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#monocultural — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #monocultural, aggregated by home.social.

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  1. ‘Doves and food and fun’: the fight to save a farming pioneer

    #Wakelyns needs £1.2m to save its diverse organic crops and ‘micro’ enterprises including a bakery and honeybee hives

    "It’s almost a political project about land use – maximising the #sustainable productivity of the land." - David Wolfe

    by Patrick Barkham
    Tue 30 Jun 2026 06.00 EDT

    "The aerial view of Wakelyns matches the experience of visiting it at ground level: in a region dominated by prairie fields of industrial agriculture, here lies a vivid green lung of land. Its sounds and sights in summer – the sleepy purr of the turtle dove, the vivid pink flash of a bullfinch – have vanished from most of the British countryside.

    "But Wakelyns is not a nature reserve – it is a thriving farm, a 'living laboratory' for #agroforestry and a hub for innovation and business. It is also under threat, and its owners must raise £1.2m to turn it into a charitable community benefit society.

    "The 56-acre former pig farm in Suffolk was bought by Martin and Ann Wolfe in 1992. Martin was a government plant pathologist who wanted to do more innovative research than his employers had allowed. Seeking to farm crops with fewer pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, he created one of the first agroforestry schemes in Europe.

    "Turning productive cereal-growing fields into 56 narrow 'alleys' of farmed land between rows of planted trees had been 'widely regarded as mad', said their son, #DavidWolfe, an environmental lawyer who now runs Wakelyns with his wife, Amanda Illing. 'The farmer who sold the land to them said: ‘You’ve ruined a perfectly good wheat field’.'

    "Today, Wakelyns is an inspirational example of agroforestry, which has become official government policy. The government’s carbon delivery plan wants to turn 10% of arable land into agroforestry by 2050, with financial incentives to encourage more farmers to transition into something like Wakelyns.

    "The lush trees that divide the alleys are all crops. After more than 30 years, some are tall trees for timber, while others provide #apples, #cherries and #plums. The most lucrative tree crop is #hazel, which is coppiced on a seven-year cycle to produce high-quality hazel stakes for traditional hedgelayers. Each stake is sold for £1.40 and Wakelyns cannot grow enough.

    The farm’s motto is '#ResilienceThroughDiversity'. It pioneered the first commercial #lentil growing in the UK, and is still the country’s only commercial #BlackLentil grower. 'If Britain is serious about wanting to feed itself, we should stop growing oilseed rape for biodiesel and grow #pulses,' said Wolfe.

    "Wakelyns’ diversity encompasses a uniquely genetically diverse population of wheat and multiple varieties of apple tree. When big orchards, which typically grow a narrow range of apple varieties, complain of a terrible harvest, a mixed orchard such as Wakelyns’ is fine, because every year some varieties thrive. #Monocultural farmers, says Wolfe, 'put it all on red or black'.

    "Wolfe and Illing took over the farm in 2020 after Wolfe’s parents died. To the innovative farming principles, they added 'enterprise stacking', bringing people back to the land via a series of symbiotic relationships."

    Read more:
    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #SolarPunkSunday #Trees #UK #MutualAid #HempTextiles #FoodSecurity #FoodForests #CropRotation #CropDiversity #OrganicFarming #SupportUKFarms #SupportLocalFarmers
    #Polyculture not #Monoculture

  2. ‘Doves and food and fun’: the fight to save a farming pioneer

    #Wakelyns needs £1.2m to save its diverse organic crops and ‘micro’ enterprises including a bakery and honeybee hives

    "It’s almost a political project about land use – maximising the #sustainable productivity of the land." - David Wolfe

    by Patrick Barkham
    Tue 30 Jun 2026 06.00 EDT

    "The aerial view of Wakelyns matches the experience of visiting it at ground level: in a region dominated by prairie fields of industrial agriculture, here lies a vivid green lung of land. Its sounds and sights in summer – the sleepy purr of the turtle dove, the vivid pink flash of a bullfinch – have vanished from most of the British countryside.

