Jan 17 2025 19 mins 6
Ben raskin and Andy Dibben have written Silvohorticulture, A Grower's Guide To Integrating Trees Into Crops published in January 2025 by Chelsea Green Publishing.
Raskin is head of horticulture and agroforestry for the Soil Association and Dibben is head grower at Abbey Home Farms in Gloucestershire.
They say interactions between trees and crops is an under-investigated area and that trees can offer many benefits for food growers.
The foreword is by Stockfree Organic farmer Iain Tolhurst who calls this "agroforestry at its finest" and says which trees to choose is "no longer an act of faith".
There are negative impacts from planting the trees in the shade, but many crops do not actually need full sun all day.
Abbey Home Farms in Cirencester is a 650ha acre mixed organic farm, intercropping into 6ha of veg production with mixed top fruit tree, coppice species for wood chip, as well as peach trees in the glasshouses.
Also featured in the book are:
- Eastbrook Farm in Wiltshire – 200 acre silvopastural system (trialing almonds, apricots, berries and other fruits into a 25year business plan)
- Shillingford Farm in Devon – 420 acre fruit and veg farm using alley cropping systems
- Troed-y-Rhiw Farm in Wales – 23 acre mixed organic farm growing top fruit and bush fruit, but outside and in tunnels
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