"In order for people to heal, the land had to be healed." - James Skeet
​Covenant Pathways and Spirit Farm, located in the Navajo reservation, has been researching the relationship between soil microbes and the richness of nutrients in their vegetables. The focus of their research is to determine methods of increasing the nutrients in the foods grown in their gardens and in the meats raised on their pastures without expensive inputs. Their results showed that the more microbes present in the soil, the higher the nutrient richness, which ultimately results in sweeter, better-tasting vegetables (measured in Brix value). Another important insight from this research project was that native corn had much higher Brix values than non-native corn. When native corn was grown in microbe-rich soils, the Brix value was even higher, resulting in more nutrient-dense and better-tasting corn. The process of building soil microbial growth is being shared through the native community growers throughout the Navajo reservation. Covenant Pathways credits their native ancestors for Indigenous Regenerative Intelligence so they can pass down the sacredness of farming practices to build healthy microbial soils, which will result in healthier communities and a healthier Earth.

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