Regenerative Agriculture
and Soil Health
“Regenerative agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.”
— The Regenerative Agriculture Initiative, California State University
At the DOT Garden, this means that we do not plow or till the soil, and we use no synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers. We also work actively to increase the above- and below-ground biodiversity of our spaces year-round, and we welcome animals into our food production ecosystem. These practices, taken together, are the soil health principles promoted by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Soil Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Program.
Everything we do at the DOT Garden comes back to supporting the microbial life of the soil: It’s all about the soil! This soil life, in turn, supports the health and nutrient content of our plants, sequesters atmospheric carbon into the soil, and improves the water holding capacity of our soils.
Resources
- New Mexico Healthy Soil Working Group
- New Mexico Healthy Soil Program
- It Starts with the Soil by Ray Archuleta, NRCS
- Treating the Farm as an Ecosystem by Gabe Brown, Regenerative Farmer