Words from…Clarrie Smith on Regenerative Farming

Clarrie is the Farm Manager here at Common Ground Project and has a real passion for growing produce with purpose. You can read more about him here on our team page.

How did you find farming and what inspired you to pursue it beyond a hobby?

I grew up on a farm, however, I was never particularly drawn to it as a career. But when I left home to live in the city, I felt like something was missing and I really wanted to work with my hands. Many of the things that I could see being a possible career from what I was studying at uni didn't really satisfy me. Then one year I came home and just started a little garden and completely fell in love with growing food. I specifically moved to Norlane to grow food, because they had big backyards there. I guess that whole time it was still a hobby, but then after a while I decided I needed to get my act together and find something to pursue as a career and I thought, well, I can be a farmer, I can grow vegetables. The more and more I explored that world, the more and more I realised it's a really important area of study and inquiry for our society.

I was never interested in doing farming in a conventional chemical way. I was always interested in the amazing stuff coming out of the regenerative farming world. I think I just sort of followed my nose in the right direction a lot of the time and sought out other farmers. I just realised that it was that one thing that I could just keep doing every day and I didn’t get bored of it. It made me feel fulfilled. I've always been an all-rounder and been able to do lots of different things, but never to the point where I didn't sort of get bored of it. I usually sort of didn't have faith in myself when it came to other areas, but farming and growing, growing food and plants and veggies in particular, that sort of just ticked all those boxes that everything else didn't.
 

What intrigues you most about regenerative farming practice as opposed to conventional farming or other methods of farming?

I guess like so many young people these days I went through that whole period of being a little bit worried about our future, maybe you want to call it climate anxiety or eco-anxiety. Experiencing that and also being a little bit disillusioned with society generally, it was finding something like regen ag that seemed to have some real tangible answers that were positive. It answers some of the questions that we face and have about where we're all going and what's going to happen in the future. An antidote to that eco anxiety was regenerative farming for me.

Permaculture was something that I don't identify with as much now but used to identify with a lot. I like regenerative farming because it is not so countercultural. It's more inclusive and people everywhere can get along and get involved in it. Whereas permaculture was very much like people setting themselves on the outside of society which was fun for a little while, but I realised that it’s not something I could pursue long term.

How does farming inform your understandings of what a thriving food system could look like?

I think I have this vision that there will be small farms dotted all across the landscape that are managed by people who really care about what they're doing, really love what they're doing, and doing it for the environment and the ecosystem that they live in. As well as you know, making a living. I think it goes beyond just the practices of farming as well. I guess regen farming would also have to include how we shop and where we shop. We could all be regenerative farmers, but then just send our food off in the normal distribution system. It’s got to be consistent the way that you approach it.

What was the CGP farm like when you first started here and what changes have you witnessed over the last 12-18 months?

Well, when I first started here, I was confused about exactly what was going on here and what the goal was and what our purpose was, and whose responsibility was what. I think the people above Flick and I didn't really have a clear understanding either. Fleshing that out with them and having Flicks amazing skills to facilitate meetings really helped us both hone in a vision of what this place should and could look like. We both have very similar sorts of values, in terms of how the place needs to look and feel. It needs to look and feel good.

Hopefully, the business side of things will follow, such as cash flow, etc. but when we first got here, we sort of felt like it wasn't very presentable and we wanted to work really hard on making the place feel like it was somewhere where other people could come and feel good rather than just a place where we slug it out and try and grow a few veggies. It was just a lot of work, a bit by bit, day by day, as well as communicating to the people above us that you know, the money will come eventually, but that work needs to be put into this place. The establishment phase actually takes a while and it needs to be done properly.

That being said, the soil in certain areas had been well looked after and there's been some good stuff like some good foundation work done on that stuff, which is very important. That’s continuing and we're seeing that change for the better in the soil, which is really exciting.

Do you have visions for the farm in the next 12 months?

 I want to have the farm functioning like a business that has standards and that has a system of operations so that it's easy for other people to come in and do the work. I want the place to continue to sell quality vegetables and get more out of less if you know what I mean. To be able to maximize the use of the land. Farms never stop improving.

How did you learn about farming?

I guess I just sought out so many different opportunities. I did WOOFing in France where I went around working on all kinds of farms, and then I moved to Norlane after uni and just played in the garden every spare moment that I had. I asked a biodynamic farmer ‘can I come and work for you?’ He said, ‘absolutely’. I learned a lot from him.

My dad would never identify with the words regenerative agriculture, but has actually been a regenerative farmer his whole life. I have a lot to learn from him and ask him questions about.  

I'm not a fully baked cake when it comes to what I know, still got a lot to learn. So, working here has been a great opportunity, but I've also felt like it's unique because you're always learning. I would much prefer to be doing this than actually be at university.

Do you feel like your understanding of what regenerative means is constantly changing?  

