Our guest this week is David White of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture. He’s got a PhD in cell biology and uses compost tea and other regenerative practices to rebuild dead soils. He shares his tips for growing healthy soil in your garden.
David learned from Bill Mollison the founding principles of permaculture and regenerative agriculture, and he has been implementing them in Ojai, CA at orchards, ranches, and school gardens. We chatted about his journey, his techniques, and some of his favorite flowers.
Listen to the Podcast Here
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Resources
Visit Center for Regenerative Agriculture’s website here.
Learn more about David’s services in the Ventura county area at Regenerative Designs Ojai
Find teaching tools for regenerative gardening through Once Upon a Watershed
David mentioned Gabe Brown’s Soil Health Academy
Check out Allen Savory’s TED talk on reversing desertification using the techniques we discuss.
Explore the cover crop options at Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply
Locals can visit Island Seed & Feed in Goleta, CA.
Learn more about ramial wood chips from Michael Phillips and read his books Mycorrhizal Planet and The Holistic Orchard (use these links to support Gardenerd with a few cents).
If you aren’t familiar with Bill Mollison and Permaculture, start here.
Watch this fun video with David brewing compost tea here.
Visit Lotusland Botanic Garden in Montecito, CA some day.
Find out more about John Liu’s Ecosystem Regeneration Camps here and visit one around the world.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:41 — 29.0MB)
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At one point Dr. White mentioned that over story leguminous trees helped the avocado trees through a heat wave. Is there a link to that information? I specifically wanted to know which types of trees were used. Thanks!
I will ask David if he has any documentation supporting this. In the meantime, here is an article about their benefits: https://www.permaculturenews.org/2008/09/29/nitrogen-fixing-trees-the-multipurpose-pioneers/
Update: This from David White: In the photo taken at Hanuman Gardens in Ojai, “This orchard was terraced and Tipuana Tipu trees planted around avocados. In our hot spell in 2018 (over 115 degrees) commercial avocados got hit hard – lost their fruit and had serious die back. These avocados were protected by the overstory N fixing trees and had minimal losses by comparison (you can see some die back on the rhs)”