In our farm, the forest started growing. While at the burned mountains, still after 11 years, the forest seems not to come back.
This made us think.
We were fortunate to observe in our more than 35 year organic farm how a forest grows, and luckily stumbled upon the term food forest, agroforestry and regenerative farming.
And our journey began.
Regenerative farming is a way of farming, in which the goal is to regenerate the eco-system while producing food, timber, etc, meaning bringing back to a healthy state. To have a healthy eco-system in ones´farm we have to consider all elements of the farm, the soil, the plants and trees, the water situation and other social factors (which for now we will not go deeper into, see social permaculture).
Characteristics of regenerative farming:
Regenerative farming is farming like nature would do it. Through mimicking natural systems like the forest, we learn how nature works, which makes our farms resilient to shocks of all kinds. The weather, the economy, the market, pests. Nature knows how to rehabilitate and adjust. If our farm follows these principles, our farm is also resilient.
THE BIGGER PICTURE is that farming has the potential to restore thriving abundant eco-systems, build fertile soil and bind CO2, therefore mitigate climate change, stop erosion, and provide healthy nutrient dense food, while at the same time creating a healthy pleasant environment for humans and other animals.
This can only be achieved if consumers support this. Knowing your farmer is essential. Only together we can make this shift happen.
MIMICKING THE FOREST when setting up your farm. This means you plant a big variety of trees that fulfill different functions, producing organic matter, producing crops, providing nutrients, while taking into consideration the layer they belong to.
Further the ETHICS AND PRINCIPLES OF PERMACULTURE will help you to design your farm in a way that it will benefit life in all its forms and thus,
–being regenerative !
We take the forest as an example and try to mimic it, while we use plants that match our needs in regards to what they provide.
Plants are combined in a way which makes usage also of the available vertical space, instead of having only trees of the same layer. Shrubs are combined to grow with higher trees, while other plants might grow under the shrubs covering the ground. Climbers like grapes climb on higher trees, using their structure. Plants that allow heavy pruning, provide the system with organic matter to speed up the process of soil creation and fertility of the system.
A healthy and rich layer of organic material covers the ground providing habitat for many microorganisms and smaller animals which in return provide the plants with nutrients.
Permaculture is a design technique that follows three ethics:
earth care, people care and fair share.
It uses a set of principles which guides the process of designing any system. For example
Combining permaculture principles, syntropic agriculture, agroforestry and regenerative farming practices we are on a journey of constant change and improvement. We are guiding our forest in its growth and evolution inviting consumers and other farmers likewise to join our quest.
Planting in succession means combining trees or plants that live longer with ones that have a shorter life span, while taking into consideration the needs of the plants in each phase of their life. If you think again about a forest, a young, freshly sprouted tree is usually growing underneath other trees, grasses or shrubs, but it’s rarely exposed to sun and wind. When the tree grows bigger, it outlives the shrub that was protecting it, while it was young. This shrub on the other side is bringing fertility to the soil through its decomposing organic matter. With increasing fertility the complexity of the system (forest) is increasing.
Integrating not only plants and trees for the purpose of selling their fruits or leaves, but also ones that support other trees, is part of our system. Throughout our farm you can find Mulberries, Fig trees, Acacias and many others whose function it is to support the system by providing organic matter, made available through intensive and frequent pruning, or by binding nitrogen from the atmosphere and making it available to other plants and trees. Further they might provide habitat for predators of pests and therefore contribute to a balanced eco-system.
Soil plays a crucial role for the health of a farm, for the resilience of the eco-system and for the nutrients of the food it produces. Planting trees in-between that grow, produce a lot of organic matter and don´t mind intensive pruning, is a key element of the way we manage our farm. Additionally we shred all the prunings of all our trees and leave them on the soil. Through applying these practices that build and support a healthy soil for thirty years now, we can demonstrate the outcome of these practices in the long run.
Like in a forest, there are typically different plant layers. Starting from the lowest, which is the ground cover, this layer grows between the trunks of higher trees. Plants of this layer don’t mind shade. In our system, some of the plants of this layer are: Phisalis, Blackberry, Potatoes, Carissa and Capers – all providing us with food.
The next layer is the low layer occupied by berry shrubs like Gooseberries, Blackberries and Goji berries. This spring we want to add many more berry shrubs to this layer.
The next layer is the medium layer. In our systems we have a variety of 10 different Citrus trees like Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Mandarines etc. occupying this layer and about 10 different other fruit trees like Peach, Plums and Loquats.
The next layer is the high or canopy layer. Olive trees, Mulberries, Figs, Pears and Apple trees are mainly occupying this layer.
The highest layer growing above all the others is the emergent layer. We introduced in our previous food forest workshop poplars and Eucalyptus trees to occupy this layer.
In a healthy mature forest, typically the canopies of the plants of each layer overlap each other, increasing the overall occupied space through the trees. The design of an agroforestry farm looks not only in two dimensions, planting just trees of the same height, but also considers the vertical dimension.
In our farm we try to combine and integrate different design systems and approaches, such as permaculture design [Bill Mollison, David Holmgren], keyline design [Yeomans], Regrarians platform [Darren Doherty] and we take inspiration from the work on soil from Elaine Ingham, on agroforestry systems [Syntropic agriculture of Ernst Götsch, Dave Jacky and Eric Toensmeier, Marc Shepard], Holistic Management [Alan Savory].
The transition of our farm is advised and co-designed by Giuseppe Sannicandro, renowned permaculture tutor and designer. He is consulting on food forest, water management, regenerative farming and agroforestry systems.
“The Southern Lights” was born out of the urge to acquire, share and spread knowledge on sustainable living practices and open our farm to others who share our values. The Southern Lights is frequently organizing workshops on Permaculture, Food Forest, Water Management, Regenerative Farming and other topics.
We also welcome interns and volunteers to stimulate the learning process and help build community.
Our farm is experimental. Constantly changing. And we are learning. Our approach is not dogmatic. We follow principles of Permaculture, but we find our own way, being inspired by other pioneers of regenerative farming practices. In the end we have to know what works better, under which circumstances and for which purposes. Joining a community of like minded regenerative farmers all over the globe, we surely can find a better way every day.
Our farm is in constant evolution. 30 years ago, Stavros Darmos converted this farm to organic farming methods, being one of the first in Greece to do so. Ever since the variety in our farm has been higher than average. With a focus on olive trees and citrus trees, throughout the whole farm several other fruit trees were planted for our own consumption. Each season many wild growing edible leafy greens contribute to our own food autonomy, making the place a garden of eden. The practice of shredding the prunings of the trees and leaving them on the soil has been constantly increasing the organic matter, leading to a rich and fertile soil 30 years later.
Read more about the history of our farm in newspaper articles featured in our ´They talk about us´ – section
