The Shared World Project
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Program

Regenerative & Organic Farming Research

Soil first. Everything else follows.

Advancing soil health, biodiversity, and food security.

Soil

Center of every decision we make

Open

Methods + findings published as we learn

Local

Adapted to where the partner farm grows

Founding service area

Austin, TX / San Antonio, TX / Houston, TX

What we need to start the project

Launch needs come first.

Research plots, hand and mechanical tools, soil-test capacity, a seed library, and a small mobile-irrigation kit get us to first measurable soil outcomes.

Estimated seed budget

$30K to $60K to stand up first research plots and seed library

Service area: Austin, TX / San Antonio, TX / Houston, TX

  • 01

    Land & growing infrastructure

    • Partner farms or 2 to 5 acre research plots near Austin / San Antonio / Houston
    • BCS or 2-wheel walking tractor with rotary plow and bed-shaper attachments
    • Hoop houses or low-tunnel kits for season extension
    • Drip irrigation systems and mainline plumbing
    • Cover-crop seed inventory (rye, vetch, clover, sun hemp)
    • Open-pollinated, regional vegetable seed inventory
  • 02

    Hand tools & equipment

    • Broadforks, hoes, hand seeders, transplanters
    • Wheel hoes (Glaser-style)
    • Compost spreaders, soil amendment buckets
    • Refractometers, pH meters, soil moisture probes
    • Seedling trays, soil-blockers, propagation racks
    • Grow lights for early-season propagation
  • 03

    Seed library & data

    • Cold seed-storage refrigerator/freezer
    • Seed-packaging supplies (envelopes, labels, label printer)
    • Microscope (basic 400x for soil-food-web work)
    • Field tablets and data-logging software
    • Lab-partnership budget (Texas A&M AgriLife, local extension)
    • Soil test kits + outsourced lab test budget
  • 04

    Field-day operations

    • Pickup truck for field-day logistics
    • Greenhouse / shade-structure tents for outdoor classes
    • Demonstration tables, signage, sample boards
    • Apprentice stipend program
    • Insurance covering on-farm volunteer work

In-kind donations

Useful goods can launch real work.

These items are especially helpful if they are sitting unused and still in working condition.

  • Donated or low-cost research plots in our Texas service cities
  • Walking tractors, hoop-house frames, drip irrigation supplies
  • Open-pollinated seeds suited to Texas climates
  • Pro bono soil-science consultation
  • Pickup trucks for hauling between sites

About this program

Soil first. Everything else follows.

Advancing soil health, biodiversity, and food security.

  • Soil health

    Cover-cropping protocols, compost integration, and measurable indicators of living soil.

  • Polyculture & agroforestry

    Mixed systems that mimic natural ecologies: yield, resilience, and biodiversity together.

  • Seed sovereignty

    Open-pollinated, locally adapted varieties saved by the people who grow them.

Soil first. Everything else follows.

Regenerative & Organic Farming Research is where we put the question of soil at the center. Healthy soil grows nutrient-dense food, holds water, sequesters carbon, and supports biodiversity, and it's renewable when it's cared for. We research methods that make farming a regenerative practice rather than an extractive one.

What we research and support

  • Organic and beyond-organic farming practices, with an emphasis on small and mid-scale operations.
  • Soil health metrics, cover-cropping protocols, and compost integration.
  • Polyculture and agroforestry systems that mimic natural ecologies.
  • Seed sovereignty work: open-pollinated, locally adapted varieties saved by the people who grow them.

Who we partner with

Family farms, co-op farms, urban farms, indigenous land stewards, and university research programs. We share what we learn so that the methods spread faster than any one organization can carry them.

Get involved

Whether you grow on a windowsill or run a hundred acres, there's a place to contribute. Our program also supports apprentices through Education & Training.

Current focus

What is underway right now.

  • Active design

    Compost-to-bed pipeline

    Linked with Second Life Collective

    Routing compost from organic-waste collection directly into raised-bed installs at our community gardens.

  • Open call

    Apprenticeship cohort

    Open call for farms

    Pairing apprentices with mid-scale partner farms practicing regenerative methods.

The fastest way to lose a food system is to forget the ground. The fastest way to rebuild one is to feed the ground first.

Working principle, Regenerative Agriculture program