The revolution in soil organic matter formation and health shows the importance of a diversity of living roots for soil health, rather than the likes of compost and animal manure (see Humus is dead — long live MAOM!, Organic NZ Nov/Dec 2022). Organic practitioners need to revaluate any use of monocultures and reliance on mechanical weeding that creates bare soil. Two techniques that can help do this are intercropping and living mulches.
Intercropping is where two or more plant species are grown together. Living mulches are a type of intercropping where a low-growing plant is grown under a crop. The ecological interactions between
