In the 1800s, the islands off the shores of Scotland produced about 90 per cent of their own food. Currently, 95 per cent of their food is imported; the land is considered to be too unproductive to work. Researchers challenged that premise and tried to replicate traditional farming methods on the acidic, peaty soils.
The scientists used ridges, sometimes called ‘lazy beds,’ in which the seedbed is created by turning over the soil from both sides of a strip of land onto itself, creating an elevated ridge with channels on either side. Traditionally, it took a group of 10-12 people one day to create ridges on an acre. But once made, less labour was needed for maintenance.
For fertility, the researchers (and past farmers) applied seaweed, both fresh and partially rotted. The crop rotation consisted of cabbages, potatoes, oats and pasture.
In the past, oats were used for soil improvement and apparently provided a crop only about once every 50 years. The researchers successfully harvested a grain crop but also found that the oats, combined with seaweed, increased the pH of the soil from a starting point of 4.6 to 6.3.
Overall, they found that the traditional practices of ridging, seaweed application and crop rotation could lead to greater food production on the islands.
Source: Seaweed and the reworking of old agricultural production systems to provide improved sustainability and ecosystems services. O.G.G. Knox et al. Agriculture and the Environment X, Delivering Multiple Benefits from our Land: Sustainable Development in Practice. 2014. pp. 206-214.
- Janet Wallace