    "But Wakelyns is not a nature reserve – it is a thriving farm, a 'living laboratory' for #agroforestry and a hub for innovation and business. It is also under threat, and its owners must raise £1.2m to turn it into a charitable community benefit society.

    "The 56-acre former pig farm in Suffolk was bought by Martin and Ann Wolfe in 1992. Martin was a government plant pathologist who wanted to do more innovative research than his employers had allowed. Seeking to farm crops with fewer pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, he created one of the first agroforestry schemes in Europe.

    "Turning productive cereal-growing fields into 56 narrow 'alleys' of farmed land between rows of planted trees had been 'widely regarded as mad', said their son, #DavidWolfe, an environmental lawyer who now runs Wakelyns with his wife, Amanda Illing. 'The farmer who sold the land to them said: ‘You’ve ruined a perfectly good wheat field’.'

    "Today, Wakelyns is an inspirational example of agroforestry, which has become official government policy. The government’s carbon delivery plan wants to turn 10% of arable land into agroforestry by 2050, with financial incentives to encourage more farmers to transition into something like Wakelyns.

    "The lush trees that divide the alleys are all crops. After more than 30 years, some are tall trees for timber, while others provide #apples, #cherries and #plums. The most lucrative tree crop is #hazel, which is coppiced on a seven-year cycle to produce high-quality hazel stakes for traditional hedgelayers. Each stake is sold for £1.40 and Wakelyns cannot grow enough.

    The farm’s motto is '#ResilienceThroughDiversity'. It pioneered the first commercial #lentil growing in the UK, and is still the country’s only commercial #BlackLentil grower. 'If Britain is serious about wanting to feed itself, we should stop growing oilseed rape for biodiesel and grow #pulses,' said Wolfe.

    "Wakelyns’ diversity encompasses a uniquely genetically diverse population of wheat and multiple varieties of apple tree. When big orchards, which typically grow a narrow range of apple varieties, complain of a terrible harvest, a mixed orchard such as Wakelyns’ is fine, because every year some varieties thrive. #Monocultural farmers, says Wolfe, 'put it all on red or black'.

    "Wolfe and Illing took over the farm in 2020 after Wolfe’s parents died. To the innovative farming principles, they added 'enterprise stacking', bringing people back to the land via a series of symbiotic relationships."

    Read more:
    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #SolarPunkSunday #Trees #UK #MutualAid #HempTextiles #FoodSecurity #FoodForests #CropRotation #CropDiversity #OrganicFarming #SupportUKFarms #SupportLocalFarmers
    #Polyculture not #Monoculture

  3. ‘Doves and food and fun’: the fight to save a farming pioneer

    #Wakelyns needs £1.2m to save its diverse organic crops and ‘micro’ enterprises including a bakery and honeybee hives

    "It’s almost a political project about land use – maximising the #sustainable productivity of the land." - David Wolfe

    by Patrick Barkham
    Tue 30 Jun 2026 06.00 EDT

    "The aerial view of Wakelyns matches the experience of visiting it at ground level: in a region dominated by prairie fields of industrial agriculture, here lies a vivid green lung of land. Its sounds and sights in summer – the sleepy purr of the turtle dove, the vivid pink flash of a bullfinch – have vanished from most of the British countryside.

    "But Wakelyns is not a nature reserve – it is a thriving farm, a 'living laboratory' for #agroforestry and a hub for innovation and business. It is also under threat, and its owners must raise £1.2m to turn it into a charitable community benefit society.

    "The 56-acre former pig farm in Suffolk was bought by Martin and Ann Wolfe in 1992. Martin was a government plant pathologist who wanted to do more innovative research than his employers had allowed. Seeking to farm crops with fewer pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, he created one of the first agroforestry schemes in Europe.

    "Turning productive cereal-growing fields into 56 narrow 'alleys' of farmed land between rows of planted trees had been 'widely regarded as mad', said their son, #DavidWolfe, an environmental lawyer who now runs Wakelyns with his wife, Amanda Illing. 'The farmer who sold the land to them said: ‘You’ve ruined a perfectly good wheat field’.'

