Top of the Agroecological Pops
Top of the Agroecological Pops
How agroecology can help your garden grow
In the last episode, I took a dive into the different types of sustainable farming and growing - Organic, Regenerative, Agroecology and Permaculture. Putting aside the potential greenwashing and keeping positive, these methods and principals really are trying to do the same thing, that is to say, develop practises that benefit both land, biodiversity and humans.
Whilst all these methods are worthy of further scrutiny, I am interested in what practises they are made up of, how we can understand their benefits and crucially how we can apply them to our growing spaces, no matter what the scale.
Ideally, an agroecological system
Provides nutritious food
In a way that empowers and benefits the local community
While being rich in biodiversity
Resilient in the face of climate change
And using natural resources, such as soil and water, as part of a regenerative system.
I think we’d all agree that is what we all want.
So what makes up this system and what can we learn about them to use in our own growing spaces and gardens?
In the next few episodes of this series I am looking at the Top of the Pops1 style count down to what I consider the best practises and how we can apply them.
I thought it would be easy. The practises are but the politics and nuance is not. My list is not what I consider to be the best agroecological practises per se. It isn’t about which particular technique is best but what I consider to be the most useful of these farming practises for us as small scale growers or gardeners. Most of us don’t have machinery or growing acres of one crop. We simply do not have the same challenges but as I have discovered by growing productively myself, and noticed across both vegetable and flower farms, there is much to be applied that will both improve your own growing whilst understanding our farming systems and the power of our choices as to how our food and products are grown.
The first one #10 in the Top Ten Agroecological Practises and how you can apply them at home or on your plot is coming tomorrow.
Let’s carry this discussion on in the comments - let me know what you think!
Just gone down a total nostalgia lane looking up old ‘80s & ‘90s episodes. I miss TOTP