Let me start with this—I have no idea what I’m doing!

This information is strictly my opinion and based on the research I’m doing and what we’re trying here at the farm. After retiring from a cybersecurity company, I started a garden and discovered a passion for cooking. I noticed that the ingredients make more of a difference than anything else.

I started researching ingredients and where things come from, why they taste the way they do, and eventually started my own garden. I quickly discovered how we mass-produce our produce and became really interested in a few shows: Common Ground, The Biggest Little Farm, Groundswell, and The Bullish Farmer, to name a few.

As part of my research, I kept thinking about my favorite ride at Disney World, Living with the Land, especially the farmhouse and the mailbox with the chicken on it. My boys and I even did the Behind the Seeds tour and saw how they grew everything in multiple different ways—even without soil.

They talked about L.A.W.N.—Light, Air, Water, and Nutrition (fertilizer). The last part really got me: fertilizer. What is it, and why—or how—do we not need soil?

Then it hit me.

The soil is the nutrition.

Farming moved away from this more than 100 years ago toward monocropping, with farmers trying to produce more yield per acre. It makes sense—more produce, less disease, more money. I get it.

But I don’t think enough people look at the long-term effects. Or maybe the people who do are the same ones selling the fertilizer and weed killer… but we’ll save that conversation for conspiracy night at the farm!

So if you have to put fertilizer into the soil, why even have the soil?

Interesting question.

The secret is the soil.

We know less about soil than you might think. There are microbes, fungi, and countless other living organisms that actually make nutrients available for plants to grow. It’s fascinating, and that’s what started my journey into regenerative farming.

Microbes break down dead plants and organic matter while helping store carbon from the atmosphere in the soil. I honestly think the answer to global warming and our carbon problem might be in the soil—not some invention to pull carbon out of the air, but simply resetting the clock 100 years and letting healthy soil do what it was designed to do: feed plants naturally.

Another area I’ve been researching is GMO, or genetically modified, seeds. I found it fascinating. They’re often promoted as being more resistant to bugs and disease. Okay, I get it—more yield per acre means more money.

But then I learned that many commercially sold seeds are designed so farmers buy new seed every year rather than saving seed from their harvest. That made me stop and think.

For example, if you buy a GMO watermelon and save the seeds, they may not produce the same quality crop the next year. That seems a little unnatural to me.

If that’s the case, what exactly are we eating, and what is it doing to our bodies?

In traditional monocrop farming, we’re often eating genetically modified produce that was grown using synthetic fertilizers and protected with herbicides and insecticides. That made me start asking a lot of questions.

Back to the soil…

Why is it such a big deal?

When the soil is sprayed with chemicals, it can affect many of the microbes and organisms that make healthy soil alive. When we plow or till, we’re disturbing that entire ecosystem. We cut into the soil, flip it over, kill weeds and plants, and release stored carbon back into the atmosphere.

That’s one of the reasons many people believe farming can be harmful to the environment.

I’m not saying I have all the answers.

I’m just trying to learn, ask questions, and see if there’s a better way.

We will try to get weekly posts out. We will have some kind of farm shop going and lastly- some health food- hopefully