Traditional farming has always involved making making large changes to our local environment. It starts with stripping the site of native trees and plants, then altering the resulting water run-off with ditches, tilling the soil layers up and mixing them together, replacing the native plant mix with rows of one plant species and in more modern farming treating them with synthetic pesticides,G.M.O.S and fertilizers.
Now, Inter-croppers are exploring the benefits of mixed plant varieties, traditional heirloom varieties are being rediscovered and compost enthusiasts have shown the benefits of natural soil amendments! The old saying goes " when in Rome, do as the Romans do ". Is it changing to " when on Earth, do as Mother Earth does "? I'm exploring agricultural ecosystem engineering and I'd love to hear your experiences of switching to sustainable techniques and the problems and benefits that came with those changes.