Strips of copper hey. Hadn't thought of that. Would be interested to run another test with this. Coffee grounds is another good one. We produce a fair bit of that which usually goes to the compost. Are the sugar traps designed to kill them? Am guessing they can't swim!
Grouping everything close together keeping it tight is a good idea for sure. Just having an abundance of everything helps a lot to divert attention from those few small bits which get eaten. It's more the young plants which are just starting I can see getting eaten. A few tiny sunflowers and cucumbers have gone in recent days.
I very much feel the need to let go of my desire to plant things in neat groups and am grateful to now be in my second year on this land because so many things choose for themselves where they want to grow. Like those sunflowers I mentioned. All you have to do is plant them once and let the wind do the rest! My new rule is that whenever I see an unexpected and useful plant where it shouldn't be, I let it stay there. To me it seems as if this is nature expressing herself.
Googled Fukuoka but couldn't see anything which seemed to relate. Other than a city in Japan?
https://www.permaculturenews.org/2020/07/25/the-philosophy-of-masanobu-fukuoka/ Here's a link to some info about Masanobu Fukuoka to get started, dear @samstonehill - I actually never studied much about him, but got a very general overview when I was immersed in permaculture things a couple of decades ago, and was always hearing references to him - he's highly revered for the kind of in-tune harmony with landscape and plants that we're learning.
It's fab to hear your thought process... yes, getting out of neat groups/ lines... and yes, the young seedlings in pots or solitary positions: I didn't do a huge amount of potting up or seedling beds in my growing career, but cold frames in the UK worked well, and are easier to mulch selectively, to grow seeds up to a hardier state - buuuuut, then when they get replanted it just creates a similar 'tourist' kind of a vibe, where Nature will see a weak spot and be attracted to something 'out of place' (mugging tourists!).
I had a wee download reading your response here too, about my own inability to Trust the young plants to grow themselves where they choose - my over-coddling them, and creating weakness so that they can't fend for themselves - that classic 'thinking we're helping' which causes further and more complex problems. Again, this is linked to scarcity thinking, and the fact that we've been conditioned into buying tiny packs of just a few seeds, which then are not likely to flourish - when Nature creates VAST quantities, and Fukuoka spoke to that - to throwing handfuls of seeds into areas which we know will support the plant that we're seeding: tweaking selectively, but doing no more than that. π
So yes, a big part of my learning curve in Italy has been to study local wisdom around wild plant foraging, and then add to it via books and cross-referencing/ seeing how plants relate to ones I know in Scotland. The more I do this, the more I recognise that almost ALL the plants growing freely here are EDIBLE - almost none are poisonous or not-useful. That kind of blows my mind, as it opens the horizon significantly for creating a garden rich in food and useful plants, and also immune to both natural invasive destruction as well as human invasive distruction! (There's a culture of theft here that can be problematic as folks earn less money and the cost of food rises.)
It's great to chat with you here, Sam! Thanks for the stimulating conversation always!
Beautiful. Have been teaching my children exactly this for years already though I didn't have much evidence for its truth till this moment ;)
Thanks for the super interesting response. Lots of nuggets in there!
Having collected seeds for a few years now I have 100% moved on from that scarcity feeling you mentioned and sewing in huge swathes seems logical. Though for the most part I have realised that sewing is no longer needed at all. Lettuces for example are popping up everywhere at this time of year and the only action I need to take is to move them off the paths. Coz they will get squished if I don't.
Love the borage forest and the hidden cat!
Checking the link now...
Ah, beautiful, and YES to just watching nature throw things up in front of us!! Me too, finding lettuce and cabbage all around: even if I planted them in a pot, they tend to move somewhere else mystically :-D Heheh! Glorious work we're doing, guardians in Nature...