Did you know we’ve lost 80% of the nutrients in vegetables in the last 100 years?
As farming has become big agriculture focused on scale, transportation, and profit, human health has suffered along with soil health.
Farmer Lee Jones has become one of regenerative farming’s most enthusiastic promoters, and to hear him wax poetic about butternut squash and the way Brussels sprouts grow is like a sports announcer commentating on the game-winning score!
In this highly entertaining episode (I can see why Rachael Ray offered him a show through her production company!), you’ll get to hear about:
- the unique microclimate along Lake Erie
- the changes in farming and grocery stores in the last 75 years
- how the Jones family has turned many failures into better health for all of us at the Chef’s Garden
- what regenerative farming is, and how even small home gardeners can tap into this traditional, lost wisdom!
- why so many farmers are trapped and hurting the soil
- how the whole mess got started (and who’s behind it)
- how to harness the energy from the sun to create nutrient-rich soil, and how the Chef’s Garden research facility makes old-fashioned farming high tech (without losing the good parts)
- what’s ice spinach???
- how the on-farm chef has figured out the art of using all the parts of the plant, the vegetable version of “nose to tail” cooking
It’s rare to have so much fun on an interview AND learn so much. Farmer Lee Jones does not disappoint!
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Time Stamps for Regenerative Farming
3:40 – Farmer Lee shares his family’s farming story, from working alongside his dad for decades to the devastation of losing everything in the late 70s and starting over on just six acres.
4:13 – How Lake Erie’s shallow waters create one of the richest vegetable-growing microclimates in the world, with soil that’s been nourishing families for thousands of years.
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Truck Farmers and the Lost Art of Regional Food
6:00 – Once upon a time, small family farms supplied hundreds of mom-and-pop grocery stores in Cleveland. Refrigeration and big-box stores changed everything.
10:27 – The shift from cultivating with hoes to spraying genetically modified crops, and how chemical companies trapped farmers in a system that stripped the soil of life.
Chefs as Unexpected Mentors
12:32 – After losing the farm to debt and hailstorms, the Jones family began again. Farmers markets were their lifeline—until a chef asked them to grow for flavor instead of yield.
14:46 – European-trained chefs longed for the variety and flavor they’d grown up with. Their challenge to “grow without chemicals” sparked a revolution at the Chef’s Garden.
What Is Regenerative Farming?
16:31 – It’s not just sustainable (hanging on by your fingertips). Regenerative means rebuilding soil, nutrition, and community for the long haul. Here’s a great post on the Chef’s Table site about Regenerative Agriculture.
18:49 – When the soil is alive, vegetables are more flavorful and nutrient-dense. That’s the cycle we need to restore.
20:10 – Today’s large-scale farmers aren’t to blame—they’re stuck in a system that rewards yield and low costs, even if nutritional levels drop.
Farmers are trapped in a model right now that says keep your costs as low as possible, produce as many tons per acre as you can, and you might stay in business. – Farmer Lee Jones
Cover Crops and Winter Gardening
24:05 – From clover to rye to buckwheat, planting cover crops restores minerals and captures energy from the sun, feeding both the soil and the plants.
26:35 – Vegetables at the Chef’s Garden test 150–300 times higher in nutrients than USDA averages. Even backyard gardeners can try cover crops for better results. Want to get started at home? Check out these techniques for permaculture gardening.
28:15 – How cold frames, solar energy, and Ohio winters create the sweetest, crunchiest spinach you’ll ever taste. Farmer Lee calls it “ice spinach,” and kids love it.
“I just want my kids to eat what I make!”
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Teach every child how to grow a garden, and they’ll eat more vegetables if they get to be a part of the growing process of it. – Farmer Lee Jones
Partnering with Rachael Ray
36:21 – From sending veggie boxes during COVID to filming in Italy, Rachael Ray’s support led to the new A&E show The Chef’s Garden.
40:22 – Just like nose-to-tail eating with animals, we can respect plants by using their stalks, leaves, and trimmings. Brussels sprout leaves taste just like collards!
Functional Medicine Meets Regenerative Farming
43:23 – Doctors are finally making the connection: not all carrots are equal. Nutrient-dense vegetables can literally make cancer treatments more effective.
46:41 – Every day is a chance to start fresh. Teach your kids to grow food, cook together, and eat the rainbow. Healthy soil means healthy families.
Resources We Mention for Regenerative Farming Methods
- Purchase The Chef’s Garden: A Modern Guide to Common and Unusual Vegetables–with Recipes on Amazon or Bookshop.org
- Watch The Chef’s Garden on Amazon or on A&E!
- A Beginner’s Guide to Regenerative Agriculture
- Growing Food in Containers Using Permaculture
- Visit Farmer Lee on his website or on social media: Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok
Farmer Lee Jones is a farmer at the Chef’s Garden in Ohio, the farm his family has owned for decades. They are committed to reviving heirloom vegetables and discovering exciting new varieties, all while telling their stories and farming sustainably so their vegetables are dense with flavor and nutrition. In 2011, Jones was honored with the James Beard Foundation’s award for Who’s Who in Food & Beverage, and he has spoken across the country as an expert in regenerative agriculture. Whether he’s roaming the farm or at a black-tie event, Jones is always seen in his iconic outfit: a white shirt with denim overalls and a red bow tie.
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