It just means that farmers are caring about the land again. It's also about getting away from the conventional methods of farming. Agriculture has been evolving ever since it began, there's been books from the early 1900s and stuff on farmers that were coming up with amazing techniques before chemicals came onto the scene. To me that’s still regen ag and I guess in the way that we're talking about it, because it's farmers that are caring for the land, making sure that they can do it year after year. It's all site specific, each area has got different needs.

How would you describe our current food system?

Our current food system is segregated and unhealthy. It's disconnected. People don't know what they're putting in their bodies anymore. I understand that our society has gotten to where it has because people have had quick and easy access to food so they could just, I don't know, focus on making computers or something like that instead. It’s convenience, but the consciousness level has disappeared from so many people about what they're consuming. People do get sick from it and there are definitely a number of diseases linked to highly processed and industrial foods.

What do you envision a healthy food system to look like?

It could start with people just being educated. It's a cultural thing. You know, people don't know how to chop a potato and cook a soup anymore. Whereas, you know, you go to some poor countries and they don't have a whole lot of money, but they have the culture there and the knowledge to be able to cook themselves good food. It starts with that; we need to put that back in the system. People have forgotten how to use good ingredients and once people start wanting that, well then I think it will hopefully flow on from there. More people demanding good food, more people getting into farming, and growing on a smaller scale. I guess people probably just taking a little bit more time to access that good food, cook that good food, and share that good food.

What has been one of your most memorable or impressionable experiences working with the land? 

It's just a general feeling of happiness, ease and enjoyment. Seeing plants grow, whether they're vegetables that we then pick and have, beautiful projects in front of us, or planting trees and seeing the land come back to life through regeneration in that way.

I get a lot of satisfaction out of having been involved in say a tree planting project and then coming back two years later and seeing the growth, like that's a special feeling. Lots of little moments, I guess. When I started working on the biodynamic farm in Inverleigh, that was a massive leap for me going from growing veggies in my own backyard to seeing what it takes to grow commercially still using ecological practices, that was a reality check for me.

What are one of the greatest challenges or opportunities you've encountered since you've become a farmer?

 Definitely working at Common Ground Project, that's been my biggest opportunity and challenge. It’s the first time I’ve ever worked full-time and had the reins to look after a larger patch of land. First time I've had orders to meet, more people relying on me I guess. I do feel some pressure from within, to make sure that everything ticks over well and I would never call myself a farmer, even now I sort of say I managed a little farm but I don't really call myself a farmer yet, but it's helping me get to that point. I guess a gardener is someone who grows for fun and as a hobby. They might give a lot of their food away and feed people but a farmer is someone who runs a business, that’s their livelihood.

One of the things that I think defines being a farmer is that you decide your livelihood with each decision that you make, about what you're going to plant, when you're going to plant, and if it doesn't work there's your money down the drain. So, you're looking after your own livelihood by the decisions that you make. There's this huge amount of risk in being a farmer, so I don't feel like I'm in a very risky position yet and still sort of struggling to call myself a farmer, haven’t earnt my stripes yet.

Are there any memorable teachings or lessons that you've observed or taken from working with the farm at CGP?

Yeah. The difficult weather last year just made me respect nature again and respect good design, good farm design, good site selection. Also, watching the farm bounce back and really shake off all the issues of being waterlogged for so long, that sort of stuff was really informative. As long as that life is sort of there humming away underneath it doesn't take too much to make it bubble back up. So, just persistence. I guess that you don't give up, even if you have a really shit time for a while and it's not nice, you just keep going. Things turn around fairly quickly, generally, and you are rewarded.

Do you have a favourite time of year to be on the farm?

Yeah, I think I'm really looking forward this year to doing a big crop plan, planning it all out, making sure that we've got all the right seeds in the right places and now that we've got the seed raising house, we'll just own it. So, spring will be very exciting. They all have their charm. Height of summer, you're not really planting all that much outside, you're just harvesting every day. Harvesting, harvesting, harvesting. Autumn, again is just like that. Softness and a return to a little bit more stillness on the farm. Then winter, everything's kind of asleep. Hibernating. All your hard work sits there over winter. You’ve got veggies to harvest as you need and they're not getting away from you and the weeds aren't going out of control and the pests aren’t hectic. Not much is growing but it's a beautiful stillness. Looking forward to winter for that.

What excites you most about the work you do at CGP?

I love having the responsibility to look after a patch of land. I love growing vegetables and taking care of the soil, but more broadly, I enjoy trying to create a farm that is healthy. Defining farm health is difficult, but I see it as including the trees that surround the farm and the biodiversity that it fosters; I see it including the way we decide to lay the farm out; I see it including the systems that underpin how we operate on the farm and how jobs get done; it includes the relationships that we build with volunteers and the various members of the community that give to CGP. I want this place to feel alive in the sense that everything that we do here has a purpose, and that purpose always points back to having a healthier farm, healthier ecosystem and healthier community. I get incredibly excited when I see the whole farm improving through the work that gets done here. It's very rewarding.

Can you recommend a book, film or podcast for our readers?

Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massy.