#monoculture — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #monoculture, aggregated by home.social.
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‘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."
#SolarPunkSunday #Trees #UK #MutualAid #HempTextiles #FoodSecurity #FoodForests #CropRotation #CropDiversity #OrganicFarming #SupportUKFarms #SupportLocalFarmers
#Polyculture not #Monoculture -
#AgroIndustrie #monoculture #surproduction
[Pardon, mais 😂]Trop de choux-fleurs et pas de clients, les légumiers de France rencontrent une crise « catastrophique »
Les producteurs de poireaux, de potimarrons ou de carottes subissent depuis plusieurs mois les conséquences d’une météo tempétueuse et de températures printanières en plein hiver. Certains agriculteurs croulent sur des légumes en surnombre, quand des fruiticulteurs craignent de devoir arracher leurs arbres.
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Bulldozing Australia’s great tropical savanna
"One of the largest intact and biodiverse savanna ecosystems left on Earth”."The environment minister, Murray Watt, has given the green light for the bulldozing of nearly 3,000 hectares of tropical savanna in the Northern Territory without an assessment under Australia’s nature laws."
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/24/federal-green-light-bulldoze-tropical-savanna-northern-territory-threatened-species
#biodiversity #cotton #monoculture #ThreatenedSpecies #EPBCAct #LandClearing #NationalInterest #exemptions #laws #Australia #extractivism #waterImage: The Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gouldian_Finch_(8952067299).jpg -
Pesticide spray drift from intensive horticulture on the the mid-north coast NSW -
Discontent in the region.Home owners, dairy and beef producers among those concerned about how pesticide use affects their land as well as water quality on the mid-north coast
“Between 2001 and 2016 blueberry farming expanded 400% – mainly around the Coffs Harbour region.”
“This monitoring showed the continued detection of pesticides in most waterways sampled, highlighting the need for ongoing monitoring in the region.”
“Monitoring in the Nambucca valley by the EPA has detected three different pesticides in low levels in three creeks, suggesting water quality in the area is not being impacted by excessive amounts of pesticides.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/09/blueberry-farms-nsw-north-coast-rapid-expansion-development-pesticides
#Pesticides #food #beef #diary #prawns #blueberries #plantations #monoculture #rivers #water #export #runoff #pollution #neonicotinoids #imidacloprid #dimethoate #SprayDrift #CoffsHarbour #Macksville #Nambucca #Woolgoolga #conflict #violence #EPA #regulation #horticulture #industry #tourism #PeoplesHomes #TankWater #governance #MidNorthCoast #NSW #biodiversity #wildlife #extractivism -
Are you thinking about creating a #FoodForest here in #NewZealand? Here are the steps you need to take to successfully plan and grow your own #EdibleForestGarden.
by Dana at Piwakawaka Valley Homestead
"Reasons to use Permaculture principals to design your Food Forest
- Permaculture is a fantastic way to reduce your workload, particularly on lifestyle blocks.
- Permaculture design reduces workload by mimicking natural systems, natural systems maintain themselves, so that you don’t have to.
- Permaculture can save money. Successful permaculture properties operate as a closed loop, requiring few products to be bought in to maintain it. Ideally all your fertility will be made or grown on site.
- To provide resilience from natural disasters. Permaculture landscapes mitigate against flood events, resist the effects of drought, provide food security, enhance habitat for animals /birds / insects, process their own waste (turning it into a valuable resource), and provide can even fuel in winter if you have enough space to add a woodlot.
- Reduce exposure to chemicals in the environment. Permaculture and organics go hand in hand – an organically managed property will be free from the potential harmful effects of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
"Here are the steps you need to take to successfully plan and grow your own edible forest garden...."
Read more:
https://foodforestplants.co.nz/create-food-forest-new-zealand/#SolarPunkSunday #FoodForests
#SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #FoodSovereignty #OrganicGardening #GardeningWithoutPesticides
#Gardening #CommunityAgriculture
#Monoculture #PlantDiversity
#BigFood #BigAg #WebOfLife #Polyculture -
10 incredible #UrbanFoodForests from around the world
"If we take a moment to observe nature we realize that a woodland doesn’t require artificial interventions to remain flourishing." – Picasso Food Forest
Climate Society
14th June 2022"Everywhere around the world cities are facing the challenge of providing their growing population with fresh, local food. Instead of buying food cultivated in monocultures hundreds of miles away from home, both farmers as well as engaged citizens are turning to a radically different approach. They are transforming school yards, parking lots and even boats into edible food forests.
