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Great Big Ideas & Takeaways:
- How to create a flourishing ecosystem on a farm.
- How your taste buds indicate the nutritional value of food.
- Strengthening crops to NATURALLY resist pests.
- Understanding the cycle of plant health—the virtuous cycle.
- The critical symbiotic relationship between bacteria/fungi and plants.
- Easy trick for monitoring the moisture level in your soil.
- Strategies for cheaply boosting the mineral content of your soil.
- The potential benefits of soil building for disease prevention.
About The Speaker:
Dan has a 24 acre mixed farm in MA with 2.5 acres of intensive vegetable, 8 hoop houses, pastured poultry, grass fed beef, and perennials in development. He is the founder and E.D. of the BFA and presents courses for growers regularly across the US.
QUESTION: What’s your favorite takeaway from Dan’s presentation?
Dan is extremely knowledgable in mineral, soil & plant & human biology and gave us a great understanding of the relationships among us. Unfortunately, his slide show didn’t match up with the presentation, and jumped around incomprehensibly, resulting in confusion. Please re-set the sequence of the slide-show to correlate with what Dan is saying.
Hi Sandy, yes Dan could have done a better job with the presentation. I think it is his first attempt ever to do this. We felt the information was worth getting it out there without a lot of “polish”.
Marjory, why not contact Dan & see if he’d be willing to run this over again with the notes in synch? Surely he’d prefer to have it done right?
This presentation is a diamond in the dust. I think Dan is where we as a nation need to be.
I’ve watched videos from previous days at about this time, but the videos aren’t displaying for me for Day 4. Help?
Maybe it’s my PC. I’m happy that I CAN play it on my smartphone with no problem. Glad I checked.
Kathy, please email me at jimerson at thegrownetwork.org and we’ll get this figured out for you!
Kathy, I’ll ask the TGN tech guy, Jimmerson to hope over here to help you.
Clean your history on your browser, I have had to do this after every two presenters I watch.
This is critical information for us to take care of our earth. Everyone should become familiar with this concept.Thank you, Dan!
I just clicked on every video presentation for Day #4 and every video froze after just 3 seconds. A video I wanted to watch on Day #1 did the same thing. Its not my computer, because I rebooted just beforehand.
Hi Sue! Please email me at jimerson at thegrownetwork.org and we’ll get this figured out for you!
Mine also froze at the 3 second mark, but after refreshing a few times, no luck. So I clicked on the strip showing the time at about 2 to 3 minutes, the video worked no problem
Sue, Just go back the the previous page (Back arrow),and then go to the video again and it should play through the 3 second stop. I had the same thing several times.
I had this problem too. I tried different solutions and found that when I used Mozilla to view the presentations that this happened every time. When I switched to Google Chrome to view the presentations there was no problem.
Before this presentation, I never saw a use for a smart phone. With a program to evaluate food at point of purchase, a smart phone now has a purpose for me.
Hi Lois, I don’t have a smart phone or a cell phone. But I totally agree. If I could measure nutrient density at the store, heck yeah!
This type of nutrient measuring device would revolutionize the food market at multiple levels. I can’t wait to see this exciting possibility manifest!
My greatest takeaway is that we can UNDO our many imbalances in plant and animal nutrients AS WELL AS wealth and political imbalances by good gardening and farming practices!
I always thought we would have to simply struggle against the oncoming tides of destruction. THANK YOU, Dan!
Really fascinated by the sugar transport into the soil, also the reminder of all the different kinds of sources for minerals, like rock dust, seawater etc
I have solved the freezing problem by clicking on the settings button and choosing .5x speed. When the music stops I click on the 1x speed. It has worked for me everyday so far. I learned it through my frustration.
That seems to be working for me as well. 1x….Thanks Sgl!
Thanks Sgl, I’ll forward that to Jimmerson
I think there’s a tremendous amount of information in this presentation, but it’s very difficult to understand and stay interested. As another commenter has mentioned, he keeps skipping around through the slides. He also provides too much detail in some areas–too much technical language, too much rambling–and not enough in others. I think I learned things, and I appreciate the information, but there’s room for improvement in the presentation.
