Regenerative Skills

Allan Savory on managing complexity holistically: Part 1

this interview has been on my podcasting bucket list for a long time. Like so many others, I’d been intrigued by Allan’s work since I saw his iconic TED talk a few years back. The promise of the ability to restore grassland ecologies through carefully managed grazing made so much sense to me. Allan adeptly explained how he learned to mimic the migration patterns of herd animals on the plains in the African savannah by bunching them together to imitate predator pressure, and then move them through paddocks to allow the land to rest and recover in between impact cycles.
Through careful observation he learned to time these grazing and rest cycles in such a way that the perennial grasses could grow larger than ever thought possible and so many other healthy functions of the land were restored in turn. It seems so simple and yet has marked a revolution in ranching and livestock management around the world, giving rise to the prominence of Holistic Management through the Savory Institute and an ever expanding network of Savory hubs around the world. 
I myself dabbled in the core teachings which are based around working with whole systems rather than reductionist scientific methods, and defining one's own holistic context within the whole under management. From there you learn to make decisions based on the quality of life you desire for yourself and those you love and assess the resources you need to produce or acquire to maintain that quality of life indefinitely. I began to see these principles pop up in other books I was reading and Allan’s teachings were quoted in nearly all of the courses on regenerative agriculture I came across. Many of my mentors have cited this framework as the foundation on which they design farms and manage ecologies. The pieces just get coming together
Recently I finally committed and enrolled in the Holistic Management accredited professional course offered by 3LM, the Savory hub in the UK, which is responsible for training many of the other managers and trainers I’ve connected with around Europe. All of this led me to play hooky on my weekly online training to finally get to speak with the man himself. 
To be honest, this whole preamble was to try and explain why I sound so nervous in this interview. And just as Murphy’s law would have it, when I finally got Allan on the call, my connection began to fail me. So with the combination of me sounding much like I did back on the early seasons of this show and some annoying glitchy sound issues (which I promise I mostly cleaned up in the post production) I invite you to have a listen to the first of a two part call with Allan Savory in which we explore some of the insights that he’s gained from decades teaching and developing his framework all around the world. 
In this first half, we start by talking about what Allan is working on these days and what he still sees as the unfinished business of a very long career. We dissect some of the more challenging concepts in Holistic Management to grasp and also to teach, and Allan uses some of my inept use of language to illustrate some common misunderstandings that arise with newcomers like myself. 
If you’re interested in getting a chance to hear Allan Savory speak live and ask him some questions of your own, there are still spots open to register for the expert panel call that I’m hosting with him and Rudolf Buehler of the BESH farmers association this upcoming Wednesday at 8pm Central European time. It’s free to register and I’ll be posting the link on the discord channel which you can access through our website or instagram page. 
Join the discord discussion channel to answer the weekly questions and learn new skills with the whole community
Links:
savory.global
What is Holistic Management?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1287318.Holistic_Management
https://www.3lm.network/

