After a year and a half of thinking about it -and after visiting Scott Hall on his farm, as well as the Permadynamics family in New Zealand - I finally took the leap and planted an infestation block of Acacia saligna. In this video, I am breaking down what Infestation actually means, and why it can be such a powerful lever - especially in brittle climates (Arid, Semi-arid or Mediterranean climates) Infestation isn’t a standalone method. It’s the first step in a broader framework called Successional Accumulation, a concept developed and coined by Scott Hall. The process unfolds in these three stages: - Infestation - Stabilisation - Succession We’ll dive deeper into each of these steps here on the platform as we go ! What I’ve found is that this approach is far more practical at scale than trying to plant everything all at once - especially when you’re limited in water, amendments, or access. And Scott covers his experience with it on his platform. It’s a way to work with constraints instead of fighting them, and it can significantly reduce costs while setting up a long-term resilience strategy. I’d really love to hear your thoughts. What species have you seen that could play a similar role in your climate ?

The Fava Bean Trick ! Fava beans are great for smothering weeds, and they sprout easily with the first rains. In this video, I show how I use them - and how much easier they make the work. No need to get on your knees pulling grasses in the first year. You get 2 cuts with them, and each cut took me 20min/100m/1 person. It's really not that much work - about 2 and a half hours for these 3 rows of 240m each. By the time they phase out, it’s already Summer here in the Mediterranean, so there’s basically no need to weed anymore. Then when the rains return, your rows should be established enough that weeding becomes a minimal task. You might need a bit of weeding in year two if your trees haven’t grown enough - but in my experience, one more pass is usually enough - cutting them, not even uprooting them. After that, the trees outcompete the grasses and take over. What other plants do you think could do a similar job? I’m thinking artichokes or cardoons could work really well - but they’d need to be started as seedlings.

First time using an air prune bed, so I’m curious to see how root development compares to traditional trays. The goal is to have strong seedlings ready for transplanting into the land by early October. I’m working in a Mediterranean climate (Mallorca), so timing is pretty critical for survival through next summer. Would love to hear from anyone who has experience with air-prune beds: Anything to watch out for in the early stages? Maybe keep it covered with plastic until germination since nights are still cold?

Hey everyone 👋 I’m noticing there’s a lot of great content on syntropic agroforestry design and succession, but much less on land preparation before planting, especially in Mediterranean contexts. I’d love some practical input on what you actually do before the first trees go in: • Is subsoiling always needed? For which soil types, and how do small growers even access one? • Do you add compost or manure at the start in planting lines? • Any experience with ash or rock dust early on, or better to let biology do the work? • Does a single initial plowing ever make sense in compacted Mediterranean soils? If you had to rank the most important interventions at the beginning, what would they be? Curious to hear real-world experiences (successes and failures), especially across different Mediterranean soil types. Thanks! 🌱

Electing your plant species for your syntropic system is a very difficult process for many. It's this typical overwhelming process where you don't know which plants to choose, that's why I aimed at making it much easier for you; condensing it down to 30 plants that grow very fast. Bear with me, it doesn't include later succession species, but don't worry, it's much more important to elect the right species entering into the secondary phase of a forest rather than thinking too much about which species will come later, as you can plant these later anyway. Most important advice here, don't overthink it, use whatever species grows fastest in your context to establish your system ASAP. I've separated the low water needs plants from the moderate water needs from the high water needs plants - symbolized by the water droplets. To be clear this is about water requirements at establishment, many plants in the moderate water needs will become tough as nails over time but if not watered enough at establishment, they will die. As well, the pile of sand (only tagasaste) symbolizes the need of the plant to be in loose or sandy soil. The shovel means these plants require good decompaction to get a good headstart - meaning breaking down the hardpan in a clay compacted soil - ex: using a subsoiler. Also, the snowflake means that these plants are frost sensitive, typically when temperatures go lower than 2 degrees they can exhibit damage. these plants are truly meant for a mild Mediterranean climate - especially mild winters. Lastly, the successional role of these plants is added at the end : - Placenta : Short-lived - Usually about 5 years maximum within a Mediterranean syntropic system. They can reach maturity within 6 months to a year and provide the fastest growth at establishment of your system. - Pioneer - Secondary : Plants that consolidate the transition from scrubland to forest. They are fast-growing too - but not as much as the placenta plants, usually reaching maturity around year 2 or 3. They create these conditions for the secondary forest to take place by providing high amounts of biomass and shade for the secondary seedlings below.