To everyone who has criticisms of the speakers: Did you know that public speaking is one of the #1 fears in a LOT of people? I urge you to look for the positive in this FREE series and post accordingly. Thank you Marjorie for all your hard work in putting this together and thanks for all the speakers for doing the best they can and providing us with information that they have mostly learned the hard way and through experience, saving us from making the same mistakes.
VERY well said Shira!
Hi Dan:
Thank you for this great presentation. I checked out the Logan Lab site and found no test that included chromium, which you metioned correlated with type2 diabetes. Can that be tested and do you have recommended levels?
Many thanks!
I appreciated that the talk was prefaced by the advisory that it is an intermediate to advanced topic. Considering myself barely intermediate around farming, I found it useful to stop the talk at points to digest the slide and what was being said. For me, this talk extremely illuminating around specific considerations to do with growing practices and, further, I found the analogous human and planetary systems cited useful metaphors in gaining understanding about the underlying mechanisms. As a healthcare practitioner and modest gardener, I found this presentation not only educational but actionable and look forward to finding out more about this work going forward. Thanks!
Dr. V thank you so much for the feedback on the use of levels – in this case intermediate to advanced. We will incorporate more of that in the future.
I am sorry I gave other presentations 5 stars because I cannot give this one 10. I wish it would make the encore presentations. I did find it easier to just listen because of the slide selection but returns to the slide on insects’ antennae finding vulnerable crops despite rotation rang true and went well with the overlying theme of soil, plant and animal health and resilience to pests of all kinds. Thank you for the inspiration and for wanting to save the planet.
Thanks Susan, I’ll let Dan know.
My favorite presentation so far. With practical things I can apply to my garden.
Thanks Pam, I’ll let Dan know.
I just clicked on every video presentation for Day #4 and every video froze after just 3 seconds. A video I wanted to watch on Day #1 did the same thing
Hi Marilyn! Please try viewing in an alternate browser (such as Chrome), and if you still can’t get it working shoot me an email at jimerson at thegrownetwork.org and we’ll get it worked out!
Thanks MEN Homesteading Summit~
Fabulous presentation–well done!
Fascinating– I want to know more!
Thank you … very interesting presentation ..
I would love a way to download the slides. I was listening when driving to work and no way to safely take notes. Are they available? Full of information, thank you
Fantastic! I learned about soil mineralizing several years ago, and have a Brix meter. The gadget Dan is talking about developing for lasering (or whatever it is) food in the store, would be great. You can’t go around Brixing veggies in the store!
Someone must have synchronized the slides because they look fine to me. I appreciated the attention to detailed information. The information about minerals is one of the new puzzle piece for me. Thank you, Dan!
This is where it begins, feeding the earth with all the things the earth provides. This presentation is amazing. It made me realize what plants need to eat to make food for me to eat. My garden took giant leaps when I began to add minerals back into the soil.
Thank you for sharing all this in depth information.
Thank you Dan I would like to be able to contact you for advice in the future . I have had a journey here on this 1-5 acre homestead for 40 years I have done several soil tests and followed many of the principlews but need to know more about sourcing as well as applying what is needed as well as even understanding the tests I have use extension tests which were pretty useless and A&g lab . I have hauled in rock powders used seaweeds,mulches cover crops ect and made tons of my own compost. I have to do everything by hand as I can’t afford equipment and don’t have many funds to invest either . Getting a deeper understanding is very important, I think. I was only able to watch half of your presentation due to farm pressures but enjoyed every word. Thank you for any information you can share. I know the flavor of my foods and herbs are intense but still need to learn more especially about trees as I have planted a food forest and that is so different than row crops Thank You for presenting!
I am a beginner who has read a lot on the net due to Geoff Lawtons infectious enthusiasm and solid information. The passion Dan brings to the subject is inspiring. Of course the presentation can be improved, but so can my ability to follow up as a new student. Thank Dan! 10 stars for you!
Wonderful talk! Thank you!
Wondering Marjory if I should apply now, the aged manure we have purchased,
or wait until the spring. It rains all winter here on the West coast of BC, so am afraid that
all the good stuff in the manure will leach out and away?
