This short video presents and describes the progress of our second system at livingness - The Root Beds.
Livingness Agroforestry Systems Series
The Root Beds
System: #2
Implementation date: January 2019
Location: Uki, NSW, Australia, Southern Hemisphere, Gaia.
Area: 300m2 (roughly 12 x 25m)
Climate: Cool subtropical (1 to 5 mild frost days per year)
Aspect: West
Slope: 30% gradient (raises 30cm for every metre)
Row orientation: N/S (not quite on contour)
Row spacings: 5m than 2.5m
Initial soil cover: bare soil with minimal cover (leaf litter) plenty of bracken fern (Pteridium esculentum), weak paspalum grass (Paspalum diatatum), farmer’s friend (Bidens pilosa) and blue billygoat weed (Ageratum houstonianum).
Top soil depth: 1 cm
Soil life: minimal with plenty of bracken fern roots no worms
Soil condition: fairly compact, heavy yellow(ish) clay (sub-soil like) very close to the surface with minimal soil life and cover.
Context:
• minimal economic investment,
• close participatory/family management,
• regeneration with some food production (veggies to bananas/tamarillo)
• Subsistence oriented while researching potential commercial outcome
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