Innovative marketing and sales strategies for farms: Expert panel 10

Welcome to the 10th of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more.
In this session I hosted a discussion on innovative marketing and sales models for farms with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to build the infrastructure to scale regenerative agriculture in Europe.
In this panel I invited Alfonzo Guzman, the former head of the Alvelal cooperative in the Altiplano region of Spain and Stefan Sobkowiak of Miracle Farm and the Permaculture Orchard film. Each of them come from a background in regenerative agroforestry systems, but that’s where most of the similarities end.
Alfonzo has helped to organise a growing network of farmers in one of the fastest desertifying regions of Europe to transition to regenerative farming practices by planting profitable tree species that do well in dry regions like almonds and focusing on restoring soil health and integrating animals. Through the creation of the Almendrehesa brand of regeneratively produced almonds, they’ve helped to significantly increase farmer earnings so they can reinvest in their natural capital and local communities.
Stefan on the other hand is working at a much smaller scale and for decades has demonstrated innovative ways, not only to bring holistic health and biodiversity back to the conventional orchard that he has revived using permaculture methods, but has also pioneered a U-pick business models that focuses on the experiences and relationships that customers have with his farm.
In this discussion, both Alfonzo and Stefan go into great detail, not only about how their farm operations and businesses work, but also the challenges that they’ve overcome along the ways and the unique aspects of their management that have helped them stand out from the competition and increase their sales and profits as well.
I will give one disclaimer that the audio quality in this chat isn’t the best. I’ve done my best to clean things up, but bear with me through some rough connection issues. Think of it as a bit of turbulence on the flight, but don’t worry I’ll get us to our destination safely.
Don’t forget that if you want to hear the full, unedited version of this interview with the entire Q&A session at the end, be sure to check out the different subscription options on the Regenerative Skills Patreon page.
Get the resource packet for this episode!
Join the discord discussion channel to answer the weekly questions and learn new skills with the whole community
Links:
https://miracle.farm/
https://miracle.farm/pruning-demo/
https://www.alvelal.net/
Check out previous expert panels
https://regenerativeskills.com/how-to-make-and-analyse-high-quality-compost-expert-panel-8/
https://regenerativeskills.com/how-to-repair-the-hydrological-cycle-of-a-landscape-expert-panel-7/
https://regenerativeskills.com/the-broad-applications-of-the-holistic-management-framework-expert-panel-6/

Greame Sait connects the dots from soil to human health: Part 3

I’ve been working on a very special project with Climate Farmers for the last few months and I’m proud to say we’re finally ready to announce our new Pioneer Program for farmers in Europe. For this round we’ve partnered with a long time hero of mine, Darren Doherty and his Regrarian’s platform, to bring the most complete regenerative farm training program together with our unique Carbon+ credits for transition finance assistance. 
The Regrarian’s online program is built around their expanded scale of permanence through which you’ll learn essential elements of Holistic Management, Keyline Design, farm infrastructure development, soil health, business and finances, and so much more. All of this will be accompanied by access to some of the biggest names in regenerative agriculture around the world through our Skill Exchange calls, Expert Panel Discussions, and a chance to get dedicated attention from some of the best ag consultants in your region, as well as guidance through the application process to the Carbon+ credits. Along the way I’ll be leading weekly coaching calls for the whole group, and you’ll be able to interact and ask questions to your peers and the whole regrarians network with access to their Workplace community. All of this amounts to the most thorough and robust program to guide you on your journey to profitable regenerative farming. Whether this is your first introduction into agriculture, or you’re a seasoned veteran who’s been growing for decades, whether you’re only planning a small farm or you’re managing thousands of hectares, you’ll find everything here that you need to make the journey as smoothly and confidently as possible. 
Applications will only be reviewed until the 5th of November and there is a limit to how many people we can accept into the program, so don’t hesitate. Even if you’re not farming right now I’ll bet you know someone who could benefit immensely from this kind of guidance and training. For more information on how to apply to become a Pioneer farmer you can follow the link in the show notes or go directly to ClimateFarmers.orgIf you’re not farming in Europe but still want to be involved with the Regrarian’s program and work with me over the next few months, you can sign up through this link here.  
Welcome back everyone. Today we’ll be picking up where we left off for the last installment of the three part series with Greame Sait. For a long time I’ve been working to connect the pieces between ecological health, regenerative methods of farming, and the health of the human body. Though many of you will find the connection between those three elements very intuitive, I’ve worked to find experts and practitioners who’ve illuminated some essential pieces of that puzzle. Up until now most of the discussions on this show have focused on just one of those elements at a time, but today we’ll continue with the last of the three part series with Graeme Sait who has made it his life’s work to marry these disciplines and train farmers, health care professionals, and ecologists around the world in the importance of caring for our bodies and our ecologies as a single organism that requires all of the pieces to be in place for optimal function. 
If you didn’t have the chance to hear the first two parts, I highly recommend it to give context to this episode, and I’ve linked to them in the show notes. For a quick recap, Graeme Sait is the internationally acclaimed author and educator who co-founded Nutri-Tech Solutions (NTS) and Nutrition Matters as well as hosting the Nutrition Farming Podcast . He has written hundreds of published articles and the popular book "Nutrition Rules!". Graeme has formulated many of the soil health and human health products for which NTS are renowned and he has developed all of the nutrition programs that are the keystones of their proactive management approach. Greame also owns Nutrition Farm which comprises two distinctly different properties dedicated to t...