Understanding that the critics were quick to give constructive criticism, I found Dan’s presentation excellent. It is free. And I am grateful for his input.
“It would take 3 1/2 years to sequester all the carbon put into the atmosphere since 1750” Wow, stop! Let’s hear more about this in detail, please!
Minuets 44:57-49:20 are rich!! Thank you again, Dan.
As has been mentioned, the slides and verbals were not coordinated, and the verbals could have benefited from a script. (Also, pallets are for goods, a palate is part of the mouth . . . 🙂
The sheer breadth of the field, extent of the presenter’s obvious erudition, were worth the time to listen. I very much appreciated how Mr. Kittredge acknowledged the quasi-religious affinities of many sustainable enthusiasts without actually endorsing any of those “theologies”. And his thrust of enabling self-enriching soils was fascinating!
For more info, visit http://bionutrient.org check Library for lots of good resources: http://bionutrient.org/library
There are several chapters across the country: http://bionutrient.org/chapters/local-chapters
The Hartford CT chapter has a web page with lots of good info: http://bfa.regenerativeag.net/CT/ and a Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8A7jrDaMQZxbjZTW60lcvg
including various workshops by Dan as well as other speakers and farm tours
There are also youtube videos
Thanks for the links Steve. Dan and others have a lot more info I want to learn. Very exiting!
Very happy with the presentation! Lots of knowledge and easy to understand Dan’s message. Thank You Dan!
I thank you, Mr. Kittredge, for this informative seminar. A lot of your information lines up with Paul Gautschi’s BTE method and why he doesn’t seem to have “pest” problems, but everyone who eats his food is amazed by the taste. He never rotates crops, either. Now I better understand why and can apply that to my garden. Thanks again!
The whole time I was listening to this I was thinking, “this is the scientific version of BTE.” 🙂
I love your natural farming aspects.
Regarding your pest situation. Check out Drake from Hawaii in natural farming.
Search natural farming drake hawaii and I am sure you find him.
Also search Master Cho Natural farming but drake makes the material more user friendly I think for Americans.
They are doing very good work natural farming pest control for pests associated with the hawaii area.
While this is different than yours they can offer solutions and direction on finding those solutions to your area.
The answers are there.
I see you know Masanobu Fukuoka so this may not be so new but Drake is on the front lines of working and teaching this for areas that apply to them.
I likewise have been unable to view any of the teachings today, but have not had trouble the other days. I tried rebooting and all that….too bad. I have been enjoying the summit the other days
This presentation, hands down, is the best one I’ve listened to this year or last.
Brilliant. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I really had a light bulb go off when Dan drew the connection between depleted soil and our cell replication–what the impact of mineral-poor soil really is in that process. Also tying the aroma and taste have meaning as it relates to the content of the food. Nice talk! Thank you
This is amazing information that definitely needs to become much more widespread through education of consumers. I found listening to the information to be much more important than the slides; I think we sometimes rely too much on pictures (thanks to our entertainment industry) to tell us what we need to know. Dan eloquently imparted information about a diverse set of complex systems into easily understandable analogies to everyday processes and activities that the common person already grasps. Well done!
I never even watch these presentations. I only listen to them as I am puttering around the kitchen or the shop. The only time I look at a slide is when I hear something so good that I have to walk over and “rewind” the stream. I looked at the slides on this one and went, “Whew!” Don’t get distracted by that cerebral stuff! Just keep listening.” And I did keep listening–and it was amazing.
Thank you for the wealth of information and the vast knowledge and wisdom in tying it all together. The metaphors are also very helpful. This is the most inspiring and empowering I have heard in years!
Any source for the “ounce of bacteria” to apply to the soil? Thanks!
Excellent presentation. Thank you so much!! I would love to have the PDF if available.
Thank you.
Debora in Georgia
I would also like to have Dr. Patrick Jones PDF of his presentation on Medicinal Plants and John Kohler’s presentation on growing veggies in small spaces from yesterday.
Thank you.
