The Kindest Garden is a trailblazing guide on how to use your garden as a place to restore good soil, grow good food and help native wildlife. And you can do this whether you have a large plot of land, or a shady patio garden.
Use no-dig gardening and learn of pet-friendly and wildlife-friendly gardening. Avoid facing indoor foliage to gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows.
Using lessons from farmers, foresters and rewilding experts, create a beautiful sanctuary for both yourself and nature.
Learn how the key elements (soil, water, materials, energy and plants) harness a garden’s positive eco-impact, then apply this knowledge to plan your planting, and nourish the soil.
Beautifully written with planting advice, and useful diagrams and charts, the author is a landscape architect and horticulturalist.
Regenerative Farming is gaining ground as the clear solution for healthy soil, better food and a cleaner planet. It helps repair the land, and brings farms back to life, helping all creatures from earthworms to cattle.
Healthier Soil for Stronger Crops
Regenerative farming involves rotating crops, and also keeps the ground covered, and adds compost to rebuild the soil. This leads to rich dark earth, that holds onto water and nutrients.
When the soil is healthy, we can grow stronger crops that also have more nutrition, and yield better harvests. Farms can then grow organically, without relying on chemical fertilisers or pesticides.
Boosts Biodiversity on Farms
Regenerative farms are rewarded by a lively mix of plants, insects, birds and animals. Farmers are able to plant different crops and use hedgerows, wildflower strips and cover crops, to welcome wildlife who gain from food and shelter.
Regenerative farming in turn lets farmers grow organically, and this supports pollinators like bees, butterflies, moths and bats. This creates a healthier food web, which benefits both farms and the wild spaces surrounding them.
Cleaner Water and Less Erosion
Keeping the soil covered and using no-till (no-dig) methods of farming, stops soil from washing away in heavy rain. This means that plant roots can hold the soil in place, helping water to soak in, rather than run-off (which if chemicals are used, can pollute rivers and streams, which lead to the sea).
Also by farming organically, this means that local water stays cleaner, good for people, birds and wildlife.
Carbon Storage for Lower Emissions
Regenerative farming is a big help to prevent climate change, as it stores carbon in the soil. This is done by growing cover crops, reducing ploughing (digging) and managing grazing, so plants capture carbon dioxide from the air.
Carbon then ends up locked in the ground, as organic matter. Large farms in particular can then store plenty of carbon, which helps to offset emissions.
Farm Profits Grow with Healthy Land
Regenerative farming supports small organic farmers, who put healthy soil and diverse crops, over big farms. Yet can also support higher profits.
Healthy soil cuts the need for expensive fertilisers and chemicals, so diverse crops can be sold year-round, bringing in a steady income. This shields small farmers from risky price drops, or crop failures.
Better Food Quality
We all know that local, season and organic food tastes better! And it’s better for us, as well as for the soil and surrounding wildlife. Regenerative food tends to have more nutrients, due to healthy soil. And better flavour.
Stronger Communities and Rural Life
Unlike big supermarket crops, regenerative farms can support thriving rural communities. It makes use of proper labour and skills, and hires local farm helps, and keeps money in the local economy.
Local people also can visit, and learn where their food is from. Encouraging regenerative farming helps to keep local farming communities thriving.
The Many Benefits of Regenerative Farming
An organic farmer may use ‘organic methods’ to kill weeds. A regenerative farmer is more likely to use methods that natural deter weeds in the first place, through no-dig methods that attract worms (who do most of the work).
Soil releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide, so no-dig farming and regenerative agriculture can help to stop this. Keeping trees intact also helps to reduce flooding.
You can even use no-dig methods to plant trees (leaving soil undisturbed around the root). Due to dispersing seeds, more trees even increase rainfall, very important if using climate smart agriculture in drought countries like in Africa.
The 5 Principles of Regenerative Farming
The organisation Groundswell is at the heart of promoting regenerative farming methods, and has developed 5 principles for all farmers to use:
- Don’t disturb soil. By using no-dig methods and avoiding heavy ploughing and chemicals, good soil can recover.
- Keep soil surface covered. This is where good mulch and layered gardening helps, to avoid disturbance from rain, sun and frost.
- Feed living roots. This keeps underground networks healthy, where plants turn carbon dioxide into sugars. Cover crops is the best way to do this, to avoid bare soil.
- Grow diverse crops. Monocultures (that grow the same crops on land each year) end up needing chemicals, but regenerative farming uses crop rotation and companion planting (crops are grown together to deter unwelcome visitors).
- For livestock farming, have free-range grazing animals. Even if you’re not vegan, all sustainability experts say that everyone needs to eat far less meat.
Kiss the Ground is a US film (narrated by ex-Cheers actor Woody Harrelson who is now a climate campaigner). Available for free school screenings, it shows how regenerative farming and restoring good soil is one of the best ways to reduce climate change and restore healthy food and farming systems.
100 Million Acres is a common project, to restore our soil in the US, transforming 10% of the USA’s millions of acres of land over to regenerative farming. It would be great is someone set up a similar project in England.
