I'm writing in mid-May, in those few days when — at last — the nights stop dropping below ten degrees and the garden lets out a long sigh of relief. Spring, around here, always arrives late and a little reluctantly, and by the time it does it already has one foot in summer. It feels like the right moment to take stock, to set down what the field has taught me — and today I'd like to do that on a subject that has been with me since my very first day here: support plants. Supp

Spring snippets. Of birth and rebirth, death and redeath. Of colourful eggs, bright spring sunshine and dark winter rooms. Of sweetness and comradery, flowers and fruits, aging and decay, the plastic we love and the food we hate, the complexity we create and the diversity we crave. Of wild beds and tamed borders, the illusion of efficiency and the obsession with simplicity. Of questioning everything, always, all the time, over and over again - as a modus operandi, as a way to

🚜 Next season, 60% of our sowings at @ortoforesta will be F1 hybrids. This shift from our usual focus follows autumn trials with undeniable results: in our regenerating system, many F1s offered superior uniformity and disease resistance. We must be honest about field data, even when it challenges our ideals. 🧬 F1s are the offspring of two inbred parent lines. This triggers "hybrid vigour", but thi comes at a cost: the offspring won't breed true. ⚠ To produce these hybrids,

A Note on the Scientific Context: The "Growth Pulse" is a foundational concept in syntropic agriculture, frequently observed by practitioners in diverse contexts. However, the specific chain of events following impulse pruning in agroforestry systems has not yet been confirmed by direct peer-reviewed studies. The following article synthesizes findings from isolated plant physiology and soil science research to propose a theoretical framework that explains these field observ

🗣️ There is a recurring argument in our field that farms relying on WWOOFers or volunteers are undermining the economic stability of professional agriculture. The logic suggests that if a farm cannot afford to pay full wages for every hour of labour, it is a failed business model that shouldn't exist. 💸 I find this critique ironic because it ignores the rigged game we are playing. Industrial agriculture is propped up by massive State subsidies (CAP) and artificially cheap f