This is a short snapshot of a B4SS side-project in Australia:

Ruy Anaya de la Rosa and Adam Blakester began working on this AFS side project voluntarily, lending a hand with our biochar knowledge for another Starfish regenerative farming project, The Carbon Farm (http://thecarbonfarm.com.au/).

What began as a small side-project has grown.

B4SS has since brought The Carbon Farm together with the Australia New Zealand Biochar Initiative (ANZBI). They, including Prof Stephen Joseph, are now actively supporting their efforts to incorporate biochar into their regenerative practices. Prof Annette Cowie has kindly shared knowledge with them too. ANZBI made a live broadcast of an all-day regenerative farming workshop, which included sessions about biochar.

Georgie Pollard, one of the artists from the Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation who put this great video together, has chosen biochar, and carbon more broadly, to be the focus of her work. You briefly see her biochar bed installation in the video. It’s called The Long Sleep, and evokes the permanence of carbon returning to the earth.

It is quite different to be working on a genuine pursuit of artistry, farming and science combined. We have of course used many creative and artistic means to communicate and engage for B4SS too, however not to the same extent as The Artist, Scientist and Farmer project is.

To date, the interest and involvement by other farmers, extension networks, the wider community and media has been strong.

It’s been a promising positive in the face of the serious drought in this area of Australia at the moment.