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forest_gardening [2010-01-28 20:14] – 86.95.48.238 | forest_gardening [2010-02-01 09:42] – theunkarelse | ||
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Forest gardens represent a farming technique radically different from Western (mono-)agricultural models and concepts. For many primary people around the world the cultivation and redesigning of patches of forest to create a reliable source of foodstuffs is elemental to their survival. For some Amazonian people (supposed hunter/ | Forest gardens represent a farming technique radically different from Western (mono-)agricultural models and concepts. For many primary people around the world the cultivation and redesigning of patches of forest to create a reliable source of foodstuffs is elemental to their survival. For some Amazonian people (supposed hunter/ | ||
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+ | ====== A Counter Example from the Amazon ====== | ||
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+ | Mark Plotkin in Tales of a Shaman' | ||
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+ | ““Look at that garden,” Kamainja whispered. “I' | ||
+ | To my untrained eye, the peasant garden did not look at all different from Indian agriculture. Once Kamainja stopped laughing, I asked him to explain. | ||
+ | “Look at that manioc! It is planted too far apart. You saw how we put ours together; the leaves form a canopy like the forest' | ||
+ | Kamainja was right. Since the manioc pants were all of one variety, insect that feed on that one variety might undergo a population explosion. I began to see what looked ' | ||
+ | “Look at the weeds!” Shafee chimed in. | ||
+ | “I don't see any.” I said. | ||
+ | “Exactly! In our gardens we always leave some behind it binds the soil in the rainy season. The peasant' | ||
+ | “And another thing,” said Kamainja. “You look at the plantation and you know the man doesn' | ||
====== Origin of Forest Gardens ====== | ====== Origin of Forest Gardens ====== | ||
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For forest people, gardening is a state of mind, a mode they are never out of. The entire Amazon is now believed to one huge man-made landscape kept intact by contant pruning and weeding as humans move through it. | For forest people, gardening is a state of mind, a mode they are never out of. The entire Amazon is now believed to one huge man-made landscape kept intact by contant pruning and weeding as humans move through it. | ||
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+ | (Theun: I disagree with much of this; in my opinion [[Ecosystem_gardening]] is much less anthropocentric than suggested here and has nothing to do with growing crops. The tribals we met in India, living in stone-age conditions, had little knowledge about plants beyond their use. Human pressures simply never were high enough to need any management. And lastly being in the rainforest for just a few weeks made me quiet sure that its metabolism is way beyond our capacity to prune and weed it. In fact you can't even keep it from invading your body. I'd like to add that research done by [[http:// | ||
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+ | ====== Gary Snyder and the Artistic Imperative | ||
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+ | Quoting from The Real Work: | ||
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+ | '' | ||