this was a really unexpected one: Chenopodium album and Amaranthus hypochondriacus worked extremely well together. As both are rather shade-intolerant, the Chenopodium growing below the Amaranth always pushed the Amaranth higher and higher. I have 3m high Amaranth, while it should only grow to 1.2m !! and I didn't think this was possible. Also notice how they are both from the same family and are rather similar in appearance, yet they seemed to harmonize. Other than them constantly competing for light, which caused the Amaranth to be taller than it should be, I don't really know why they seemed to thrive so well together. it's just amazing how much more flexible nature is than advertised in textbooks.
Very nice course, thank you so much! I just have a question: My land is on a (north facing) slope (southern hemisphere, close to equator), how would you recommend planting the tree lines on the slope? I was thinking about creating terraces on couture and planting the tree-line on the outer edge of the terraces with 4-5 meters distance. I would be very curious about your thoughts on that.
Very useful video, but I am so curious that when you plant companion planting (short life + long life), for a simple example: cassava + salad = 1 bed After you harvest salad, and there are many gaps (of salad) in the bed. I wonder What will you do next with those gaps? Do you cover those gaps with grass? Or plant a new plant? What will you do to restrengthen the soil after you finish harvesting both cassava and salad? Thanks so much.
Also, do you have any experience on how to fit in the system neem trees? I have some in my farm, and have read that they are great mulch as they are rich in nutrients, but neem is a natural insecticide, so I don´t know how it would affect the soil life (insects). Thanks
You can use neem as a biomass producer. You can certainly prine it once a year and it resprouts very well, producing a good amount of organic matter. Although it does have insecticide properties, using it as mulch won’t negatively impact your soil life.
I’m not familir with that species, but as long as its fast growing and prune-friendly, go for it! We plant moringas abundantly for regular prining and for animal and human food
