A lot of my work these days revolves around communicating with farmers around Europe who are at various stages of a transition towards regenerative management. For many different reasons farmers are looking for solutions outside of the conventional industry of chemical and technological manipulations and are rediscovering the potential of partnering with natural cycles and processes. Though there are a handful of examples of growers who’ve been pioneering these practices around the continent, the vast majority are fairly early in their journeys. It’s still rare to find an experienced commercial grower who has found success through organic, no-till, low input systems. 

Luckily there are a few who have shown that this is possible and are sharing their knowledge and experience and I’m thrilled to feature one of them in this session.

She first owned and operated a 30 acre certified organic vegetable/fruit farm in Montana and later co-owned with her late husband a 26 acre certified organic orchard in California. Together they then moved to a 211 acre organic farm in Eastern Oregon doing mainly orchard and vegetable production. The two of them also created educational videos on their YouTube channel called Agrarian Dreams, and did video presentations about their ecological farming methods.

She is the author of “The Ecological Farm: A Minimalist No-Till, No-Spray, Selective-Weeding, Grow-Your-Own-Fertilizer System for Organic Agriculture”. And that is exactly what we’ll be focusing on in our interview today.

I’ve had the pleasure over the last few months to interview quite a few people that I admire, who’ve told me about their fascination with beekeeping. Over and over again I’ve heard about the incredible insights into overall ecological health and the amazing reflections of ecosystem function that can be observed through managing bee hives. 

I got a window into the world of natural beekeeping back in May of 2022 when I co-hosted a Climate Farmer’s community event at Wilmer’s Gaerten, a regenerative farm just south of Berlin. Since then I've been looking for an opportunity to speak with Uli Beckman, the instructor on our course on beekeeping and management who helped me to see a whole new possibility in how to promote healthy colonies that in turn promote health ecosystems and people. This is exactly what today’s episode is all about.

Uli’s company, Beckmann Urtracht was founded in 2015 with the aim of consistently working in such a way that the beekeeper takes a back seat to the needs of the bees. Today, their principles and way of working far exceed anything required to be certified as an organic beekeeper. Natural propagation, natural honeycomb, built entirely by the bees, natural nutrition and minimal intervention are their maxims. Because with every jar of honey we hold in our hands, we must not forget that the bees did not produce it for us, but as food for themselves. Beckmann Urtracht is the alternative to maximizing yields and obtaining varietal honeys. The end result is an honest, original honey that can only be harvested in small quantities, but is outstanding in terms of quality and taste as well as its ecological and bee-friendly production.

From there we go into the details of not only the life cycle and behavioral patterns of bees and how those inform how to manage them well, but also the practical side of building hives that promote their health and the environmental factors that present a real challenge to the future of the species.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Meredith Leigh, the author of “The Ethical Meat Handbook.” Meredith has worked as a farmer, butcher, chef, teacher, non-profit executive director, consultant, and writer for the past 17 years, all in the pursuit of sustainable food

The industrial meat industry, in my opinion, is the epitome of what is broken in our food system and is a glaring example of the disconnect between humans and healthy natural systems, but Meredith shows us how we can reconnect with animals by treating every step in the process from raising, to slaughter, butchery and cooking with respect and care. In this interview we start by acknowledging the broken and unhealthy state of meat consumption. We also go in depth about the environmental impacts, issues surrounding animal welfare, and the health problems of an imbalanced diet. Meredith then explains how a healthy and reverent relationship to animals and all their products could look like through real examples of ecological management of livestock systems, mindful slaughter, home butchery methods, and preservation through curing, fermentation and cooking. This is one of the most holistic and nuanced perspectives on every aspect of meat that I’ve come across that even treats vegan and vegetarian perspectives on the topic with compassion and understanding. Meredith herself was vegan before getting involved with butchery and animal care so I encourage you to listen through the full episode before jumping to conclusions on the angle that this interview takes.

I also recognize that everything about meat from animal care, to diet, slaughter and cooking are very contentious topics at the moment and I would love to hear from you about how you feel and relate to the opinions expressed in this session, so please leave respectful comments and feedback under the show notes for this episode, or any other episode for that matter

At this point I’ve covered a wide array of practices and management styles that fall under the broad umbrella of regenerative agriculture. Some could be considered traditional while others are more modern and innovative and they span continents, climates, biomes and industries. Nonetheless I’ve noticed a pretty big gap that I’ve yet to cover in detail that I hope to begin to fill in today. 

Dairy farming has been under sharp criticism in recent times. Scrutiny over everything from the appropriateness of dairy in the diet to the methane emissions of cows and the controversial practices of early separation of calves from their mothers to maximize milk production have all contributed to a diminished reputation. 

Though these critiques are very legitimate, what if there were solutions to all of them without the need to turn to non-dairy alternatives?

Today to explore these solutions is one of the leaders in regenerative dairy and a growing movement of dairy producers working to develop a new way of managing dairy cows and the pastures they coexist with. Phyllis Van Amburgh along with her husband Paul and their family are leaders in holistic land use, biodiverse cultivation, Organic dairy herd management, and more. 

Together they are dairy farmers in upstate New York, and have been involved in key innovations in the dairy industry, mostly in western parts of the world, re-integrating dairy cows as a cornerstone for ecological health and for human communities to thrive. Phyllis and Paul have also helped develop the Grass-fed certification program with NOFA-NY and PCO. 

