The synergistic orchard is the most respectful form for nature that can be conceived to make the garden: it promotes the mechanisms of self-fertility of the land, without plowing or fertilizers, but by associating particular plants for each need.
Synergistic vegetable garden: a new way of conceiving the relationship between the farmer and his land. A new cultivation philosophy that comes directly from Spain, inspired by the natural principles of soil self-regeneration.
The guiding principles of the synergistic garden.
In stark contrast to traditional farming methods that tend to isolate plants and deplete the soil, the synergistic orchard promotes soil self-fertility mechanisms, without plowing or fertilizer, but taking care of plants to meet specific requirements. .
We are all accustomed to observe fields classified and divided by rows, or where space is exploited to the maximum and only one type of plant is intensively cultivated, using chemical pesticides, fertilizers to increase growth and herbicides to discourage so-called "weeds". But these methods do nothing more than modify and manipulate the natural structure of the soil and the ability of the plants to nourish it.
With a soil exhausted, therefore, the vicious circle begins to fertilize and treat it to compensate for the deficiencies.
The philosophy behind the synergistic orchard, on the other hand, requires that the plants themselves fertilize the soil. Growing and living naturally in the soil, they make it "live" thanks to its organic waste and a whole series of bacteria, insects, fungi and earthworms that reminds of a healthy ecosystem. With this form of cultivation, you will always have perennial plants that coexist with the seasonal ones, and both will always be present in all stages of growth, from the seed to the specimen in bloom, until its decomposition.
The rules of the synergistic garden.
The rules to follow to create a perfect synergistic garden are very simple:
- do not plow or sugar the earth
- do not compact the soil;
- do not fertilize;
- Plant together at least three different plant species.
This last point is essential to ensure an ideal balance for the development of all crops. In fact, you must choose a legume, to fix the atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, a liliace like garlic, onion, leek, shallot, to keep away the bacteria and a common vegetable to place in the center of the sown area.
In this way, we will put the soil of our new synergic garden to regenerate, fertilize and protect ourselves in complete autonomy, thanks to the ability of the plants to synthesize the necessary elements and control the surrounding microbial activity.
Synergistic vegetable garden, the practical guide.
But, concretely, what are the basic steps to create a synergistic vegetable garden?
Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese microbiologist and farmer, began experimenting with a new method of plant production since the 1930s, eliminating the plow and introducing "live mulch" to cover the soil. Fukuoka has shown that agriculture can be practiced with total respect for the dynamics of living organisms that are naturally found in the soil.
The first and fundamental step is the preparation of the land: assuming that the land that we have available has already been deconstructed, we must return it to its natural state. An excellent way to do this is to grow potatoes under a layer of straw and cardboard, to help maintain an adequate level of moisture and attract earthworms.
Once the potatoes have been removed and the soil has been cleaned, we are ready to form the pallets for our synergic vegetable garden: this step consists of dividing our area, which well reflects the places for the passage and the places where the land will be grown.
Now let's move on to irrigation and mulching: the best way to irrigate is represented by the drip system, without investing in too expensive or sophisticated systems.
As for soil cover, however, it would be best to use straw for pallets and sawdust for the passages.
However, in terms of support for crops, we recommend the classic iron rods that are also used in construction, so they are very stable even in strong winds. These particular guardians can also be secured with each other to form a strong and excellent network for climbing some plants, such as tomatoes.
The same logic, of course, can be used in large field crops and there are many opinions and suggestions on how to apply the few principles listed above even on large tracts of land.