Laying the Groundwork

When I first met Carla at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center in California a few years ago, I could immediately tell that she had many gifts to share. Her work over the last few decades spans multiple organizations and her unwavering commitment to love, healing, justice, ecology, and community building is inspiring. I hope the interview below offers a glimpse into potential models for land access, mutual aid, and land-based community building that center healing and connection.

Learn more and support Carla’s work at movementgeneration.com, healingcliniccollective.net, and oaec.org/projects/alliance-for-land-based-mutual-aid-alma.

The Full Interview

Jonathan: Can you tell us about yourself and the projects you’re actively supporting?

Carla: I’m based in Huichin, otherwise known as Oakland, California. I’m part of a few community projects, including Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project (MG), the Healing Clinic Collective (HCC), and, most recently, the Alliance for Land-based Mutual Aid (ALMA).

MG is an ecological justice project supporting transformative action towards the liberation of land, labor, and culture.

HCC is a group of organizers, healers, and artists who carry a loving and radical prayer to Heal with the People. We strive to make an intervention in the generational cycles of spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical trauma experienced by our communities.

ALMA is focused on bringing together a group of land-back/community-based land justice projects who are comprised largely of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and others who hold ancestral experiences of being dispossessed of traditional homelands, forced displacement, economic exclusion from the speculative market, etc., and who have generations of lived and inherited experience with the Systems of Oppression that are inherent in colonial society.

Our focus is to ensure the long-term success of community-based land justice projects, and one of our initiatives is to bring in a healing component to this work so organizations are equipped with a healing-based, socio-relational support and mentorship network, in addition to support around the central aspects of land care like ecological stewardship, financial resilience, and governance models.

Jonathan: Movement Generation is now stewarding over 40 acres in the East Bay hills of the San Francisco Bay Area. Can you tell us more about the vision for the project?

Carla: Our vision is to establish an East Bay Justice & Ecology Center. MG doesn’t own land. Rather, in partnership with the local land trust to hold the 43.7 acres, the land is kept out of the speculative market, which is critical for the long-term health of ecosystems and community resilience, as well as assuring that local native communities have access to their historic territories. This particular site was taken and privatized under the Homestead Act in 1912 and was owned by the same family until it was placed in a local land trust in 2022. Stewarding and accessing this land is essential to both our work and our collective healing around colonization.

Here we find space to practice collective governance while building bioregional relationships with other land-based projects and movement partners who share our values and are part of the Land Justice Movement. We are building a movement organizing hub and a site for retreats, workshops, and strategy sessions for our wide network of organizers, healers, cultural workers, and earth workers. We also plan to make the site a living example of ecological restoration and resilient ecological design in action! As someone who has been studying and practicing permaculture and agroecology in the urban context for 20 years, alongside the political organizing and healing work, I am grateful for the opportunity to finally be in relationship to a larger landscape that can hold ecological restoration, generational healing, and political organizing as strategies that reinforce each other.

Jonathan: Why do you think integrating healing is an essential part of this work?

Carla: An increasing number of historically marginalized groups are gaining access to land to steward, and many organizations focus on economic and ecological support for these projects. We also felt a need to support organizations with the relational aspect of this work. That is why we are integrating a healing justice complement into the governance of the Alliance for Land-based Mutual Aid (ALMA).

I believe that healing needs to be deeply integrated into projects like this because the opportunity to regain access to lands and to collectively govern them is often a brand-new experience for the organizations and groups of people taking on these projects. Historically, BIPOC folks have been displaced from, kept from, and forced to have harmful relationships with the land, and this new opportunity brings about a wave of emotions, wishes, dreams, and desires in addition to the challenging reality that we share a lot of collective trauma associated with land.

Jonathan: Can you share more about ALMA?

Carla: ALMA was incubated at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC) during a learning retreat program back in 2024 to bring in more BIPOC practitioners whose work is grounded in social justice. ALMA was created to support the long-term success of community-based land projects in four aspects:

1. Bioregional Alliance Building (the Bay Area is our bioregion)

2. Creating a Land-based Mutual Aid Training Program

3. Supporting a Mutual Aid Facilitators Network

4. Offering a Resource Hub of Specialists with folks who can provide legal, financial, or relational support.

Through these efforts, ALMA aims to weave this work into the larger Just Transition movement towards a future in which both ecological resilience and social justice are possible.

ALMA is grounded in cultural wisdom, ecological and social justice, collective governance, and mutual aid. It feels really good to be building this right now while so many of our communities are under attack socially and economically. It is our mission to support projects that understand that the liberation of the people and the land go hand-in-hand.

Jonathan: What is one of the challenges you have experienced doing these projects?

Carla: The opportunity to do this work collectively is both a huge gift and simultaneously brings up a lot of challenging items. When you enter collective land-based stewardship, the commitment must extend beyond a shared alignment around the vision, place, and values. It is absolutely crucial that each member is also committed to their fellow humans, their unique triggers and traumas, their wellbeing as people, and that we practice deep compassion and understanding by centering love and kindness, as well as understanding the contexts that each individual enters this work from. We also all recognize that this opportunity to steward land together is precious, and there are often shared fears of losing this opportunity that we have now only just gotten a taste of.

This work is also a challenge because most of us have spent our careers in the non-profit world, and we don’t have the retirement pensions that people in the corporate world have. Concerns arise around succession, old age, and not ending up unhoused as an elder without support. Some of us are hoping we will be able to “age in place” on lands we gain access to in a similar way.

Jonathan: What would you share with white land stewards who are trying to center ecological justice?

Carla: I would say that it is important to spend time learning to understand BIPOC wounds around land displacement, access, and relationships. You can leverage your access to people, money & life-sources to create access for BIPOC folks. And of course, if opportunities for collaboration with BIPOC present themselves, it is important to create containers that allow for healthy processes for identifying tension and calling people in with care and compassion.

Jonathan: What resources do you suggest people read about farming or land use?

Carla: The Earth Knows My Name by Patricia Klindienst, Black Earth Wisdom by Leah Penniman, One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka

Jonathan: How can we support your work?

There are a few ways to support our work! To name a few:

1. Give to the Justice & Ecology Giving Network!

2. Follow our work at Movement Generation and subscribe to our newsletter

3. ​​Make a donation to support the work of The Healing Clinic Collective!

