There is an article that precedes this, introducing syntropic farming. I think it could be valuable to read it first. What The Flip is Syntropic?
In this, I aim to set out the practical information for implementing a syntropic system. The Paddock is our case study, and the Chief of this jardim (garden), Rodrigo, is our messiah. Our hope in the desert of traditional monoculture farming practices? An agroforestry system of reciprocity and abundance.
This method of growing and managing forests to produce nutrient rich food, invigorates biodiversity, cools the climate, cultivates soil structure and fertility, retains water, reintroduces environmental resilience, and has the ability to reconcile humans with the planet. The act of learning from–and mimicking–the forest, reminds us that as humans, we are merely the olive tapenade to a dinner of clever guests. Learn from them. Pay attention. Don’t be tyrannical, nor unyoke yourself from the genius of our mother.
Okay. Syntropic. Or in the native language that it was theorised; Sintropia. Immediately led by our messiah into sinking sand, we tread carefully, because “there is no recipe to syntropy”. Think of this then as provisionary culinary training, with the proviso that with the principles taught comes an invitation for you to experiment.
“Though the principles remain the same; cover the soil, maximise photosynthesis, create biodiversity, and manage the growth, the context is the thing that changes. Place to place, farmer to farmer. What do you want to grow? What is the type of soil that you have? The climate? The rainfall average that you have per year? What are the resources that you have? Do you have tractors, machinery, labour?” Rodrigo.
The paddock has syntropic rows that home plants of different succession stages (life-cycles) and stratifications (light requirements). A forest is an ecology of renewal that develops over time. By replicating this, the plants that have a shorter life-span can prepare the ground in a cycle that, with time, becomes increasingly complex. Within these rows are ‘support plants’ and ‘target plants’. In Rodrigo’s system the target plants are citrus. Lime, finger lime, lemon, orange, pomelo. These trees–not yet two years old–have laden branches leaning heavy with fruit.
“When we started these rows we planted species where their life cycle is thirty-five to forty-five days (rockets, radish, lettuce), and on the same day, we planted things that can stay five hundred years in the system (eucalyptus, silky oaks, casuarinas, timber trees). Because of their difference, we can plant them very dense, and manage them to fulfil a function.”
To each syntropic row, there are two correlating market garden beds. Let me remind you (as Chief did to me) there is no recipe.
“We have two rows of produce growing in between our syntropic rows because our pathways are wider so that everyone can be in the garden (referring to equal access for people with disabilities). If the market garden was the main goal, we could have more space between the tree rows and more veggie rows in the middle.”
Allow me to suppose that the person reading this has an urban plot with a yard space of one metre squared. By planting one syntropic row beside one garden bed, you could nurture anything to grow. For imagination's sake, urbanite, let’s say you want an edible garden. The socialites at the farmers market get your goat, and everytime you go into a produce shop your pockets seem to accrue holes in them.
This forest-in-miniature system would create enough biomass to consistently regenerate your edible garden with a compost that biodegrades on its own. You would consistently spend a little time mimicking a storm, or a giant, and the remaining hard work would be done by the ecosystem. Your soil would be rich and biodiverse, your yields plentiful, and your plot would be fostering the natural succession of ecological balance.
“What I like to do is have the trees at five to six metres tall so I can have the ladder reach them to prune them back. Eventually those trees will be used for beautiful timber, but right now their function is to produce biomass– to chop and drop. We need the big trees sending deep roots into the soil– getting nutrients from deep in the clay– and pumping those nutrients to the surface, so we can use this organic matter to feed the soil. That soil then becomes our compost that we use when turning our market garden beds.”
Imperative to the process is to keep the soil always covered with a balance of materials.
We spoke of nitrogen rich pigeon pea branches, liquid-filled banana trunks, rapid growing cassava, hardwood, softwood, leaves, mulch, fronds. In this system each material will demand a specific type of microorganism to decompose, so biological activity is the powerhouse.
By chopping and dropping you are not just providing the ground with dense biodiverse organic matter, you are also maximising photosynthesis, boosting the system’s efficiency, and changing its mycorrhiza (symbiotic relationship between roots and fungi).
Ernst Gotsch noted that when experimenting with forest mimcry on his land, the thinning and pruning of the trees that first started growing was the turning point which changed everything. It became an imperative part of the to the Syntropic process that he theorised. Read more on Gotsch from my initial piece on syntropy. Back to the mind of Rodrigo.
“Pruning is the fuel of transformations. It makes plants increase root activities which boosts the system’s metabolism and efficiency. One of the consequences of the new metabolism is the production of gibberellic acid which induces plant growth. New growth strengthens their symbiotic relationships with bacteria and fungi, resulting in nutrient production. This process is the fertilisation of the field. The photosynthesis rate of pruned plants is higher, and more photosynthesis means more sequestered carbon. It also means that more sunlight is being used, which is cooling the environment, and cooler environments mean more water.”
As we meandered, speaking to the potent nature of observation, the biological activity and insect life was thick. I learnt something that day of weak cabbage and eggs.
“The bugs that are eating your vegetables are actually telling you that there is something not right. It could be an imbalance of nutrients, moisture, or biology in the soil. That white moth is a beautiful indicator. She loves the brassicas, we call that the cabbage moth. Now is the season of the brassicas, so she comes and lays her eggs only on the weak plants. They have a kind of infra-red vision and they go around and scan the garden and where they see a weak plant, that’s where they lay. It is easier for their baby caterpillars to digest the leaves of the weaker brassicas. They don't lay their eggs on the healthy ones. That’s crazy isn’t it? They are bioindicators. Something is going wrong where they are laying their eggs.”
To summarise, I say that this work of abundance is a shift in our interpretation of food systems, and what it means to ‘provide for our kind’. We can reconcile devastated land, assist microclimates to regulate heat, and grow food.
Chief leaves you with this. “If the planet turns into a ball of fire, it is alright for the planet. It was a ball of fire a long time ago, right? Also a ball of ice, maybe not so long ago. And a ball of water. So it doesn’t matter for the planet, it is just for us. I say that this is a wonderful place, and that we are so lucky to be able to keep coming back here (Earth). The forest is the most resilient living organism on the planet. If you have any problems, run to the forest. So that’s why. Syntropy is the way.”
Resources
https://freight.cargo.site/m/D1881420224775727843088011620852/Livreto-Agricultura-Sintropica---ENGLISH.docx
https://agendagotsch.com/en/
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