Garden of Eden in Lightning Ridge
Rata Jackson
Two years ago, most of the Hungry Spirit land in semi-arid Lightning Ridge was hard, bare red earth.
Now, it’s an abundant forest, and Rebel Black gets to pick mulberries on her way to the office.
“Nature is amazing, and I am inspired to continually reframe how I live my life and teach others to live and do enterprise more syntropically! Rebel exclaims.
Rebel works alongside Thiago Barbos, hosting Syntropic Farming Courses in Lightning Ridge to teach others how to develop the complex plant growth system using minimal water and letting nature do her job.
Syntropic farming is a regenerative method of using principles from natural systems to combine agriculture and agroforestry.
“I’ve been studying syntropic design for about three and a half years in the context of business,” Rebel states.
“We planted our first syntropic demonstration system in June of 2020 in Lightning Ridge, and it’s the first semi-arid syntropic site that we know of in Australia.
“The best thing about this system is water retention – it is excellent for people living in a semi-arid environment, like all of us in western New South Wales, or for people who don’t have access to irrigation,” Rebel said.
For people living in camps in the Ridge, syntropic farming is ideal, as the people generally are conscious of water usage.
“The syntropic system versus our traditional growing uses about a 10th of the water,” Rebel mentions.
“We partially irrigated the first two syntropic gardens, but the systems we’re building now are all non-irrigated.
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