I was introduced to Masanobu Fukuoka’s farming methods by a woofer who came to stay here from Italy.  Stephano contacted me asking if he could come to stay to help with any forestry work I might be doing.  He had just finished a forestry degree at Florence university but had never done any practical work.  It was an ideal time to come here as I was to plant a field of Ash trees.

Stephano arrived and together we planted the field,  it is now named Stephano’s copse!   He also built a bridge by the pond and cleared a great deal in the woodland.  He also made delicious pasta!

His other interest was in Fukuoka and so he introduced me to this man’s books and writings and asked if he could try the method here.  Unfortunately he did not stay long enough to succeed in the process.  In Ireland the strength of growth and the amount of water makes growing anything easy if you can keep down the already established plants allowing other things to develop.

This documentary explains his different approach to farming!