Regenerative Farming- What is it Really?

written by

Jacob Coleman

posted on

October 28, 2022

Regenerative Farming:

What do we really mean when we use the regenerative?

In the simplest form, regenerative farming is a method of management and care that allows our natural ecosystem to symbiotically rebuild and regenerate the land and environment over time. Essentially our 140 acres is growing more fertile year after year!

Unfortunately, this term is being tossed about more & more by big corporate industries(kind of like organic).

The key to regenerative farming is a partnership between the natural ecology of an environment and space. Central Ohio's ecosystem over time was not naturally corn and soybeans. Our region grew a diversity of perennial grasses, forbs, and legumes along with trees, shrubs, and vines. In the midst of all this greenery was a wide array of herbivores, birds, predators, and soil microbes. All of this worked naturally to build a resilient ecosystem.

Modern land ownership in many ways broke the natural rules of the ecosystem. Society built fences, plowed up polycultures of plants ,and put animals in barns. In turn these actions destroyed the symbiotic relationships of plants, animals, and microbes.

To bring regeneration back to the landscape, we as managers must allow our animals, plants, and microbes to come together and work symbiotically. That means movement across the landscape! All of our animals are orchestrated in a way to move methodically across the farm. This allows carbon to be stored up in the plants. The animals then apply that carbon back to the soil through hoof action and manure deposits. When done correctly and consistently the land is rejuvenated!

Even as a regenerative farmer I have choice. Not every day is roses and beauty, but every day we must choose between regeneration or degradation of our 140 acre ecosystem. Every single day animals need moved to maintain the symbiosis of regeneration. Every cold day, even sick days we have to make the choice and do the work to create that healthy beautiful environment of a Regenerative Farm.

As we enter November a month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for each of you making the choice to eat regeneratively. We could not farm regeneratively with out you. By working together we symbiotically allow each other to make a better choice every day. Farming & Eating regeneratively.

Speaking of Thanksgiving: We have come up with some extra special Specials :)

I have added Gelato to our Thanksgiving pre-orders.

Stay tuned the last batch of hogs that went to the processor are turning into a select number of spiral cut hams.

We've got a few more specials coming so stay tuned to the pre-order page so stay tuned.

A Dream,Thriving with Passion, Our Biggest Challenge Yet!

Spoiler Alert: After 11 years of renting our farm and home here at Sweet Grass, we have the opportunity to purchase the property! We are excited for this next step of thriving into the future with our community of farm families!So, we're hoping to sell some special addition bundles to enhance our down payment as much as possible.Read the whole story below.11 years ago a young 26 year old couple set off to central Ohio to start their dream.Jake & Liz started their dream in 2013 by moving to central Ohio to rent a 160 acre organic farm. They had one 9 month old daughter at the time and had recently found out that baby #2 was on the way. They had passion, energy, and a drive to succeed in their new venture.As a teenager, Jake had been inspired by Joel Salatin. Jake had pursued farming on smaller scales growing chickens & beef with his parent's 4 acres and a job on a grass based dairy farm. His dream was to build a local food community on a bigger scale when he 'grew up'.Finding 160 acres of chemical free organic ground in the middle of Central Ohio was definitely providential. Liz, coming from a conventional farm, went through a complete mental shift in her understanding of farming. Jake pursued more regenerative farming education. They hosted a South African mentor to teach them more about grazing and how herbivores regenerate the ecosystem. Jake and Liz also traveled all over the country gaining a deeper understanding of regenerative farming. Life was and is all about learning each and every day how to grow a thrivingecosystem & community.They put everything on the line starting Sweet Grass. Both were 26 at the time with no debt other than an initial loan for the cows they purchased. A friend of Jake's also lent them $30,000 formiscellaneous start up expenses. 50 organic cows making milk for Horizon and a dream to build a local food community carried them into their first winter. Cows do not milk as much during the winter, so Jake started a job hauling Amish. Near the end of the winter they hit their lowest point with $37 left to their name.Spring brought on green grass, baby calves, and new growth on the farm. Today:Those early days instilled in us an independent spirit. Our focus became our local food community. By 2018, we left Horizon Organic Milk to put all of our focus on growing regenerative food for our growing community of families supporting our vision for healthy food. In 2020, we started our home delivery route to meet the demand for food delivered right to front doors during Covid. 2021, brought the addition of our creamery so that we could diversify our dairy offerings. 2022, we added the sourdough bakery. We have exciting plans for the future and our farm family is at the helm of helping us build the future.Modern farming is rife with government handouts. It's not just the big farms accepting government money, even so called small 'regenerative' farms are taking handouts to fast forward their growth. Our commitment is to keep big government out of our farm as much as possible! Over the past 11 years, our commitment of growing healthy food has grown with support coming only from our farm families.2024 brings the biggest challenge yet. For the last 11 years we have rented our home and property here in Ohio. Renting helped us get started. But as we have become more established you could say our renting scenario was becoming risky. We continued farming and caring for this property as if we could purchase it some day. This October opens the next chapter with the 160 acre property purchase! Unfortunately, 11 years has dramatically increased the value of the property and current interest rates make traditional financing more expensive.So, we're hoping to sell some special bundles to enhance our down payment as much as possible. We're not asking for a fundraiser. But, we are offering several commemoratives bundles. These bundles will come with a customized cutting board (engraved by my "Jake's" Dad) to show our appreciation for your support as we take on our biggest challenge yet.These items are set up as preorders, with a fulfillment date of October 19th. This will be our Farm Purchase Celebration Day. We will be serving gelato and other snacks for everyone that comes out to pick up their Limited Edition Bundles.Thank you for partnering with us in this next big chapter!