Devon’s eco-retreat centre of Embercombe is one of the first places to showcase regenerative farming. This 50-acre rewilding estate includes a lake, mature woodland and scrub, meadows and orchards, all home to badgers, foxes, birds, rodents, snakes, trees and wild flowers. It also offers an in-depth rewilding course.
Healing Communities with Regenerative Farming
Six Inches of Soil is the story of how we must transforming our landscapes from industrial farming to better crop yields and food security, by restoring ecology of our soil.
A book to accompany the documentary film, this is the inspiring story of three farmers who are standing up to industrial food system, by transforming the way they grow food.
The book details problems with the current food system and proposes solutions for the future. It considers soil science and land use, ‘greenwashing’ and food security (access to good food, no matter where people live).
Follow farmers on their first year of their journey to heal the soil in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Cornwall.
See them meet seasoned mentors to help them on their journey to heal a broken food system and farm on landscapes degraded by industrial agriculture, and learn how to reconnect people to the soil where food grows.
Not shying away from exploring connections between food and health, food poverty and the role of animals in farming, the book also looks at Britain’s unequal system of land ownership and barriers to farmers from diverse backgrounds, and carbon offsetting on farms. For more information, download the resources at Six Inches of Soil.
Why Free-Range Supports Regenerative Farming
At present, most farmland worldwide is used to grow crops (like maize for animal feed) or biofuels. But we could solve world starvation by growing high-protein food crops for humans in developing countries (teff is high in protein and needs little water, ideal to reduce famine).
The UK presently has almost 2000 intensive (factory) farms, where aside from animal welfare issues, antibiotics are used that result in poor human health too.
Animals raised on regenerative farms have better lives as they have natural space and shelter, eat natural foods (like grass) and are looked after by small-scale farmers, who know what they are doing.
Eating local also has beneficial effects in a country where we import almost half our vegetables and nearly 90% of fruit (often from countries using intensive systems, due to lack of fresh water).
Local organic food means less plastic packaging, less oil (25% of road traffic is from lorries driving food from central distribution houses to big supermarkets) and better welfare (some farmers are transfarming over to profitable crops like oats, leaving remaining animals to live out their lives in peace).
Ceres Rural is a regenerative agriculture consultancy, that can help you transition over.
Nettle Foods: Regenerative Cooking Ingredients
Nettle Foods (also sold at Farm Fetch) is a brand of cooking helpers, all sourced from organic regenerative farms, and plant-based too. Regenerative farming uses no-till methods to build healthy soil, the lifeblood of good food!
This Oxfordshire company use natural fermentation methods, to produce restaurant-quality foods that are sustainable and good for local communities. Crafted with care, they feature bold flavours without need for preservatives.
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (some ingredients like garlic, mushrooms and macadamia nuts are toxic to animal friends).
Haverstock White
This is a cultured plant-based cheese with a creamy profile that appeals to both vegans and cheese lovers alike. Made with cashew and macadamia nuts (keep well away from pets), and marinated garlic, fresh thyme, olive oil and black peppercorns. Use in pasta salad or tacos.
Its rich, tangy notes and smooth texture mean it works well on crackers, in sandwiches or melted over vegetables. It also uses less water to make, than dairy cheese.
Sumac Chilli Mint
This is good for toasted pita bread. Made with creamy cashew ferment, whole fermented chillies, spearmint and dried sumac berries, this is the perfect vegan alternative to labneh (a Middle Eastern yoghurt).
The blend not only tastes fresh and bright, but also supports sustainable cropping by favouring plants that don’t exhaust the land.
Cultured Gold
This is gourmet organic plant-based butter, ideal on hot crumpets or crispy sourdough bread. Made from cultured cashew milk and pink Himalayan salt, you can use this for cooking, spreading or baking.
It has a smooth, golden finish and a mild nutty flavour, ideal for slathering on toast, tossing with steamed greens or baking into pastry.
Keep fresh dough away from young children and pets.
Preserved Lemon Dill
This is made with whole preserved Sicilian green lemons, cashew ferment and col-pressed extra virgin olive oil. Use this zesty spread on pasta and bagels.
This process uses just salt and time, no synthetic chemicals. Lemons and herbs like dill can thrive in regenerative, low-impact farms, reducing chemical input and supporting pollinators. The result is a complex, tangy flavour that lifts your cooking, while honouring the soil.
Basil Kale Pesto
This uses by-products from nut ferments instead of Parmesan (a cheese that is not vegetarian, due to containing a cheese with calf rennet). This vegan pesto is made with basil, garlic, black pepper and black kale, nice on focaccia or in pasta.
Kale’s deep root system benefits soil health, capturing carbon and boosting nutrients. This pesto spreads easily over pizza, swirls through pasta or drizzles onto roasted veg, helping you add depth to meals using ingredients that rebuild the ecosystem.
Mushroom Truffle Vegan Pâté
This is a creamy umami spread, made from excess liquid of mushroom and vegetable ferments, combined with fermented cashews, fresh lemon juice, white truffle oil and maple syrup. Nice with crusty bread or stirred through pasta.
This is good for toasted pita bread. Made with creamy cashew ferment, whole fermented chillies, spearmint and dried sumac berries, this is the perfect vegan alternative to labneh (a Middle Eastern yoghurt).