    "Today, Wakelyns is an inspirational example of agroforestry, which has become official government policy. The government’s carbon delivery plan wants to turn 10% of arable land into agroforestry by 2050, with financial incentives to encourage more farmers to transition into something like Wakelyns.

    "The lush trees that divide the alleys are all crops. After more than 30 years, some are tall trees for timber, while others provide #apples, #cherries and #plums. The most lucrative tree crop is #hazel, which is coppiced on a seven-year cycle to produce high-quality hazel stakes for traditional hedgelayers. Each stake is sold for £1.40 and Wakelyns cannot grow enough.

    The farm’s motto is '#ResilienceThroughDiversity'. It pioneered the first commercial #lentil growing in the UK, and is still the country’s only commercial #BlackLentil grower. 'If Britain is serious about wanting to feed itself, we should stop growing oilseed rape for biodiesel and grow #pulses,' said Wolfe.

    "Wakelyns’ diversity encompasses a uniquely genetically diverse population of wheat and multiple varieties of apple tree. When big orchards, which typically grow a narrow range of apple varieties, complain of a terrible harvest, a mixed orchard such as Wakelyns’ is fine, because every year some varieties thrive. #Monocultural farmers, says Wolfe, 'put it all on red or black'.

    "Wolfe and Illing took over the farm in 2020 after Wolfe’s parents died. To the innovative farming principles, they added 'enterprise stacking', bringing people back to the land via a series of symbiotic relationships."

    Read more:
    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #SolarPunkSunday #Trees #UK #MutualAid #HempTextiles #FoodSecurity #FoodForests #CropRotation #CropDiversity #OrganicFarming #SupportUKFarms #SupportLocalFarmers
    #Polyculture not #Monoculture

  4. ‘Doves and food and fun’: the fight to save a farming pioneer

    #Wakelyns needs £1.2m to save its diverse organic crops and ‘micro’ enterprises including a bakery and honeybee hives

    "It’s almost a political project about land use – maximising the #sustainable productivity of the land." - David Wolfe

    by Patrick Barkham
    Tue 30 Jun 2026 06.00 EDT

    "The aerial view of Wakelyns matches the experience of visiting it at ground level: in a region dominated by prairie fields of industrial agriculture, here lies a vivid green lung of land. Its sounds and sights in summer – the sleepy purr of the turtle dove, the vivid pink flash of a bullfinch – have vanished from most of the British countryside.

    "But Wakelyns is not a nature reserve – it is a thriving farm, a 'living laboratory' for #agroforestry and a hub for innovation and business. It is also under threat, and its owners must raise £1.2m to turn it into a charitable community benefit society.

    "The 56-acre former pig farm in Suffolk was bought by Martin and Ann Wolfe in 1992. Martin was a government plant pathologist who wanted to do more innovative research than his employers had allowed. Seeking to farm crops with fewer pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, he created one of the first agroforestry schemes in Europe.

    "Turning productive cereal-growing fields into 56 narrow 'alleys' of farmed land between rows of planted trees had been 'widely regarded as mad', said their son, #DavidWolfe, an environmental lawyer who now runs Wakelyns with his wife, Amanda Illing. 'The farmer who sold the land to them said: ‘You’ve ruined a perfectly good wheat field’.'

    "Today, Wakelyns is an inspirational example of agroforestry, which has become official government policy. The government’s carbon delivery plan wants to turn 10% of arable land into agroforestry by 2050, with financial incentives to encourage more farmers to transition into something like Wakelyns.

    "The lush trees that divide the alleys are all crops. After more than 30 years, some are tall trees for timber, while others provide #apples, #cherries and #plums. The most lucrative tree crop is #hazel, which is coppiced on a seven-year cycle to produce high-quality hazel stakes for traditional hedgelayers. Each stake is sold for £1.40 and Wakelyns cannot grow enough.

