How a Grain and Legume Farmer Harvests Nutrition from the Soil

We are so fortunate to have an abundance of methods for growing healthy, staple plant foods like grain and legumes. Unfortunately, these methods aren’t the rule for annual agriculture, but rather the exception. As we move into climate-friendly and health-enhancing food systems, we can implement the proven methods of farmers like Larry Kandarian.

"Instead of deeply plowing the land and mixing in sheets of fertilizers to ensure high yields like most farmers in America, Kandarian employs a minimal-tillage system and uses absolutely no fertilizers or compost"

“Larry Kandarian grows legumes alongside ancient grains on his California farm, producing a polyculture that benefits both the health of the land and his own.”

Read the full Civil Eats article here.

“If you do diversity, you don’t have to do all that craziness,” he said, referring to the strenuous work that goes into incorporating fertilizers and pesticides. He ladled himself another bowl of stew—a motley of over 25 ingredients in just one scoop. “Grow a polyculture,” he said, “not a monoculture.”

Read the article.