The power of showing up & helping out
First on the scene, ready to start from scratch
One thing we've observed about nature during our years of farming is that nature seems to have a tool for...well, everything.
Case in point: On the off chance that you lost all of the soil on a portion of your property (say, from flood erosion), and you had to rely fully on nature to replace it, you would look around one day—without you doing a thing—and notice lichen forming on the bare surfaces that had been exposed.
It would take time, but that lichen—along with successions of other organisms, plants, and animals—would dutifully restore what had been lost.
Lichen, one of the coolest symbiotic partnerships in nature, is a kind of first responder: when things go sideways for ground cover, a partnership of fungi and one or more photosynthetic organisms show up, team up, and help.
Together, as lichen, they dissolve rock into tiny particles, break down minerals to release nutrients, and contribute organic matter when they die—all of which combine to create the very start of new soil.
Probably because it is an early arrival to areas that are disturbed or newly created, lichen is one of many organisms that are known as pioneer species.
What that original soil becomes
In a way, you—along with us and everyone else contributing to the growth of regenerative food production—act as a kind of "pioneer species" as well.
We're all part of a broad-based team that recognizes that the landscape has been disturbed and new growth is needed.
Like lichen, we find ourselves "early to the scene"—because we're the types to notice that repair is needed, the type to care, and the type to be moved to help.
We're also, similar to lichen, "get 'er done" types—we're the ones who step up, team up, and take action when work needs doing.
We are also rather shiny and happy
(Woodburn Drop Site a few years back:))
And "get 'er done" we do:
1. Choosing to invest our food dollars (or our careers;)) in clean meat and farms that operate and produce food truly regeneratively means not only that the food we eat is radically good for ourselves and our families, but also that we:
🌾 promote the growth and renewal of depleted farmland;
🫱🏻🫲🏽 support fair and honest living wages for the humans who devote their professional lives to this cause;
🚜 help fund the essential, nature-aligned infrastructure required to properly care for land and animals; and
🌎 make it possible for regenerative farms—which center things like nature and nutrition instead of things like net worth—to be fortified and supported by business models that are sustainable, humane, and realistic in the modern world.
2. Finally, the simple choice to eat the food produced on these farms is a crucial and powerful act of direct support to the regenerative results we are all trying to achieve.
Think about it: If no one were eating the food that farms like ours produce, the regenerative cycle would stop. There would not be nearly the number of animals being raised with kindness and respect, not nearly the size of flocks and herds rotating through our grasslands restoring soil.
The more people eating this healthy food, the more the cycle cycles.
You, Farm Friend, are an essential link in this collaborative network—a pioneer in an area of new growth.
We appreciate you every day.
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Personal Note
If others in your personal ecosystem are thoughtful, values-driven, smart, compassionate, action-oriented...and drawn to missions like ours...we'd love it if you'd consider sharing this page with them.
That includes friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, community groups, Facebook groups, NextDoor connections, faith communities, school communities, workout buddies, medical or wellness mentors, athletics & extracurricular connections, and anyone who might vibe with us and the regenerative cause.
We'd love to get to know them!
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The food we raise is great for the planet. It's great for you. And it gives the animals who are raised here a truly great life.
Have you stocked up recently?