Greame Sait Connects The Dots From Soil To Human Health: Part 2

I’ve been working on a very special project with Climate Farmers for the last few months and I’m proud to say we’re finally ready to announce our new Pioneer Program for farmers in Europe. For this round we’ve partnered with a long time hero of mine, Darren Doherty and his Regrarian’s platform, to bring the most complete regenerative farm training program together with our unique Carbon+ credits for transition finance assistance. 
The Regrarian’s online program is built around their expanded scale of permanence through which you’ll learn essential elements of Holistic Management, Keyline Design, farm infrastructure development, soil health, business and finances, and so much more. All of this will be accompanied by access to some of the biggest names in regenerative agriculture around the world through our Skill Exchange calls, Expert Panel Discussions, and a chance to get dedicated attention from some of the best ag consultants in your region, as well as guidance through the application process to the Carbon+ credits. Along the way I’ll be leading weekly coaching calls for the whole group, and you’ll be able to interact and ask questions to your peers and the whole regrarians network with access to their Workplace community. All of this amounts to the most thorough and robust program to guide you on your journey to profitable regenerative farming. Whether this is your first introduction into agriculture, or you’re a seasoned veteran who's been growing for decades, whether you’re only planning a small farm or you’re managing thousands of hectares, you’ll find everything here that you need to make the journey as smoothly and confidently as possible. 
Applications will only be reviewed until the 5th of November and there is a limit to how many people we can accept into the program, so don’t hesitate. Even if you’re not farming right now I’ll bet you know someone who could benefit immensely from this kind of guidance and training. For more information on how to apply to become a Pioneer farmer you can follow the link in the show notes or go directly to ClimateFarmers.orgIf you're not farming in Europe but still want to be involved with the Regrarian's program and work with me over the next few months, you can sign up through this link here.  
Welcome back everyone. Today we’ll be picking up where we left off last week in our three part series with Greame Sait. For a long time I’ve been working to connect the pieces between ecological health, regenerative methods of farming, and the health of the human body. Though many of you will find the connection between those three elements very intuitive, I’ve worked to find experts and practitioners who’ve illuminated some essential pieces of that puzzle. Up until now most of the discussions on this show have focused on just one of those elements at a time, but today we’ll continue with the second of the three part series with Graeme Sait who has made it his life’s work to marry these disciplines and train farmers, health care professionals, and ecologists around the world in the importance of caring for our bodies and our ecologies as a single organism that requires all of the pieces to be in place for optimal function. 
If you didn’t have the chance to hear the first part, I highly recommend it to give context to this episode, and I’ve linked to it in the show notes. For a quick recap, Graeme Sait is the internationally acclaimed author and educator who co-founded Nutri-Tech Solutions (NTS) and Nutrition Matters as well as hosting the Nutrition Farming Podcast . He has written hundreds of published articles and the popular book "Nutrition Rules!". Graeme has formulated many of the soil health and human health products for which NTS are renowned and he has developed all of the nutrition programs that are the keystones of their proactive management approach. Greame also owns Nutrition Farm which comprises two distinctly different properties dedicated to the production of nut...

