Science has recently discovered how to reverse climate change using farmland and simple microbes... But can we make it happen before it's too late??

Wow, what is WITH this crazy new 'normal' of extreme weather here in the U.S. and across the globe?! Right now as I type this it we are in an "extraordinary drought" here in Taos, NM. That is one step beyond "extreme" drought for whoever is wondering. I don't know how they come up with this stuff. It is also about 10 degrees hotter than it should be outside.

As a farmer, I deal with the consequences of this new and changing climate literally every single day. As a small scale farmer, I do have the ability to adapt and change, but it makes it even more difficult to produce food and scratch out a living in an already tough field! No pun intended. I am going to be rushing around trying to get all my crops under shade before they quite literally MELT away from this crazy, very early heat we are dealing with. I appreciate my friend arriving at the farm today and knocking me upside the head, reminding me I need to put things under shade cloth earlier here due to the extreme solar energy of the sun here at 8000ft. That in combination with the extreme heat is causing my crops to be pretty stressed out right now. Thank you friend!

Climate change is a scary behemoth of a problem. For many, including myself, the indifference and unwillingness by our elected officials to take any responsibility or action here in the United States really creates an atmosphere of hopelessness! Misanthropy is on the rise. I see it everyday in conversations I have with others, especially with folks around my age (mid thirties) and younger. What future do we have to look forward to when our so called leaders are so indifferent to the mess they have created? How do we pick up the pieces when we are being blocked at our every turn?

Listen, we cannot give up hope. We must continue to fight, all the while changing and adapting. We must be true to ourselves and to nature. Because even if we are fighting a losing battle, which I don't believe or want to believe, I would rather fight for what I know to be true and right, then to throw up my hands and say "My enemies have won. Forget it. I give up.". I refuse to sit on the sidelines and watch things fall apart! No way.

We have altered the planet in a unimaginably massive ways through agriculture. Sadly, much of this has been destructive to the living systems that we all depend on for survival as a species. Often times it's been a battle with nature, and the results are not pretty.

However, agriculture CAN and IS being used as a massive force for positive environmental change. This new style of farming is called "Regenerative Agriculture" and the process that it is based on is called "Carbon Sequestration".

It's the heart of my farm, and it doesn't happen over night, especially here in the high desert, but it's something that I work towards every day. I'll be updating you as I continue to grow and learn, and I'll be celebrating the day when my farm starts to become a CARBON EATING MACHINE.

The key is raising earthworms first, then making a tea from their castings, which contains a colony of about 100 different types of fungus and bacteria.

By inoculating our farmland with these easy to cultivate, healthy microbes, we can begin the process of removing excess CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil, while at the same time growing large amounts of high quality food.

Actually, it has been estimated that if we could get 35% - 50% of the farmland on the planet switched over to these regenerative techniques,we could turn the tables and have a net LOSS of CO2 per year even at current rates of output. That is huge! Take a moment to grasp the gravity of that statement.

Some of these microbes break down minerals and other insoluble substances in the soil and make them available to plants as a food source, increasing the fertility of the soil WITHOUT any outside fertilizer inputs! Sorry Monsanto. Who would have thought this even possible?

Others are now understood to be new types of antibiotics, that have been found to successfully fight off highly antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, such as staph., MRSA, etc.

Even more fascinating is M. vaccea, which is now understood to be an effective anti-depressant and has been shown to actually boost serotonin and norepinephrine levels in humans! Don't really know what that second one is but I find that totally insane. So if you are feeling down, try going outside and working in your garden next time! It just might do the trick.

Next comes the mycorrhizal fungi, which may or may not be active in worm castings but are a part of every regenerative farm because they are so common in healthy natural systems. When you dig up a log and it's covered in white spiderweb looking stuff, that's what we're talking about here. These fungi, among many other things, form a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the plant and hold water in place AT THE ROOTS, making a very noticeable difference in how much you have to irrigate. How is that even a thing?

So why isn't EVERY farm on the face of the damn planet doing this?! (Don't answer that!).

I'm definitely not a scientist, I'm just a small scale farmer with a healthy fear of man-made climate change and some really hot and dry conditions to contend with today. But I find this stuff completely fascinating. And going back to the original point of this post, this new cutting edge science gives me the strength and inspiration and HOPE to keep moving forward. There is a huge global movement to implement these farming practices on a large scale and that gives me real, tangible hope in an often times frustrating and definitely quickly changing world.

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