End of April we realized that measured against our inputs the growing of the plants was slower than we had hoped for. We decided to get Mathias from RegenWaves involved, second from the right.
Mathias is an experienced re-generator and operates from his LabForest in Palmela which you definitely should visit! We decided on a private course to refresh our knowledge and then he and Ellie started on planning the upgrade of our Nutty Forest, the higher North-West area of our land.
He also made a very cool video of the two days which you can watch here:
An interesting aspect of our system is that most has been grown from seeds and cuttings from the region. The challenge is that only so many of all the seeds and cuttings will sprout and live. As a consequence the repetition in the lines is not as present (or even absent) as it would be in a system where all plants are planted in a survivable size.
The idea of using local species is that these plants will have the right ‘genetics’ for our conditions. Mathias made us understand that if we choose to only use plants from around, we would mirror the degrading that is already taking place and give the same message to our system.
Instead we aim for a system that will increase it’s complexity year after year and to achieve that we need to add this complexity to our system. In the shape of a set of plants, seeds and organic matter that represent this complexity.
There was quite a lot involved in making this happen at such short notice:
- A detailed map was made of each line and every plant and its location
- An inventory was made of the (lack of) complexity and potential additions were researched
- The additional plants were decided on and scouted
- Nurseries ‘nearby’ (up to 1,5 hours driving) were visited, quality checked and, if necessary, alternatives were decided on on the spot
- The workflow was planned and people found, both professionals and volunteers, to help planting
- Places to sleep and catering organized
- Worm compost harvested as well as normal compost
- Hay was hunted all the way from the Aldeia Grande
- Tools and suport materials gathered, borrowed and bought
And finally the full plan executed in two days.
Below the delivery of the hay that was needed to cover the lines and the areas in between.
