CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — As fall begins harvest season for many Florida farms, Growing Back to Eden is highlighting regenerative farming practices meant to improve soil while producing food for customers.
Nick Ager, farmer and owner of Growing Back to Eden, said his farm includes a variety of crops, chickens, a goose, pigs and other natural features, including a pool that doubles as a koi pond.
“And there’s all sorts of other crops down there. So it’s diversified regenerative market gardening,” Ager said.
Ager said the farming practices are considered regenerative because they add nutrients to the soil through planting and composting instead of stripping nutrients away.
Growing Back to Eden also serves as a place where people can see where their produce is grown.
“Ever since COVID, that really opened everybody’s eyes,” Ager said. “They realized how important it is to know where your food comes from, to know the source, know the farmer that’s growing.”
On Saturdays, produce is harvested in front of customers for the market.
Prospective customer Tamy Hagen said her first visit to the farm showed her that growing food can be accessible.
“It makes me realize that it’s a doable thing,” Hagen said. “You know, in our era that we can do this, you know, grow our own food and know what we’re putting in our bodies.”
The USDA launched a Regenerative Pilot Program late last year, and farmers who start or transition to regenerative farming will have $1 billion in grant money available next year if they qualify.
“There are a lot of grants out there helping current conventional farms slowly get out of that conventional system and wean their way into more regenerative methods,” Ager said.
Ager and Growing Back to Eden will host an educational session in April for people interested in learning more about regenerative farming.
Source: baynews9.com
