Overview

A toolkit of 6 regenerative food growing systems which have been tried and tested. These can help farmers and growers transform industrial food production systems into resilient, biodiverse, carbon negative, productive farms and bring about an agroecological revolution. Farms and garden design for growing healthy food from living soil in low input closed loop systems. The circular food economy. The four challenges of climate change mitigation, climate adaptation, offsetting biodiversity loss and producing enough healthy food for a growing population. The author’s case study of her Huxhams Cross Farm researches how depleted soil was transformed into a thriving living soil drawing on the toolkit of these 6 sustainable methods. She outlines the six main forms of sustainable food production : biodynamic, organic, permaculture, agroforestry, agroecology and regenerative farming methods. The principles and practices of each approach are explained concisely, with illustrative case studies of successful examples.There are follow up resources including articles, books, film references, and training available around the world. The book concludes with the Huxhams Cross Farm case study with hard research evidence, reviewing the extent to which the four challenges have been met and how a successful farm has been developed from bare land in 5 years. The conclusion addresses how farming can be transformed by tackling such barriers as land access for farmers, the psychology of scarcity and building farmer capacity. The key roles of food choices, policy, community supported agriculture are addressed.

Full Product Details

9781912480548

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Reviews

"""A powerful and personal book about transforming the land for the better. Marina O'Connell weaves inspirational stories of redesign and transformation, showing how regenerative methods for agriculture and food have come to life. In half a decade, she created a productive, diverse, profitable and regenerative farm from depleted soil, and has said, over here is a path, now we can walk it."" --Prof. Jules Pretty, author of Regenerating Agriculture (1995), Agri-Culture (2003) and The East Country (2017) ""Marina O'Connell is a practical possibilist... a weaver of integrated agro-ecological systems that regenerate the soil under our feet and the food on our plates. She convincingly makes the case--in this most timely of books--for how agricultural practices that grew up on the fringes of our dominant industrial food system can help shift contemporary food culture to an agro-ecological paradigm that benefits both people and planet."" --Jonathan M. Code, Lecturer in Sustainable Land Management, Royal Agricultural University ""This book should be seen as a primer for everyone entering the food and farming debate as well as those who want to broaden their perspectives.' --Julia Wright, Associate Professor, Coventry University and Chair of the Biodynamic Association ""The strands Marina has succeeded in weaving together--including the psychological support for people connected to the farm, the creative local marketing, and the collaboration with local businesses--all are wonderful threads in what I see as the establishment of a model local food economy."" --Helena Norberg-Hodge, Founder and Director of Local Futures ""It is hard to underestimate how profoundly important the urgent and ambitious reimagining of food and farming systems is, how we might do so in ways that are regenerative, restorative and transformative. How to create farms and gardens that build soil, community, and possibility? This book is your opportunity to learn from a master. What Marina O'Connell has created at the Apricot Centre is nothing short of miraculous. In these precious pages she shares everything you need to know in order to do the same. May this book spark a revolution of the agricultural and horticultural imagination."" --Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the Transition movement and author of From What Is to What If ""Few people have attempted to survey the different strands of sustainable agriculture, but Marina has done so in a really valuable way, showing the links and crossovers between the different techniques along with some good science and other references."" --Martin Crawford, Martin Crawford, Director--Agroforestry Research Trust ""Nature works not just because it is diverse, but because it is made up of relationships between the many elements. So it is with regenerative agriculture. No single approach has all the answers, but by weaving them together, forming relationships, we create a whole systems approach that works for people and planet. Marina has done a great service for students, farmers and growers, and everyone with a passion to bring land and community to life. She has shown how we can connect disciplines and approaches, and bases this not just on theory, but on her extraordinary farm at Huxham's Cross. Highly recommended!"" --Andy Goldring, Director, Permaculture Association, UK ""Hope for the future of humanity and wild nature lies not with governments, corporates and international conferences but with grassroots movements--especially in food and farming. Marina O'Connell is a farmer and an educator. This excellent regenerative farming design toolkit of what's already in train worldwide is just what's needed for the coming agro-ecological revolution."" --Colin Tudge, co-founder of the Oxford Real Farming Conference and the College for Real Farming and Food Culture ""Marina O Connell has helped our family farm become more sustainable. Within the partnership, she has helped redesign a ten-acre field into Biodynamic Conversion with a rare and valuable combination of deep experiential and practical insight, drawing on this regenerative toolkit for horticulture, farming and community life with the land. We value her skill in weaving together different approaches to agroecology, including permaculture, organic practices and biodynamic methods, which are so well explained in this timely handbook."" --Dr. Miche Fabre Lewin and Dr. Flora Gathorne-Hardy, Great Glemham Farms, Suffolk"