4. Learn more about the Alliance for Land-based Mutual Aid (ALMA)

Jonathan Dean is a writer, farmer, and artist living in upstate New York. You can follow his farming journey in greater detail by subscribing to the Farmer Dean Youtube channel, visiting Jonathan-Dean.com or by checking out some quick-to-browse links here.

Land Project Update!

The Touch Soil community is in the process of launching a Community Land Project! To stay up to date on the latest happenings and learn how to get involved, complete this short form and we’ll be in touch.

with love,

Jonathan

This article was originally published by Jonathan Dean in the spring issue of the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s magazine, The Natural Farmer.

For in depth coverage of the farming and musical journey, check out the Farmer Dean Youtube channel. I’ll continue to share updates about my move to the Hudson Valley to launch a community land project and art hub.

Now on to the story..

The umami smells wafted through the barn that he built with his bare hands.

Small cuts on tattered skin were a reminder of all that has been accomplished. And all that has yet to be done. I took another whiff of the lion’s mane mushrooms in the dehydrator and sipped my water bottle’s green tea and tulsi. It was going to be a beautiful day.

When I first arrived at Wellspring Forest Farm to study under Steve and Liza Gabriel in the spring of 2025, I knew I’d be working in the woods; I just didn’t realize I would be changing alongside them.

Spring Flush

The farming season started off with one of the wettest springs on record. After days of seemingly endless rain, my muddied boots and I wondered if we would ever dry out. What soon followed was 4 months of nearly no rain.

The swales dried up, the ponds shriveled, and it became harder to stick the rotational grazing fence stakes into the hardened topsoil. I pulled the sheep’s water trough under the shade of a black locust tree and reminded myself that these are the swings we must prepare for.

Farming Starts With Listening

I’ve always strived to be a good listener, but working with trees requires a deeper level of observation. As spring leafed out, the “green blur” of the forest started coming into focus. I was beginning to learn the names and roles of the many plants that called this land home.

The summer solstice came and went but the winds and dryness persisted. The previously lush grass began to coarsen and yellow. It was time to start feeding the sheep trees.

Practicing Silvopasture

I took out my Silky folding saw and said a prayer in honor of their service to life. Their ruffled leaves waved back at me one last time as the sheep galloped over with excitement. The curious young lambs watched closely as their mom’s feasted. Filled with rich nutrients and water, the tree’s leaves provided a welcomed caloric and medicinal boost for the growing flock.

For weeks, the sheep’s normal pastured diet was supplemented and elevated with the abundant willow, locust, and buckthorn that dotted the landscape. The sheep relaxed in the shade and, unlike me, seemed nearly unaffected by the harsh summer heat.

Here’s the thing, though—at Wellspring Forest Farm, feeding the sheep trees isn’t an accident or an act of desperation; it’s an intentionally designed and lovingly stewarded system. We categorize this dynamic integration of trees into the rotational grazing system as silvopasture. Silvopasture, as my mentor Steve Gabriel defines in his popular 2019 book Silvopasture, is the “intentional combination of trees, domesticated animals, and forages in a multi-layered system where each benefits from the relationship of the others.” It was clear that the system was working as designed.

As summer faded to fall, I fell in love with how these systems worked together to build resilience in the landscape. The mushroom compost, chicken manure, and sheep manure fed the trees, the trees supported the ecology, and the ecology supported us. It then becomes our responsibility to complete this circle of mutual flourishing by caring for the trees. Together, we live in reciprocity and the abundant fruits, nuts, and berries that bend from their branches are a welcomed gift from a day’s hard work.

Thank You

I feel blessed by the opportunity to collaborate with trees. They are the true stars in this dance of life and share many often overlooked ecological benefits like filtering water, holding soil in place, creating animal habitat, shading the ground, supporting the underground web of life, sequestering carbon, reducing erosion, and so much more.

To the towering grandparents and young seedlings, I say thank you.

And to Steve and Liza Gabriel, I echo those same words. I am forever grateful for your mentorship and friendship. You are true companions of fungi and trees and your humble approach to farming and stewardship is inspiring. Thank you for showing me how much abundance a life in agroforestry can gift.

So…What Makes A Good Teacher?

Throughout 2025, I found myself regularly peppering Steve with questions about agroforestry, mycology, and ecology. He often chose to respond to my questions with more questions. And while at times I would’ve welcomed more direct answers, I knew that this approach was the sign of a good teacher. Last year I was guided through many critical-thinking explorations that ultimately deepened my understanding of the interconnected systems at play and the rhythms of the land.

Despite all the many learnings and reflections, the questions continued to flow:

What are the northeast’s biggest social and ecological needs? What are the necessary staples of our bioregion’s future food pantry? How did these lands look before colonial settlement? What stage of ecological succession are these woods currently in? How can I best make an impact on the landscape’s health? How am I uniquely suited to support this larger social and ecological movement?

Falling Forward

When the intense heat and dryness finally broke in September, we rejoiced as the rains refilled the swales, ponds, and wells. We welcomed the cool air as it breezed through the hills and guided the speckled leaves on their final descent. The snowstorms would soon be arriving and it was almost my time to return to the Philly area for the holidays.

2025 Highlights

Amid the chaos of the world, 2025 was deeply enriching. I step into this growing season holding many experiences that continue to make me smile. A few to recount:

• Crunching raw acorns with Russell Wallack from Breadtree Farms

• Presenting research on soil health and growing resilient trees at Blue Hill Farm

• Plucking a soft and perfectly ripe American persimmon off the tree after a morning of planting garlic with Sean Dembrosky at Edible Acres. We washed it down with a delicious and naturally fermented autumn olive soda

• Planting, caring for, and harvesting from chestnut trees with Akiva Silver at Twisted Tree Farm and Brian Caldwell at Hemlock Grove Farm

• Trying nannyberries with Jonathan Bates at Food Forest Farm and planting a Miyawaki Forest

• Piling on loads of organic materials in a new syntropic agroforestry planting with Roger Gietzen and Erik Schellenberg at Black Creek Farm & Nursery

