Dirt to Soil: One Family's Journey into Regenerative Agriculture by Gabe Brown (2018)
I give this book 10 out of 10 acorns. I have read it twice now--and I'm an urban agriculturalist, not close to being a large-scale farmer! But I am absolutely captivated by regenerative agriculture: probably because I grew up Hoosier in Corn- and Soy-land, and farming fields just look like home. However, Brown's restorative agriculture is the kind of farming that I wish for all of those farms now.
How could this farming book be interesting enough for me to read twice? It is both a how-to-heal-your-soil manual,
and a memoir of "lessons learned the hard way", as the very first chapter of the book is called. It is a memoir of restoring a farm with barren soil and no earthworms into a thriving, flourishing ecosystem over 25 years, work that comes from the author's great love for plants, animals, humans, and all beings. There are so many great stories in this book, not only of Brown's own farm, but the farms of those he has mentored, and friends that have embraced regenerative agriculture in their own farms and properties. Brown has a marvelous sense of humor, which is never snarky and always uplifting. His book is so full of hope, encouragement, great ideas, and good cheer: this is definitely one of those books to pick up whenever you feel discouraged about the Current State of Things. It takes some determination, trust, and hard work, but--
amazing things can happen with soil and homesteads/farms in a very short amount of time when Brown's five principles of soil health are observed and applied. A surprisingly short amount of time: some people were able to turn things around on their farms in just a few seasons.
I think this book answers a lot of fears that people currently have about everything from nutritional levels in our food, to the effects of farms on climate and environment and weather, and whether there is a place for meat from grazing animals at the average table. Regenerative farming makes these fears dissipate. Animals can restore the soil alongside of the diverse mixture of plants, which gives balance and restoration to entire ecosystems, and fills the local people eating the foods (both animal and vegetable!) with nutrition and well-being. Definitely an example of upward cycles continuously increasing in magnitude and goodness! So I recommend this book to every gardener farmer and urban person interested in where and how food comes to our tables. Really great book!
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