THANKS for this thought-provoking presentation. It inspires me to put even more emphasis on being an excellent soil steward. My favorite take-away is the correlation between flavor and aroma of food with its nutrient value. I don’t believe the solution to producing nutrient rich food is as mechanical as soil testing and replacing nutrients, as soil and ecosystems are all ALIVE. Still, it is a good starting point, and certainly deserves broader application.
Fascinating presentation – he approached the topic from a completely different angle and I really feel I learned something new. I’ve always known instinctively that flavour = nutrition but this clarified so much for me. There were also new ideas that challenged me and made me want to learn more. Kudos to Dan for a job well done.
Great presentation but who has the money to join that conference, I sure don’t!
Dan is extremely knowledgable, I agree. I have seen some of his writing on soil carbon and it is good! Unfortunately, it looks like this presentation was not planned out. It seems to be a hyperactive stream of consciousness, jumping from topic to topic in no logical order- it is not just the slides.
The areas covered are too numerous to cover properly in a short time.The slides, indeed, do not correlate with the talk. It makes it difficult to understand what message Dan is trying to convey. Hopefully, the planning and editing will improve with his next presentation.
Again, Dan is knowledgable and has valuable information to convey if it can be organized properly. Good luck on the next round.
Would it be possible to fund the development of the “nutrition meter” through Indiegogo like the developers of Flow Hive did? I would think that a way to measure nutrition in produce would appeal to a like number of people, maybe even many of the same people. I would sure like to buy one in advance!
This is the presentation that I like the most so far. Excellent!, I will give it a 10. I enjoyed it exactly as it is. Very clear and easy to follow. Being a conservationist and environmentalist myself, I appreciate Dan’s integrative and systemic approach. I would love to have access to the PDF of the presentation if posible (pat.aglaia @ outlook.com). Thank you Dan!
Wow, what great info! I’m not very science literate but understood this intermediate-advanced presentation well. I was not watching, only listening, so if there were slides out of order, it was unimportant as far as I’m concerned. My favorite takeaways are the facts about carbon sequestration, a true game changer if only the political will existed….And with my second favorite takeaway, the development of a hand held scanner to detect the nutrition level of foods, the will to change our ways surely will result when the big ag giants’ crappy food rots on the shelves. Thankyou so much to Dan for all he is doing.
Interesting, but confusing and jumpy…, and slides were messed up. But it was worth listening to–thank you for your presentation!
So you’re making a Tricorder for vegetables? 🙂
“Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor not a botanist!”
;P
Great presentation btw!
I was really moved by he comment that we only water near the plants we are growing in our gardens and that the root structures are comparable to the surface mass of the plants. I had the opportunity to be out in our woodland section at night a couple of weeks ago and my hubby was on the roof making some repairs late into the evening and it was very dark. The light reflected onto the bare tree limbs in such a way that I felt as if I was on the other side of the surface of the earth. It looked just like root systems! It almost made me dizzy because my eyes saw trees but my brain perceived roots; it was like being in the twilight zone upside down in the earth looking at roots not trees. Most of us never think about how expansive the root systems are and do not provide enough moisture. I will always remember this concept because of the experience.
I’m glad Dan cleared his nervousness in the first part of the video so we didn’t have to continue hear him clear his throat. He definitely gave us much to think about. I found it very challenging. The main takeaway I have is that when we get our food growing for animal food we will know it because the plants won’t have bug issues or fungi! What an astounding truth.
SO much to chew on in this presentation. Much, much appreciated! I’ll be mulling over this one for days. Weeks! Years! Thank you!
Thank you very much, Dan, for an immensely inspiring talk full of many revelatory “aha” moments. You have a gift in weaving meaningful metaphors that help the listener to make the deeper correlations required to appreciate all of this yummy, flavorful, and aromatic nutrient dense information. I look forward to following your work and experiments into the future.
Fascinating information which needs to be put into a book!
I’ve watched/listened to 8 presentations and this is the first I’ve rated as “excellent”. Superb. Exhilarating information, really, on so many levels. Thank you so much. I second everything Jenny said!
Thanks for filling in a few missing points for me. I had known that rocks were important for plants, but did not associate it with mineral release. Rocks hold in moisture for plants and for composting in a gorilla garden in a setting with no added watering other than the minimal nature gives. Best presentation so far, for me.
