How can we transfer regenerative farming practices into our gardens?

We recently read an article on Farmer’s Weekly about regenerative farming and it listed a number of practices that farmers could use to help combat climate change.

There is a very worrying statistic in the farming industry that there are only 100 harvests left in the soil due to intensive over-farming and unless the UK takes drastic action to combat the depletion of soil nutrients.

Whilst our garden soil is not in crisis we do need to be mindful about how we work it and what we put in it. If you are interested in gardening more sustainably there are some practices listing in the article that can easily be adapted for our own gardens, when growing vegetables. Not all of these practices are going to work for everyone, but if you are keen to garden more sustainably then this is a great place to start.

Minimise soil disturbance

This sounds like a big ask when there’s weeds to tackle, but there is plenty of strong evidence that adopting the no-dig principle in the garden is hugely beneficial to the soil, the plants and the gardener! How do we incorporate biochar into the no-dig method? Simple! When sowing or planting sprinkle biochar, as you normally would, into the planting hole. Biochar will stay in the soil for 100+ years, therefore one application per new plant is enough.

For established plots you can add biochar to the surface of the soil, sprinkle and water it in, the small grains will be washed down quickly, the larger bits will eventually be worked into the soil by the worms.

Keep the soil covered

The more plants you have covering the soil the less chance weeds have to make an appearance. Also, adding a mulch (SF60 Super Compost is perfect for this) will benefit the soil.

Farmers tend to use cover crops when their main crops have been harvested, these protect the soil, help it to maintain its structure and prevent erosion. We visited Chris at Lydiards Turkey’s recently, he is passionate about sustainable soil and manages his beef cattle on regenerative farming principles. He uses a herbal meadow as a cover crop. We took a look at the soil from the field with the cover crops and one without and there was a clear, visible difference in soil structure.

Maximise plant diversity

If you grow the same crop in the same place year on year specific nutrients will take up by that plant and will deplete over time. Crop rotation will keep the nutrient supply in the soil high, reduce pests, disease and weeds.

Integrating livestock

In most cases this is impossible in a domestic garden, in farming, the benefits of livestock grazing are two fold; providing organic matter and encouraging new plant growth. In our gardens the best we can do is to add some well rotted manure to our plots.

If you have any tips for regenerative gardening please get in touch with the details.