In this interview Phyllis starts by sharing her inspiring story of transitioning away from her previous career as she and Paul embraced a gradual move into full time farming. 

We explore the intuition she had that much of the conventional wisdom and ways of doing things in the dairy industry were not really in the interest of either the cows nor the farmers and how that led them to rethink their own dairy operation. 

Phyllis outlines the key aspects they consider essential for managing a dairy herd regeneratively and the pioneering journey they’re on to make exclusively grass fed dairy cows viable through selective breeding and holistic managed grazing. 

We also explore Phyllis’ insights from her work helping large dairy operations in the USA and Europe to transition to regenerative management and the challenges and opportunities that the wider industry has to transform.

Since I’ve been working in the regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration sector for about a decade now, there are a number of subjects and questions that keep coming up again and again. Everything from How to finance a regenerative transition, What initial steps to take to accelerate ecosystem restoration, and the big one, How can I get access to land.

I’ve explored the topic of seed saving and breeding a number of times in previous episodes and it’s become such a passion of mine that it’s the primary focus of my early work here on my own farm as I begin to get the main patterns and infrastructure developed. A new angle of this subject however is the more direct and professional operation of producing seed to sell. This requires even more planning and coordination as each plant has its own peculiarities of reproduction and conditions for harvest, processing, and preservation. Luckily I’ve got a seasoned veteran of seed production to illuminate the key considerations and preparations to build a successful seed production enterprise, including on top of an existing market garden. 

In this conversation I’ve got Dan Brisebois, a seasoned cooperative farmer, to discuss the various aspects of seed farming, from his own slow start in the beginning, to the present day success of his enterprise that was founded in 2004. He starts by touching on his background and his shift from agricultural engineering to farming, driven by a passion discovered during summer farm work. Dan elaborates on his cooperative farm’s structure, which has expanded to include 11 members and 9 member applicants. He then delves into his journey of integrating seed production into his market gardening enterprise, spurred by encounters with seed enthusiasts and the fascination with cross-pollination and plant breeding. Dan also shares practical insights on the equipment, processes, and considerations for seed harvesting, cleaning, and storage, emphasizing the importance of knowledge over technological sophistication. He explains his labeling and tracking system for plant breeding and offers advice on balancing genetic diversity with achieving true-to-type consistency. Furthermore, Dan reflects on the unexpected discoveries and rewarding moments in plant breeding and highlights the profitability factors when growing seeds for bulk versus small packets. Lastly, Dan touches on the impact of market demand for specialty seeds and advises aspiring seed growers on where to get started, mentioning his book, podcast, and additional resources provided through his Farmer Spreadsheet Academy.

There often seems to be an unfortunate disconnect between farmers in the field and the researchers and academics involved with agronomic study. I often hear in the discussions in the climate farmers community about how academic studies don’t reflect the reality in the field, or that the ivory tower of academia is out of touch with the farms and situations they study.

Join Oliver on Regenerative Skills as he interviews Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills, exploring the revival of heritage cultivars like Carolina Gold Rice. Discover how deep-rooted, sustainable agricultural practices and community engagement are transforming the modern food system. Learn about the importance of landrace genetics, polyculture, and the potential of crops to adapt to climate change. Glenn shares his journey, the influence of early mentors, and how chefs and local communities are embracing this movement towards more resilient and flavorful food.

As I continue to advance the tree and perennial food nursery here at my farm, I’m always on the lookout for new resources on anything about growing and breeding perennial food sources, the history of their cultivation, and the cultures that were and are connected to these woodland and orchard based staple foods. 

Elspeth is a writer, public radio host, and creator of the Local Food Report, a weekly feature that has aired on CAI, the Cape & Islands NPR Station, since 2008. Deeply immersed in her own local food system, she writes and reports for print, radio, and online media with a focus on food and the environment. Elspeth’s work has been featured in the Boston Globe, NPR’s Kitchen Window, Heated with Mark Bittman, The Provincetown Independent, and numerous other publications. Through her conversations with growers, harvesters, processors, cooks, policy makers, Indigenous knowledge-keepers, scientists, researchers, and visionaries, she aims to rebuild our cultural store of culinary knowledge—and to reconnect us with the people, places, and ideas that feed us. 

In this session, Elspeth shares her journey of developing a passion for perennial food systems, particularly focusing on nuts and tree-based staple crops. 

Her early exposure to nature evolved into an obsession with acorns and other tree nuts. Her research went on to reveal the extensive use of tree nuts as staple foods across the northern hemisphere and the historical as well as the cultural shifts that led to their decline in favor of annual grain crops. Elspeth delves into the nutritional and ecological benefits of these perennial foods, the complexities of modern industrial agriculture, and the resurgence of interest in tree crops, especially in the American Midwest. She also explores innovative recipes and culinary uses of nuts, especially acorns and chestnuts, while emphasizing the importance of integrating perennial crop systems into modern diets and agricultural practices. This conversation covers a lot of ground from land management, economic models, and the promising future of perennial food systems.

As with all the books that I focus on from my friends at new society publishers, we’re running a book giveaway for “Feed us with Trees.” By now you know the drill. Send me a message on our Discord community. If you’re not already a member you can sign up through the links on our homepage or the bio on Instagram. I’ll choose a winner one week after this episode goes live, and If you live anywhere in North America we’ll send a physical copy. Everywhere else you’ll receive a digital version.