What??!!! That is an amazing tool you are developing to test the nutritive value of foods we potentially buy. You are going to be enemy #1 of Big Agriculture, but I’m on your side! Thank you for your amazing mind and science you’ve put into this seminar. Keep at it!
Brilliant body of knowledge that goes beyond feel-good food labels. The big takeaway is not that health is found in corporate care systems; rather in the soil. The simple, yet profound implications of this should help drive solid policy. And the best policy is to get government out of the way to allow people to make the best choices with responsibility for their own health. Thank you, Dan!
This was an awesome presentation. The analogies opened up my mind so much. I have heard before that a healthy plant cannot be eaten by insects or attacked by fungus, etc., but until this presentation I had no concept of the depth of it. Phenomenal. 5 stars is not a high enough rating for it!
Awesome info Dan!!! Thank you so much for presenting!!! I will definitely be going to your website to learn more and hopefully get involved. Please ignore all the idiots with criticism about slides or looking to you to fix their self imposed computer (PEBKAC) issues, they are morons and it is sad to see there are so many of them out there. Hope you get that smartphone scanner done (even if you have to croudsource it). I think it could also be great for gardeners/farmers to be able to scan fruits and veggies as they are growing (an extra indicator as to plant health and how well they are able to uptake nutrients). If you have not considered that aspect, consider your market expanded :). Thanks again!!! Great info!!! Very well done!!!
That was an amazing presentation. I loved LOVED Loved the analogy about the bale of hay to sit on. (If you are a person.) Or to eat. (If you are a cow.) And the idea that by looking at what is eating us or our crops, we can determine what sort of environment we are making! If fungus is eating our crops (or us) then we need to stop feeding fungus! Holy Cow! Great job! I know–Captain Obvious, right? But that analogy really shined a light on something I needed to see. Thank you!
Excellent presentation! Best one so far. Despite the slide mixup, if you really listen, the key (and enlightening) concepts were explained very well. Really liked the depth. With his explanation, and in hindsight of listening, it all seems so common sense. Thanks Dan!
Great content! Very informative presentation. Dan made easy to understand comparisons to illustrate the concepts that he teaching. Loved that if all farms were practicing the ecosystems method we could reset the Carbon levels back 250 years in just 3 1/2 years! Well done! Yes, as stated by everyone, the slides need adjusting to make even better.
Thank you to many of you for the thoughtful and positive comments. I am grateful that I was able to communicate in this medium. I am a farmer and very low tech and when I present around the country use only a blackboard. I like to draw pictures when I talk and have a conversation with the audience and even though I give two day long courses around the country have no powerpoint put together to convey these concepts. The topic seems too alive to formulate into a linear framework and I have not been able to do it thus far. I struggled mightily to put together what this summit needed and was very irresponsible with the deadlines as I found it extremely difficult to work with a powerpoint and speak to a computer. Thanks to Sharon behind the scenes at the summit for getting the presentation up.
That all being said, the response that many of you have had to the material is in line with the response that I get across the country, and there is a whole network of people engaged in applying practices and sharing these concepts that any and all are welcome to engage in. The Bionutrient Food Association, the Non-profit education organization that I am Executive Director of has local chapters in more than a dozen states across the country, we present two day intensive courses on application of principles throughout the winter months across the country, and our annual conference that brings together allies from across the spectrum from nutrition to agronomy to epigenetics and the microbiome is in December. Information for those who are intrigued is available on our website bionutrient.org, as well free recordings of previous two day courses, extended lectures, and previous conferences.
We are a small grassroots organization that is growing through the passionate engagement of inspired individuals. Feel free to reach out.
Thanks,
Dan
I listened to your presentation and it was fine! I would suggest for any future summit, make a video of you at the blackboard if that’s where you’re comfortable, and maybe provide a transcript if time allows. Back in the day, I thought of being a teacher, until I started taking college courses on it (too much red tape). I still remember the 3 minute mini-lesson we had to do, videotaped, for the class. I practiced hours to get out the info I wanted to in the time allotted, and so it made sense. Bravo for even attempting the slideshow., and thank you for all the work you do.
