The Generosity of Nature
All my life has been a journey of discovery of the generosity of nature. I started out thinking that we had to do everything ourselves, and of course we couldn’t. But then I discovered that everything will be done for us, provided only that we realize our “nothingness” and thereupon start to search for a way fitting-in with the great process of nature, and making the best of them, for our purposes.Robert J. Hart, “Forest Farming: A solution to world hunger” (1976)
Agroforestry is “the combination of crops (plants, animals, fungi) and trees in forest-inspired agricultural systems that benefit human communities through greater connection to landscape, improved stewardship of resources, and enhanced economic opportunities” (Mudge and Gabriel, 2014)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) identifies five common agroforestry practices:
- Alley Cropping – planting trees in straight rows or along contours with crops cultivated in the alleys between rows of trees
- Forest Farming or Multi-Story Cropping – cultivation of crops under a forest canopy
- Riperian Forest Buffers – planting of treees, shrubs and grasses between agricultural fields and water bodies
- Silvopasture – grazing livestock beneath the canopy of a wood lot
- Windbreaks – deliberate planting of a diverse mix of trees and shrubs with multiple rows, heights and species designed to decrease velocity of the prevailing wind
Multi-Story Cropping
