Water Management on Regenerative Farms - NRCS Staff Educational Event
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writings & media
Articles, photography, video, and writings sourced from our work in and beyond the field. Our “from the field” series features projects, daily life, and reflections inspired by our work at home on our two farm sites in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Our “beyond the field” series features, projects, collaborations, and partnerships we are engaged in with our broader community.
Popular subjects include permaculture, forest gardening, regenerative agriculture, plant medicine, ecological restoration, earth based spirituality, and other diverse musings on agroecology topics.
Beyond the Field: Cooks Venture Project
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One of the larger projects we've been working on beyond our fields this spring is taking shape across 17 partner farms in the midwest. Cooks Venture, a meat wholesaler based in Arkansas approached our sister organization, Restoration Agriculture Development (RAD), to design and implement an agroforestry iniative across existing farms in their network to enhance biological diversity, poultry health and wellbeing, and environmental integrity.
Read MoreBeyond the Field: Water Farming / Managing Agricultural Lands for Clean & Safe Water recently published by Pasa
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“Can agriculture transition from a major source of water pollution to a major force for improving water quality and, in turn, for protecting human and environmental health?”
That question was the subject of a white paper titled, Water Farming: Managing Agricultural Lands for Clean & Safe Water, recently published by Pasa Sustainable Agriculture late last year. The downloadable booklet features key approaches and perspectives on specific farming practices to protect and enrich watersheds.
Read MoreWATCH: Regeneration Conversations Episode 03 Featuring Mark Shepard of RAD & Johann Rinkens of Fields Without Fences
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“What is Regenerative? The answers continue to inspire us. In Episode 3 we get the privilege of hearing from Mark Shepard and Johann Rinkens.
Mark Shepard is a leader in the regenerative agriculture movement. Author of the award-winning book, Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers, Mark has had boots on the ground in the real world of restoring our planets food systems with his grounded approach to food production for decades. Johann Rinkens is the co-founder of Fields Without Fences, a forest garden farm and permaculture design service, and teaches extensively on the subjects of permaculture design and agroecology. Both Mark and Johann are playing critical roles in helping farmers understand how they can plan for succession as they plant their forest-based farms.”
Read MoreBeyond the Field: Ironbound Hard Cider Project
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A couple of seasons ago, we were approached by Ironbound Hard Cider to help develop their new cider orchards within a regenerative design context. This summer we broke ground on installing a swale system on their sloped field to help mitigate erosion and run-off, while retaining water in the landscape and increasing soil hydration for tree roots. Their new orchard layout will follow the contours of the landscape creating a continuity between agricultural production, and the underlying geographic formations of natural landforms.
Read MoreFrom the Field: The Overlap Between Productive and Wild Spaces
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There is often the opportunity for overlap between productive and wild spaces. The best designs are guided by observations we can make about the way the world around us behaves.
Celebrating 15 Years in Agriculture!
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Celebrating milestones at Fields Without Fences! This season marks Johann’s 15th year of farming. For those of you who don’t know Johann, he is one half of Fields Without Fences, an organic farmer, educator, permaculture designer, ecological consultant, plant lover, and herb enthusiast. For those of you that do know Johann, you’ve probably seen him standing in a field with a laser level, planting trees, or showing up at your potluck with seasonal microbrews…
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