Regenerative Agriculture Spotlight: Jonny Root

As summer begins to wind down here at Regenerate 68! Farm in Salinas, California, we’re shifting our focus from what we can harvest above the soil to what we can build beneath it.

One of our most important fall practices is cover cropping, a simple but powerful regenerative farming practice that helps us protect and improve the soil during the transition between growing seasons.

Rather than leaving fields bare after summer crops are harvested, we plant living plants that keep roots in the ground. Our winter cover-crop mix combines bunker triticale, bell beans, vetch, Dundale peas, and oats each contributing something different to the soil. Triticale and oats provide dense, fibrous roots that help protect the soil, improve structure, retain nutrients, and build carbon, while the legumes bell beans, vetch, and peas fix nitrogen and add diverse root systems and organic matter. Cover crops help feed soil microorganisms, build organic matter, and create habitat for a diverse community of beneficial organisms. That diversity is at the heart of healthy soil.

Healthy soil also holds water more effectively. Cover crop roots create channels through the soil that can improve infiltration, while increased organic matter helps the soil retain moisture for longer. In a region like the Salinas Valley, where water is one of our most important resources, building this natural water holding capacity is an essential part of creating resilient farms.  

Cover crops also provide another important benefit: they keep the soil covered. Living plants and their residues protect the soil surface from erosion, heat, and the impacts of heavy rainfall. Instead of treating soil as an inert growing medium, regenerative agriculture treats it as a living ecosystem that we can continually nurture.

For us at Regenerate 68! Farm Autumn isn't simply the end of the summer growing season. It’s an opportunity to invest in the next one.

By putting roots in the ground, feeding our soil biology, supporting biodiversity, and improving water retention, our cover crops are helping us build healthier soil today and a more resilient farm for the seasons ahead.