Farming and Smallholding © Johanna McTiernan Dan McTiernan describes how regenerative agriculture is transforming olive groves in Spain and introduces © Johanna McTiernan transnational cropshare Restoring Agriculture in the Mediterranean “It’s not just that traditional Mediter- Together with our friends, who own healthy, perennial Mediterranean crops heavy input, bare-earth paradigm ranean agriculture isn’t sustainable a similar piece of land, and working that can’t be grown in Britain easily. of agriculture that is having such a ... it isn’t even viable on any level in partnership with IPM, we have If managed holistically, olives, nut destructive impact on the environ- anymore!” That was one of the first started Terra CSA, a multi-farm com- bearing trees such as almonds, and ment and the climate. All other things Richard Wade of Instituto munity supported agriculture project vine products like red wine, are about non-cold-pressed seed oils require Permacultura Montsant (IPM) said using permaculture and regenerative as perennial and sustainable as crops high levels of processing involving to us during our six month intern- agriculture to build soil and deliver come. We want the UK to still be heat and solvents in the extraction ship with him here in the south of olive oil, almonds and wine direct to able to access these incredibly process that are energy and resource Catalunya, Spain. cropshare members in the UK. nutritious products alongside the heavy and questionable in terms of With his doom laden words still Having been involved in community need to relocalise as much of our health to people and the planet. ringing in our ears but fuelled by his supported food businesses for the food production as we can. In contrast, the majority of our knowledge, experience and desire to past six years, (Johanna and I are the Cold-pressed rapeseed, flax or olive trees are more than two overcome this status quo and to create co-founders of The Handmade Bakery; hemp oils are the best alternatives in hundred years old and until the last a truly viable, regenerative agriculture Graham and Helen are two of the Britain for cold-pressed extra virgin thirty years, have been producing oil for Spain, we decided to try and founders of the Green Valley Grocer olive oil. While it is possible to produce and table olives every year without © Johanna McTiernan become part of the solution. We in Yorkshire), we are exploring what these quality oils in the UK from these irrigation or any chemical inputs. bought a 1.4 hectare (3.5 acre) olive the CSA model could look like as a seeds, even under organic conditions, If cared for, they will continue to and almond grove where we now trading model between bioregions. We producers are still locked into the produce delicious produce for hund- live in a yurt with our two children. see ourselves as a UK CSA for all the broadscale monoculture, tillage, reds of years to come. Top: Author Dan McTiernan. Bottom: Arbequina olives which are grown for oil production at Finca Slow. Main picture: Otso and Leo McTiernan enjoying the olive harvest at Instituto Permacultura Montsant. 46 permaculture No. 81 www.permaculture.co.uk www.permaculture.co.uk No. 81 permaculture 47 Farming and Smallholding Farming and Smallholding is a major cause of one of the biggest such as Darren Doherty, Mark ment made by Richard mentioned at environmental problems affecting Shepard, Stefan Sobkowiak and Ben the beginning of the article. We aim the EU: widespread soil erosion and Falk to name just a few, we are very to prove that not only can small-scale desertification in Spain, Greece, excited about the future. Mediterranean farming become finan- Italy and Portugal. We are already starting to have a cially viable again, with its emphasis “Inappropriate weed-control and positive impact on others. IPM has put firmly back into the improving soil-management practices, combined just signed a contract to help manage health of the soil, but we can also with the inherently high risk of a large acreage of the Montsant help create systems that are replicable erosion in many olive-farming areas, National Park (a farmed area which on much larger scales throughout is leading to desertification on a wide has either been abandoned or poorly Spain and beyond to restore, heal, and scale in some of the main producing managed). This is a radical realisation build soils, while growing fabulous regions, as well as considerable run-off on their part that meaningful land produce at the same time of soils and agrochemicals into water regeneration is needed. In our bodies.” (The Ecologist, 2008) village, a Catalan farmer friend has Dan McTiernan is the co-founder While these farming practices are decided to convert large swathes of his of Terra CSA and The Handmade systemic throughout industrial agri- groves to organic