Western agriculture is a risky business. Even if
crops survive the frequent summer droughts, their soil can be
washed away by fast and furious monsoon rains. Brook LeVan,
co-director of the nonprofit Sustainable Settings in Aspen, Colo.,
wants to help farmers avoid this annual double jeopardy. This
summer, with the help of two teachers and a group of workshop
students, LeVan has established the region’s first alley-cropping
demonstration project.
Alley cropping, an
agricultural system dating back to ancient societies in China and
South America, involves growing annual agricultural crops in alleys
between rows of perennial tree crops. The annuals – which in
Sustainable Settings’ plan include potatoes, quinoa, rye and beans
– generate income while the perennials
mature.
Swales, or ditches dug according to the
contours of the land, are key to the system. Swales distribute
water evenly among the crops and help control soil erosion, even in
the event of heavy storms.
“We’re teaching people
how to harvest what does fall from the sky,” says LeVan. “By
controlling erosion and distributing water, we get into productive
use.” LeVan hopes that the system, if successful, will be adopted
by other Western farmers frustrated with the longer, drier summers
and diminishing snowpack levels.
For more
information, contact Sustainable Settings at 970/923-1366,
info@sustainablesettings.org, or visit www.sustainablesettings.org.
Copyright © 2001 HCN and Catherine Lutz
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Harvesting ancient farming.
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