• Listening to Lucy Garrison and Chaw Chang at Stick and Stone Farm share how farming collectively helps them distribute 800 CSA shares through the Full Plate Farm Collective

• Getting certified through Cornell’s Master Forest Owner program and trying Birch syrup from the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest

• Tasting paw paws and honeyberries at Dilmun Hill, Cornell’s student farm

• Learning about high tunnel vegetable production with Aaron Munzer and Kara Cusolito at Plowbreak Farm

• Co-facilitating a panel about the future of food with Thor Oechsner (Oechsner Farms) and learning about their unique approach to rotating crops, training the next generation of farmers, growing grains, and integrating an organic mill (Farmer Ground Flour) and beloved local bakery (Wide Awake) into their operations

• Cooking tomalitos at Stone Bend Farm and touring Brett Chedzoy’s mature silvopasture system at Angus Glen Farm

• Communing with Nathaniel Thompson from Remembrance Farm and hearing him speak about how their biodynamic and spiritual approach to farming allows them to produce one of the best yogurts in the world (my opinion)

• Harvesting hundreds of pounds of mushrooms and planting dozens of oaks, chestnuts, and willows with Steve Gabriel at Wellspring Forest Farm

• Inoculating fallen poplar trees with mushrooms during our forest and fungi kids camps

• Moving sheep and chickens around the pastures and woods. Then moving them some more. And some more. (We determined when and where to move them based on the weather, what was leafing out, where we wanted to cycle nutrients, and how we wanted to manage the vegetation)

• Supporting many research and education projects related to Indigenous Microorganism (IMO) cultivation, growing willow as a silvopasture fodder species, and managing deer browse on young trees with a 3D fence

• Healing my body with movement, breathwork, and whole food cooking

• Singing freedom songs and sharing gifts with Petra Page-Mann at Fruition Seeds

• Gathering and singing in community with Tracy Robertson and the Vocal Bloom family

• Touring the expansive intentional communities at Ecovillage and White Hawk and observing the power of living in community

• Getting stung by paper wasps and experiencing intimacy with poison parsnip on more places on my body than I’d like to admit

• Avoiding the fuzzy caterpillars

And finally, finishing my debut musical poetry album DAWN. We will be announcing the release of the first single soon!

Through it all, I remain grateful for the people and plants that brought meaning to my life and healing to the world. It is truly a gift to learn from people that have spent decades sowing seeds of community, food, and family.

Wrapping Up

I learned a lot from my year farming in the Finger Lakes but I am left most with the idea that a farm, like a city, is never “finished.” There will always be another project to do and dream to actualize. There will always be another seedling to grow and structure to build. There will always be another tree to transplant and berry to harvest. I’m reconsidering farming not as a seemingly never-ending to-do list, but instead as a lifestyle of movement, beauty, and collective care.

The Final Day

Most of the leaves had now fallen and I slipped on my wet boots one last time. I hurried to lay down as much compost and mulch as possible on the freshly planted line of elderberries and mulberries. The sun was setting on the farming season and it became clear that we simply wouldn’t have enough time to finish all that we aspired to.

I quickly shifted gears and returned to exactly where I started off the year, under the motherly maple trees in the shiitake mushroom laying yard. My final task was to prepare the yard for next year and sweep up the crunchy maple leaves one last time. This task, with this exact rake, was a trail I had tracked before, but this time I felt just a bit more connected to the cycles and rhythms of this Place. The day was drawing to a close and I smiled as the leaf pile grew. A rush of gratitude filled my spirit as I looked up to admire the beautiful pink gift fade into the expansive sky.

Looking Forward

So when the morning dew turns to frost and you’ve soaked your last shiitake log of the season, it’s important to remember that the days will soon grow longer and that blossoming flowers will once again bless the pastures.

The corolla was packed up and the snow began to fall. I winded through New York’s rolling hills and before returning to Philly would first make a pit stop at the Hudson Valley Nut Festival. After delivering a 25-pound bag of black walnuts from Black Squirrel Farms and warming with some delicious hickory milk, I was back on the road and the leafless trees zoomed by once again.

As I picked up speed and navigated the fresh dusting of snow, I realized that my car held almost the same exact belongings as it had nine months ago, only this time, it carried a bit of extra love. Sweet potatoes spilled over cup holders and were accompanied by elderberry extracts, tubs of spiced chestnut crème, lion’s mane powders, bottles of pear cider, maple-coated hazelnuts, bags of dried herbs, and mason jars of apple butter and peach chutney. I crossed back into Pennsylvania with a heart full of hope and a phone filled with new friends and their contacts tagged “Finger Lakes.”

Looking back, 2025 was a year of focus filled with joy and a deep affirmation of my practice and path. I am left with memories of dancing through golden, multicolored autumn woods and running with happy sheep to fresh pasture. I can still taste the caramelized onions blanketing lion’s mane stir-fries and deep orange yolks settling into the crevices of a fresh sourdough slice. Crispy Asian pears crunched alongside toasted walnuts, mixed greens, Dijon, and cranberries. I still savor the flavors of the year and await for the day when I can once again drown fresh peaches in sweet yogurt and fill my hands with as many berries as they will hold.

I leave 2025 feeling satiated, yet far from satisfied.

As I type these words on a cool March day, I move forward knowing that agroforestry is more than just a set of ecological farming practices; it’s a social movement grounded in economic and environmental justice. It is being built around dinner tables and community gatherings. In renovated barns and dusty, cold churches. In the backs of bumpy pickup trucks and on distant country roads where strangers will soon become neighbors.

So as we take another breath and sing alongside the flittering songbirds, we must remember that we too are part of this dance of life, if only we take a moment to slow down and see it.

Jonathan Dean is a writer, farmer, and artist living in upstate New York. You can join the conversation by subscribing to the Farmer Dean Youtube channel and by following on Instagram.

If you’re interested in keeping up with the forthcoming community land project, drop your info here.

‘til soon and with love,

Jonathan

AI Disclosure:

No AI tools were used in the creation of this article. All research, writing, and revisions are my own work.