Greame Sait connects the dots from soil to human health: Part 1

I’ve been working on a very special project with Climate Farmers for the last few months and I’m proud to say we’re finally ready to announce our new Pioneer Program for farmers in Europe. For this round we’ve partnered with a long time hero of mine, Darren Doherty and his Regrarian’s platform, to bring the most complete regenerative farm training program together with our unique Carbon+ credits for transition finance assistance. 
The Regrarian’s online program is built around their expanded scale of permanence through which you’ll learn essential elements of Holistic Management, Keyline Design, farm infrastructure development, soil health, business and finances, and so much more. All of this will be accompanied by access to some of the biggest names in regenerative agriculture around the world through our Skill Exchange calls, Expert Panel Discussions, and a chance to get dedicated attention from some of the best ag consultants in your region, as well as guidance through the application process to the Carbon+ credits. Along the way I’ll be leading weekly coaching calls for the whole group, and you’ll be able to interact and ask questions to your peers and the whole regrarians network with access to their Workplace community. All of this amounts to the most thorough and robust program to guide you on your journey to profitable regenerative farming. Whether this is your first introduction into agriculture, or you’re a seasoned veteran who's been growing for decades, whether you’re only planning a small farm or you’re managing thousands of hectares, you’ll find everything here that you need to make the journey as smoothly and confidently as possible. 
Applications will only be reviewed until the 5th of November and there is a limit to how many people we can accept into the program, so don’t hesitate. Even if you’re not farming right now I’ll bet you know someone who could benefit immensely from this kind of guidance and training. For more information on how to apply to become a Pioneer farmer you can follow the link in the show notes or go directly to ClimateFarmers.orgIf you're not farming in Europe but still want to be involved with the Regrarian's program and work with me over the next few months, you can sign up through this link here.  
Today is going to be the start of a unique journey with a very special guest. For a long time I’ve been working to connect the pieces between ecological health, regenerative methods of farming, and the health of the human body.
Though many of you will find the connection between those three elements very intuitive, I’ve worked to find experts and practitioners who’ve illuminated some essential pieces of that puzzle. Up until now most of the discussions on this show have focused on just one of those elements at a time, but today we’ll begin with the first episode of a three part series with Graeme Sait who has made it his life’s work to marry these disciplines and train farmers, health care professionals, and ecologists around the world in the importance of caring for our bodies and our ecologies as a single organism that requires all of the pieces to be in place for optimal function. 
Graeme Sait is the internationally acclaimed author and educator who co-founded Nutri-Tech Solutions (NTS) and Nutrition Matters as well as hosting the Nutrition Farming Podcast . He has written hundreds of published articles and the popular book "Nutrition Rules!". Graeme has formulated many of the soil health and human health products for which NTS are renowned and he has developed all of the nutrition programs that are the keystones of their proactive management approach. Greame also owns Nutrition Farm which comprises two distinctly different properties dedicated to the production of nutrient-dense, chemical-free food with forgotten flavors and enhanced medicinal qualities.
One of these farms is based in a sub tropical zone on the Sunshine coast in Queensland,

Charles Dowding teaches the essentials for a productive no-dig veggie garden

Welcome back to another interview from the skill exchange calls that I’ve been running with Climate Farmers for our regenerative farming network in Europe. 
This is one of the many community building activities that I’ve been organising to help to connect farmers around Europe to some of the best emerging information available, and to get their most important questions answered from our experts around the world. 
In this session I had the chance to speak with Charles Dowding in Somerset in England. Many of you may already know Charles as an innovative gardener and author of nine books on caring for soil as well as productive ways to grow food with less weeding through no-dig management. At Homeacres, his small, intensive market garden Charles teaches, runs experiments and above all produces delicious food. Based on his experience of growing vegetables without tillage for 35 years he shows people from all walks of life how to grow more easily, enjoyably and in a time-efficient way. 
Before we get started I want to remind all of you who would be interested in attending one of these skill exchange calls live in the future, all you have to do is be a registered farmer in Europe to receive the invitations and call links that we have coming up. I’m planning the next session with Nigel Palmer, author of the book “The Regenerative Growers Guide to Garden Amendments” later this month, so don’t wait too long. You can register now at climatefarmers.org
Get the resource packet for this episode!
Join the discord discussion channel to answer the weekly questions and learn new skills with the whole community
Links:
https://charlesdowding.co.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg
https://www.instagram.com/charles_dowding/?hl=en
https://charlesdowding.co.uk/courses/
Check out pervious episodes on No-dig gardening
https://regenerativeskills.com/abundantedge-the-definitive-guide-to-no-till-organic-farming-with-andrew-mefferd-author-of-the-organic-no-till-farming-revolution-105/
https://regenerativeskills.com/abundantedge-the-definitive-guide-to-no-till-organic-farming-part-2-with-andrew-mefferd-author-of-the-organic-no-till-farming-revolution-105/

