Syntropic adjective
syn·trop·ic
(ˈ)sin‧, sən‧+
: repeated symmetrically without being reversed
Syntropic Farming (also Syntropic Agriculture and Syntropic Agroforestry) is a regenerative agriculture approach inspired by natural forest systems, aiming to create diverse and productive ecosystems while mimicking the regenerative processes of nature. Systematized and popularized by Swiss Farmer, Ernst Gotsch, while living in Brazil, this approach to farming gives our human species an active role in the development, maintenance and evolution of an ecosystem on both a spiritual and practical level.
We first visited a Syntropic System at Engkanto Garden Farm in Corona, CA where Renato Dourado was stewarding 1/3 acres of land using the principles of Syntropic Agriculture. What we came to understand was that Syntropic Farming describes what many indigenous peoples’ already know about farming, but it also serves as a framework for understanding land stewardship from a practical and spiritual level.
Since then, we’ve started to implement Syntropic practices in both the hoop house and outside as well.
Some basic principles of Syntropic Farming include:
- making sure the soil is covered using natural occurring inputs
- pruning as a way of not only stimulating growth hormones, but of creating mass to cover the soil
- planting densely and diversely in order to attract more micronutrients into the soil.
On a more spiritual level, Syntropic Farming inspires a more Yin approach to farming, deeply rooted in the ability to listen to nature and observe, to communicate with the ecosystem and open yourself to the messages that the land is offering.
A mindset shift that Syntropic Farming has encouraged in us even more is to question human-centered design and truly focus on what the land is asking and wanting. From a philosophical standpoint – and perhaps even a Biblical standpoint – we understand that nature, just wants to be a forest because forests are the ultimate symbol of union, harmony and unconditional love. In a forest system, all beings dance in harmony with the waves of life, they conspire to help each other grow, to get closer to one another.
Syntropic Farming attempts to mimic and accelerate the process of natural succession through actions that us humans as syntropic agents perform. It is an attempt to turn deserts into forests by quite literally creating the conditions for water to flow. Philosophically, Syntropic Farming teaches us what it means to plant water, to plant love – not just in the soil itself, but in the hearts of the people who steward the land.
