A Regenerative Future with Matt Powers

Too Many Weeds? Do weeds crowd out your food before you know it? My Story - Weeds took over my garden!!! Test your Soils pH in Multiple Areas Alkaline Soils = Nitrates = Weeds & Annuals = Vegetative Growth Acidic Soils = Ammonium = Perennials = Reproductive Growth (Fruit) Obviously super acidic or alkaline soils exist and are neither suitable for most garden vegetables. You can change their constitution as long as what made them acidic or alkaline is not a constant presence or constantly accumulating. Compost which is soil life & organic matter acts as a universal pH buffer. What To Do Compost Compost Teas & Extracts Cover Crops & other Nutrient Accumulators Legumes & other Nitrogen Fixers Ripping/Broadforking Chop & Drop Sometimes Earthworks Sometimes Biochar SO Don’t Pull Your Weeds: Chop & Drop them! WHY? They Accumulate the Nutrients Lacking in that Soil They Generate Organic Matter You can Chop BEFORE they Form Seed! It Leans into the Succession Use Compost & Grow Better! Grow Abundantly, Learn Daily, & Live Regeneratively, Matt Powers

Are Poor Soils Holding You BACK? My Story - DCG to Rich Soil in Months Clay = High in Minerals, Excellent at Bonding, Retains Water Sandy = Well Draining, Easy to Inoculate, Accepts Water Readily Silty = Easy to Work, Makes Rich & Fertile Soils BUT… Clay - Can Repel Water, Can Resist Aeration & Movement Sand - Can be Devoid of Organic Matter & Life beyond Pioneer Species, Can be Highly Alkaline, Can Move On its Own Silt - Can Wash or Blow Away, Easy to Erode, & Easy to Use Up the Nutrient Bank The Missing Ingredients in all of this are Organic Matter & Soil Life You can make good soil out of pure sand, silt, or even clay, you just need enough organic matter and the correct biology present. Dr. Elaine Ingham has proven this as have others. How is it Possible? What can I do? Grow & Chop & Drop the plants that accumulate the nutrients and biomass that your soil and needs to accomplish the goals you have for that site. What to Grow? C4 Grasses for C&OM - Explosive? Carbon Sequestration Kings, Carbon = Organic Matter Legumes & all Nitrogen Fixers for Nitrogen (& Biomass - cowpeas = high C&N) Mustard for Phosphorous & Potassium (pioneers = brassicas partner with actinobacteria which acts a lot like fungi) Daikon Radishes - Aeration, N Scavenge & Release, & Phosphorous Peas & Fava Beans - Winter cover & N&C Comfrey - OM - Minerals? More like Protein, Fiber & Mucopolysaccarides which would call in large numbers of soil life in to break down. Duke’s Phytochemical database doesn’t show them as Dynamic as other plants. Every plants accumulates a spectrum of nutrients that fluctuates with its environment and genetic parentage. Comfrey isn’t “bad” but it isn’t what many have made it out to be: it doesn’t have those hyper deep roots and there aren’t more nutrients deeper - most nutrients are found in the top 6-8” of soil. If you have what looks like good soil color and some organic matter but are lacking minerals like in Missouri, you may find you still are having issues. You may need to bring in a few things. For one, fungi and bacteria in the soil trap and hold minerals and keep them cycling, so make sure your soils have a thriving soil foodweb economy. Minerals (Kelp, Seaweed, Fish Emulsion - avoid mining minerals) Machines (Farm-scale Chop & Drop, Planting, & Harvesting, or you may need to rip/keyline the site before you can really affect great change to the soil - you may need swales) Animals - Animal pressure can dramatically change a site in ways not possible through work with a machine or even by hand. Holistically managed grazing can transform many sites that do not respond well to human interaction. You could DIY everything with a shovel, seeds, and time. That’s what I did in Central Valley California with 140F soils, DCG granite that was bullet proof, & constant animal pressure. It’s possible. How Fast? Depends on your diligence. In areas I compost tea’d, swaled, and mulched heavily, it was months, but in other areas further away from my zone 1 it took a couple years to reach the same level of change. Start Today: get the right seeds & prep the soil the right way this year! Grow Abundantly, Learn Daily, & Live Regeneratively, Matt Powers

