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Our Regenerative
              Organic Practices

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Beyond farming, Mazi Farm is an R&D (research and development) hub where we test various innovative organic regenerative farming techniques.

Organic Fertilisation & Fertigation

Our objective is to ensure good tree growth and production whilst ensuring the farm creates resilience, builds natural fertility and does not become dependent on fertilisation.

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We also aim to produce as much fertiliser as possible on-farm. This ideal will not be reached in the short term since degraded soils have high fertiliser needs before reaching minimum soil fertility. 

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Furthermore, the dry spring conditions and limited irrigation water availability mean we must be very technical with our fertilisation strategies. 

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We use a diverse set of techniques: 

  • Soil mineral rebalancing based on soil analysis

  • Compost and zeolite applications 

  • Farm-produced liquid biofertiliser 

  • Solid organic NPK fertiliser 

  • Liquid organic NPK fertiliser 

  • Foliar applied micronutrients 

  • Animal integration and manure

Cover Crops

Cover crops are the foundation of our soil management thanks to the multiple ecosystem services they produce: nitrogen fixation, enhance soil microbiology, soil decompaction, soil protection, insect habitat, etc. Overall, soil organic matter is the foundation of healthy soils and healthy plants. Cover crops are our main tool 'pump' organic matter (carbon) into our soils and greatly enhance our land's fertility. 

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Farming on hilly terrain prevents us from planting cover crops by tilling the soil. We have developed a strategy to establish a variety of grasses and legumes by 'overseeding' our tree interlines (grassy areas between our tree rows) in winter. This also allows us to maximise the biodiversity of our interlines by conserving the many native species that thrive here. 

Fruit and nut polyculture integrated with support species

Although monocultures are efficient, nature works with diversity. To ensure we maximise the potential of our agroecosystem, we have planted our tree lines with different productive species organised according to their light/shade needs. 

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Additionally, we have planted 'support species' in between the fruit trees, which have the function of producing biomass/woochips, sheltering young trees from the wind and enhancing soil fertility. They are pollarded or coppiced regularly to ativate nutrient cycles and to ensure they do not compete for light and nutrients with our productive trees.   

Hedges and windbreaks

Winds in the Greek islands desiccate soils and carry salt that produces sodium and chloride toxicities in plants. Hedges and windbreaks are the ecological framework of a farm, creating the conditions to protect our productive trees. 

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Since the development of our fast growing windbreaks, we have seen a dramatic improvement in plant health and growth.

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Furthermore, biodiversity hedges with a diverse set of native species have been planted to provide habitat for beneficial insect and predator populations, increasing biodiversity.

Woodchips & Mulching 

Typically, organic farming controls weeds with tillage. However, we know that regular tillage compromises the long-term soil health and resilience.

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Furthermore, our soils lack microbiological activity and organic matter to function properly. The drying winds and Greek sun also burn the soil and prevent it from functioning efficiently. 

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Woodchips help solve all of these problems: prevents weeds from sprouting around our young trees, covers and protects the soil againts sun and wind, and increases soil organic matter and fertility. We now have enough production of organic matter by the support species for mulch and woodchips.

Integrated Pest and Disease Management

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a holistic and ecosystem-based approach to manage pests and diseases. Our objective is to only use (organic) fungicides or insecticides in extreme cases. 

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This means we must invest in a variety of strategies: 

  • Ensure high pest-predator populations with flower strips, hedges and other ecological constructions (stone walls, prey bird poles, etc.) ;

  • Foliar applications of  farm-made fermented biostimulants made of horsetail and stinging nettle;

  • Grow healthy plants with adequate and complex fertilisation;

  • Enhance soil microbiological activity;

  • Having a diverse set of plants in the system; 

Animal Integration

Integrating animals in orchards activates nutrient cycles, enhances biodiversity and helps to manage pests. We are experimenting with the integration of various species, including sheep, turkeys, geese and chickens. Our objective is to understand which species are best adapted to our context to eventually sell regenerative animal products locally. 

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More specifically, we have been experimenting with the management of our cover crops and shrubland with sheep. Their grazing, browsing and trampling produce a disturbance effect that allows for dense establishment and high biomass production of cover crops. 

Biochar Production

Biochar has been shown to improve soil physical and chemical properties in the long term - especially in dry Mediterranean soils.

 

We have built a kiln and produce our own biochar with pruning residues from the land. 

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We integrate the biochar in our soil when planting trees and applying compost. 

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