212 results for author: Joanna Campe

New UC Davis Center Paves the Way for Rock Dust Research

If the world were to judge soil remineralization based on what could happen, rock dust amendments might already be standard procedure for the world’s farmers. The potential to use rock dust as a carbon storage tactic for climate change mitigation is well known in the scientific community, in addition to its ability to improve agricultural yields and soil health. Benefits like these are enough to make any policymaker or farmer at least consider the use of soil amendment programs, but expectations alone are not adequate to persuade any party to go “all in.” Stakeholders include farmers, ranchers, politicians, business owners, and everyday ...

High School Student Brings Regenerative Agriculture to His Local Community

Logan Saenz, Mrs. Spencer, and community volunteers tend the Pembroke Park Agro-Eco Orchard. Logan Li Saenz, a senior at City of Pembroke Pines Charter High School in Hollywood, Florida, is passionate about many topics. He aspires to attend a college or university “up North” to study a mixture of physics, chemistry, and social justice issues dealing with student access to scientific education and challenging research opportunities. These issues hit close to home, as he is from a Hispanic family of Nicaraguan and Colombian descent. He has made a conscious effort to give back to his community and to support others like himself who have experien...

Grow Your Own Nutrition: Jon Frank on Minerals, Biochar, and Ramial Chips

This article is based on an interview of Jon Frank conducted by Joanna Campe. Nutrient dense foods are an essential component to a healthy diet, yet they can be difficult to come by. To address this issue, Jon Frank founded Grow Your Own Nutrition, a program focused on consulting people on growing their own nutrient dense foods wherever they are. This user-friendly program can be applied to any soil type. In an interview with Joanna Campe, Frank explained the methods he used to create this program, as well as the importance of soil fertility.   Dr. Reams and plant energy Dr. Carey Reams developed the Reams Biological Theory of Ionization, ...

Taste the Remineralization: Rock Dust Helps Canadian Vineyard Improve Soil, Wine Grapes

Potter Settlement Artisan Winery is pioneering grapes tailored to the cold Canadian climate, taking advantage of the minerality of central-eastern Ontario to bring award-winning flavor to the wine. Minerality is probably the most important aspect of wine making, aside from the actual grapes, says vineyard owner Sandor Johnson. No matter where you go on Planet Earth, vineyard owners will tell you how ‘mineral’ their soils are. Minerality is extremely important when it comes to wine, because it’s scientifically proven that the more mineral the soil, the higher quality the wine. What mineral does is it gives wine complexity and depth and aromas ...

Unf*cking the Future – Afforestation of Scotland with rock dust and biochar

(All photos courtesy of the Future Forest Company.)   Deep ecology inspires innovative business model Founding a company committed to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through forestry may not seem unexpected for someone who grew up on a dairy farm and studied ecology in university, but for Jim Mann, starting the Future Forest Company Ltd. marked a shift in his career. Mann spent decades as an entrepreneur focused on technology, retail, and leisure companies before turning his attention to climate change. The initial idea behind the Future Forest Company was to sequester carbon dioxide through reforestation and afforestation. ...

MIT’s New En-ROADS Simulator Gives Insight on the Impact of Remineralization on Climate

Dr. John Sterman presenting the En-ROADS Simulator. Rock weathering removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and remineralizing the soil with silicate rock dust can speed this process up, but just how much of an impact can enhanced rock weathering have on global climate change? To better understand the magnitude of the impact that remineralization could have on global climate change, we can turn to the En-ROADS simulator, developed by Climate Interactive, Ventana Systems, and MIT Sloan1. En-ROADS allows users to test scenarios that include changes in taxes, subsidies, economic growth, energy efficiency, energy sources, technological ...

Wild Urban Spaces: Growing Micro Forests for a Greener Planet

Completed forest trail walk project. Photo courtesy of Acacia Eco. Overview With over 30 years of horticultural experience, Wild Urban Spaces, founded by James Godfrey-Faussett, is working to improve our environment through rapid-growth micro forests, which range from small, urban forests all the way to larger hectare forests. Based in the UK, Wild Urban Spaces uses their knowledge of organic and innovative environmental processes to create these micro forests. Their efforts to regreen the Earth teach people how to make their own impact on the environment and create a green legacy for us and future generations. When Godfrey-Faussett first founded ...

The Odyssey of Matteo Mazzola – Rock Dust for Regenerative Agriculture in Italy

Matteo Mazzola, founder of Terra Organica and graduate in Agriculture, holds seminars on regenerative agriculture on a regular basis in Italy and abroad. He works as a consultant and instructor at various farms, including the ISIDE farm, which he co-founded, employing the principles of Nutraceuticals and Agroecology. He has learned from world-renowned teachers, thus consolidating the principles of soil regeneration. “During my childhood I had my first contact with the world of agriculture,” Mazzola says. “The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour always permeated the walls of my home as a sort of magic symbol. Many memories ...

Get Real: David Munson, Jr. Wants Realistic Solutions to Climate Change

David Munson, a Dallas-based philanthropist, has formed the Get Real Alliance to pursue “realistic solutions” to climate change and other global issues. Rock dust and biochar play a central role. He lays out the ideas behind this alliance in his upcoming book, “Get Real: A Positive Solution to Climate Change.” In particular, he advocates for an increased focus on carbon sequestration in addition to carbon emissions, for a couple of reasons. First, he judges emission reduction to be difficult to achieve, and thus likely insufficient. Second, reducing carbon emissions reduces harm but doesn’t add anything positive. On the other hand, carbon ...

Hurricane Pummels Equinox Farm, but Remineralized Cannabis ‘Orchard’ Resurges

Hurricane Isaias brought 60-mile-an-hour winds to the Berkshires that toppled trees around Equinox Farm in Sheffield, Massachusetts, beating down much of this year’s outdoor cannabis crop in the process. Fortunately, says Ted Dobson, general manager and farmer-in-chief, cannabis is vigorous, like growing an “annual orchard,” and soon after seeing the devastation of Mother Nature’s wrath, he was back at work, having trellised 3,300 plants less than three weeks after the storm. The crop is recovering nicely. “The average plant size is six feet tall, and it’s like being in a marijuana forest, really. That is not an exaggeration. To have ...