    The farm’s motto is '#ResilienceThroughDiversity'. It pioneered the first commercial #lentil growing in the UK, and is still the country’s only commercial #BlackLentil grower. 'If Britain is serious about wanting to feed itself, we should stop growing oilseed rape for biodiesel and grow #pulses,' said Wolfe.

    "Wakelyns’ diversity encompasses a uniquely genetically diverse population of wheat and multiple varieties of apple tree. When big orchards, which typically grow a narrow range of apple varieties, complain of a terrible harvest, a mixed orchard such as Wakelyns’ is fine, because every year some varieties thrive. #Monocultural farmers, says Wolfe, 'put it all on red or black'.

    "Wolfe and Illing took over the farm in 2020 after Wolfe’s parents died. To the innovative farming principles, they added 'enterprise stacking', bringing people back to the land via a series of symbiotic relationships."

    Read more:
    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #SolarPunkSunday #Trees #UK #MutualAid #HempTextiles #FoodSecurity #FoodForests #CropRotation #CropDiversity #OrganicFarming #SupportUKFarms #SupportLocalFarmers
    #Polyculture not #Monoculture

  5. ‘Doves and food and fun’: the fight to save a farming pioneer

    #Wakelyns needs £1.2m to save its diverse organic crops and ‘micro’ enterprises including a bakery and honeybee hives

    "It’s almost a political project about land use – maximising the #sustainable productivity of the land." - David Wolfe

    by Patrick Barkham
    Tue 30 Jun 2026 06.00 EDT

    "The aerial view of Wakelyns matches the experience of visiting it at ground level: in a region dominated by prairie fields of industrial agriculture, here lies a vivid green lung of land. Its sounds and sights in summer – the sleepy purr of the turtle dove, the vivid pink flash of a bullfinch – have vanished from most of the British countryside.

    "But Wakelyns is not a nature reserve – it is a thriving farm, a 'living laboratory' for #agroforestry and a hub for innovation and business. It is also under threat, and its owners must raise £1.2m to turn it into a charitable community benefit society.

    "The 56-acre former pig farm in Suffolk was bought by Martin and Ann Wolfe in 1992. Martin was a government plant pathologist who wanted to do more innovative research than his employers had allowed. Seeking to farm crops with fewer pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, he created one of the first agroforestry schemes in Europe.

    "Turning productive cereal-growing fields into 56 narrow 'alleys' of farmed land between rows of planted trees had been 'widely regarded as mad', said their son, #DavidWolfe, an environmental lawyer who now runs Wakelyns with his wife, Amanda Illing. 'The farmer who sold the land to them said: ‘You’ve ruined a perfectly good wheat field’.'

    "Today, Wakelyns is an inspirational example of agroforestry, which has become official government policy. The government’s carbon delivery plan wants to turn 10% of arable land into agroforestry by 2050, with financial incentives to encourage more farmers to transition into something like Wakelyns.

    "The lush trees that divide the alleys are all crops. After more than 30 years, some are tall trees for timber, while others provide #apples, #cherries and #plums. The most lucrative tree crop is #hazel, which is coppiced on a seven-year cycle to produce high-quality hazel stakes for traditional hedgelayers. Each stake is sold for £1.40 and Wakelyns cannot grow enough.

    The farm’s motto is '#ResilienceThroughDiversity'. It pioneered the first commercial #lentil growing in the UK, and is still the country’s only commercial #BlackLentil grower. 'If Britain is serious about wanting to feed itself, we should stop growing oilseed rape for biodiesel and grow #pulses,' said Wolfe.

    "Wakelyns’ diversity encompasses a uniquely genetically diverse population of wheat and multiple varieties of apple tree. When big orchards, which typically grow a narrow range of apple varieties, complain of a terrible harvest, a mixed orchard such as Wakelyns’ is fine, because every year some varieties thrive. #Monocultural farmers, says Wolfe, 'put it all on red or black'.

    "Wolfe and Illing took over the farm in 2020 after Wolfe’s parents died. To the innovative farming principles, they added 'enterprise stacking', bringing people back to the land via a series of symbiotic relationships."

