Saving the Soil, Saving Ourselves

The soil undeniably sustains us, without it there would be no gardens, no farms, no livestock– nothing. As we continue to overuse and undernourish the soil, we are shorting both the earth and ourselves. These three books map out different approaches to revitalizing our soil through regenerative agriculture.

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“In healthy, living soils covered with green plants for much of the year, the carbon supply for beneficial soil microbes can be nearly endless. I cannot emphasize this enough: This process is absolutely key! According to soil ecologist Dr. Christine Jones, the formation of fertile topsoil can be breathtakingly rapid once the biological dots have been joined. The sun’s energy, captured in photosynthesis and channeled from aboveground to below ground as liquid carbon, fuels the microbes that solubilize minerals. A portion of the newly released minerals enable rapid humification in deep layers of soil, while others are returned to plant leaves, facilitating an elevated rate of photosynthesis and increased production of plant sugars. This positive feedback loop makes soil-building somewhat akin to perpetual motion.” —Gabe Brown

Featured Excerpts:

5 Principles of Soil Health

Farming Against Nature

The Importance of Planting Cover Crops

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“Regenerative agriculture implies more than just sustain-ing something but rather an active rebuilding or regeneration of existing systems towards full health. It also implies an open-ended process of ongoing improvement and positive transformation. This can encompass the rebuilding or regeneration of soil itself and of biodiversity more widely; the reduction of toxins and pollutants; the recharging of aquifers; the production of healthier food, clean water and air; the replacement of external inputs; and the enhancement of social capital and ecological knowledge. In addition to improved physical and mental human health, what this aspect also entails is the promotion of vital, coherent rural cultures and the encouragement of values of stewardship, self-reliance, and humility.” —Charles Massy

Featured Excerpts:

Emergence of the Mechanical Mind and Its Dire Implications

Agri-Culture: Source of a Healthy Culture, Society and Mother Earth

Inheriting the Earth

From the Group Up: A Call for Regenerative Agriculture

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“At our farm, we want to be purveyors of life, not death, and promoters of biodiversity, not the sterility of the monoculture mind-set. The founding principle for organic has been to ‘feed the soil.’ While special interests and Big Food may have usurped the term ‘organic’ and are eroding its fundamental tenets, we will continue to march to the beat of ecological, regenerative, and biodiverse agriculture with special consideration for taking care of the living soil that we are a part of, and that is apart of us. Whether we’ve focused on raising vegetables, animals, or, as we do now, fruit, it’s always been about the soil.” —Nancy and John Hayden

Featured Excerpts:

Learning to Love Insects

A Walk on the Wild Side

Rewilding Your Land

Rethinking Pests, Invasive Species, and Other Paradigms

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Recommended Reads

5 Principles of Soil Health

Vermicast 101: Good for Soil and Plants