Next up, Amanda will share how our farm works in harmony with the natural environment, closing the loop between what we grow and the ecosystem we’re part of. I invite you to challenge the common belief that agriculture always harms nature, and instead see how it can be a force for restoration and balance.

This week we’d love for you meet one of our farm crew members: Amanda!

Regenerative farms and nature

Seems like there are more wild animals than farm animals living here. Let me tell you, it is very confusing to count your turkey flock and discover that you’ve got one more than you started with. Scratching your head wondering why until suddenly a wild pretender decides its finally time take his leave from the domestic flock. Previously blending in perfectly until he flies into the sunset with all the racket of a jet airplane.

This morning, I saw the wild turkey daycare go by again. More days than not, a large gaggle of three mommas and a few dozen younglings can be seen picking their way along the edge of the Big Field, past the horses and through the flower garden. Just off their route, a family of quails scuttle in and out from underneath the large leaves of the broccoli rows. They’re there almost every time I go out to the brassicas.

Seems like the ladybugs exploded in the Big Field this year. But I think I see wildlife most concentrated in the 2 Acre Garden. Feels like I can’t weed two feet there without spooking a frog. There are gopher snakes in the tall grass. One magical afternoon last week when we ate from one of the few plum trees before the sparrows put a stop to that.  Happening upon a huge praying mantis moving along a sunflower stem like a tree sloth sparks delight in any farmer here.

In the evening, the pond is as loud as a beer hall with redwing blackbirds all trying to talk over each other. Maybe they’re catching up on the days events – where in the corn someone’s found the first sweet kernels of the season. Or maybe each bird is just trying to get noticed. As soon as the sun goes down, the sound in the air morphs into a chorus of impassioned love songs. If you’re a frog, that is.

Would the land be better off without humans? Many people who are smarter than I am think yes. I don’t know the answer to this question, but spending time on this farm makes me wonder. It seems like the land we work and the abundance it gives us in return nurtures not only all of us but the many, many wild animals that call the farm home. Wildlife and humans alike can thrive off the abundance of land that is cared for and loved. Regenerative farms like Rainshadow give me the feeling that we are capable of affecting the land for the better.