Regenerative agriculture in practice

In Sonoma County California, regenerative agriculture has apparently really taken root. But in Oregon, Mimi Casteel of Hope Well Wine is crusading for regenerative agriculture. Whereas sustainable farming means maintaining, regenerative farming is improving the land. It is no-till, no chemical, and natural support with minimal intervention farming, letting the earth restore its natural structure, health and function of the soil. It is regenerating the natural order of the life within. It is restoring our own connection with nature. Human. Nature. Mimi has been on the lecture circuit, doing podcasts, interviews and writing articles where she imparts the wisdom and urgency of letting the earth heal itself. Essentially, when humans stop trying to control nature, it has a chance to fix itself. Mimi is my new hero. 

I am completely taken with this concept. We have been practising Gaia theory and methodology, believing that everything on earth is interconnected. When the connections are disturbed, Gaia becomes unhealthy and begins to break down, until the earth organism takes over and heals itself by eliminating the disturbing factor -- which is us in this case. You cannot fix one aspect at a time. You have to enable the connections to restructure on their own.

Our land has never been tilled. The field in which the vines are growing has a wonderful structure for vines' root systems. A shallow layer of decomposed grasses below which lies clay rich with minerals and stones for drainage. It is sloping and south-facing, with abundant exposure to sea air. I do not believe it has ever had exposure to pesticides or herbicides. We always pulled the docks and ragwort by hand. I do not believe it's ever been fertilised either.

It has had grass and has hosted horses and donkeys for the last 15 years. Before that, it had sheep on the land. All of these (except the stallion) were good for the land, delivering fertilizer and controlling growth naturally. 

The field below the vineyard is above our house where the orchard, vegetable garden, polytunnel and apiary now reside. We have allowed most of that field to rewild and it has returned a rich natural mix of wildflowers, grasses and trees that attract many pollinators. In fact, this year, we've had more bumblebees and butterflies than ever before. When we levelled the land area for the polytunnel, we planted the disturbed ground around the tunnel with native wildflower seeds. Many have taken. I have also spread yellow rattle which is supposed to control the pernicious grasses. I hope it takes. 

We have planted many native trees in that field, including two types of birch and several types of willow, alder, poplar (aspen), ash, oak, beech, sycamore, rowan, hazel, holly and hawthorn. We also have horse chestnut, which is not native but widespread, maple, and sumac. I am going to add a native strawberry tree when it gets big enough. Three Scots pines arrived on their own. And we have loads of native shrubs growing alongside the trees, including gorse, heather, elder, wild rose, bramble, blackthorn, and dogwood. 

We also have a hive with native black honeybees. We don't take more honey than one or two frames per season. We leave the rest for the bees so they can stay healthy and happy and pollinate our fruit and flowers. 

In the orchard, we have several apple trees, two cherries (red and yellow), a crabapple, peach, plum and pear. Below them, we have artichokes, strawberries, gooseberries, red currants, black currants, red raspberries, yellow raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, horseradish, asparagus and rhubarb -- all perennials. We have annual beds below them which usually have broccoli, beans, peas, mange tout, kale, tomatoes, and various other selections which will now be grown in the polytunnel instead. 

Nearer to the house we have non-native ornamental trees such as a magnolia, a black elder, a monkey puzzle and lots of shrubs. We also have lots of bulbs and flowering plants as well as houseplants that live outside all summer. 

All of this contributes massive biodiversity to the site, resulting in happy bees, flutterbys, birds and other insects. We haven't seen bats yet, but we did put up some bat boxes. 

Above the vineyard is another south-facing field that had been taken over by gorse which is now heavily wooded. Gorse by the way leaves behind very rich soil. We have not cut or cleared in this young wood since we removed the gorse. The gorse has come back, but the trees have taken and are now starting to take off. Once the trees are big enough, they will shade the gorse and it will die off.  We've seen fox, pheasant and traces of pine marten but no hedgehogs or squirrels yet. There are no deer in our region. 

