John Beeby

Soon after graduating college and working as a molecular biologist, I discovered my love of plants. After being introduced to the idea of plants as indicators of soil conditions, I began collecting and compiling papers, books and other publications on the subject. At the same time, I learned to garden and, with plant identification books in hand, started to apply the knowledge to my small garden. Even a walk down a city block became a fascinating adventure of attempting to identify and then decipher clues from the plants I would see. These experiences made it clear to me that I really enjoyed learning about plants and soil and wanted to learn more.

From 1992 to 1996, I worked with John Jeavons and Ecology Action, learning and eventually helping others to learn how to grow food with GROW BIOINTENSIVE® sustainable agriculture. During that time, I continued to develop my understanding of plants as soil indicators and also wrote a book on human waste recycling called Future Fertility: Transforming Human Waste into Human Wealth, which was published by EA.

I currently reside in rural Ithaca, New York, with my wife Meghan and various companion animals. I work at Cornell University, managing their molecular diagnostic lab in the Animal Health Diagnostic Center. I also operate Grow Your Soil a soil consulting service which develops customized recommendations for farmers worldwide for organic fertilizers that are available to them, based on their soil test results. In addition, I continue to develop Harvest Planner, a web-based tool to help families design, plan and grow nutritionally complete diets sustainably. I am also an associate editor of the journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, and am involved as a consultant on projects in Africa and Latin America on minimizing the need for agricultural inputs and identifying indicator plants in Latin America.

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