Archive for Amy Luck-MacGregor
What Is Regenerative Agriculture?
At it’s most basic, regenerative agriculture involves leaving the soil in better condition than it was found. It’s different to the idea of “sustainable” – keeping something in it’s current state or level for the future – which implies that where we’re at is actually acceptable. There’s no denying that agricultural practices over the course […]
Herbs, Weeds, and a Nice Surprise
The most challenging thing about helping people partner with microbes in their gardens is encouraging a shift in mindset. Gardening is a bit like parenting – there are lots of opinions and different ways of doing things, methods are handed down through generations, and results can sometimes be frustrating. Thankfully for soil health (and […]
The Thing About Brassicas
An old feeling hits at this time of year. With the flurry of spring planting behind me and summer watering upon me, I just want to sit back and not think about the garden for quite a while. Go camping. Swim somewhere. The first weeks of July pass and I think dang it, I missed […]
Water Woes
I’ve been thinking a lot about water these days, standing for what feels like hours on end (it’s really not), hand-watering veggies. Irony wafts around me as I follow the existing drip irrigation system. Why? When I initially had the system installed, the plan was to eventually wean my way off it. This came from […]
Bring Back the (Right) Microbes!
Every region has unique microorganisms dwelling in the soil, adapted to the climate, flora, fauna and geological history of a place. Unfortunately there are some parts of the planet where the soil has become so degraded – in watersheds where forests are long gone and in lands where the soil has long been tilled and […]
Spring Tips for Nurturing Soil Microbes
With the spring warmth comes that sense of shift in energy and vitality, like something inside us is unfurling. Soil microbes also undergo this transformation, emerging from dormancy to partner again with above-ground life. Plants need both energy and nutrients to unfurl themselves – with the sun and air comes that energy, and with the […]
The Dance of Succession
There’s a dance going on, above and below ground. It’s an intelligent dance – in ways we are just beginning to understand – and it’s synergistic, responsive and adaptive. Plants and microorganisms engaged together, living and dying, as nature moves forward in succession from rock to old growth forest over vast amounts of time. So […]
Ancient Relationships
In our fragmented society, where concepts of competition and survival of the fittest pervade our way of life, we could learn a thing or two from one of the oldest of relationships. Somewhere around 600 million years ago fungi and algae formed a collaboration that allowed algae to move out of the sea and onto […]
It’s Raining Bugs
Well, not quite bugs – microbes! As someone who still squeals every time I see a new type of soil organism beneath the microscope, imagine my delight to discover that these same microbes are an important catalyst for the formation of rain, hail, and snow, and are thought to be responsible for up to 80% […]
Fenna’s Carrots
It’s the last of the dog days of summer (in October!) and we are sitting around a picnic blanket celebrating my youngest’s birthday. The lovely mama next to me is telling us how much she enjoys the sweetness of “Fenna’s carrots.” In two strokes of coincidence, Fenna’s carrots happen to be on the vegetable […]
Soil Matters
If you’re anything like me, hearing doom and gloom numbers about the rapidly dwindling diversity in the biosphere is enough to do your head (and heart) in. Knowing that you can make a real impact, and that there are simple places to start, is a welcome antidote to the paralysis that can come with this […]
Compost with Confidence this Fall
The other day I was asked “how can a compost pile fail?”. This is an excellent question and the answer depends on your definition of compost. The most amusing one I have heard is that “compost is organic matter that has been decomposed in a process called composting.” The Queen of Compost, Dr Elaine Ingham, […]