]

With all your excellent info Jessie, my notebook ran out of pages! Very impressive. Keep the great vids coming.

[brockstar]

Been Homesteading for 2 years now. I've raised cattle, chickens, hogs and now sheep all using rotational grazing and no chemical inputs. Have to say growing vegetables I've found so much harder to pull off.

[KatrinaT]

I picked up your book at the library and will definitely be buying a copy for myself. The book really adds a lot more depth and understanding to the videos.

[ariverdreaming]

So excited to have found your channel! Super clear information and a sense of humor together are a wonderful pair. 🌻

[printing_fan]

Yeah, JMS showed a marked improvement when I did a trial last year on a new row. I skipped about 10 feet of the row and grew a winter cover crop mix. Definitely works wonders.

[trumpetingangel]

I love your videos, but they (and the podcast) are usually aimed at market gardeners/farmers. Nonetheless, I learn a lot that's helpful for a home gardener. This one was exciting - you're talking 'bout my little acre! I just moved here in December and discovered this spring that the front yard is clay that floods, and the back yard is thin soil over bedrock. It doesn't stop me, though, because chickens, because wood chips, because raised beds! At an advanced age, I'm nonetheless excited to tackle it.

[WorldWeaver]

Wow, this was awesome!
I recently watched The Biggest Little Farm (and before that, I was reading Entangled Life), and I'm super interested in the concept of farming with nature, instead of against it! I really think Regenerative Agriculture is the answer to a lot of the problems humanity is facing, and I hope we can all swerve toward it fast enough to avoid extinction.
Thank you so much for being here ^^