An EcoFarmer’s Discovery Chapter 5: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

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 episode of “An Eco Farmer’s Discovery,” Ewan and Stephen discuss the next big leap in Ewan’s farming story, leaving the flat peatlands behind and starting over on a rugged 200-hectare hill-country block in Waihi.

Trading the dairy shed for open pastures, Ewan discovers that the challenges of new land bring valuable lessons in observation, adaptability, and soil understanding. Between runaway tractors, waterlogged paddocks, and hard-earned experiments, this chapter is about learning by doing and letting nature become the teacher.

We explore:

• The move from dairy farming to beef and the freedom it brought

• Early lessons from farming on hill country and managing rainfall

• Using livestock to control weeds and improve pasture health

• The first on-farm fertilizer trials that sparked a lifelong curiosity

• Why soil biology, not chemicals, is the key to fertility

• Understanding that profit comes from balance, not production

• How turning mistakes into experiments shaped the EcoFarm philosophy

Full of humour, humility, and hands-on wisdom, this episode marks a turning point in Ewan’s journey, where his farm became his classroom, and his curiosity became his greatest tool.

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.

So, grab the audiobook on Spotify or Kindle and read along with each chapter as we expand, reflect, and add context.

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: check out the official page at EcoFarm Aotearoa (www.efa.nz)