There is a lot of this information we learned in our Master Gardener’s training. It is a very extensive subject, and leads into so many other areas it would be tough to corral into a comprehensive Power Point. Not an easy presentation to give at any level. I have a tough time speaking to groups, so I surely appreciate Dan’s efforts, and the information he is passing on. Thanks!
It really explained the symbiosis between plants and soil.I didn’t know the plants fed the soil life although I knew soil life was extremely important. By understanding the processes better we can care for the soil better and finish with healthy plants, humans,and Earth.This presentation will really influence the way I garden. Thank you
The absolutely best presentation so far. I really enjoyed it! The information presented is really what I have been looking for and I want to learn more. Thank you!
Tremendous amount of information. Much to digest and research. Would like to hear more from Dan.
I’m about 40 minutes in and this is just fascinating. Taking notes! What a brilliant young man! I had never heard of the BFA, but I’m all over their website now. I grew up on a large conventional farm and have a BS in animal science and am a DVM, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi/bacteria explained quite so succinctly and clearly. I can’t wait to explain this to my children! And I love love love Dan’s point that sick plants don’t give the best food. This just resonated completely with me as veterinarian and a mom. No, I wouldn’t waste a crop already produced, BUT it’s time to better. As an earlier presenter said, and this is a paraphrase, you do the best you can with what you know, and when you know better, you do that. Thanks to all of you for all these presentations, and I hope to meet Dan one day if we can get up the coast!
Wow, what a lot of awesome information. I didn’t watch, just listened while I did a house project, and had no trouble following Dan. Thank you for putting this on. Letting us know it was a higher level topic was really helpful- it put my mind at the right stage to soak up the info. Another great presentation here on the Summit. Bring on Day 5!
This is the one I want to see again, I feel I could listen to this over and over and learn something new every time. Awesome information! I really loved this presentation.
Me too! So many aha moments! So much hope!
I’d really like to do a better job of growing better food. I would like to know what inocculant product to get for all the bacteria and fungi families Dan mentioned. Thanks for all the information, much good info!! I’d like to know more about all of these aspects of growing food. I do have many pests in my garden. Thanks so much.
A hopeful discussion of overarching solutions to real world concerns such as sequestering carbon and public health. Remarkably thoughtful point of views.
Wow! The depth of this presentation is impressive! As I was thinking more about the soil life, I was wondering how chlorinated city water affects the soil microbiology and what can be done to offset any negative affects of the chemicals present in city water. We really don’t have a way to collect rainwater–our roof is the asphalt(or whatever) tile so I don’t think it would be a good for collecting rain water off of it. Thanks again.
He and others had great information. Anyone who has been growing good soil, using plants as fertilizers and growing ecosystems with Permaculture could really relate and appreciate such great presentations and useful info thank you. Utah Valley Permaculture Classroom Gardens & Greenhouse on FB
FANTASTIC! I absolutely LOVED this presentation and wish I could give it 10 stars! I learned so many amazing this, saw a clearer pictures of the completion of the circle: soil, plant, food, water, human health, climate. I think I will watch it again just to fully digest it, and will act on the information by learning as much more as I can and spreading the knowledge. I would really love to share this video with others. Can I?
Tara, and others. Glad to continue to share this information in collaboration with all of you around the country in person and via web tech. See my upcoming presentations around the country at our website bionutrient.org. I also set up free 1.5-2 hr lectures around the country when invited so feel free to reach out.
Thanks,
Dan
Great article and right to the point. I am not sure if this is really the best place to ask but do you folks have any thoughts on where to employ some professional writers? Thanks 🙂
For more info, visit http://bionutrient.org check Library for lots of good resources: http://bionutrient.org/library
There is a youtube channel as well with lots of talks:
Search for ” bionutrient food association’ on youtube
There are several chapters across the country: http://bionutrient.org/chapters/local-chapters
The Hartford CT chapter has a web page with lots of good info: http://bfa.regenerativeag.net/CT/ and a Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8A7jrDaMQZxbjZTW60lcvg
including various workshops by Dan as well as other speakers and farm tours
This really answered my problem, thank you!