    Read more:
    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #SolarPunkSunday #Trees #UK #MutualAid #HempTextiles #FoodSecurity #FoodForests #CropRotation #CropDiversity #OrganicFarming #SupportUKFarms #SupportLocalFarmers
    #Polyculture not #Monoculture

  6. ‘Shared culture’: Pauline Hanson’s reasonable wish for Australia weaponised by those who resent the idea our nation should have a common social purpose

    The word of the moment is undoubtedly ‘monocultural’. In her take-no-prisoners speech at the National Press Club Pauline…
    #Australia #AU #Austrlia #Monocultural #onenation
    europesays.com/australia/37145/

  7. Tony Abbott backs Pauline Hanson on Australian culture after Angus Taylor, Matt Canavan reject her ‘monocultural’ position

    Tony Abbott has backed Pauline Hanson’s calls for Australia to have a uniform culture despite Coalition leaders rejecting…
    #Australia #albanese #AngusTaylor #AU #Austrlia #coalition #cutlure #labor #Liberal #mattcanavan #Monocultural #nationals #onenation #TonyAbbott #values
    europesays.com/australia/37121/

  8. ‘Shared culture’: Pauline Hanson’s reasonable wish for Australia weaponised by those who resent the idea our nation should have a common social purpose

    The word of the moment is undoubtedly ‘monocultural’. In her take-no-prisoners speech at the National Press Club Pauline…
    #NewsBeep #News #Australia #AU #Monocultural #OneNation
    newsbeep.com/au/755725/

  9. ‘Shared culture’: Pauline Hanson’s reasonable wish for Australia weaponised by those who resent the idea our nation should have a common social purpose

    The word of the moment is undoubtedly ‘monocultural’. In her take-no-prisoners speech at the National Press Club Pauline…
    #NewsBeep #News #Australia #AU #Monocultural #OneNation
    newsbeep.com/au/755725/

  10. @InsurgoFormica
    Yeah, that horse bolted a long long time ago… [re Pauline Hanson’s claim of Australia as a mono- vs a multicultural country].

    #monocultural #multicultural #OneNotion #AusPol #NPC #NationalPressClub

  11. @InsurgoFormica
    Yeah, that horse bolted a long long time ago… [re Pauline Hanson’s claim of Australia as a mono- vs a multicultural country].

    #monocultural #multicultural #OneNotion #AusPol #NPC #NationalPressClub

  12. @InsurgoFormica
    Yeah, that horse bolted a long long time ago… [re Pauline Hanson’s claim of Australia as a mono- vs a multicultural country].

    #monocultural #multicultural #OneNotion #AusPol #NPC #NationalPressClub

  13. @InsurgoFormica
    Yeah, that horse bolted a long long time ago… [re Pauline Hanson’s claim of Australia as a mono- vs a multicultural country].

    #monocultural #multicultural #OneNotion #AusPol #NPC #NationalPressClub

  14. @InsurgoFormica
    Yeah, that horse bolted a long long time ago… [re Pauline Hanson’s claim of Australia as a mono- vs a multicultural country].

    #monocultural #multicultural #OneNotion #AusPol #NPC #NationalPressClub

  15. 11 Important Things to Know About #Clover Lawns

    A clover lawn provides many benefits: less watering, less mowing, natural fertilization, and the attraction of wildlife and #pollinators. Is a clover yard right for you? Here's what else you need to know.

    By Lori Lovely | Published Jun 21, 2022

    "America’s #biodiverse meadows of days gone were slowly converted to French- and English-style #monoculture #lawns featuring mostly turf grass. By the late 1800s, the neatly trimmed, aesthetically pleasing grass lawn became a symbol of wealth. The invention of the lawn mower, as well as planned communities designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (the designer of Central Park) and other landscape architects, further cemented the trend in the U.S.

    "While manicured #monocultural lawns may look nice, they have drawbacks, such as depriving #pollinators of food and #habitat and requiring greater #water consumption, maintenance, and chemical treatment than a clover lawn requires."

