Hey y'all. I am stoked today to share this interview I conducted with Scott Hall. He's been one of my mentors for 3 years now, and to give him credit he's the first one who introduced me to the approach practically speaking, after I watched the Youtube documentary "Life in Syntropy". And, still to this day, I have not found anyone in the syntropic space that can explain syntropic ag the way he does, that's because he's simplistic, practical and grounded rather than going down the rabbit hole of nerding out on the content - which happens a lot in this space. I'll leave you to enjoy this interview ! the next guest I've got in the pipeline is Klaus Lotz from Permadynamics - he's actually a member of this platform. I'm actually gonna put the link to Scott's platform called "The pathway to regeneration" on Mighty Networks where he shares foundations and principles of syntropic ag as well as progress on his farm and it's a great online community of a few hundred people, some of them really know their stuff and there's loads to learn from beginner level to intermediate to advanced level. https://the-pathway-to-regeneration.mn.co/share/UGipdeUOczQbL98y?utm_source=manual

Electing your plant species for your syntropic system is a very difficult process for many. It's this typical overwhelming process where you don't know which plants to choose, that's why I aimed at making it much easier for you; condensing it down to 30 plants that grow very fast. Bear with me, it doesn't include later succession species, but don't worry, it's much more important to elect the right species entering into the secondary phase of a forest rather than thinking too much about which species will come later, as you can plant these later anyway. Most important advice here, don't overthink it, use whatever species grows fastest in your context to establish your system ASAP. I've separated the low water needs plants from the moderate water needs from the high water needs plants - symbolized by the water droplets. To be clear this is about water requirements at establishment, many plants in the moderate water needs will become tough as nails over time but if not watered enough at establishment, they will die. As well, the pile of sand (only tagasaste) symbolizes the need of the plant to be in loose or sandy soil. The shovel means these plants require good decompaction to get a good headstart - meaning breaking down the hardpan in a clay compacted soil - ex: using a subsoiler. Also, the snowflake means that these plants are frost sensitive, typically when temperatures go lower than 2 degrees they can exhibit damage. these plants are truly meant for a mild Mediterranean climate - especially mild winters. Lastly, the successional role of these plants is added at the end : - Placenta : Short-lived - Usually about 5 years maximum within a Mediterranean syntropic system. They can reach maturity within 6 months to a year and provide the fastest growth at establishment of your system. - Pioneer - Secondary : Plants that consolidate the transition from scrubland to forest. They are fast-growing too - but not as much as the placenta plants, usually reaching maturity around year 2 or 3. They create these conditions for the secondary forest to take place by providing high amounts of biomass and shade for the secondary seedlings below.