Syntropic Agroforestery
When we found our land it was a beautiful, vast and overgrown wild forest mainly consisting of old olives, cork and stone oaks, wild pistachios as well as madrones among many other bushes and smaller plants. Apparently it had burnt down once some 20 years ago and after being restored into an olive yard abandoned for many many years. Therefore nature had a lot of time to emerge in its very own way!
Originally we never planned on becoming professional farmers but the amount of olives just compelled for a new vision. The finca is situated in the mountains of Andalucia which allows cool nights in hot summers but still this region is marked by drought and water shortage most part of the year. While traveling we have had the chance to learn about a special way of farming in Mertola (Portugal) and we were eager on implementing a similar system on our land.
In autumn 2023 we started planting our first syntropic agroforestry system. Our biggest challenge – water! As we don’t have water for irrigation, we solely depend on natural rainfall…
Syntropic agroforestry is an innovative approach to agriculture focussed on establishing a productive forest-ecosystem by imitating natural processes. Most characteristic is the dense planting of plants with different life cycles. That’s how we try to make perfect use of the space over time and create the right conditions for our plants to survive the hot and dry summers.
On our initial site we planted a diverse array of species like carob, honey locust, mulberry, figs, pomegranate, chestnut, oaks, walnuts, bay tree and myrtle. These plants are complemented by different shrubs, aromatics, perennial weeds and vegetables.
Learn more about Syntropic Agroforestry at La Manada…
GALLERY