A powerful and personal book about transforming the land for the better. Marina O'Connell weaves inspirational stories of redesign and transformation, showing how regenerative methods for agriculture and food have come to life. In half a decade, she created a productive, diverse, profitable and regenerative farm from depleted soil, and has said, over here is a path, now we can walk it. --Prof. Jules Pretty, author of Regenerating Agriculture (1995), Agri-Culture (2003) and The East Country (2017) Marina O'Connell is a practical possibilist... a weaver of integrated agro-ecological systems that regenerate the soil under our feet and the food on our plates. She convincingly makes the case--in this most timely of books--for how agricultural practices that grew up on the fringes of our dominant industrial food system can help shift contemporary food culture to an agro-ecological paradigm that benefits both people and planet. --Jonathan M. Code, Lecturer in Sustainable Land Management, Royal Agricultural University This book should be seen as a primer for everyone entering the food and farming debate as well as those who want to broaden their perspectives.' --Julia Wright, Associate Professor, Coventry University and Chair of the Biodynamic Association The strands Marina has succeeded in weaving together--including the psychological support for people connected to the farm, the creative local marketing, and the collaboration with local businesses--all are wonderful threads in what I see as the establishment of a model local food economy. --Helena Norberg-Hodge, Founder and Director of Local Futures It is hard to underestimate how profoundly important the urgent and ambitious reimagining of food and farming systems is, how we might do so in ways that are regenerative, restorative and transformative. How to create farms and gardens that build soil, community, and possibility? This book is your opportunity to learn from a master. What Marina O'Connell has created at the Apricot Centre is nothing short of miraculous. In these precious pages she shares everything you need to know in order to do the same. May this book spark a revolution of the agricultural and horticultural imagination. --Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the Transition movement and author of From What Is to What If Few people have attempted to survey the different strands of sustainable agriculture, but Marina has done so in a really valuable way, showing the links and crossovers between the different techniques along with some good science and other references. --Martin Crawford, Martin Crawford, Director--Agroforestry Research Trust Nature works not just because it is diverse, but because it is made up of relationships between the many elements. So it is with regenerative agriculture. No single approach has all the answers, but by weaving them together, forming relationships, we create a whole systems approach that works for people and planet. Marina has done a great service for students, farmers and growers, and everyone with a passion to bring land and community to life. She has shown how we can connect disciplines and approaches, and bases this not just on theory, but on her extraordinary farm at Huxham's Cross. Highly recommended! --Andy Goldring, Director, Permaculture Association, UK Hope for the future of humanity and wild nature lies not with governments, corporates and international conferences but with grassroots movements--especially in food and farming. Marina O'Connell is a farmer and an educator. This excellent regenerative farming design toolkit of what's already in train worldwide is just what's needed for the coming agro-ecological revolution. --Colin Tudge, co-founder of the Oxford Real Farming Conference and the College for Real Farming and Food Culture Marina O Connell has helped our family farm become more sustainable. Within the partnership, she has helped redesign a ten-acre field into Biodynamic Conversion with a rare and valuable combination of deep experiential and practical insight, drawing on this regenerative toolkit for horticulture, farming and community life with the land. We value her skill in weaving together different approaches to agroecology, including permaculture, organic practices and biodynamic methods, which are so well explained in this timely handbook. --Dr. Miche Fabre Lewin and Dr. Flora Gathorne-Hardy, Great Glemham Farms, Suffolk

Author Information

Marina O’Connell is a farm designer, grower, farmer and educator. She was born to seven generations of Dutch nursery men and women from Boskoop in Holland, which is famous for fruit trees. She celebrates the professional women growers who are pioneering the transition to sustainable food systems and re-localising the food economy. Marina, her husband Mark and a talented Apricot Centre team have transformed industrially farmed land into the thriving Huxhams Cross Farm at Dartington, Totnes, Devon, UK. In 2015 the local contractor referred to it as ‘a miserable bit of land’. By 2021 it had become a productive, beautiful, community connected and economically viable farm. She has carried out action research on the farm, combining permaculture design with biodynamic methods, and agroforestry systems are woven through the mix. Key line ploughing and the extensive use of deep rooting green manures draw on agroecological practice, and all combined this farm could be called a regenerative farm. She leads by example and as every farm and farmer or grower is unique, believes that each new sustainable farm will be unique to the site and people, as such each farmer needs to be a practical researcher. The farm receives many visitors from around the world, and runs regular courses on these techniques. The team now run a full consultancy supporting other farmers, growers and estate owners to make the transition to regenerative farms for the future.

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