Regenerative Gifts

A Seaweed Superfood to Restore Oceans: Regenerative seaweed farmers like Sarah Redmond  Springtide Seaweed (ME) are producing easy-to-use, nutrient dense seaweed products that regenerate oceans to greater levels of health and abundance. By growing seaweed and oysters together the "farms" dramatically filter and purify Maine ocean waters from excess nutrient run-off, create a buffer zone of de-acidification that supports the local ecology, provide a 'nursery' or safety for young fish, and add a nutrient-dense superfood which was historically present in our diets (yes, even in the USA and not that long ago...). Seaweed farming also has incredible implications for climate change: IF we can grow more food from the ocean WHILE recovering ocean biodiversity and health WHILE also creating more lush and carbon-sequestering ecosystems AND superfood products (did you know cows fed seaweed supplements are not only healthier but also produce less methane?!), then just wow! 

Other amazing seaweed and oyster entrepreneurs and non-profits are popping up around the globe like The Seaweed Company (Europe), Greenwave (East Coast USA), and Mass Oyster Project (MA).

Chocolate and Coffee That Restores Landscape and Strive to Reverse Inequity: There are several chocolate and coffee companies/partnerships out there now that are striving to regenerate landscapes with diverse agroforestry, reverse deep inequity all too prevalent in the global south, and empower local communities.  Two I've been impressed with are Dean's Beans and AlterEco Chocolate both of which are committed to regenerative agroforestry, enabling farmers to own their own land and trees, increasing biodiversity (hubs for migratory species like the Blackburnian warbler!), and building soils/land to previous or higher levels of production and health.  Plus they both are striving towards more sustainable packaging. 

Support Your Underground Forest with Mycorrhizal inoculants: Mycorrhizal and broad-spectrum seed and plant inoculants are small but mighty! Acting like a probiotic for plant roots, a little goes a LONG way! One ounce of quality inoculant can inoculate up to 100 lbs of seeds! For a good inoculant look for a product with as many different species of beneficial bacteria and fungi as you can with ideally both endo- and ectomycorrhizal species.  Plus the compact size of inoculant products allows them to easily fit into stockings and slippers... MycoApply from Fedco(ME), MycoGrow from Paul Stamets' Fungi Perfecti, and Bigfoot Mycorrhizae are all great choices. 

Local Food/Foraged Products: We can support local agroforestry initiatives by eating (or gifting) more diverse local foods and products, and especially more perennial foods (think locally produced chestnuts, acorn or hickory nut oils, elderberry wine, berry jam, mesquite flour or a local fruit sampler). It is a great way to support landscape regeneration and connect more deeply to landscapes by experiencing the flavors of where you are! By eating more perennial foods (perennial = plants that come back year after year) that are adapted to our local landscapes, we can support a more permanent, less resource-intensive agriculture models that are kinder to the soil. Giving the gift of strategic plants and seeds is yet another way to support land regeneration and pass on a gift that will continue to grow: edible plants with unique varieties or flavors, native plants that support a local biodiversity or new cuttings, seeds and bulbs you perhaps are growing yourself as gifts!

Two fun places to find unique local foods are The Forager's Harvest Online Store (WI) and Native Seed SEARCH (AZ).

Two fascinating books on local flavors are The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley and The Forager Chef's Book of Flora: Recipes and Techniques for Edible Plants from Garden, Field and Forest by Alan Bergo

Support Education and Learning: Gift a class, membership, or book on resilient gardening to a gardener in your life. I'm completely biased, but I have to mention the Community at The Sparrow Underground if you know anyone who wants to dive in deeper into more resilient, nutrient-dense, and abundant landscapes with resources, support and community! There are also some awesome books, local classes, or local conference experiences out there. Choose local bookstores or suppliers, locally organized plant or gardening conferences, and adult education classes right in your own community. 

Support businesses (classes, consulting, products and experiences) using the Commonland 4Returns Model: Commonland provides a holistic framework for building inspiration, social capital, natural capital and financial capital. These innovative companies that like AlVelAl revitalizing landscapes and communities in Spain and Wilder Tea which grows back meadows in the Netherlands are examples of business ensuring their business models regenerate landscapes, support communities, and build resilience. 

Experience Ecosystem Restoration: Did you know that you can go on vacation AND regenerate landscapes? If you don't already know about it Ecosystem Restoration Camps supports programs around the world where you can sign up to learn how to regenerate landscapes AND get to know the land of a place you've never experienced before. Want to be part of re-greening the Sinai pennsiula? Or help with the strategic planting of 10,000 trees in Spain? Some are super low-cost and rustic while others add in education courses or opportunities to get to know the people and land around you.