A Week of Reflections

It won’t take more than a quick scroll on Airbnb to happen upon a picturesque farm stay in the Northeast. The hills are rolling, the produce is (sometimes) organic, and the grass is mowed weekly for aesthetics. Renovated barns with solar panels host cider tastings. Sunrise yoga is accompanied by goats. Golden hour pictures are edited, uploaded, and tagged the night of. The neon pink sign reads “Upstate” and its bright cursive letters glow throughout the night.

The experience is highly curated and Instagrammable, but is it generative, healing, and connective?

This question simmers in my mind as my friends and I pack up our bags in Brooklyn and prepare for a weekend getaway in the Hudson Valley. We arrive late Friday night, stock up on some prepared food and snacks at Costco, and get ready for our morning hike.

Saturday

The sunrise is at 6, but we don’t get out the door until 9:30. On the morning trail, we ask a few locals if they have visited the farm we’re staying at. They haven’t heard of it, even though it’s right around the corner from where they live. This surprises our group given the amount of buzz about this place back in Brooklyn 100 miles south.

After our hike we spend the rest of Saturday hustling between the main streets of small towns, grabbing quick bites, enjoying matcha lattes, and visiting the highly touted Dia Beacon modern art museum. We purchase veggies from a roadside farm stand, go to a goat cheese and cider tasting, and check into our farm side A-frame Airbnb for the final night of our trip.

Sunday

Sunday morning arrives and we feel the tug back towards city life. The anticipation of New York’s energy is intoxicating, and yet it also makes my heart tighten. Suddenly the weekend is over and discontent washes over me. I feel like I didn’t even get to relax.

After morning breakfast sandwiches over $6 iced coffees, we hop on Amtrak to journey back down the river valley. I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t even get to page 2 of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s best seller, Braiding Sweetgrass. I thought I’d have hours under waving poplar trees to decompress and (re)connect with the natural world. I entered this trip hoping to experience local food, visit farms, and better understand upstate New York’s culture, but I leave feeling like our trip just floated along the surface; distant from the soil and soul that makes this place special.

As the train picks up speed and the small towns whiz by, the bigger questions begin to percolate…

• Who is agritourism really for?

• What makes an experience authentic?

• Was I just a prop in a curated pastoral fantasy?

• Did I actually contribute to the local farming and food economy?

• How do farmers feel about this growing agritourism trend? Does it distract them from their work or enable them to continue doing what they love?

• Has agritourism been greenwashed like the supermarket shelves? Can economic development coincide with environmental regeneration?

• How can we curb the forces of gentrification in a countryside context?

• What role can zoning and regulation play to create more housing for local residents?

• How can we make rural experiences more comfortable, accessible, and safe for people of color?

The questions go on and on and after transferring to the 4 train at Grand Central Station, I begin to digest the confluence of the economic headwinds we are residing in. Farmers are strapped for cash, rural communities lack economic opportunities, and urbanites continue to seek respite from the city and connection with the natural world. I make my final transfer to the C train and try to settle back into my small Brooklyn apartment. It’s time to get ready for the work week.

Monday

Monday rolls along and after my last Zoom call I meet up with some friends to visit Brooklyn’s newest natural wine bar. Over sips of a chilled California orange, I ask the group what they think of agritourism gaining popularity. My most well-traveled friend says it feels like the ecotourism boom in Bali and Costa Rica where a surge in international interest has left infrastructure strained, hiking trails overcrowded, roads backlogged, and long-term housing options gobbled up by short-term guests. Yes, the economic activity creates jobs, but it also raises the cost of living for locals.

A silence is felt as we acknowledge the unfortunate reality that most of the money generated flows to the already capital-owning wealthy class. The conversation meanders and our group agrees that although the increased interest in agritourism presents an exciting opportunity to build bridges of connection and mutual support, it’s clear that we are currently missing the mark. Our role, and our group’s complacency, goes unstated.

Tuesday

On Tuesday I take an evening wander by myself to continue the reflecting. I can’t even find the sunset through downtown Brooklyn’s towering buildings and construction sites. As darkness emerges among the bright city lights, the moon is nowhere to be found despite it being full tonight. I settle for a somewhat cozy and somewhat quiet bench in Prospect Park and find myself looking back at photos from the weekend trip.

I now realize that we didn’t actually meet any farmers. We went to the goat cheese tasting only to learn that the goats didn’t live even on that farm. During the sunset cider experience, we found out that most of the apples weren’t actually grown onsite. The white, bright shiplap in the renovated barn suddenly felt sterile.

I leave the park bench to grab a few water balloon tomatoes at the corner bodega for my dinner’s salad and crawl into bed early. I mistake the street light shining through my window as the full moon and doze off to YouTube videos of exciting agroforestry projects around the world. I can’t help but feel a slurry of detachment — from people, from place, from food, and from the natural world I am part of.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I meet up with some friends from the weekend trip at the Union Square Farmers’ Market to “forage” for our weekly potluck. It seems we are trying to wash away the weekend’s consumption guilt by purchasing ingredients only from nearby farms. The irony is felt, and the conversation on agritourism continues as we cube the zucchinis. With each slice of the knife, I feel disappointed knowing that these would be best charred on an open fire.

Around the dinner table, we collectively reminisce on last weekend’s adventure and agree that future trips must be different. We will slow down and prioritize depth over novelty. We will get our hands in the soil and meet the farmers stewarding the land. We will connect with the culture keepers and seed sowers and listen to their stories. We will pause for deep breaths, make time for reading, and kick off our shoes to wander. We will avoid “stocking up for the weekend” at big box chain stores and resist the urge to “check places off the list.”

Thursday

As Thursday rolls around, the post-weekend emptiness begins to metamorphosize into hope. I begin to imagine a different future for agritourism, a brighter and more connected one. A future where local farms are cherished and held as core parts of resilient communities. A future where city dwellers prioritize local ingredients and support restaurants that source regional and seasonal goods. In this future, work-stay-learn exchanges replace pricey curated experiences and the gift economy is recognized as a legitimate and welcomed means of exchange. This is a future where intergenerational stories crackle with campfire embers and visitors learn to cook with the food they helped harvest that day.

I begin to fall in love with the future I am imagining. It’s circular, it’s reciprocal, and it’s supportive. It recognizes the importance of rebuilding systems so they uplift our most vulnerable neighbors. Education is valued over entertainment and contribution is prioritized over consumption. In this future, we humans understand that we are not the center or rulers of the natural world, but instead members of it — dancing and living in harmony with the interconnected beauty of life.

