It has been so fun to learn about how to create healthy soil! All of my plants are coming along well, including all of the kale that self-seeded itself. We will have lots more food in no time. Plus, I finally finished an EcoChallenge commitment that I made in 2019 - we built our Little Library. :)
Yay! I found a new resource on regenerative agriculture, thanks to the Earth Day 2021 page. This is such an important action that we can all take, whether we have a yard or not. Three cheers for healthy soil! https://www.earthday.org/campaign/regenerative-agriculture/
Clean air, clean water and healthy food are just three reasons to care about regenerative agriculture. What are some other reasons? How could/does regenerative agriculture positively impact you and your community?
This was such a fascinating topic to learn about! I was not familiar with the term, even though my uncle is a permaculture farmer. My partner and I have an organic garden, multiple compost bins, and chickens, who create a lot of fertilizer. I am so grateful to know that it makes such a difference to build healthy soil, for the benefit of our worms and pollinators, with more nutrients for our food, in addition to increasing biodiversity and combatting climate change!
This website is particularly helpful: https://regenerationinternational.org/why-regenerative-agriculture/
I am going to head out to the yard right now, as my partner is building another compost bin. I will have to check with our friends who have horses, so we can have even more robust natural fertilizer. Healing the soil - healing the soul.
Absolutely! Truly countless. The two that are striking me right now are the catalytic moments that shifted my consciousness and made me want to become an environmental activist and then a sociologist.
I remember clearly when I was 9, driving over the "Grapevine" pass on I-5, when you crest the hills and look over the Los Angeles basin. It was shockingly filled with orange smog. I asked my father what it was and he gave me my first deeply disturbing environmental lecture, explaining why and how the air was so polluted. While another friend chose to define the smog as a way to create beautiful sunsets, I knew that it wasn't right and that something had to be done.
My second experience was also in a car, but was with my mother, as we drove through the Coast Range from Portland to the Oregon Coast. I was about 19 at the time. We turned a corner and were facing a huge clearcut on a steep slope. I was shocked and outraged and, honestly, started to cry for the loss of this beautiful forest and the way that the cutting method led to such destruction. Perhaps I was being melodramatic, but my heart felt called to write a poem about how this felt physically violating and that the "rape" of the forest called me to act and protest these practices.
In the end, I became an environmental sociologist and actually did my PhD dissertation on the timber conflict in the Northwest.
I love Kiva! Not only can micro-loans make a difference, but they also offer details that help one learn about social issues and different cultures around the world. I have been supporting Kiva loans for a couple of years and each time an individual or group pays back a loan, then I can reinvest the money into a new project. I try to focus on agriculture and livestock and always give to women. Today, I was able to support:
1) A group of women farmers in Guatemala: https://www.kiva.org/lend/2130700 2) A woman raising livestock in Kyrgyzstan: https://www.kiva.org/lend/2129240
It is really interesting that women tend to be more successful in investing in their communities, including having higher, more responsible pay-back rates. Alas, men frequently use extra funds on recreational activities. There has been a great deal of attention on the power of educating girls and women building businesses. These efforts empower women, which offer greater stability in their lives, plus for their families and communities.