"Food forests are the complete opposite of our industrial agricultural model. Instead of large-scale monocrops covered in harmful pesticides, food forests are diverse ecosystems, mimicking natural forests. The different layers of a food forest, ranging from tall fruit and nut trees to fruit bearing shrubs and bushes, vines, roots and other ground-hugging plants, offer a variety of fresh, local, organic produce.
"Especially for city dwellers, these urban food forests provide a huge opportunity. Rather than depending on the heavily industrialized food system, it enables people in cities to gain access to healthy and sustainable nutrition. In addition, by actively participating in taking care of a food forest, the connection to both nature and community gets an instant boost.
"These ten inspiring examples of food forests prove that it is possible to provide inhabitants of urban areas with food that is good for both people and planet."
Read more:
https://sustainableurbandelta.com/urban-food-forests/#SolarPunkSunday #FoodForests #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #FoodSovereignty #OrganicGardening #GardeningWithoutPesticides #Gardening #CommunityAgriculture #Monoculture #PlantDiversity #BigFood #BigAg #FoodSovereignty #WebOfLife #Polyculture
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Fuck yeah, here’s one of the original youtube video essayists (back in the day he pioneered the genre together with a small bunch of other formerly Channel Awesome-affiliated folks like Dan Olson/Folding Ideas, Leon Thomas and Lindsay Ellis) reminding us what a video essay can still aspire to be. I’ve often had kind of a hard time with Kyle Kallgren’s essays in recent years, not because he hadn’t worthy things to communicate but rather because he’s grown a tendency to go way overboard with the goofy bits, something he’s not that good at to begin with and a bit of a tired cliché (of youtubers aspiring to be seen as goddamn filmmakers or actors or comedians) i can only take in moderation these days. It’s exactly why i can’t ever make it through, say, a Patrick Willems video (that, plus a number of pretty shallow-to-genuinely-bad, middle-of-the-road takes that had me tune out at some point). I’m actually kinda glad the Channel Awesome-informed days when half-assed comedy bits were deemed mandatory are long gone.
This newest Kallgren video is pure brilliance though. Don’t be too alarmed by that whole youtube standard “Top 20 List” schtick, which is indeed just another satirical bit he thankfully tones down fairly quick to act as more of a springboard for a deeper discussion and commentary on issues regarding the culture we’re fed by the Hollywood- and comic book industrial complex. Give it a spin. It’s worth your time and attention in an era when things worth your time and attention have become kinda hard to find in youtube culture criticism.
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Replacing native birds with an invasive species of birds
"The Invasive Species Council has raised concern about the spread of the Indian myna in country Australia. When Indian mynas move into an area they force native birds out of their wood hollows and kill their chicks, leading to a decline in native bird numbers."
"People in rural areas are seeing them spread along the highways...They like well-manicured gardens, they like grass and lots of places they can sit. So planting native trees is something people can do to help our native birds out."
Any council actions in Bellingen and Sawtell?
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-31/indian-myna-spread-rural-australia-invasive-species-council/103404894
#birds #NativeBirds #InvasiveSpecies #NSW #Bellingen #Sawtell #WaterfallWay #ChurchSt #HydeSt #roads #impacts #BellingenShire #monoculture #landscapes -
Five key extinction risks facing the world’s plants and fungi, Kew report
"Plants are currently going extinct 500 times faster than before humans existed"
"Almost half of flowering plant species are under threat."
"By carting species around the world and losing unique threatened species, we are making regions that were once really distinct much more similar, so we are blurring the edges of our global biogeographical regions.”
https://www.carbonbrief.org/kew-report-five-key-extinction-risks-facing-the-worlds-plants-and-fungi/
#plants #flora #botany #epiphytes #ThreatenedSpecies #conservation #restoration #homogenisation #degradation #plantation #monoculture #biodiversity #BiodiversityCrisis #extinction makers -
@smpl
We also call for ecological repair. Before concerning yourself with savers (and arguably environment savers too, by extension) please cast your attention to #propertyDevelopers and #landholders who wish to profit from land #rezoning for #urbanOverdevelopment, #monoculture and actual #mining.Bitcoin could be the furthest concern from your mind. It fact it is a remedy to debt fueled #expansionism.