The Journey Begins... Kind Of

Nearly four years ago I moved to a small town in rural Japan and began what I like to call my “regenerative journey.” I will save the origin story for later and for this first blog post I will get you up to speed. I started a social business called Kabu Homestead for the purpose of making transformational change through soil health. Why? Because healthy soil is a real solution for a lot of the issues our generation has created and future generations will suffer from. 

My first step is to start a community garden using regenerative practices. I have to show that regeneration works and prove that there is a better way to grow food. My expected outcomes are soil that is healthy and full of life and fruits and vegetables that are the highest quality possible, especially in flavor and nutrient density. If I can reach these goals, then I want to promote regenerative gardening as a way to restore the environment (especially protecting biodiversity), enhance human health, and build stronger communities.

I’ve been planning all winter to start a new garden on a friend’s field that has not been used for years. Right now it’s just covered with weeds. I will prepare beds on half of the field to grow vegetables, but the soil is not ideal and I will be fighting weeds all summer. The rest of the space will be used for a pumpkin patch and cover crops to prepare for next year.

Last fall, I purchased a wood chipper and made an aerated, static compost with wood chips based on the Johnson-Su bioreactor. I will share more information on that later. Unfortunately, it takes time for the wood chips to break down, up to two years. But this compost is an important part of regenerating the soil. The compost is not used for adding nutrients to the soil, rather, it is used to grow microbes, especially fungi, that will be used to inoculate the seeds and plants to build a healthy soil microbiome.

There is a lot of work I will need to do to get this garden started and to be honest, I am nervous because I don’t have a lot of experience and last year’s garden was a big fail. I have to get it right this year because every season wasted is another step closer to tipping points that will affect the future of our children.

Since this is my first blog post, I want to quickly share my vision of the future. I am borrowing my vision from a literary genre called “solar punk” that is based on a utopian future. I believe that we can get our energy from natural resources and in a way that is not destructive to the environment. I believe that we can transform our food system to grow food that not just nourishes our bodies but is healing as well and is in harmony with nature. I also believe that people can become producers instead of workers and passive consumers. We can grow the food we eat, learn skills and craftsmanship, be creative, and build things that have lasting value. The future can be vibrant and full of abundance–if we work for it.

Follow my regenerative journey! I will post once or twice a week and share photos on Instagram. Have a great day!

Future site of the regenerative community garden: