Regenerative Gardening

Published in Harrowsmith magazine, Summer 2024

What is the difference between farming and gardening? Though not all farmers would agree, we argue gardeners are basically smaller scale farmers.
Questions of livestock management and economics aside, there has always been lots to be learned between farmers and gardeners. With the current trend toward “regenerative agriculture” taking hold, we cannot afford to ignore what applies in the garden.
“Regenerative agriculture” is used to describe a set of practices that promote ecosystem health, soil vitality, and biodiversity, many of which apply to the garden which we will discuss below. As a purveyor of certified organic beans (www.cullensfoods.com), Ben would be remiss not to point out some of the distinctions from what we know as “organic” farming. For starters, regenerative does not have a legal definition by CFIA standards, unlike organic farming which must abide by the Canadian Organic Standard to make organic claims.
These practices are validated by third-party audits so that organic producers can maintain their certification, whereas products marketed as “regenerative” require no certification and are open to individual interpretation. Note: beware of regenerative greenwashing.
Aside from the legal and marketing differences, the distinctions in practice are mostly technical. Many organic farmers practice regenerative methods, and vice-versa. Organic farmers are more likely to be reliant on tillage than regenerative farmers, as regenerative emphasizes minimum soil disturbance while sometimes relying on herbicides for weed control which are prohibited under the organic standard. While debates rage over legitimacy and effectual supremacy, the overarching goal of both movements is the same: to eat and grow more sustainably.
What can gardeners learn from regenerative agriculture?
– Total emphasis on soil health. One-way regenerative farmers can measure their progress over time is by measuring the carbon content of their soils. Carbon-rich soils not only sequester water more efficiently and provide better fertility for plant life, increasing soil carbon over a vast number of acres is a necessary tool in our fight against anthropogenic climate change. Most regenerative practices flow from this foundational principle.
– Minimal tillage. One of Ben’s favourite gardening memories is helping his Grandma Farintosh “turn over” her vegetable beds each spring, breaking the ground and incorporating fresh compost. Not only was this a great outlet for teen angst, Ben was usually well rewarded with fresh baking. Unfortunately, this quaint annual tradition has no place in regenerative gardening.
– Any type of soil disturbance breaks up soil structures, which not only leads to more erosion but also invites oxygen into the ground where microbes will use the oxygen to feed on organic matter (note: in this context, organic means “carbon-based”) resulting in a net loss of carbon back into the atmosphere. The release of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere is known as “volatilization” which is most frequently activated in soils by cultivating.
– Where bare soil is the problem, cover cropping is the answer. Any time your soil is left bare you are left vulnerable to soil erosion and compaction, plus you are missing out on the opportunity to incorporate new nutrients into the soil with a cover crop, or “green manure”.
Any cover crop will benefit your soil structure by putting down root systems which will form networks then decompose, but a legume such as red and white clover or feed peas will have the added benefit of fixing nitrogen (a major plant nutrient) out of the atmosphere and providing a valuable “nitrogen credit” to future crops.
Avoid tilling the crop into the soil when you’re ready to plant your garden. Regenerative farmers get around this by using a ‘roller crimper’ which is a large, bladed drum pulled behind a tractor which cuts down or “crimps” the cover crop, leaving a mat of organic matter on the surface of the soil to decompose. You can imitate this in your garden with a lawn mower set to a low setting. Alternatively, you can choose an annual cover crop such as buckwheat, sorghum, Sudan grass or millet which will all establish quickly and grow for the warm seasons then die over winter.
– Crop rotation is a necessity for any form of sustainable agriculture. A smart crop rotation avoids planting crops in succession which will harbour similar disease pathogens in the soil and ideally will reap residual benefits like planting a solanaceous crop such as tomato or pepper after a legume. The legume will leave nitrogen in the soil which the tomato or pepper can use to grow big and healthy. Here is an example of a simple crop rotation for your vegetable garden:
o Year 1: A legume such as beans or peas to add nitrogen to the soil
o Year 2: A brassica such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower or kale which has a high nitrogen demand and benefits from following a legume
o Year 3: A root crop such as carrots, beets, turnips, or radish will help break up the soil compaction and improve structure
o Year 4: A solanaceous crop such as tomato, eggplant, pepper, or a cucurbit such as cucumber, squash, or pumpkin as these all have heavy nutrient demands and disease sensitivity which will benefit from the forbearing crops
– Composting is another cornerstone of sustainable farming and gardening that plays an important role in regenerative agriculture. While agricultural-scale compost bears little resemblance to backyard composting, the fundamentals remain the same. Keep a good balance of carbon-rich “browns” (leaves or paper material) to nitrogen-rich “greens” (kitchen scraps, lawn clippings). You want roughly 1:5, green:brown. Make sure you are capturing fallen leaves before they go to the curb for municipal pickup. Rather than incorporating compost by “digging it in”, avoid the soil disturbance by generously distributing it on the surface of the soil and allowing worms or microbes to bring it down into the root zone. A little patience replaces your hard labour.
– Livestock is a controversial aspect of agriculture that plays a vital role in both organic and regenerative farming. Many regenerative farmers advocate for animals grazing directly on the field as a sustainable and even carbon-negative form of food production. While this is all subject to worthy debate, animals grazing directly on field crops and returning the nutrients right back to the soil in the form of manure is less energy intensive than the harvesting, storage, and redistributing of manure which is typically carried out by carbon-emitting equipment.
Regenerative farmers also extoll the virtues of grazing animals keeping invasive species and insects in check, which is supported by considerable anecdotal evidence. While this isn’t practical for most gardeners, having a few chickens around to pluck slugs out of the ground and return nitrogen rich manure right back into the soil is an ideal way to produce some eggs. If local zoning precludes your own small flock, pelletized chicken manure is available in most garden centers and is a well regarded and natural fertilizer.
– Where regenerative farmers have the edge on regenerative gardeners with their access to livestock, regenerative gardeners can outdo farmers where it comes to mulch. Mulching is something we have always recommended as the most reliable way to retain moisture, reduce erosion, suppress weeds, and feed the soil. In short, a regenerative dream that is not always practical on an agricultural scale. Bark mulch is often the most visually appealing option for ornamental gardens, but Ben refers straw mulch in the vegetable garden as it is supremely easy to handle and often more affordable depending on your proximity to the countryside.
– Biodiversity is a unique aspect of the regenerative philosophy which does not always fit neatly into the industrial model of “mono-cropping” (growing single crops at a large scale). Ecologists know that the more diverse an ecosystem, the more resilient it is, and one goal of regenerative agriculture is to promote and integrate that resilience.
This can be accomplished by planting a variety of crops, which minimizes the risk of crop failure as each crop has its own set of vulnerabilities in the growing season, but it can also be accomplished by planting “supporting crops” of pollinators and cover crops.

Maintaining a wildflower meadow with a diverse mix of flowering plants will not just bring beneficial insects and pollinators to our garden, but it will provide a beautiful backdrop to your productive vegetable garden. And isn’t beauty what gardening is about? Perhaps that is the distinction between farming and gardening after all.