Lill-Nägels Agroforestry September Open Day
Our open day for September will be Saturday the 30th, at 14-16!
The Lill-Nägels Agroforestry Pilot Project is one of a handful of silvoarable farming systems in Finland. We started the system last summer amidst a drought and have been steadily progressing through this year's tough season as well.
Situated on 8000 square meters of mostly clay loam soil, our project endeavors to support biodiverse plant communities to regenerate the soil's fertility.
Whether that is in the field margins, alleys, or the tree lines, our design and management centers around the notion that life begets life. We are putting the hypothesis that most soils have within them the elements necessary to produce healthy terrestrial ecosystems to a test.
We do this in part by avoiding* the use of traditional agricultural inputs to balance or fix soil. For example, our soil's pH is quite low, in the low 5 range. Normally one would apply limestone to bring this into a low 6 range for optimal crop development. Here, we avoid lime in favor of facilitating the transfer of root exudates to soil organisms whose actions are purported to modify soil pH by up to 2 full points.
So far, plant sap analysis has revealed our crops can adjust their internal pH to optimal ranges and have not suffered a lack of the major nutrients that acidic soils make difficult to acquire.
Want to learn more? Welcome to visit us!
I've reserved about 45 minutes to show-and-tell what's been going on, with the rest of the time for discussion and questions.
Our website Lill-Nägles has much more information and is due for a major update soon.
For more information contact
Novia UAS, Project Leader, Joshua Finch, Joshua.finch@novia.fi
The project is funded by EU development funds, Stiftelsen Finlandssvenska Jordfonden, and Novia UAS.
