UNHIDE Agroforestry booklet 2025.09.22 - Flipbook - Page 27
To avoid frost damage a gas-powered fan
is circulated with a truck in the orchard.
grazing herds, whose natural behavior is to be in
constant movement, instinctively keeping out for
predators. This allows for plants to grow deeper
roots, which reduces soil erosion (from overgrazing), and creates stronger resistance to drought;
when the animals leave enough cover, water
movement slows down during heavy rains, and
this increases absorption. Deeper roots can also
absorb more nutrients, which decreases contaminants in groundwater and reduces the need for fertilizer and pesticides. As animal feed and welfare
“STINGING NETTLES SAVED
THE FARM ECONOMY A
YEAR WITH LATE SPRING
FROSTS” - Marcus Callenbring
is provided through forage, this grazing method
significantly lowers expenses for farmers. “Our
pigs feed significantly more on herbs than is commonly understood”, Marcus notes.
At Stora Juleboda farm, foraging leaves and herbs
in the wild and in maintenance free edge zones
is a remarkable asset, providing a substantial and
stable income: the land includes foraging possibilities along a shoreline, forest edges and along
a stream. Buds of hops and meadow sweet, dried
and pulverised singing nettles, apple blossoms,
leaves of black currant for tea, beach rose leaves,
dandelion, ramson, leaves from birch and beech,
and birch sap are hand-picked and sold to restaurants. Actually, nettles pay as much as apples - the
salary is 27 € per hour and when sold to restaurants, the amount of one hour picking is paid twice
as much.
Birch sap.
Hop leaves and young sprouts are a treat.
