An EcoFarmers Discovery Chapter 10: ScienceWelcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming. A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode:

Chapter 10 dives into the “simple” observations that led Ewan to uncover one of the biggest missing pieces in modern farming: soil is electrically driven. By revisiting school science, comparing reactivity charts, and talking with engineers, Ewan realised why minerals move the way they do, why plants absorb nutrients in different ratios than the soil holds, and why water-soluble fertilisers often create more problems than they solve.

From potassium corrosion to aluminium toxicity, cation exchange capacity, humus, and seasonal electrical switches inside trees, this chapter exposes the hidden electrical currents that shape soil health, plant growth, animal performance, and even the weeds that appear on your farm. Once you understand the electrical language of nature, the whole system starts making sense.

We explore:
• Why nutrients flow through plants electrically, not by solubility
• How water-soluble fertilisers trigger animal health issues
• The real meaning of CEC and why humus transforms soil capacity
• How electricity reveals toxicity, mineral imbalance & soil weakness
• What poplar trees, Redwood giants & solar-charged greenhouses teach us about natural electrical flow

Packed with humour, clarity, and practical insights, this episode shows why understanding electricity in the soil changes everything about how we farm.

Follow along: Watch full episodes on YouTube and Spotify Video.
Useful links:
• Learn more at EcoFarm Aotearoa (efa.nz)

• Our FREE E-Book! HERE• Listen To An EcoFarmers Discovery:

Cyanobacteria: The Hidden Engine Driving Your Soil The EcoFarm Aotearoa Podcast (Ep. 10)

Most farmers know about clover, fungi, and fertiliser… but very few understand the microscopic lifeform that actually built the planet and is still driving soil fertility today. In this episode, Stephen and Ewan uncover the extraordinary role of cyanobacteria, the organisms that oxygenated Earth, created the first soils, and remain the biggest untapped force in New Zealand farming.

Building on last week’s conversation, we explore why farmers who understand cyanobacteria gain deeper topsoil, stronger nutrient cycling, explosive winter growth, and long-term fertility without expensive inputs. From tissue salts to nitrogen fixation, worm castings to carbon gains, this episode connects the smallest biology to the biggest on-farm results.

We discuss:
• Why cyanobacteria are the true “regenerating motor” of the soil
• How they build carbon, release nitrogen, phosphorus & sulphur, and deepen topsoil
• The mineral imbalance (silicon vs aluminium) that determines pasture vs weeds
• Why chemical sprays collapse soil biology and stop carbon from recovering
• How worms, tardigrades & microbes digest cyanobacteria into long-lasting humus

Hosted by: Stephen Brunton & Ewan Campbell
Powered by: EcoFarm Aotearoa – www.efa.nz

Our FREE E-Book!

https://www.ecofarmaotearoa.nz/download-our-ebook/

Listen To An EcoFarmers Discovery:

https://open.spotify.com/show/3wIgUUghlsKIje76E5tjBA?si=4caf7169d6eb4d97

Subscribe for weekly episodes exploring soil biology and regenerative farming solutions transforming the way we farm in New Zealand.

An EcoFarmer’s Discovery Chapter 9: Electrifying

Welcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.

You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming. A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode:

In this electrifying chapter of An EcoFarmer’s Discovery, Ewan and Stephen explore the pivotal moment when a simple observation on the farm cracked open an entirely new understanding of how the land really works. After noticing kelp meal lining up perfectly in a bin, Ewan followed his curiosity into the worlds of paramagnetism, UV-reactive silica, natural electrical currents, and soil biology, uncovering a hidden layer of nature’s design that most farmers never see.

From conversations with electrolytic engineers to experiments with magnetite, marine silts, gemstone UV boxes, and multimeters in the paddock, Ewan discovered that the soil isn’t just biological, it’s electrical. This chapter reveals how sunlight, silica, magnetic fields, and paramagnetism interact beneath our feet, shaping plant growth, nutrient movement, animal performance, and even how shells break down on a beach.

We explore:

• How a strange alignment of kelp meal sparked an investigation into soil electricity
• Why magnetite, UV-reactive silica, and paramagnetic soils behave like a natural solar panel
• How electrical currents amplify mineral movement, plant growth, and even toxins
• Why superphosphate destroys the soil’s electrical potential and how to fix it
• The link between electrical fields, livestock performance, and human health

Full of discovery, honesty, and real-world experimentation, this episode captures the moment Ewan’s journey shifted from soil chemistry to the unseen forces that drive life itself and how understanding those forces reshaped everything he believed about farming.

Subscribe or follow to hear more from Ewan’s 26-chapter journey into natural farming wisdom from his book An EcoFarmer’s Discovery.

Watch us on video: Episodes are also published in full on YouTube and Spotify Video.

Useful Links & Info

• Listen / read along on Spotify (Audiobook): An EcoFarmer's Discovery: How the Soil Really Works — available here: On Spotify

• Book / Audiobook details: Visit the official page at EcoFarm Aotearoa (www.efa.nz)