Ray Archuleta, Ademir Calegari, and Ben Taylor-Davies discuss regenerative arable farming

Welcome to the 9th of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more.
In this session I hosted a discussion on regenerative arable farming with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to build the infrastructure to scale regenerative agriculture in Europe.In this panel I invited three of the most experienced and influential educators in the field of arable farming from the USA, Brazil, and England.
Arable farming is often the first agricultural practice that comes under fire with criticisms about industrial ag, the troubles of monocropping, tillage, chemical use, and many of the other management methods that need to be abandoned are most closely associated with large scale grain and legume production. Yet cultivation of annual crops, especially grains, are some of the oldest cultivars from the dawn of agriculture itself. Though it’s still common practice to destroy the ecology of a piece of land to produce these products, there’s still potential to regenerate that ecology if we can move beyond the paradigm of recent decades and learn from natural biological processes.
Don’t forget that if you want to hear the full, unedited version of this interview with the entire Q&A session at the end, be sure to check out the different subscription options on the Regenerative Skills Patreon page.Since these discussions are longer than the regular weekly episodes, I’ll keep the intro short and jump right into the introductions for our panelists.
Links:
https://soilhealthacademy.org/
https://groundswellag.com/speakers/ademir-calegari/
https://www.regenben.com/
https://treeyopermacultureedu.com/chapter-6-trees/alley-cropping-and-silvopasture/
https://www.agroforestry.org/the-overstory/337-overstory-261-alley-cropping
https://regenerativeskills.com/eric-toensmeier-outlines-the-roadmap-to-implementing-the-carbon-farming-solution/

Eric Toensmeier outlines the roadmap to implementing a carbon farming solution

Today’s episode has been a long time coming for me. I’ve followed Eric Toensmeier’s work since I first started learning about permaculture and I found his first book “Paradise Lot” about his work in transforming a tiny suburban dirt patch into a perennial food oasis at his home in Massachusetts. 
Since then Eric has written many other titles that have kept an eerie pace with my own work and focus over the years. “Perennial Vegetables” was great fodder for my learning in Guatemala with indigenous plant cultures and companion plants to coffee and avocado. The Carbon Farming Solution” helped to turn my attention to the potential of regenerative agriculture at scale, and his contributions to “Project Drawdown” helped me to put agriculture in perspective with the rest of the essential steps to addressing the climate crisis around the world. 
In this session, because of its relevance to the work I’m doing with Climate Farmers, I decided to focus on the conclusion of “The Carbon Farming Solution” Part 5, which outlines the implementation of regenerative, perennially based, agriculture. We’ll explore Eric’s three point plan for scaling up carbon farming, his ideas for ways to support farmers and organizations in the transition, effective financing, removing policy barriers, as well as strategic next steps. We also cover some of his work with Project Drawdown in looking at the global picture and where regenerative agriculture stacks up in the priority list they’ve created to reverse the effects of climate change. 
There’s so much more I could say in an introduction to Eric and his work, but instead I’ll put all the links to learn more about him and the projects he’s involved with in the show notes for this episode and I’ll jump right into the first question to start this discussion off.
Get the resource packet for this episode!
Join the discord discussion channel to answer the weekly questions and learn new skills with the whole community
Links:
http://www.perennialsolutions.org/
http://carbonfarmingsolution.com/
https://www.drawdown.org/

