What is Silvohorticulture + How to Make Farm Decisions

Farmer Jesse discusses silvo horticulture, emphasizing the integration of trees into crop production to enhance food yield, wind reduction, water management, and biodiversity. He highlights the potential challenges, such as planning errors and maintenance issues, but advocates for the practice as a sustainable farming approach. Jesse also touches on decision-making frameworks for farm management, stressing the importance of aligning business goals with personal satisfaction. He shares insights from a forthcoming book on silvo horticulture and reflects on a past mistake with straw mulch leading to a weed problem, underscoring the value of learning from farming experiences.

• Silvo horticulture involves integrating trees into agricultural systems, which can include fruit or nut trees, nitrogen-fixing trees, native trees, or trees for habitat and windbreaks.
• This approach can maximize land use by allowing simultaneous harvesting from both crops and trees, enhancing the productivity of the same plot of land.
• Trees can serve multiple functions: providing food, reducing wind damage, managing water, and enhancing nutrient cycling and biodiversity.

"Silva horticulture, if it's not clear, is about integrating trees into crop production areas. And I that may be fruit or nut trees, but it could also be like, you know, trees for nitrogen fixation or native trees, or trees for habitat, or trees for windbreak and so on."

• Silvo horticulture is a multifaceted approach that involves using various types of trees for different purposes within agricultural systems.

"More food on the same land is a big benefit no matter what. I always look at how much potential a single plot of land has for food production anyway."

• Integrating trees can significantly increase the food production potential of a given area by adding another layer of productivity.

• Wind Reduction: Trees act as windbreaks, protecting crops and soil from wind damage and erosion.
• Water Management: Trees help manage water by protecting soil from heavy rains, preserving moisture during droughts, and utilizing deep soil moisture and nutrients.
• Nutrient Cycling and Biodiversity: Trees support diverse microbial life and enhance nutrient cycling, benefiting the entire ecosystem.

"Wind will heavily disrupt and dehydrate young and mature plants, as well as cause erosion. Trees, when they're planned out well, can help break the wind up and reduce the effects."

• Trees play a crucial role in mitigating wind damage, which is essential for protecting crops and maintaining soil integrity.

"Having the trees there to utilize the water and nutrients below ground means that you are maximizing that space not just above ground with the fruit and stuff, but below ground as well."

• Trees contribute to efficient water and nutrient use by accessing resources beyond the reach of annual crops, optimizing both above-ground and below-ground space.

• The speaker, Farmer Jesse, is personally involved in implementing silvo horticulture practices on his farm, highlighting the practical application and timing of the forthcoming book on this subject.
• The integration of trees into their farming practice aligns with their ongoing efforts to enhance farm resilience and productivity.

"Planting trees in the garden is something that Hannah and I are working on for our farm, and so the timing couldn't be better for this particular book."

• The speaker's personal experience underscores the practical relevance and timely nature of the book on silvo horticulture for their farming endeavors.

• Shade in gardens is crucial for managing heat and enhancing plant growth.
• Natural shade from trees is preferable to artificial shade cloth due to reduced maintenance.
• Trees provide shade in summer and allow sunlight in spring, optimizing light conditions for plants.
• Diffuse light from tree leaves can enhance photosynthesis in lower plant leaves.

"One of the incentives for Hannah and I to include more trees in our gardens is that shade cloth is a pain."

• The speaker prefers natural shade from trees over artificial coverings due to ease of maintenance.

"In terms of diffuse light, I always say that pretty much any green part of the plant is capable of photosynthesizing, but that doesn't mean light always gets down there."

• Diffuse light from trees helps lower plant leaves photosynthesize more efficiently.

• Planning is crucial when integrating trees into gardens, especially with perennial plants.
• Mistakes in perennial planting can take years to correct.
• Trees in gardens can obstruct space but are more manageable with no-till systems.
• Trees can create messes and food safety issues, such as bird droppings and falling leaves.

"If you get the planning wrong in a perennial plot or with perennial plants, well, that's not ideal."

• Mistakes in perennial plant planning can have long-term negative impacts, emphasizing the need for careful planning.

"Having fruit dangling above your garden sounds nice, but also could create a mess if left unharvested."

• Unharvested fruits and other tree debris can create maintenance challenges in gardens.

• "Silvo horticulture" is a challenging term but falls under the broader category of agroforestry.
• Agroforestry includes silvo pasture, silvo arable, and silvo horticulture.
• The term "agroforestry" can be used to simplify communication and avoid complex terminology.
• Mixing trees with annual plants is a traditional practice with historical precedence.

"Silvo horticulture, compare it to silva pasture, which rolls off the tongue pretty nicely."

• The term "silvo horticulture" is noted for being difficult to pronounce, highlighting the complexity of agroforestry terminology.

"Mixing trees in annual plants, as the authors point out, is the way in which people have grown food all over the planet for millennia."

• Intercropping trees and plants is a traditional agricultural practice with a long history.

• Reflection and record-keeping are essential for evaluating the end of a farming season.
• Records should focus on growth, challenges, and potential changes for future seasons.
• The process involves decision-making and prioritizing what data to keep for future reference.

"How do you evaluate the end of your season? What sorts of records, reflections or notes do you prioritize keeping for the future growth of your farm?"

