Hi All,

This past Thursday, I had a great interview and discussion with David Montgomery, about his book, Growing a Revolution, and the book he co-authored with his wife, Anne Biklé, The Hidden Half of Nature. Both books do a great job  at helping us to understand the life that lives beneath the surface, and how we as human beings, have the power to support that, and build it up, to benefit the earth and our health. David took 6 months off from his day job to travel the world and discover agricultural systems that are regenerating the soil and restoring vitality and life to the farms. The three conservation principles that he observed in every situation that was successful was; 1) No Till Farming, so you are not pulverizing the microbial life that you can’t see, 2) Keep the soil covered using Ground Cover Crops to prevent soil erosion and to feed the microbial life, and 3) Use Crop Rotation and diversification, to keep the minerals in the soil. He found that the farms that were following these principles had the richest soil, had increased yields, and were saving money because they did not need to purchase all of the amendments and fertilizers needed for conventional agriculture. It was a win/win all the way around!!

David is also a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington. He is an internationally recognized geologist who studies landscape evolution and the effects of geological processes on ecological systems and human societies. If you missed our great interview, you can listen to it below!