Well, this is going to be a bit of a weird post. This past weekend I went to Prague in the Czech Rebuplic. On the drive there I saw an amazing collection of Soil and Land Management techniques. I was really impressed that every area we drove around outside the city had these different practices: terracing, vertical drain lines, intercropping, agroforestry, etc. I also saw allotments in the smaller towns, but not much within the city of Prague itself. This is probably due to the fact that the city was built up a lot during its early years, then destroyed during WW2, and rebuilt during Communist times. Today there was a lot of construction going on; almost every street I went on/by had something being built, replaced, or fixed. The greenest areas I saw were attached to religious buildings in the way of small parks and cemeteries. I took pictures through the bus' dirty windows of the places outside of town so they are not the greatest, but I'll try and say something about each of them.
The above image shows contour line planting up a hill with vertical drain lines and a forest topping the hill. Most places where there was agriculture you could find small forests and trees left intact with the crops planted around them.
The left picture shows a plastic barrier up at the fence line between the road and a planted agroforestry plot. The trees were a combination of birch, pine, and oak and fallen trees had been left where they fell.
The right picture shows rows of solar panels. These stretched 5 panel sections deep and probably close to 4 panel sections across.
This crop of rapeseed had grass strips and natural forest left intact with crops planted on the natural contours around these areas.
Deer grazing in a fallow field.
Windbreaks and water retention areas planted with birch trees. Natural contour cropping. Intercropping cover crops and edibles.
Stubble fields left to decay on the field and retain soil and water.
Terraced hills on side of road.intercropping grass strips with vegetation and bushes/trees as water breaks. Stone drain areas on terraced slopes by the road leading to water channels. Stone on upper terrace held in place by mesh cage.
Grape vines with forest along border.
Grape vines on terraced mountains.
Allotments between the city and the roadway.
Contour cropping, intercropping, fallow fields, and agroforestry.
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