Anthony Arvanitakis on cultivating a holistically healthy lifestyle

Welcome back everyone. Today I’m going to explore a topic that has been important to me for a very long time, but that hasn’t been explored much on this show so far. I’m talking about personal health and fitness. 
Now of course this is a very multifaceted subject, and everyone will have their own ideas of what diets, exercise plans, mobility routines, as well as mental and spiritual practices are essential, and that’s great. This interview is going to focus on physical fitness and what it means to integrate exercise and strength training into a holistic health plan that suits your own unique needs and goals. 
Those of you who’ve been following this podcast since it was called Abundant Edge will likely remember me talking about my own struggles with digestive health and how I’ve had trouble for most of my adult life due to gut dysbiosis and related symptoms. In the past when I’ve felt hopeless and that my nutritional health was beyond my control, I would focus on the areas that I could still influence. 
Since I was constantly traveling for most of the last 15 years, I focused on calisthenics and bodyweight exercises that I didn’t need any equipment for. As I began researching how to train my body without gym equipment or weights I quickly found the inspirational work of Anthony Arvantakis, the founder of Bodyweight Muscle and the author of many bodyweight training books. I was immediately drawn to his focus on whole body fitness and functional strength above aesthetics, and his own personal journey of transformation is truly heartwarming. 
Over the years Anthony’s exercise programs and online community have helped me to get out of various depressive funks which have had transformative effects on my life beyond just my physical fitness. The routines have helped me to manage my time better, gain motivation for other goals in my life, and focus on holistic fitness. These qualities, while not unique to any one health program, have served as the spark to recommit myself to many of the virtues that I hope to continue to improve upon and one day even exemplify. Together they all tie into a much more complete and robust concept of holistic health as a lifestyle rather than an end goal. 
In this interview Anthony shares his story of the accident that had him bed ridden and immoble for years, and the mind and body transformation that helped him regain control of his life. We talk about the mindset and discipline necessary for a holistically healthy life, and how to look beyond your physical fitness to strive for optimal health in many aspects. 
I’m hoping that this will be the first of many conversations on these topics and I welcome you to suggest other experts and perspectives for future interviews on the discord channel, but for now, I’m pleased to get this discussion started with Anthony.
Get the resource packet for this episode!
Join the discord discussion channel to answer the weekly questions and learn new skills with the whole community
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdnGq7_Y2r8&t=2797s
https://www.bodyweightmuscle.com/
https://www.instagram.com/bodyweightmuscle/
https://www.youtube.com/c/BodyweightMuscle

Harriet Mella demystifies cutting edge soil science for ideal plant health

Welcome back to another interview from the skill exchange calls that I’ve been running with Climate Farmers for our regenerative farming network in Europe. 
This is one of the many community building activities that I’ve been organising to help to connect farmers around Europe to some of the best emerging information available, and to get their most important questions answered from around the world. 
In this session I had the pleasure of speaking with Harriet Mella, an independent research scientist from Austria known for her work uncovering the unexplained phenomena of plant growth and development. Informed by her background in microbiology, mycology, and biochemistry, Harriet has a unique capacity to describe little-known connections between emerging biological research and agriculture. Her objective is to use the scientific background that we have to introduce agricultural methods that are more resilient and low input for farmers.In this exchange call we take a look at a wide variety of topics surrounding plant health through soil biology. Harriet does a great job of summarising very complex aspects of cutting edge research into practical applications for work on the ground. 
At the moment, she’s probably best known for the Carbon Micro Cycling course that she teaches on the Agriculture community platform Kind Harvest. She has worked a lot with John Kempf from Advancing Ecological Agriculture and refers to him a few times during this interview. 
Before we get started I want to remind all of you who would be interested in attending one of these skill exchange calls live in the future, all you have to do is be a registered farmer in Europe to receive the invitations and call links that we have coming up. I’m planning a session with Charles Dowding about No-Dig market gardening at the beginning of October, so don’t wait too long. You can register now at climatefarmers.org
Links:
Harriet Mella on Linkedin
https://kindharvest.ag/courses/ra-cc-carbon-course/
climatefarmers.org