Friday

On Friday I decide to make an impromptu trip back up the Hudson River. Rain is in the forecast but I know I’ll be there to experience the smell as the fresh drops sink into the soil. I’m headed to Soul Fire Farm for a Work-and-Learn Day. I’ve long admired their work after reading Leah Penniman’s Farming While Black and am excited to learn more about their commitment to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. I come ready to listen, to learn, and to support with whatever is most helpful.

The train doors open in Albany and I walk off the platform into the slightly misty and overcast sky. There are still many unanswered questions but with each step I take I am left with a hope that maybe, just maybe, we can grow something truly lasting, together.

with love,

Jonathan Dean

Jonathan Dean is a writer, farmer, and artist living in upstate New York. You can follow his farming journey in greater detail by subscribing to the Farmer Dean Youtube channel.

Interested in supporting more storytelling and ecological regeneration? We’re excited to announce that we will soon be featuring guest writers on Touch Soil! Your contributions help us do this. If you’re interested in writing a future post, drop an email to JonathanDeanToday@gmail.com.

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Upon arrival at Wellspring Forest Farm, just outside Ithaca, New York, I could immediately feel that there was a different type of farming happening here.

An island of life amidst a sea of extractive dairy and mono crop corn and soy farms, this was a special place. Trees dotted the landscape, and although only a few had broken their buds for the year, it was clear that magic was in the air, and most importantly, in the soil.

I was greeted with welcoming smiles and a delicious meal of pastured raised lamb paninis with a refreshing lemony yogurt sauce, crisp green leaves, and diced cucumbers. It was Steve, Liza, Aydin (5), and Maiya (2). Dinner preparations were almost finished as little Maiya messily stirred the cast iron’s lion’s mane. The children’s expressive noises racketed off the walls and I finally excused myself from our post-dinner conversations to help Aydin reconstruct his never-forgotten, always-classic, couch fort construction. I draped the blanket over the cushions as he crawled into the darkness.

The home was filled with light and I was not surprised to learn that the Gabriel’s designed this south-facing beauty and dug the adjacent pond for their budding family.

I could tell that I was stepping into a realm of controlled chaos. Mom asked me where I was from, I couldn’t decide if I preferred Jonathan or JD, and the conversations meandered like the mushroom hiking trail I was yet to discover (and expand).

As the winds blew in the ambient sunset, I was filled with gratitude and conviction that although I was uncertain of where the trail ahead might lead, I was confident in the humans I was sharing it with.

As the night wrapped up, I could still feel Rishi’s (like reishi, the mushroom) puppy-dog bites nipping at my welcoming hands. Her forbidden leaps were met by the smile of an equally eager young farmer. Yes, Rishi, I’m excited too.

Now it’s time to get to work.

Day 2

The day started in the woods. It also ended there. After moving the chickens, collecting the eggs, and meeting the new lamb triplets, it was time to flow. Morning stretches were followed by stuffing lime-soaked straw into bags so the spores of oyster mushrooms could begin their feeding.

I was finally here! I read Steve’s books, Farming the Woods (2015) and Silvopasture (2019), but now I wasn’t just turning pages; I was interacting with the landscape. As the rush of new information dripped in with the rain, I jotted down as many important notes on my phone as I could. Seasoned takes about farming in the woods and why willow trees are so powerful streamed in. I nodded my head and kept pace with the task of the moment.

Lately I’ve been reflecting on three Ms: the Mood, the Moment, and the Mission. While the mood and the moment are often in flux, it’s crucial that we stay dialed on the mission. Here at Wellspring, the mission is clear…leave a forest in the footsteps of the farm. Not a dusty and desolate field stripped of life and community.

Amid all of the day’s commotion, an important thought emerged…what will I have for dinner tonight?

With an empty mini-fridge 100 feet away in my yurt, the thought would have to wait. It was time to prepare the mushroom laying yard for the year ahead. It started with sweeping crunchy maple leaves into the compost pile so the gravel-filled ground could drain properly. This spring cleaning task would also help keep future mushroom-hungry animal friends away.

I often think about farming as one’s ability to effectively capture, store, and transfer the sun’s energy. After lifting over a hundred to-be-inoculated mushroom logs, I’d now like to add in the important notion that farming also entails one’s ability to complete tasks as efficiently, and as gently on the body, as possible.

Lift with your legs, I reminded myself as we moved around various organics of leaves, tree cuttings, hay, fire logs, harvested mushrooms, compost, and food scraps. The cycle goes on and on and as time passes we try to keep growing and feeding ourselves the most nutritious and healing meals that we can.

I just remembered…what will I have for dinner tonight?

Day 3

I splurged for the rotisserie chicken, a guilty grocery store move I had not made since my undergraduate days at the University of Wisconsin back in 2013. It was the quick and warming nutrients that I needed and part of the guilt was washed away as I tossed the extra chicken juices into some mixed greens with cucumbers, lemon, and green onions. All things considered, it wasn’t a bad scrap for my first dinner alone in the yurt.

I also managed to procure my first grocery haul at Ithaca’s local GreenStar Food Coop. Thanks to this member-owned store filled with bulk goods, my recently depleted peanut stash was now well balanced. I felt grounded with a dozen eggs on standby and could now stop concerning myself about where my next banana bunch would come from.

There was also the pleasant surprise of the brown bag full of “B Grade” mushrooms that Steve tossed my way after we wrapped for the day. Although these caps were not the perfectly instagrammable and fluffy lion’s-mane-white, they were beautiful and certainly tasted like the nutrient profile of A grades. I planned to scramble them up with some eggs and muenster before tomorrow’s happenings.

As dawn brought me down the steep stairs of the lofted bed and the morning creeped in, we were back in the woods again. The morning’s was first task was to walk the perimeter fence of a 6-acre paddock and check the functionality of the electric fence’s current. It was a crucial piece of infrastructure to fend off the hungry deer from the young research-grant-funded trees.

As I walked the perimeter, I let myself smile and noted that I was content among echoing birdsong and budding trees. I completed the 6 acre loop in an hour and felt a sense of competency after successfully checking and stabilizing every fiberglass stake. The fence was now as rooted as the sprouting life it protected.

