Rock Pile to Rich Soil: Regenerative Farming | Joel Salatin
“The climate that has to change is the climate of the mind.” – Joel Salatin Joel Salatin joined us today on The StoryField. In the spring of 1958, a revolution broke out in Venezuela. Locals took over the Salatin family farm and ran them out at the end of a machine gun. Joel’s dad was 39. Joel was 4. They lost everything. Back in the States, the family bought the cheapest land they could find: a gullied rock pile in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The neighbors called it the armpit of the community. The experts said plant corn, buy chemicals and borrow money. Joel’s dad said no to all of it. Today that rock pile is Polyface Farm . Places that were solid rock in Joel’s lifetime now have 16 inches of soil on them. Joel calls himself a “Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer.” Time Magazine called him the world’s most innovative farmer. He has written 18 books, edits The Stockman Grass Farmer and hosts about 15,000 visitors a year at Polyface. But first he was a 14-year-old selling at a Depression-era curb market. Two elderly ladies took him under their wing and taught him how to display, price and think like a business. Joel calls them his surrogate grandmas. He got teary telling us about them. Then came a job as a newspaper reporter, a young marriage lived on almost nothing, a black walnut business that went bust in year one, and a winter reading the old organic classics. Then an older Amish Mennonite couple handed Joel their chicken customers. That list became Polyface. Joel says that is just the story of his life. “You just do faithfully what you can with what you’ve got.” We dig into why there is no ecology without animals. Why Joel builds ponds: “Stop it, spread it, soak it.” How the chickens follow the cows in what he calls a ballet in the pasture. And why grass grows in three stages: diaper grass, teenage grass and nursing home grass. Conventional farmers, stay for the middle. In Joel’s county it takes four acres to feed a cow for a year. Polyface does it on 0.9. In 30 years they have not leased one farm that didn’t double its production in the first year, with no seed and no fertilizer. Just management. And if you only have a little land, Joel tells you exactly where to start. Plants first, because plants don’t run away. Then laying hens, meat chickens, a pig, then a cow. Not goats. “Every goat is a professional” at mischief. Join us for a real conversation about caring for the land God gave us and getting to “viscerally participate in creation’s redemption.” Grab a coffee and press play. Text Message The StoryField Unstuck Coaches is a vibrant community of vetted professionals dedicated to facilitating growth and progress in various aspects of life and business. We understand that individuals encounter unique challenges in different areas, and we believe in the power of community support to overcome them. www.unstuckcoaches.com At The Allen Firm, PC., we are dedicated to offering comprehensive legal services that ensure you can face life’s challenges with confidence. Our mission is to provide you with the information and the peace of mind necessary to make informed decisions, knowing that your legal matters are in capable hands. The Allen Firm, PC Support the show