The remaining acreage is fields of grass that feeds 9 donkeys through the summer. It is north facing land so it's not great for growing but has hedgerows and we've seen evidence of otters and shorebirds, mainly herons, gulls and curlew. It also has tons of wild orchids. When we dug the land for our foundation, the contractor dumped the soil on the north side of the hill. It took a few years, but the land recovered and the orchids took hold. I love those orchids. 

What is most amazing is that we now have tons of mushrooms popping out of the ground, their fruiting bodies in abundance where before there was nothing but grass or bulldozed land. That means the healthy mycorrhizal structure of the soil is now supporting an abundance of life both below ground and above.I came to appreciate the importance of fungus after reading The Hidden Life of Trees, a wonderful book about how trees are nourished and how they share and communicate.  I love the transformation. I am very proud of what we've accomplished. 

During the early days of the pandemic, we put in a pond fed with rainwater from our roof and aerated with a solar-powered fountain. That created a space for us to retreat and hear the sound of running water. I have planted several aquatic species in the pond and we even had tadpoles this year.

We don't water the vineyard because we want the roots to grow deep. Watering causes them to grow shallow remaining near the surface rather than searching for water and nutrients deep down. That affects terroir and weakens the vines. In periods of heat and drought, we water the veg gardens and some ornamentals. 

We are practising restorative land management without knowing we were doing so. We've never used pesticides or herbicides. We use seaweed for fertiliser and homemade compost to enrich the soil. We coexist with 'weeds' to feed the bees. And we feed our souls with nature. 

Essentially, we are practising regenerative agriculture and restoring the natural order by not interfering with nature. We prune and cut and assist where needed naturally. Indigenous cultures have been doing that for centuries, millennia even. The Maori practice Mātauranga is passed down knowledge that teaches environmental stewardship for the benefit of the culure. I wish we had an indigenous culture to learn from here. Perhaps elder pagans? Western science has a way of presenting facts dispassionately. We need to re-instil the passion for our planet. 

As the demand for natural and organic wines increases, more farmers will switch their methodology to satisfy consumer interests. We'll be right there. 

Before, during the build in 2007

Same field last year

Behind the house before the garden

Behind the house this summer

Honeybee on heather

Wild orchids

Red Admiral Butterfly

A fungus among us

Wildflowers from seed

Great explanation of regenerative agriculture. 

We might even be  able to sell carbon credits. 

Roses in vineyards

Visit a vineyard, especially an old established one, and you are likely to see roses planted at the ends of every row. I had wondered why this was done and learned that there were three reasons.

1. They are beautiful and fragrant and brighten up the vineyard.
2. They are more susceptible to fungal infections so they act as a warning signal. 
3. When vineyards were managed with horse-drawn conveyances, if the horse made the turn too soon, they would damage the end vines. Roses with their thorns ensured that the horse left more space when making the turn to the next row. 

So we will be planting roses at the ends of our rows in vines. We've been propagating existing roses and have a few ready for transplanting. Even though the mildew that affects grapes is different from the one that attacks roses, the environmental factors that encourage both conditions are the same.

I checked the vines today and here's the low down:

• The 5-yo vines are vigorous and healthy but the flower buds have not yet opened. Today is quite warm (25C) and we've had some rain so perhaps they will be triggered. They should have bloomed in May. Grapevines grown under glass are already producing grapes. 
• The 3-yo Solaris vines are doing well. We lost one and have spares with which to replace it.
• Neither the 3-yo nor the 2-yo Chardonnay's are doing well and we lost one of the older plants. It doesn't look like chardonnay will be viable for us. 
• The Pinot noir planted last year is looking quite good and one plants even has a flower. 
• The Albarino vines are alive and healthy but much daintier plants than any of the other varieties. 

Other than that, the orchard is looking good and the 'Kite' kite seems to be scaring the birds away.