When syntropic agriculture arrived in Europe, it took on a very specific form, codified around a course that Ernst Götsch taught in São Paulo, Brazil, about a decade ago. Speaking to an audience of non-specialists, Ernst showed how one could plant all the stages of ecological succession from the very start, in a single row holding plants meant to populate the system's various layers (emergent, high, medium, and so on) over the short, medium and long term. Lately I've been pay

Making a vegetable box is such a simple act. And yet, it has become so profoundly emotional for me. It makes me think, every week, of the meaning and beauty of this job. It makes me think of the people I’ve encountered along the way. It makes me think of the frenzy, skill and excitement involved in harvesting everything needed to make a box. I have such fond memories of harvest days: waking up early in the morning; watching and hearing friends and volunteers picking veg in th

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,