Regenerative Skills

For a long time now, our food system has been a primary indicator for so many markers of health in our society, from the way that our food is produced, what kinds of food we eat, how we cook, how it affects our health and even our ethics as consumers. For the next four weeks I’ll be taking a look our food system from a variety of different view-points and analysis in order to shed light on some of...

A lot of my work these days revolves around communicating with farmers around Europe who are at various stages of a transition towards regenerative management. For many different reasons farmers are looking for solutions outside of the conventional industry of chemical and technological manipulations and are rediscovering the potential of partnering with natural cycles and processes. Though there...

I’ve had the pleasure over the last few months to interview quite a few people that I admire, who’ve told me about their fascination with beekeeping. Over and over again I’ve heard about the incredible insights into overall ecological health and the amazing reflections of ecosystem function that can be observed through managing bee hives.  I got a window into the world of natural beekeeping back i...

I had the pleasure of speaking to Meredith Leigh, the author of “The Ethical Meat Handbook.” Meredith has worked as a farmer, butcher, chef, teacher, non-profit executive director, consultant, and writer for the past 17 years, all in the pursuit of sustainable food The industrial meat industry, in my opinion, is the epitome of what is broken in our food system and is a glaring example of the disco...

At this point I’ve covered a wide array of practices and management styles that fall under the broad umbrella of regenerative agriculture. Some could be considered traditional while others are more modern and innovative and they span continents, climates, biomes and industries. Nonetheless I’ve noticed a pretty big gap that I’ve yet to cover in detail that I hope to begin to fill in today.  Dairy...

Since I’ve been working in the regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration sector for about a decade now, there are a number of subjects and questions that keep coming up again and again. Everything from How to finance a regenerative transition, What initial steps to take to accelerate ecosystem restoration, and the big one, How can I get access to land. Anyone who has been in this space fo...

I’ve explored the topic of seed saving and breeding a number of times in previous episodes and it’s become such a passion of mine that it’s the primary focus of my early work here on my own farm as I begin to get the main patterns and infrastructure developed. A new angle of this subject however is the more direct and professional operation of producing seed to sell. This requires even more planni...

There often seems to be an unfortunate disconnect between farmers in the field and the researchers and academics involved with agronomic study. I often hear in the discussions in the climate farmers community about how academic studies don’t reflect the reality in the field, or that the ivory tower of academia is out of touch with the farms and situations they study. As I've made more connections...

Join Oliver on Regenerative Skills as he interviews Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills, exploring the revival of heritage cultivars like Carolina Gold Rice. Discover how deep-rooted, sustainable agricultural practices and community engagement are transforming the modern food system. Learn about the importance of landrace genetics, polyculture, and the potential of crops to adapt to climate change. Glenn...

As I continue to advance the tree and perennial food nursery here at my farm, I’m always on the lookout for new resources on anything about growing and breeding perennial food sources, the history of their cultivation, and the cultures that were and are connected to these woodland and orchard based staple foods.  For that reason I was super excited to see the new title “Feed us with Trees” from my...

Welcome to the last portion of our long form discussion with Dan Kittredge.  In this last third we navigate the need for Generational Healing and Cultural Shifts in our collective culture. The unavoidable reality that the healthiest food for you as an individual can never be bought. Steps for building resilience and Self-Sufficiency, before then going back to Dan’s own Journey to Farming and inter...

Today we’ll be continuing with the second portion of our long form discussion with Dan Kittredge. In this second third we mostly get into Principles of Biological Systems and how to apply Nature's Patterns in Business. Dan talks about his experience Engaging with Farmers and Large Businesses alike. We dig into his personal Journey, the influence that Eastern Paradigms and Consciousness have had on...

One of the discussions that have propelled the awareness of regenerative agriculture in recent years has been that of nutrient density in food, a term coined by Dan Kittredge of the Bionutrient Food Association. The idea that our food varies widely in its quality and levels of nutrients has caused many people to look into the factors that lead to these wide discrepancies. Dan in particular has bee...

In so many previous episodes I’ve spoken with people who’ve explained many nuances and facts about plants and how to incorporate different species of trees, shrubs, grasses, and forbes into your ecosystem. How to manage them in different stages of growth either through active cultivation and soil condition improvement or secondarily through the management of animals or other elements of the human...

Today we’ll continue the miniseries I’m building on regenerative tourism. This time we’ll take a close look at the specific context of the country where I live, here in Spain. Spain has been a top global tourist destination since the 60s and the industry that as grown to meet the demand for travel as shaped so much of the country especially the Mediterranean coast and cities like Barcelona, Valenc...

Welcome back to another interview from the skill exchange calls that I’ve been running with Climate Farmers for our regenerative farming network in Europe.  In this session I had the good fortune of introducing Stefan Sobkowiak to our group. Many of you who’ve been listening to this show for a while will remember the last interview I did with Stefan in the last season during the series on agrofore...

At this point I’ve taken a lot of courses and trainings around water management and earthworks, but I’m still always curious to stay up to date on new takes and styles of working with water and shaping the landscape to optimize water capture on the terrain. I’ve talked to Ben Falk a couple of times in the past and I’ve always enjoyed his take on the need to build deep relationships with the system...

Part of the Climate Farmers Academy series, dedicated to facilitating peer-to-peer learning among farmers transitioning toward regenerative management across Europe. In this episode, experienced practitioners from various European regions share their insights and practical advice on integrating agroforestry into diverse farming contexts. The panel includes Lorenz from Germany, Dmitri based in Port...

Today I’ll be kicking off another little series on a topic that’s new to this show, which is regenerative tourism. Both, I and a number of other friends have been noticing a growing animosity and backlash towards tourism in our communities over the last couple of years. It seems that since the rise of short term rentals, and the post COVID surge of travel, we’re hitting a tipping point in what loc...

Of all the projects that I've watched develop from the beginning, Jane is the example I most enjoy pointing to when people ask for advice on how to get their projects started with limited resources. Her determination, creativitiy, tenacity, and focus on community are blossoming into a real catalyst for change in her region of western Kenya. 

I’m really excited to share this conversation with all of you today, because Joshua Sparkes not only has a unique perspective on gardening and food production, he also speaks about these topics from a lot of experience and infectious passion. I’ve spoken to tons of farmers and gardeners on this show, and many of them are experts in permaculture, or market gardening, or native plants, or any other...

Welcome to another panel session. I love this format in general, but this panel in particular was a whole lot of fun, because not only did I have my close friends Nick Steiner and Megan Neary on, but I also joined in as a speaker to explore the topic of water management for farmers in a changing climate.    The guiding question we explored was, How can farmers prepare for a changing climate and en...

Today I want to start a fun new series on a topic that I’ve wanted to explore for quite a while, which is the concept of regenerative education. I’ve worked as a teacher and educational facilitator in different capacities since the beginning of my career, first in before and after school programs for kids, then as an arts and environmental educator at summer camps, then English as a second languag...

After 8 years of interviewing people in the regeneration sector, It’s become clear to me that knowledge is not as valuable as experience. Gathering facts, concepts and theories is great up to a point, but until you put those ideas into practice, it’s impossible to know if those ideas clash with your reality, or require adaptation to what’s really going on on the ground. For this reason I was excit...