Top 5 Reasons to Grow Perennials, not Annuals 1. Soil Building = Carbon Sequestration 2. Longterm & Stable 3. Low Maintenance yet High Yields 4. Supports Biodiversity 5. Easy to Start The only reason annuals are more prevalent in our diet and gardens in practice is due to their quick return (within that season or year) and scaling up ability of seed & yield, but it feeds into a cycle that outstrips the land, soil, and even our health. The age of valuing short term gain over future systemic stability is ending rapidly. Even the World Bank has decided to divest completely from oil and gas extraction. - Plant a Tree, 20 Trees, or better yet a diverse Food Forest - Eat a Perennial-based Diet - Local & Native - Live & Eat Seasonally

Are you an experienced gardener but still looking for a way to grow the way Nature does? Without constant costly inputs? How to Grow with Nature - a cyclical pattern 1. Observe & Study (experience + book knowledge) 2. Alignment (Climate, Site Energies: Solar Path, Water & Wind Pressures, Slope, Aspect) 3. “Accept Feedback”: Continue to Observe & Study through Reflection & Discussion in order to adapt to improve alignment or realign to new insights or phenomenon. Methods of Alignment - “STUN: Strategic Total Utter Neglect” Mark Shepherd - Throw Sow (broadcasting) - Dry Farming - The Best Seeds/Plants from the Worst Areas - Broadforking/Keyline Ripping, not Tilling - Compost & Natural Inputs like Legumes/CoverCrops/MulchCrops - Companion Planting/Polycultures/Plant Guilds Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQuL9neCoO0 Check out Permaculture Gardening 2018: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/course-signup/permaculture-gardening-with-matt-powers

Learn how to take more control of your inner zone and thus more control over your entire life, relationships, and business. Dive deep with Kai & Matt in this deep People Care episode! Learn more about Kai Sawyer's work at Tokyo Urban Permaculture: https://www.tokyourbanpermaculture.com/english

Signup for this Thursday's Webinar with Dan Marquez on Sustainable Design Masterclass, an incredible webinar series that is FREE: https://www.sustainabledesignmasterclass.com/kelpfarming Learn more about Dan's mission at the Pharmersea Homepage: http://www.pharmersea.com Learn more about Antoinette Marquez's work using products from the sea to heal people at AMA Sea Beauty - her book on Thallasotherapy is only one in english! Her work is an absolute treasure: https://www.amaseabeauty.com

Happy Kickoff to the Holiday Season! I hope it is one of gratitude for you! - Matt Powers Terra Genesis International: http://www.terra-genesis.com Regenerative Enterprise: http://www.regenterprise.com All Books on Sale: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/shop/ All Courses on Sale: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/course-signup/

Don't Wait - Seize the Day, Plant those Trees, Save those Seeds! Don't have Money? Gather Wild Seeds. It only takes a shovel and determination to start a garden. Want to start that business? Scale up your life and the abundance will follow. An abundant future is waiting for you. - Matt Powers Read more on the blog: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/blog/2017/11/30/choose-today-dont-wait

Kevin Muno of Ecology Artisans joins us for an incredible look at regenerative business from someone who's really doing it, loving it, supporting families, and installing regenerative solutions in the landscape regularly in the San Diego, California area. Listen in for some regenerative business wisdoms that can apply to almost everyone's situation or entrepreneurial aspirations! Dr. Bronner's StormWater Management by Ecology Artisans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfE_bYD-MBE Ecology Artisans: https://ecologyartisans.com

Learn about Earthships from Earthship Seattle's Jamie Owens in this interview with Matt Powers who is stewarding a site Earthship Seattle is developing with a team of organizations and individuals. Learn more about this project in the Advanced Permaculture Student Online course launching April 2018 - learn more here: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/course-signup/the-advanced-permaculture-student-online