Photo: Cattle mob grazing at Mangarara Station
In the last Farmerama episode of 2021, we begin by hearing from inspiring new vine grower Victoria Vine Lizard, about her story of establishing a new vineyard in the UK, and her focus on ecological farming techniques, and working with resilient ‘Piwi’ grape varieties.
Next, we hear from Rothamsted research scientist Andy Neal, who shares a mind bending way of thinking about soil, as an ‘extended composite phenotype’ – an expression of the genes of the microbial community within it.
Finally, we are taken on a farm tour on the other side of the world, with Greg Hart of the beautiful Mangarara Station, Aotearoa New Zealand. We hear about Greg’s move to regenerative practices on his land over the last 15 years.
This episode of Farmerama was made by Jo Barratt, Abby Rose, Olivia Oldham and Fran Bailey. A big thanks to the rest of the farmerama team – Katie Revell, Annie Landless, Eliza Jenkins and Dora Taylor.
It’s been a long year and we don’t know about you, but here at the Farmerama team we are pretty exhausted. We wanted to say thank you to all of you, the Farmerama listeners and people out there doing the work to build a more ecological and just farming future for all of us. We know this isn’t easy but we really appreciate you and it’s an honor to all be in this together. May 2022 bring beauty to you all.
We’re very grateful to those of you that support us and allow us to bring you these stories every month. Even the smallest contribution makes a big difference to us. If you’d like to become a supporter, visit patreon.com/Farmerama.