The synergistic garden

Can a vegetable garden produce without working the land? The answer is yes, if it is a synergistic garden.

To tell us about his experience at Fattoria di Corsignano is Tula, from Bergamo who has lived in the Sienese countryside for ten years, dealing with the care of greenery and sustainable forms of agriculture. “I did technical studies, but at a certain point in my path I felt the call of greenery, of nature and I changed my life by starting to work and learn on the field. Then I deepened with specific courses, dealing with permaculture and also topics such as biodynamic and synergic agriculture. The love for the vegetable garden and the orchard comes to me directly from my childhood, from the memory of my uncle’s garden which as a child seemed to me a jungle of perfumes and colors “.

The synergistic vegetable garden at Fattoria di Corsignano occupies an important part of the land dedicated to the cultivation of vegetables (the rest is organic) and it is prepared and managed by Tula. He comes about twice a month to check that everything follows its course, “with care, heart and good sense”.

Works began this year at the end of March with mulching, a technique used to counter the growth of weeds in permanent raised beds. This is the name of the synergistic heaps, in which the chosen species are planted, and their self-fertility is facilitated by the topping of the plants that does not tear the root which remains instead in the soil.

“In a synergistic heap – continues Tula – there must be more families of plants, in contrast to monoculture, as long as they help each other. An example? Carrot and onion or salad and tomato … just like the pairing on the dish!”

Another attention to dedicate to this independent garden is giving the right watering and this is done by inserting some dripping lines.

“For me, the synergistic vegetable garden is a splendid way of bringing children closer to the land because it is very creative. I myself, as an adult, am fascinated by the synergy that is created among plants and by the possibility of making a vegetable garden with the soil which doesn’t need much workings”.

A limit? We need to choose the right ground and the right hand otherwise we risk that the soil will gradually become poorer and so the main challenge, that is to maintain the fertility of the land itself, will be lost.
And now, you just have to wait for the Restaurant season to start again and taste the vegetable of the synergistic garden sitting comfortably at the tables of our Restaurant!