In this 2 year old "toddler" plot, I show what the early signs of progress look like -- when the system starts moving on its own -- and how to work with it in this stage.

The difference between the first year and a few years on can be a true transformation. But be patient. Remember that life makes the conditions for more life possible.

Practically and pragmatically, how can we take the first steps to repair what we've broken with our dust-making chemicals and desert-making monocrops?

Nature has a zero waste rule and sticks to it. Any and every bit of organic matter, living or dead, is reduced, recycled, repurposed or reused.

More people have been writing to me to ask, So what’s in your food forest? In response, I’ve put together this list of many of the trees, vines, shrubs, and roots we have planted since arriving on our land six years ago.

As the so-called "staple" crops of the world (wheat, rice, potatoes, corn and soy) become more precarious, more damaging to soils and less sustainable, what foods can we explore as viable alternatives to feeding growing populations?

Whenever I have a moment of doubt, I put down my tools and walk into the forest. By engaging my senses, I observe and intuit the ways soil icrobes and fungi and plants and animals all interact, relationships inside relationships inside relationships.

Foraging is a special way to connect with the wild plant kingdom outside your own door. Experimenting with edible "weeds" brings much needed diversity to a tired and monotonous diet. Every fruit, vegetable, and herb has its own unique flavor and nutrient profile to contribute to your health and vitality. As an advocate of pared-down living, I don't often say this: But, when it comes to diversity in your diet, more is definitely better.

Here's a few more simple things you can do to keep your garden productive and healthy for the long haul without store-bought fertilizers, chemical or organic. It's easier, far cheaper, and infinitely more sustainable to make your own by feeding life in the soil

When regenerating a degraded land where soil has been compacted and biomass is lacking, it is CRUCIAL to respect and follow the model nature sets for us.

Take a tour of a regeneration project five years in the making.

Perhaps you have some land and you want to manage it in a way that's good for you and good for the earth. Maybe you even have your garden planted and you're wondering, What can I do with the rest of it? Here I'll discuss three options, how to determine what is most appropriate for your land, and how to do it.

To stake off the rainforest as a no-man’s land does not solve the problem at hand, nor does it acknowledge the rich history of not just people but civilizations thriving in a seemingly inhospitable jungle, while keeping the delicate balance needed to sustain the ecosystem.

A walk through the forest reveals a diversity of plants growing in a seemingly mad jumble, some in clusters, others farther apart, few of them alike, and none of them standing alone. Fallen leaves form a soft thick carpet, food for beetles, worms, colonies of ants, networks of fungi, a whole universe below ground. No one fertilizes, no one weeds… Now what if I told you that your little home garden, whether you have a yard, a terraced slope, or a box full of dirt, is really a miniature edible forest?

A garden, a forest, and a farm are only arbitrary labels. Not all people in all places at all times perceived a garden as a backyard veggie plot, a farm as orderly rows of crops, and a forest as a mysterious wild place for hiking and horror movies. In fact, we modern Western folks are unique among cultures in our narrow categories for garden, farm, and forest, much to the detriment of ourselves and the planet.

Every garden and every farm can be a food forest.