• The importance of evaluating and recording seasonal outcomes to inform future farming decisions is emphasized.

• Decision-making frameworks are essential for determining the direction of a farm, focusing on both data and core decisions.
• Quality of life is a crucial factor in decision-making, especially in the farming business, which is often personal and demanding.
• The process involves evaluating each market or sales outlet to identify what aspects are enjoyable or not, and making adjustments accordingly.
• Decision-making is a dynamic and ongoing process, influenced by changes in personal life and external factors.

"The core of these questions is how on a farm should we make decisions about the direction of our farm?"

• Emphasizes the importance of strategic decision-making in farming to guide the farm's future direction.

"Quality of life must be factored into any decision-making framework in farming or, frankly, in any business."

• Highlights the necessity of considering personal well-being and satisfaction in business decisions.

• It's important to assess personal enjoyment in farming tasks and markets, and adapt by increasing enjoyable activities and reducing unenjoyable ones.
• The decision to continue or drop certain markets or crops should factor in personal satisfaction and family commitments.
• Regular reassessment is necessary as personal circumstances and external factors change over time.

"Can I do more of what I enjoy about this, say farmers market or whatever, and do less of what I do not enjoy?"

• Encourages farmers to focus on activities that bring them joy and minimize those that do not.

"I no longer wanted to spend my weekends at the farmers market. I love the farmers market, but it was taking away from my time with my kids."

• Personal priorities, such as family time, can influence business decisions like participating in farmers markets.

• Holistic management is a popular decision-making framework among farmers, emphasizing long-term goals and alignment with personal values.
• Establishing a holistic goal is vital for making informed decisions about farm operations.
• It's important to understand what you want from farming and align it with the goals of others involved in the business.

"Thinking about your long-term goals is something every farmer needs to do."

• Stresses the importance of having clear long-term objectives for effective decision-making.

"Holistic management is arguably the most popular decision-making framework among farmers."

• Points out the widespread use and acceptance of holistic management in the farming community.

• Maintaining records of profitability and time allocation is crucial for informed decision-making.
• Certified organic farms, like the one discussed, rely on detailed production notes for reference.

"It is important always to know what is profitable and where your time is going so you have data to look at when you're trying to make these decisions."

• Emphasizes the necessity of tracking profitability and time investment to support decision-making processes.

• Importance of maintaining detailed records for farm operations, including planting, harvesting, and sales.
• Emphasis on keeping both a family and farm budget updated regularly to track income sources and changes over time.
• Recommendation of "The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook" by Richard Wiswall for financial guidance.

"I'm also a big fan of keeping a family budget and farm budget that is updated every day or regularly so that we can look back at that, you know, where we were earning what and from what source?"

• Highlights the necessity of regular updates to budgets for effective financial tracking and decision-making.

"I know I have already mentioned this book from Richard Wiswall, the Organic Farmer's Business Handbook, this one. But on the financial side of things, that is the most rational and easy to digest breakdown I have read."

• Recommends a resource for clear and rational financial management advice in farming.

• Encouragement to explore and share decision-making frameworks that have been helpful in farming.
• Invitation for community interaction and learning from shared experiences.

"Also, I would love to hear what decision-making frameworks you all use or have found helpful. Let us know in the comments and wherever else you let me know things."

• Invites listeners to engage and share their decision-making strategies, fostering community learning.

• Discussion of a past experience with strawberry farming, specifically with the "Early Glow" variety.
• Challenges faced due to climate recommendations and the timing of planting and mulching.
• Mistake of using straw with viable wheat seeds, leading to unexpected wheat growth and labor-intensive weeding.

"It was the fall and we had some really nice strawberry plants that we had taken all summer to take care of. These were early glow and if you've ever grown them, you know that they are not the most productive strawberry plants perhaps, but they are absolutely one of the best tasting."

• Describes the effort and care put into growing a specific strawberry variety known for its taste.

"I noticed the wheat seed falling from the straw, but I assumed it must not be viable or it probably won't be a problem because, well, mulch keeps weeds down, right?"

• Reflects on the assumption that mulch would prevent weed growth, leading to a significant oversight.

"Later, of course, the farmer would tell me that if he'd known about the wheat seed in the mulch, he probably would have nothing mulched them with it because a couple weeks later, we had a really nice cover crop of wheat surrounding those strawberries."

• Highlights the unintended consequence of using straw with wheat seeds, resulting in additional labor.

• Encouragement for sharing experiences and stories related to farming challenges, particularly with straw and weeds.
• Call to action for audience engagement through social media and support platforms like Patreon.

"If you have any good straw or wheat weed stories or any good straw stories, and by good, I guess I'm suggesting bad stories, let us know. I'd love to hear them."

• Invites the community to share similar experiences, fostering a sense of shared learning and support.

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• Encourages listeners to support the podcast through Patreon, highlighting community contributions.

• Wrap-up of the episode with a call to action for listener feedback and engagement.
• Acknowledgment of Patreon supporters and encouragement for more community interaction.

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• Encourages audience to engage with the content through likes, subscriptions, and follows.

"Big shoutouts today to Tim Olson, Lynn Tompkins, slut of the cloth... Thank you all so much."

• Expresses gratitude to supporters, recognizing their contributions to the show's success.