Wild Gardens

In class on Tuesday April 2nd, we discussed wild gardens and how there are many tribes that grow crops and live off vast spaces of land, ranging from deserts to rain forests. These tribes are able to grow crops and find ways of applying what they have learned about the land to make the most of it, while not over taking. The gardens they grow don't hinder growth, but encourage crop growth by how they let nature win. They allow the areas of land time and patience to grow back. They learn to only take what they need, something that is a forgotten concept to modern agriculture. Tribes like the Kayapo in the rain forest, value what they plant and the diversity of crops that are grown. It's unlikely that Swidden farming would be a sustainable choice for the modern society today. However, it is necessary to take ideas and practices that they have done to better understand environments that can grow sources of foods.

I thought this was interesting; modern day gardens are so controlled and care a lot about the aesthetics of the garden, it's hard to picture a gardener allowing their garden space not to be manicured all the time. I also considered how beneficial Swidden farming would be for maybe smaller communities who don't rely as heavily on mass produced agriculture. This kind of farming on a large scale wouldn't keep up with our high demand, but there is room for other ways communities can cultivate crops that should be more encouraged to try and explore. These more unconventional ways of gardening and agriculture could be aiding the problem of how the agriculture system works today.