I began to settle into bed after an immersive three days, and continued to reflect on how there are so many different ways to live on this beautiful planet. And maybe even more to farm.

I dozed off to the crackling of the wood-fire stove and couldn’t help but wonder…

Which path is the path for me?

‘til soon,

Jonathan Dean

P.S. If you’d like to experience video content and explore the farm with me in real time, check out my brand new Farmer Dean Youtube channel here. See you in the soil!

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We’re saving the romantic introductory prose about the beauty of the natural world because we’ve got some ground to cover. And this is not just any ground; this is the ground that’s home to that rich, dark and loamy gold we like to call soil.

Note - Touch Soil editorial is typically short bursts of educational content and creative storytelling. This post is a bit longer than usual to ensure we cover the essentials of building healthy soil.

Soil is Alive, Dirt is Dead

Did you know that soil is the most complex living life form on our planet and a teaspoon of it contains more microorganisms than there are people on this Earth?1 Because soil is the basis of all life, nurturing the living world begins with caring for it.

So the question remains…what makes soil healthy and how do we create thriving biological communities? We’ll start with a quick rundown of our six soil care principles.

Soil Care Principles

1. Support diversity

2. Keep the ground covered

3. Maintain oxygen levels

4. Ensure decaying organic matter is present

5. Balance water retention and drainage

6. Encourage a rich biological web

The Basics

The Physical Parts of Soil

There are three types of soil: sand, silt, and clay. Sand has the biggest individual particles and clay has the smallest. Clay holds water. Sand doesn’t. Silt is in between. Ideally, your soil contains a combination of all of these particles but as always, it depends on the natural biome of your site, your local bioregion’s needs, and what your goals are as a steward.

If you want to quickly gain a better understanding of your soil type, pick up a handful and see if you can form it into a ribbon. The longer the ribbon you can form, the more clay is in the soil. If the soil only sticks together a little bit, it’s inching closer to silt or sand. If you can’t form the soil into anything, it’s most likely sand.

Essential Ingredients and Soil Formation

Welcome to the Touch Soil 5-5-5 Guideline. This includes the five essential soil ingredients, the five layers of soil, and the five factors of soil formation.

The five essential ingredients in healthy soil:

1. Water

2. Air

3. Diverse microorganisms

4. Minerals

5. Organic material

Now for the five layers of soil.

How Does Soil Form?

To put it simply, soil forms over time as Earth’s elements interact and break down rocks. The five factors of soil formation are:

1. Climate

2. Topography

3. Time

4. Parent Material

5. Biology

Mountain vs. Glacier

To paint a deeper picture of soil formation, let’s take it back to the one of the most classic clashes of all time…Mountain vs. Glacier (sorry Goliath)

A large and powerful glazier slowly approaches a mountain. What is going to happen? Most likely the glacier will start to crush and crumble the mountain with its force. This collision exposes the mineral-rich rock, sediment, and gravel that comprise the mountain. If water and light are present, pioneer species like grass, lichen* and moss will arrive. As these crafty and resilient pioneers live, die, and decompose, their organic matter accumulates, water retention increases, biology blossoms, and soil begins to form. Eventually, the successional dance may continue as sun-loving annual plants move in. Annuals are plants that live for only one year or season.

Over time, more plants live, die, and decompose and as the soil conditions improve, the environment may now become ready to support perennial species. Perennials, including fruit and nut trees or woody shrubs, are plants that live for more than two years. Perennials are vital for holding soil in place. They also create shade, shelter, and habitat for insects, plants, and animals.

Ecological succession typically leads towards forested, perennial environments. As active land stewards, we can help speed up these regeneration cycles. Just like the great permaculture principle states, our goal is to compose with nature, not impose upon it.

*If you want to learn more about how lichen formation is actually a symbiotic partnership between fungi and algae, you can check out this short video here.

Why is Soil Degraded?

Earth’s soil is degraded for many reasons. To name a few:

• Compaction

• Wind erosion

• Deforestation

• Tillage and mechanical disturbance events

• Water erosion and disrupted hydrological cycles

• Fixed/continuous grazing or overgrazing of animals

• The usage of chemical herbicides, like glyphosate, that destroy biological diversity

Annual Agriculture

In our current conventional farming system, most of our crops are annuals (think wheat, soy, corn) and are planted on bare and exposed soil. To prepare a site for planting, the land is typically mechanically cleared and stripped. This clearing harms the soil biology and makes the land additionally vulnerable to wind and water erosion. And while we’re not ready (yet) to engage in a full on outcry against annual agriculture, it’s clear that single-crop, industrial, and heavy tillage agriculture is very damaging to the soil.2

What is Tillage?

Tillage is the mechanical process of manipulating soil to prepare it for growing crops. It involves loosening, plowing, aerating, and turning the soil. This process breaks down the soil structure, reduces soil biology, limits water infiltration, degrades the organic matter, and releases CO₂ into the atmosphere. Because of this, more farmers are adopting “no-till” or “low till” farming practices that don’t disrupt the soil biology.

Scorecard: Not-So-Green

We can think about America’s soil quality and quantity as a bank account that we’ve taken too many withdrawals from. Conventional farmers try to make a deposit by using chemical fertilizers. This development was part of the “Green” Revolution and allowed the world to increase crop yields by 44% between 1965 and 2010.3

In a future piece, we’ll jump into the Green Revolution (and why it’s not-so-green) and describe how the invention of these chemical fertilizers was actually the result of the mass repurposing of excess World War 2 chemicals.4 For today’s introductory post, it’s important for us to know that human interactions over the last several hundred years have degraded the land and because of that our soil now lacks nutrients. This means that our food also lacks nutrients (and has less flavor). It is now our job to reverse these feedback loops by changing, and remembering, our relationship with the land.

Interacting with Soil

There are three ways we can physically engage with the soil.

1. Changing the Physical and Mechanical Properties

This happens when we dig swales, build ponds, root prune, or enact keyline subsoiling. These interventions manage, direct, and store water which helps build soil. More on this later in the year.

