“While people frequently believe that all a farm needs to be regenerative is to add cover crops or employ some other regenerative practice, chances of success are greatly reduced without thoroughly analyzing the entirety of your situation. Context includes what you want to achieve (for yourself, your family, your property, the greater local community, or the world), the resources you have to work with both in terms of the land (the type and condition of the soil, hilly or flat, typical seasonal and annual rainfall, other water sources, what naturally grows there, etc.) and other material resources like money, physical structure, tools, materials, and sources of support. It also includes the values you wish to embody along the way in terms of relationships with others on the farm and in the community and the impacts you wish to have or avoid. Regenerative principles include avoiding disturbing the soil biology through excessive tillage, keeping the soil covered and protected, keeping a living root in the ground as much of the year as possible, promoting biodiversity, and including livestock when possible. But the context helps determine how this might best be done.”
