Thanks so much guys, so many great points. If we can produce specific crops that others can't in certain seasons there is the market or money. What do u guys recommend covering the soil? because here in India farmers are used to monoculture and with a lot of pesticides and fertilizers, soil's health is very bad.
Coveing the soil is one of the very basic principles. We always recommend covering the soil with whatever organic matter is available, from wood chips to grass clippings, from branches and twigs to logs of wood
Can you say something about the drawing of nitrogen from the soil that many say wood chips do? Also in areas with lots of termites, using wood chips tends to attract them and they often destroy other plants.
So much great info! Thank you guys. Do you use the manure direct from the horses beds? I mean the horse manure kind of fresh mixed with woodchips? Here in the tropics, especifically in Colombia what do you think is the best orientation for the beds or the rows? There are two seasons in the area, the rainy and the dry one, it's a hot climate
Yes, we use it directly from the horse beds. Since you're so close to the Ecuador, the orientation won't matter much in relation to the sunlight (unless you're on a slope). What will dictate is: - Predominant wind >> you want each row of trees to act as a windbreak for the next one - Slope >> if you're using tractors, you'll want to plant in contour lines, depending on the steepless of the slope
It's great to plant trees, but 1st bury parts of animal carcasses underneath the tree holes 🕳. This provides lots of nutrition for later on, especially if you mix some inoculated activated charcoal with the animal carcass along with some Is chicken manure and such And whatever kind of scraps mixed with sawdust as well. All underneath the tree hole.
Why ferns are not used in agroforestry as ground covers, when in nature, especially in tropics, you see a lot of ferns in old forests and once established they can be used for chop and drop.
