The Need for Regenerative Agriculture

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Truth #1: Whether we like it or not, because we eat food, we are a part of the agricultural system. Every time we purchase food, we are demonstrating our approval of the farming practices that were used to grow it. It’s a heavy responsibility, but it’s imperative that we all recognize our influence.

Truth #2: Humans have irrefutably done too much damage to our planet, and it’s about dang time somebody (or, better yet, a whole bunch of somebodies) steps up and does something about it. We need to reverse the damage we’ve done. This isn’t just some hippie pipe dream; it’s reality. Here are a few facts from folks who know things:

• “If current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years.” (Read this article if you have a few minutes.) (Or watch this movie if you have a few hours.)

• Mainstream farming practices have placed agriculture as one of the top five sources of greenhouse gases. (Fact check me here.)

• “In recent decades, contact with soil has largely been reduced, which together with a modern lifestyle and nutrition has led to the depletion of the gut microbiome with adverse effects to human health.” (Read more about the direct connection between soil health and human gut health here.) (If you're into it, also check out this podcast to learn more about the connection between human health and the environment.)

Truth #3: The status quo isn’t working. If we lose something faster than we gain it, the argument could be made that sustainable agriculture isn’t enough. We’re proud Americans here at Fail Better Farms, and we figure if we can put a man on the moon, then we can live gently on our home planet without compromising its well-being--or, by extension, our own.

Let’s Talk Solutions

Our current situation is not ideal, but neither is it without hope. Enter: regenerative agriculture.

“‘Regenerative Agriculture’ describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.”

— Regeneration International

We are by no means experts on regenerative agriculture, but we’re working to learn all we can so we can be part of the regenerative movement. We hope you’ll join us on this journey.

Fall Harvest at Fail Better Farms

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We’re so excited to offer our first produce packages ready for sale! We’ve worked hard to grow tasty, nutritious veggies, and it feels good to know we’re feeding other folks wholesome food.

How We Do

All of our produce is raised organically with permaculture principles. Here’s what that looks like:

Instead of spraying our crops, we keep them covered with insect netting so cabbage loopers and other creepy crawlies can’t attack them. Also, we eliminate weeds between rows by laying down repurposed conveyor belts.

Once the produce gets to be a healthy size, we remove the insect netting in order to let our plants stretch out (and so we can take a closer look at our beauties!).

Regenerative Agriculture

After we harvest this produce, we’ll plant cover crop, which includes peas, vetch, daikon radish, and other cool stuff, which will pull nitrogen into the soil and make the land even more nutrient-dense for our planting next Spring. We believe it’s not enough to be sustainable. Our pursuit of regenerative agriculture means that we continually strive to leave the land healthier than we found it. Future generations depend on our success.

We’ve Attracted Monarchs!

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Aaron’s father, who is also our neighbor, remembers when monarch butterflies in our area used to be everywhere. These days…not so much. On the brink of endangerment, monarchs need our help. One of our goals here at Fail Better Farms is to become a certified monarch waystation, so we’ve been cultivating diverse, native plants for a couple of years. We’ve enjoyed watching the wildlife population thrive, and we’ve kept our eyes open especially for any signs of monarchs. Well, they’re here, and we couldn’t be prouder!

Interesting Stuff You May or May Not Know

Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed. The momma monarch (momnarch?) lays her eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, one egg per leaf. Then the eggs grow into adorably fat, striped caterpillars that eat the milkweed leaves before snuggling up into chrysalis mode and popping out as beautiful butterflies, dancing with top hats and canes.

Even though the caterpillars love milkweed, adult monarch butterflies can’t eat milkweed for energy. So we encourage other plants like Mexican sunflower (That’s Tithonia diversifolia for all of our fellow nerds.) as a food source for the grown butterflies before they embark on the next leg of their epic journey. (Start at about minute 4:50 of the TED Talk below to learn about this journey. It’s nuts.)

Anyway, after years of working to create a pollinator utopia, we finally had a respectable patch of showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa. You’re welcome.) growing in one of the back fields. Lo and behold, those puppies are lousy with monarch caterpillars! In the short video below you can see several of our monarch caterpillar friends. Please forgive the blurry videography; I had a really hard time getting my camera to focus on the caterpillars themselves.

The Milkweed Dilemma

As I’m sure you’re aware, the monarch population has been in a steep decline for the past couple of decades, and that decline has in large part been tied to the scarcity of milkweed. So what’s going on with the milkweed? Two things:

• Pesticides and herbicides. Here’s the thing about genetically modified organisms (GMOs): they aren’t necessarily evil in and of themselves. The problem lies in what they’ve been modified to do, which is withstand a barrage of glyphosate. This means a few things for the land where modern farming practices are being used: 1) native plants that are minding their own business are poisoned by an inundation of poison, and 2) a lot of the food we eat is laced with glyphosate. To read more about the connection between milkweed decline and glyphosate, click here.

• Climate change. Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the environment is thought to screw around with the level of cardenolides present in the plant. The cardenolides (a word I’m typing here but can by no means pronounce) are the proteins in milkweed that are harmless to the monarch caterpillar but poisonous to parasites that attack the monarch. Cool, right? (Learn more about this at minute 6:50 in the TED Talk below.) If milkweed contains too many of these proteins, the plant will be too poisonous for monarch caterpillars to consume; if it contains too few of these proteins, the plant will not provide monarchs with protection from parasites. It’s a delicate balance. You can read more about this here.

What You Can Do

• Plant native species of milkweed along with native pollinator-friendly plants. You’ll feel good, your outdoor space will look amazing, and you’ll have scads of bees and butterflies keeping you company.

• Create your own monarch waystation.

• Avoid buying and consuming GMOs. If consumers refuse to buy foods that have been doused with glyphosate, big farms will have to modify their practices.

Learn More About Butterflies

If you don’t have time for the full video, start at 4:50. If you’re reeeeally short on time, start at 6:50.

Earth Day Clean Up

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We’re into taking care of the land, and we want to teach our kids to do the same. We celebrated Earth Day this year by cleaning up litter on the roadway near our farm. If you’re thinking of doing something similar, here are some tips for making this a successful expedition:

1. Wear gloves. Some stuff is gross. Or pointy.

2. Pay attention to traffic, ya ninny. Depending on your location, this might not be a safe undertaking near your house.

3. Make a game of it. Maybe count how many pieces of trash you find? Or try to find a piece of trash in each color of the rainbow? Or create a story to explain how a particular piece of trash found its way to the side of the road?

4. Set a goal. It might be based on time spent or amount of garbage accumulated. Our goal was to fill one trashcan. Once we filled it, we headed home. No guilt about the trash that remained. We would go crazy if we tried to pick up all the litter on our street.

5. Keep it positive. Yes, you could grumble the whole time about how litter bugs are the worst, but that’s just bringing down your vibe. Instead, focus on how much better nature looks when there aren’t a bunch of soda cans and plastic bags strewn across it.

If we all give a little effort, it can lead to big results.