'If we can’t grow food, then we can’t eat': Powell Gardens' conservation program regenerates native soil

    Missouri (KSHB) -- Powell Gardens launched the Midwest Center for Regenerative Agriculture last Spring in partnership with Good Oak LLC, a local land management startup.

MCRA is a new program that advocates for land conservation by practicing sustainable farming methods and producing fruits and vegetables native to our region.

“A great way to give back to the science that’s needed, the research that’s needed for new initiatives in agriculture,” said CEO of Powell Gardens, Cody Jolliff. “We’re here on what was historically, you know, a prairie. And we wanted to bring some of that back for education. So there will be a re-gen ag learning lab.”

Often times when you are scavenging for a solution, the best place to look is where it all began.

Much of the farmland at Powell Gardens used to be a prairie where plants and trees native to the Midwest grew in abundance and every type of animal played a symbiotic role in its ecosystem.

For example, right now, hogs are tilling the land at Powell Gardens to prepare the land for asparagus.

“We just try to integrate the animals into the system, which is good for the animals, it’s good for their health and it’s good for the land,” said co-founder of Good Oak LLC, Dan Krull.

That is the kind of environment Krull is trying to regenerate, and the reason may shock you.

“For the last 300 or so years, we’ve been tilling the soil, spraying chemicals, killing microbes, and we have eroded away 20 inches of black top soil. We have about 60 years left before all of the soil that we till and use for growing food goes away,” said Krull.

Food insecurity is a dire issue that needs intentional solutions.

“We had about 50 volunteers that came out, and we planted 1,600 elderberry cuttings,” said Krull.

In several months, the farmland will be covered in elderberry trees, asparagus, persimmon and bees. All fruits and vegetables native to our land that is beneficial to the environment and our health.

“A healthy plant that’s living exactly where it’s supposed to live is going to get the perfect nutrient mix, and it’s going to make the most perfect expression of its food,” said Krull.

Krull says plants that are not coddled have to put up their defenses in order to fight off pests. Those defenses often come in the form of pseudo-nutrients, or chemicals they use, to defend against intruders. It is often those same pseudo-nutrients that stimulate people’s immune systems and make them healthy.

Regenerative agriculture can often feel like a foreign concept, but Krull says anyone, anywhere, can play a crucial role in saving soil.

“If you’re in an apartment, the best thing you can do is to find a local farmer, make friends with them and buy as much food from them as you possibly can to support them because then they can expand and they can grow and do more of this type of agriculture,” said Krull.

The Midwest Center for Regenerative Agriculture is funded by several grants including a $250,000 match grant by the Matthew Zell Family Foundation in Chicago. To donate, head to Powell Garden’s website.