Regenerative agriculture has become something of a buzzword in the food industry, tossed around in menus and marketing without much explanation of what it actually requires. PearlJack Farms is a working answer to that question.

In the development of human culture, we've separated agriculture from nature quite a bit. Regenerative farming is about bringing those two things back together.

On the farm, that means thinking of the land not as a place where animals are raised, but as an ecosystem—one that the animals are actively part of, not separate from. The physical act of sheep grazing stimulates root growth. Their manure and urine fertilize the soil. Their movement through paddocks creates habitat for insects and birds.

It's meant to mimic the natural ecosystems around us and be a part of them.

But she's clear-eyed about how hard this is to actually do. In year one, even with the best intentions, she overgrazed. Regenerative farming is a dynamic, constantly shifting practice of reading the land and responding to it.

You can't get into a rut in your practices. You have to be constantly responding to changes in weather, changes in how the grass is growing. This time last year, different species were growing up in our pastures than this year because it was a wetter winter. Which means I need to change the size of the paddocks or how frequently I move the animals.

Now approaching year five, she says the reward is starting to show.

I see our land changing—the pastures getting lusher, more birds showing up, more insects. It's incredibly rewarding to see the ecosystem coming to life.