Our way of growing things:

With the current condition of the soils in our country and the direction they are heading, it is not enough just to be “sustainable” anymore. The responsible farmer must farm in a “rejuvenating” and “restoring” manner that gives back to the land and improves it over time. All the fields on our farm have soil tests done on a regular basis, and organic-approved soil amendments are applied as we can afford them to help correct mineral deficiencies. But that’s not enough; we are also seeking ways to improve soil organic matter, which functions like a bank account in your soil. The more organic matter (old, rotted-down organic material that is relatively stable) you have in your soil, the larger your bank account. The larger your account, the more money (or nutrients in this case) you can store in it. Michael’s dad made a good start on improving the soils of our farm, and we intend to keep working on it. We practice Management-Intensive Grazing here, meaning we closely monitor pasture conditions and rotate the cattle from paddock to paddock quickly, giving the grass lots of time to regrow before grazing it again.