2. Introducing Chemical and Mineral Amendments

To better understand your soil, it’s important to know which micro and macronutrients are lacking or abundant. Before bringing in any chemical and mineral inputs, be sure to test your soil. There are many soil metrics to monitor. A few to consider:

• Mineral and nutrient content

• Soil pH (this determines which plants can grow in your soil)

• Percentage of soil organic matter (more organic matter = more water retention!)

• Water infiltration and percolation rates

If you’ve been to your local gardening store, you may have seen the three letters “NPK” on a bag of fertilizer. These letters stand for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. While plants need more nutrients than just these three, N, P, and K are still very important for plant health. Nitrogen supports leaf growth, phosphorus contributes to rooting and fruiting, and potassium helps with cellular functions. Other important nutrients and minerals to monitor include: calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, zinc, manganese, iron, copper, selenium, chlorine, and molybdenum.

3. Altering the Biological Web

We need bacteria and fungi to flourish as they break down organic matter, hold nutrients in place, and sequester carbon. Our goal is to support the symbiotic relationships between plants, bacteria, and fungi.

A few ways to improve soil biology and diversity include rotationally grazing animals or adding soil amendments like compost, mycorrhizal fungi spores, and compost teas or extracts. Before making any long term changes to your landscape, remember to start small, observe the changes, and iterate over time.

Rebuilding Soil

Building soil is all about supporting life above and below ground. One of the most important rules? Never. Leave. Your. Soil. Bare. Bare ground is exceptionally vulnerable to wind erosion, water erosion, evaporation, and dangerously high soil temperatures.

Getting Specific

Growing cover crops, introducing perennial plants, and spreading mulch are a few ways to keep the ground covered.

What Are Cover Crops?

Cover crops are plants that are grown to cover, protect, and enrich the soil. Some common cover crops include clover, buckwheat, oats, vetch, and rye. Cover crops are not typically grown for direct human consumption and are often times also nitrogen fixers. Nitrogen fixing plants take nitrogen out of the atmosphere and add it to the soil. As you might recall, nitrogen is super important for plant growth so growing nitrogen fixers is a great way to add fertility to your soil. Common nitrogen fixing plants include beans, peas, and clovers as well as trees like black locust, honey locust, alder, and acacia.

Compost and Mulch: A Love Affair

When plants are harvested, a lot of their nutrients and biomass are removed from the soil. If we want to continue growing and harvesting nutrient-rich plants, we must replenish the soil with nutrients or let the ground rest and naturally regenerate. Depending on the scale and budget of your project, consider utilizing organic materials like compost and mulch.

Functions of Compost and Mulch:

• Reduce erosion

• Suppress weeds

• Insulate the soil

• Improve soil structure

• Hold nutrients in place

• Increase water retention

• Feed the soil biology and fungal network (this allows the plants to extend their roots, sequester carbon, and share nutrients)

Composting At Home

If you’re just beginning your regenerative journey, we invite you to take the next step and start composting at home! If you don’t have much space, we recommend saving your food scraps and donating them to a local community garden or putting them in a municipal green bin.

If you want to compost at home, you can also explore composting with worms! Worm composting, or vermiculture, is a great way to divert food waste and reduce methane gas emissions. It’s also very fun for the kids! If you start composting at home and don’t want active food scraps on your countertop, consider storing them in your freezer instead.

Let’s Grow, Together

There are many additional ways to regenerate the soil. A few more to note:

• Rotating crops and livestock

• Installing agroforestry systems with perennial crops like fruits, nuts, and berries

• Incorporating organic soil amendments like animal manure, biochar, fish emulsion, or seaweed

• Growing support species that build biomass, unearth nutrients, and break up compacted soils

• Replacing the 35 million acres of grass lawns in America with food forests and home gardens

Conclusion: Follow the Patterns

It’s now more clear than ever that our strength and resiliency comes from our diversity. From the soil biology, to our gut microbiomes, and to the spaces we share with our fellow humans.

By listening, observing, and weaving indigenous wisdom with modern science, we can work together to accelerate Earth’s natural regeneration patterns.

The future is bioregional, the time is now, and it brings me hope to know that as we heal ourselves, we can also heal the land.

♡ See you in the soil ♡

with love,

Jonathan and The Touch Soil Team

If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over? - John Wooden

Continue Your Learning Journey

Want to continue learning about regenerative living? Consider a one-time sliding scale donation to join our Regenerative Learning Hub community!

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If you want to learn more about The Hub, check out the sneak peek video here!

♡ See you in the soil ♡

More Soil Resources

Online

• Savanna Institute’s Courses and Guides

• Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web Courses

• Sadhguru’s Save Soil Movement

• Interlace Commons’ Up From The Roots research report on Racial Justice and Agroforestry

Books

• Silvopasture by Steve Gabriel

• Farming While Black by Leah Penniman

• The Third Plate by Dan Barber

It was during those early childhood days when I discovered how tradition, ceremony, and culture bring meaning to place. I was learning about myself and falling in love with our beautiful planet along the way.

I’ve always been drawn to the soil and as I continue into my 30s, I now realize that my dream to steward land with loved ones is really just a longing to return to those simpler times. To the riverbeds and towering trees. To the edges of the forest and the peaceful valleys. To the dance between water and carbon.

I will one day return to that Pennsylvania river to see if its bends still hold the memories I cherish so deeply. Until then, we’ve got work to do.

The Global Citizenry

As citizens of this planet, it is our job to restore and regenerate the lands we have degraded. Here at Touch Soil, we believe that we already know what we need to do and believe it or not, it doesn’t depend on AI, crypto, or big technological innovations. And while some advancements may pique our curiosity, we believe that a resilient and regenerative future depends on working with natural ecological patterns that weave modern science with indigenous wisdom.

Regenerative Living

If you’re reading this post, you may be familiar with the buzzy term “regenerative agriculture.” It seems to have replaced the played-out sustainable jargon from the 90’s and 2000’s and despite its trendiness, I believe this shift in language actually embodies something deeper that the sustainable movement overlooked.

Regeneration is not about maintaining and upholding; it’s about improving the trail and catalyzing life. Yes, it’s about changing our farming practices, but regenerative agriculture is also a reconnection to nature — and to ourselves. It is a remembering of our history and how we came to be.