after conversations Bakery, the first Community culture, it’s the brittle (erratic and with us and others. The next step is Supported Bakery in the UK. Both powerful rainfall in winter with long to work with him to develop beyond projects were designed using perma- dry summers) climate of Mediterranean baseline organic to a truly regenerative culture principles and ethics. Spain that exacerbates and accelerates approach. Meanwhile, he has He runs School of Slow with his © © Dan McTiernan their negative impacts and is leading Dan McTiernan become our olive pruning mentor! wife Johanna, an education project us down a dangerous path. The aim of our farms and of Terra committed to exploring, rediscovering When we bought our small slice of CSA is to reverse the damning state- and developing the skills intrinsic to Spain in April 2013, this was pretty slow food and living simply. Finca PERMACULTURE GROVES much the story here too. While not olives in the first place. We made a movement will, I firmly believe, Slow is their family home, farm Our vision for these groves is a intensively grown (traditional orchards solemn promise to him on the day change agriculture for the better, and bakery. They grow Fulla de permacultural one; very effective often have up to 8m (26.2ft) between we bought the land that we would forever. Permaculture is finally Salze and Arbequina olives for oil, cycling of nutrients, water, carbon olive trees), the farming practices look after it, especially as most of the penetrating the industrial paradigm, almonds, and are developing vegetable and sunlight with a well designed, of the previous owner mimicked the trees are Fulla de Salze, a rare variety thousands of acres at a time, exposing and cereal growing and sheep and ever increasing diversity of plant and the fallacy of chemical extractive chicken raising. animal species, a permanent living farming and proving, through an ground-cover and to quote one of ever-increasing body of evidence, that To find out more about Finca Slow, Geoff Lawton’s favourite phrases, the future can and will be different. the homestead of Dan and Johanna “total abundance”! So what does a permaculture McTiernan see: The problem of course is the last Mediterranean agriculture look like? www.fincaslow.wordpress.com half century of ‘progress’. What had Well, here at Finca Slow, our been a stable tree crop system for the homestead and orchard, we are For more information on Graham previous 2,000 years in Spain, with designing for a huge increase in tree, Mitchell and Helen Coxan’s farm, goats and sheep pastured under the bush and vine crops. We are starting Finca Tàperes, see: olives and through the vineyards, to to use livestock (chickens and sheep http://incatalunya.wordpress.com manage weeds and naturally fertilise to begin with) in a Holistic Planned © Johanna McTiernan © the trees, is now more and more MitchellGraham Grazing system to break up badly For more on Instituto Permacultura starting to resemble a desert. In fact, compacted soils, add fertility and Montsant see: Spain is desertifying on such an increase the density and longevity of www.permacultura-montsant.org alarming scale (approximately 20% living ground-cover throughout the of the entire country according to trend seen everywhere: a ploughed of which there are only 200 hectares year. Over at Finca Tàperes, our Reuters), that the EU has commis- and herbicided lifeless car park (494 acres) left in the world. sister farm, Graham and Helen are CROPSHARE HUB sioned several reports on destructive beneath the trees, fungicide and The issue, of course, is that his busily constructing our Actively agricultural practices in the Mediter- pesticide used liberally and frequently, idea of ‘looking after’ and ours is Aerated Compost Tea brewer à la Terra CSA is a part of CSA UK and is currently consulting with other ranean, often citing industrial olive and the inevitable addiction to wildly divergent. Elaine Ingham of the Soil Learning members to work with them to provide our produce direct to their artificial fertilisers. That’s where pioneers such as farming as a substantial contributor. Centre. Richard and his son Kevin customers. The first cropshares will be delivered to the UK in February 2015. This is a massive issue that affects the The irony is that Miguel loves Richard Wade, and the new wave of Wade are adapting their newly If you are interested in becoming a cropshare hub, helping us crowdfund rest of Europe and the wider world these trees and seems occasionally Iberian regenerative farmers come in. acquired Yeomans Plough with tea the equipment and infrastructure we need to hit the climatically and socio-economically. regretful that he decided to sell this We really have become land owners injectors that we hope to make use of In 2001, and things have declined finca to us.