    #Gardening #GardeningForPollinators #NoMowMay #Bees

    Read more: bobvila.com/articles/clover-la

  16. 11 Important Things to Know About #Clover Lawns

    A clover lawn provides many benefits: less watering, less mowing, natural fertilization, and the attraction of wildlife and #pollinators. Is a clover yard right for you? Here's what else you need to know.

    By Lori Lovely | Published Jun 21, 2022

    "America’s #biodiverse meadows of days gone were slowly converted to French- and English-style #monoculture #lawns featuring mostly turf grass. By the late 1800s, the neatly trimmed, aesthetically pleasing grass lawn became a symbol of wealth. The invention of the lawn mower, as well as planned communities designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (the designer of Central Park) and other landscape architects, further cemented the trend in the U.S.

    "While manicured #monocultural lawns may look nice, they have drawbacks, such as depriving #pollinators of food and #habitat and requiring greater #water consumption, maintenance, and chemical treatment than a clover lawn requires."

    #Gardening #GardeningForPollinators #NoMowMay #Bees

    Read more: bobvila.com/articles/clover-la

  17. 11 Important Things to Know About #Clover Lawns

    A clover lawn provides many benefits: less watering, less mowing, natural fertilization, and the attraction of wildlife and #pollinators. Is a clover yard right for you? Here's what else you need to know.

    By Lori Lovely | Published Jun 21, 2022

    "America’s #biodiverse meadows of days gone were slowly converted to French- and English-style #monoculture #lawns featuring mostly turf grass. By the late 1800s, the neatly trimmed, aesthetically pleasing grass lawn became a symbol of wealth. The invention of the lawn mower, as well as planned communities designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (the designer of Central Park) and other landscape architects, further cemented the trend in the U.S.

    "While manicured #monocultural lawns may look nice, they have drawbacks, such as depriving #pollinators of food and #habitat and requiring greater #water consumption, maintenance, and chemical treatment than a clover lawn requires."

    #Gardening #GardeningForPollinators #NoMowMay #Bees

    Read more: bobvila.com/articles/clover-la

  18. 11 Important Things to Know About #Clover Lawns

    A clover lawn provides many benefits: less watering, less mowing, natural fertilization, and the attraction of wildlife and #pollinators. Is a clover yard right for you? Here's what else you need to know.

    By Lori Lovely | Published Jun 21, 2022

    "America’s #biodiverse meadows of days gone were slowly converted to French- and English-style #monoculture #lawns featuring mostly turf grass. By the late 1800s, the neatly trimmed, aesthetically pleasing grass lawn became a symbol of wealth. The invention of the lawn mower, as well as planned communities designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (the designer of Central Park) and other landscape architects, further cemented the trend in the U.S.

    "While manicured #monocultural lawns may look nice, they have drawbacks, such as depriving #pollinators of food and #habitat and requiring greater #water consumption, maintenance, and chemical treatment than a clover lawn requires."

    #Gardening #GardeningForPollinators #NoMowMay #Bees

    Read more: bobvila.com/articles/clover-la

  19. 11 Important Things to Know About #Clover Lawns

    A clover lawn provides many benefits: less watering, less mowing, natural fertilization, and the attraction of wildlife and #pollinators. Is a clover yard right for you? Here's what else you need to know.

    By Lori Lovely | Published Jun 21, 2022

    "America’s #biodiverse meadows of days gone were slowly converted to French- and English-style #monoculture #lawns featuring mostly turf grass. By the late 1800s, the neatly trimmed, aesthetically pleasing grass lawn became a symbol of wealth. The invention of the lawn mower, as well as planned communities designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (the designer of Central Park) and other landscape architects, further cemented the trend in the U.S.

    "While manicured #monocultural lawns may look nice, they have drawbacks, such as depriving #pollinators of food and #habitat and requiring greater #water consumption, maintenance, and chemical treatment than a clover lawn requires."

    #Gardening #GardeningForPollinators #NoMowMay #Bees

    Read more: bobvila.com/articles/clover-la