Interview: Christine Martin of The Regen Ranch (PART II)
Exploring the potential of native seed banks with a holistic land manager
Hello fellow soil stewards and ecology enthusiasts! Welcome back to Part II of our insightful conversation with regenerative rancher and coach, Christine Martin. Together, we continue exploring holistic land management, the resurgence of native seed banks, and Christine’s invaluable wisdom from years of experience in the field.
In this installment, we dive into:
The awe of seeing native plant species make their return
The critical role livestock play in that restoration process
A glimpse into what it’s like to have a coach through such transformative endeavors
If you missed Part I, you can catch up here. And for those who prefer listening, a text-to-read feature is now available through the substack app.
Andie: Tell us what your experience has been like seeing native species emerge at your ranch? Did it start with just one plant, or was it an entire paddock that transformed at once?
Christine: It’s been incredible to watch. The first sign that my grazing plan was having the desired effect on the ecosystem functions was realizing I had significantly more forage in the second year compared to the first. That increase in vegetation required me to adjust my grazing plan to keep up with the abundance of forage!
One day, while touring the ranch with an NRCS grazing specialist, we were driving around in the mule when he suddenly shouted, “Christine, stop!” with a hard brake I asked, “What are we stopping for?” He pointed and said, “Look! There’s Indiangrass!” Sure enough, there was this big clump of Indiangrass, and it was thriving.
Andie: How exciting! Can you describe why seeing native grasses is so important to you?
Christine: What excites me most about native grasses is their root systems. They have incredibly deep roots, much deeper than non-natives. These large root systems help integrate significantly more water and carbon into the soil making for more resilient ranching.
Andie: Are you seeing more Indiangrass over time? If so, what do you attribute that to?
Christine: Yes, since that discovery, I’ve been seeing more and more Indiangrass each year, although it’s still confined to just one pasture for now. How the animals are managed - their stocking rates, grazing time and rotations are what are creating the right conditions in the soil to encourage more native grasses to germinate.
If you graze the pasture when the seed head is just starting to develop, you’re helping with propagation.
Grass has a sigmoid growth pattern, and ideally, we want to graze it just at the top of that curve, right before it goes to seed. When livestock graze at the right time, the viable seed heads they consume pass through their rumen, where they’re exposed to enzymes and microbes. What isn’t digested is deposited back into the soil through their manure, essentially reseeding the pasture naturally and with the help of some microbes and organic matter.
Andie: That’s why holistic grazing is the ultimate tool to restore land because of that cycle right there!
Christine: It’s not only effective, but actually needed in brittle environments. For instance, in central and west Texas, grazing animals help with mineral and water cycles. Manure is wet, it helps introduce moisture into the soil while also providing nutrients and microbial life. When properly managed, grazing can stimulate native vegetation and revitalize seemingly deserted areas.
Andie: That’s a super important point, and it can feel counterintuitive. My husband and I love visiting the Big Bend area in West Texas and as you get into the small towns like Terlingua you’ll see homes with one longhorn and no standing forage in sight. It feels like the wrong place to be raising an animal like that, but the more you understand the natural history of the place you start to realize that much of that area had been grassland. And yes, there were natural periods of drought which likely kept native herds migrating, but the seed bank is there even in the places that we now consider desert.
Christine: Yes, and I’m sure you’re familiar with the example of Alejandro Carrillo’s transformation of land in the Chihuahuan Desert. His work demonstrates how powerful holistic grazing can be, even in extreme conditions. What’s even more inspiring is that many of his neighbors are adopting similar practices, and they’re starting to observe higher rainfall in their area. Through these efforts, they’re essentially restoring the small water cycle in the region, bringing life back to the land.
Andie: Oh my goodness, I know—chills! My husband and I love visiting the Big Bend region; the more examples I see of reversing desertification, the more my imagination ignites thinking of what it would be like for that area to be grassland once again.
Andie: If someone comes to you and tells you that they just purchased land and they want to be managing animals in the next 6 months so they’re planning on buying seed, how do you coach them through that?
Christine: Often, we start with numbers, and I try to set conservative expectations, especially for new landowners—the learning curve is steep. Sometimes, it’s about adjusting those expectations. For example, you might want to start with cattle, but what if we begin with poultry instead? Poultry can have a significant impact on the land, especially in urban areas, and they have a much shorter growth cycle, which can help get the business moving. While cattle take two years or more, chickens can be ready in just eight weeks, and they do an excellent job of kickstarting the four ecosystem functions.
Christine: I also find myself frequently reminding folks that while their goals are achievable, restoring degraded land is a process that requires patience. It took years for the land to reach its current state, and it will take time—not just for the land to heal but also for you to learn and adapt as a steward.
Andie: Exactly, you can’t just dive into the deep end if you don’t know how to swim. Honestly, I sometimes feel that way about my own suburban lot—ha! There are moments when I think, "Maybe a smaller lot would’ve been better." It’s a lot to manage, especially when you’re trying to steward it with intention.
Christine: What does land management look like for you in a suburban context?
Andie: I manage my suburban lot with a “party in the back, business in the front” approach—ha! In the backyard, I experiment freely, letting things grow as they will. Some of it brings me joy—like the thriving frogfruit that attracts pollinators and the thrill of a wooly verbena spontaneously germinating (from the seed bank!)
But other parts, like the relentless rhizomatic small ragweed, can trigger anxiety. My version of “grazing” involves a weed wacker and spreading compost instead of manure. Interestingly, I see parallels to ranching—this type of management leads to more vegetation, which creates a cycle of abundance I have to keep tending to.
In my case, there’s no business tied to my stewardship, but I feel a responsibility to improve the biodiversity here, especially because this land was excavated and degraded in my name, to build my home. Restoring the ecosystem functions, even on a small suburban lot, is a way of giving back to the land that holds us.
Christine: I like to say if you eat at least once a day you’re a land steward.
Andie: I love that! And that’s why experiences like field harvests are so important to me because as a meat eater it’s actually unsettling to think I could go my whole life being nourished by animals, and yet never take part in the emotional experience of ending one’s life.
Andie: Is there anything we haven’t talked about that you’d like to touch on?
Christine: I’d like to acknowledge that we’re not taught about a lot of the things we’re discussing. Who learns about the seed bank in school? Institutions and mainstream resources tend to tell us that we need to seed and fertilize to grow healthy plants.
But there’s so much more nuance than that. So, there’s a lot of education that goes into coaching, but the main thing is walking people through the questions that will help them identify the specifics of their contexts and balance the three legged stool of finances, environment and quality of life. And when there is more than one person involved, like couples who manage land together, they can often have different individual interests and goals regarding the land and I can help coach them through that.
Andie: I really don’t know how people do this without the support of a coach.
Christine: I do! I spent 10 years managing land before learning holistic management, and those years were filled with mistakes, losses, frustration, and money down the drain. Learning the holistic framework is when everything finally clicked for me. It’s because of those struggles that I’m so passionate about helping others to discover and apply the holistic approach.
My goodness, there’s so much we didn’t even get into—and that’s the beauty of this work. It’s endless. We’re always in relationship with the land, and that relationship evolves constantly, shaped by changes in our context, whether it’s our physical location or our personal priorities and goals.
If this conversation sparked any new ideas or reflections for you, I’d love to hear about them. Feel free to share in the comments or reply to this email privately—I always enjoy connecting with you.
With love,
Andie
Connect with Christine
Christine Martin, Holistic & Regenerative Agricultural Coach
theregenranchconsulting.com | info@theregenranch.com | @regenranchconsulting
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