As we journey down the path of soil regeneration, it’s important for us to remember that a lot of regenerative practices and principles actually mimic how natural ecosystems flourish.

A few examples:

• Rotational grazing mimics how herds of bison and buffalo once roamed North America and created deep, healthy soils

• Intensive pruning and dropping organic matter mimics how wind storms knock down branches to create space for new growth

• Constructing check dams mimics how beavers slow water down

Starting with Soil

Soil is the basis of all life on Earth and the key to nurturing healthy plants (and people) starts with caring for it. In our next post, we’re breaking out the microscope and zooming into the basics of soil. What it is, how it’s formed, why it’s degraded, and how we can build it back up. Here’s a quick preview of our six soil care principles.

Soil Care Principles

1. Support diversity

2. Keep the ground covered

3. Maintain oxygen levels

4. Ensure decaying organic matter is present

5. Balance water retention and drainage

6. Encourage a rich biological web

To check out part two of this Intro to Soil Health series, click here!

with love,

Jonathan and The Touch Soil Team

Announcement Alert!

Introducing…The Regenerative Learning Hub!

If you want to continue learning about the fascinating world of regenerative agriculture, we’re excited to announce that we just launched our Regenerative Learning Hub!

This community resource is the culmination of a decade of studying, exploring, and documenting what it means to live regeneratively. The beta version is now available to the Touch Soil community ◡̈

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Check out the sneak peek video here!

♡ See you in the soil ♡

A Few Starter Resources

Soil Testing

• University of Massachusetts Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory

• For more detailed information on local resources, find your local USDA Service Center

Water Testing

• To find a water quality testing lab in your area, call the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791 or visit the EPA’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Laboratory Network

Introductory Video Resources

• Soul Fire Farm’s Liberation on Land Skillshare Video Series

• Greg Judy on rotational grazing

• Geoff Lawton on permaculture

• Bryon Austin on syntropic agroforestry

Why Touch Soil?

Because it’s good for you! Studies show that the bacteria, minerals, and microorganisms in healthy soil can boost serotonin, enhance concentration, reduce stress, improve gut health, and strengthen your immune system!

It’s now clear that the millions of acres of thirsty, expensive, and chemically fed grass lawns are not serving us.

But wait…what is Touch Grass?

Touch Grass became a popular internet mantra as covid-quarantined and nature-deprived scrollers expressed their collective need for fresh air, the outdoors, and a deeper connection with our beautiful planet. For me, the Touch Grass viral moment felt like the overdue acknowledgment of how distanced we’ve become from the very planet that cares for us.

The Expansion Into Soil Health

It was during those early and confusing days of 2020 that my passions for Earth Care expanded beyond the built environment (think housing, infrastructure, transportation) and into the biological environment. While I still believe that building walkable, equitable, and transit-connected cities is crucial for creating resilient futures, I now understand that city life as we know it would no longer exist if we don’t change our relationship with the land.

The landscapes in focus expanded, but the questions remain the same:

• How do we create environments that support healthy living?

• How can we live in better harmony with our planet?

• How does design influence human connection?

• How can we heal the social fabric of urban and rural America?

• How can we change the systems in place so they work for everyone?

Healthy Soil = Healthy People

Between the degraded top soil, proliferation of chemical fertilizers, and vast monoculture farms, it’s now undeniable that we’re headed for another dust bowl if we don’t change how we grow food.

But here’s the thing…guaranteeing the health of our children and future ancestors is beyond backyard gardens, recycling, or carpooling. It’s beyond buying an electric car or eating less meat. It’s beyond reusable grocery bags and paper straws.

We need to change the way we live, the way we build, and the way we produce food. The goal is not individual resiliency, it’s community resiliency.

Why Is Food The Focus?

Because it brings us together. Because it heals and nourishes us. Because it’s a window into culture. Food reflects history and history holds lessons. It’s highly personal, yet can also be the centerpiece for human connection. I believe that changing the way we grow food will help us tackle the many challenges plaguing our world today.

To name a few:

• Human health (physical, emotional, spiritual, social)

• Economic liveliness

• Erosion, floods, and extreme weather preparedness

• Biodiversity and ecological degradation

Supporting Solutions

Here at Touch Soil, we’re tired of tasteless water-balloon tomatoes and hyper-processed foods. We’re fed up with diabetes, cancer, and auto-immune diseases harming our loved ones. We’re ready for change and crave nutritious food that’s delicious, accessible, and reasonably priced.

So if you’re unfamiliar with concepts like food forests, agroecology, closed-loop bioregional systems, natural building, passive houses, cover cropping, or rotational livestock grazing, there is no need to worry! We’re here to learn with you.

Touch Soil exists so we can move forward, together.

The best part?? Change is already happening. Coalitions are forming and awareness is growing. Networks of regenerative farmers, non-profits, businesses, co-ops, plant breeders, food centers, and curious balcony herb growers are gathering around a new restorative future. A future where we collectively care for each other with nutrient-dense food, clean water, and breathable air.

Delay can no longer be tolerated as it jeopardizes the well being of the many.

So I ask you…are you ready to Touch Soil? To nurture it? To build it? To share it? It’s time we nourish ourselves, our communities, and the billions of organisms who call this beautiful planet home. As a great mentor once said,

“Tradition is tending the flame, not worshipping the ashes.”

with love,

Jonathan Dean and The Touch Soil Team

…and it just so happens that the world is hungry for change.

For those of you who have been following my work on urban planning and real estate (Jonathan Dean) or as the curator of the recently published The Little Book of 100 Moments project, I’m excited to introduce this new publication to the world!

Touch Soil will explore topics like:

• Regenerative agriculture, health, and well-being

• Spirituality, healing, and human connection

• Bio-regional food systems and community supported agriculture (CSAs)

• Food forests, permaculture, and the transition from monocrop farming

• Homesteading, intentional communities, and eco-villages

• Green washing, health halos, and agribusiness

• Housing, economic development, and land use planning

• Food access, nutrition sovereignty, and environmental justice

and of course…how we can move forward, together.

The first official post titled Touch Soil, Not Grass will be available for your enjoyment soon.

Until then, take a deep breath, go for a walk, and let’s touch soil!

with love,

Jonathan Dean and The Touch Soil Team