Episode 272: Living with the Earth

Perrine Bulgheroni is a renowned farmer who, along with Charles Herve-Gruyer, co-authored the Living with the Earth series of books and co-founded the famous Bec Hellouin, an ecoculture farm in Northern France. We talk about growing produce, closed loop farming, how food growing helps capture carbon and how to manage your natural environment for maximum benefits for people, wildlife and ecosystems. What we talk about What ecoculture is Does it take up less space than traditional agriculture? The ecoculture approach to rainfall and soil Volumes two and three of Living with the Earth Ideal land area for a plot The Flow of Organic Matter How ecoculture contributes to carbon capture About Living with the Earth: A Manual for Market Gardeners - Volume 1: Permaculture, Ecoculture: Inspired by Nature by Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer Living With The Earth is a three volume series bringing together years of hands-on organic growing experience and research from the world-renowned Bec Hellouin Farm in France. In 2006, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer set out on a mission to discover a new form of agriculture that provides organic crops, creates healthy soil and brings meaningful employment to the local community. A combination of biointensive methods and permaculture design, which they have named ‘ecoculture’, and backed by scientific research, has resulted in a highly abundant market garden that sequesters carbon and frees up land for Nature. This beautifully illustrated, comprehensive first volume shows you how natural systems work, and explains how a wide range of simple and effective techniques can create ecologically diverse gardens or highly productive farms. The in-depth chapters on weather patterns, soil types and ecosystem services, give the reader a sound understanding of the environment they are growing in. The book covers everything you need to design a farm and implement a high-yielding food system from scratch, from understanding permaculture and its tools to the full design process, using the successful systems at Bec Hellouin as examples. Chapters on composting, mulching, fertilisers, green manures and working with beneficial microorganisms offer the reader a selection of tools for creating healthy soil within the farm ecosystem. About the Authors Perrine Hervé-Gruyer pursued a career as a lawyer in Asia before devoting herself to psychotherapy. She is now a farmer. An educator by training, Charles Hervé-Gruyer travelled the globe aboard the training sailboat ‘Fleur de Lampaul’ for 22 years. He is the author of several books. Perrine and Charles became certified permaculture teachers in 2013. Links Living with the Earth: A Manual for Market Gardeners - Volume 1: Permaculture, Ecoculture: Inspired by Nature Other episodes if you liked this one: Urban Smallholding The Garden of Equal Delights Support the podcast on Patreon