Natural farming for biodiversity first, with Joshua Sparkes

I’m really excited to share this conversation with all of you today, because Joshua Sparkes not only has a unique perspective on gardening and food production, he also speaks about these topics from a lot of experience and infectious passion. I’ve spoken to tons of farmers and gardeners on this show, and many of them are experts in permaculture, or market gardening, or native plants, or any other specialty, but in Josh’s case, he’s studied in many parts of the world and learned a range of disciplines that he combines in his own unique way to create a truly inspiring and evolving food production system at Birch farm in the UK, that actually doesn’t focus primarily on food growing at all. Before I let him explain that, let’s start at the beginning. Josh was fortunate to grow up in a wild part of Sussex surrounded by forests and meadows. When he finished school He joined the military and served overseas. He says his childhood was often a place he retreated too during hard times and it made him realise that his love came from nature, and so he’s dedicated the last 15 years to make sure he can do his best to support and protect it through his work, which was the beginning of his journey into Natural Farming. In this episode Josh will explain how attending a horticulture program opened doors to travel and learn from farmers and gardeners around the world and how that has shaped his vision for Birch farm. We explore how putting a main focus on increasing biodiversity has evolved into a wild configuration of plants in a small space which includes trees, and species that most consider weeds and pests as part of an integral system which aims to reach a balance through many multiple interconnections rather than eradication or suppression of certain life forms. Josh also explains how principles of natural farming and syntopic agriculture are married with the need to produce vegetables for a farm store and connected restaurant while also providing unique culinary and sensory experiences for customers. Of all the different food production systems that I’ve heard described on this show, I would say that the vision that Josh describes is the most aligned with my own for my own farm, just with much more knowledge and practical experience.