Poblano Chicken

Poblano Chicken This recipe is unlike your typical Mexican dish. It is not a taco, a fajita, or an enchilada. It is not hot and spicy, but rather, it is packed with flavor and green goodness that will leave your family. asking for seconds. It is a dish that I allways include when I make meals for my, daughter and daughters-in-law when they have a baby, as it is a favorite of all of the grand kids. Since it freezes well, it can be made ahead and heated up quickly during those busy seasons of life. Give it a try. hopefully your family will love it like our family does.

New Year! New Baby! New Friends! Check out our 2023 Schedule

2023: Started off with a Baby Liz's due date came and went on December 18th with no baby coming. We thought for sure the Christmas blizzard was going to bring baby, but thankfully baby did not come.New Year's Eve came. Liz made 250 pounds of cheese that afternoon. We played games with family that evening. We wished each other a Happy New Year at midnight and went to bed.At 2am Liz woke me up and told me to call the midwife. Luckily she only lives 5 miles away. She arrived at 2.20am. Baby Reuben arrived healthy and happy at 2.39 am.We are thankful for a beautiful baby boy to kick off 2023!New for 2023, Lorenzo will be sharing a monthly recipe for our Sweet Grass Family.He will be cooking up a simple easy to make dish with one of our meats and sharing how he makes an amazing dish with great ingredients.Our hope is that we can make great grass fed meats simpler and more attainable to cook in a busy schedule.We're looking forward to learning some new cooking tips and recipes for our own home.Eggs!I keep hearing rumors for egg shortages and crazy prices. We are not singing that tune here!Our organically fed pastured hens are laying eggs like crazy.We've got eggs available this week for as low as $4.50 a dozen when you order the 15 dozen case!Also our Eggs for a Friend bundle is back for a limited amount of time. You all are our best advertisers. So to help you tell a friend we happily give you 2 dozen eggs. We ask that you share 1 with a friend and keep 1 for yourself.Shop Sweet Grass Eggs!Calendar of Sweet Grass Events! (New exciting events in the works)We've planned some exciting events coming this Summer. We are getting better at planning our events ahead of time.This year has two of our annual Farm Field Days.June 3rd - Spring Field DayOctober 7th - Fall Field Day Seasoned & Chef Lorenzo are coming to Sweet Grass!Lorenzo & Jacob have been dreaming of connecting people to their food in deeper more intimate ways.What better way than to invite folks to the land that produces their food. Our aim with these meals to use foraged and grown food from here our our 140 acre organic farm. These evenings include a short farm tour and a family style meal served on the land overlooking cows grazing and watching the sun settle below the horizon.May 6th - Spring Seasoned MealOctober 21st - Fall Seasoned MealStay tuned for details.Check out Lorenzo's and Seasoned's Instagram pages.Crazy prices are real! I stopped at our local Walmart just to see for myself...Thank you for being apart of our Farm Family!