The Archive
11 solutions documented and sourced.
Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordillera
Ifugao People (Philippines, 2,000+ years continuous)
Hand-carved wet-rice terraces of the Ifugao Cordillera — over 2,000 years of continuous family-line stewardship, UNESCO World Heritage …
Hügelkultur — Buried-Log Permaculture Raised Beds
Germanic and Slavic Central European agroforestry, codified by Sepp Holzer (Austrian permaculture)
Raised garden beds built over a base of rotting wood — a low-input, water-retaining, soil-building technique with documented …
Biodynamic Preparations 500 and 501 — Steiner's Soil Amendments
Anthroposophic Agriculture (Rudolf Steiner, 1924 Koberwitz Lectures)
Two preparations developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 — BD 500 (cow manure fermented in a buried cow …
Three Sisters Companion Planting — Maize, Beans, and Squash
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, Cherokee, and broader Eastern Woodlands and Mesoamerican Native American agricultural traditions
The Haudenosaunee polyculture system that grows maize, beans, and squash together — a documented 1,000-year-old agricultural technology that …
Terraced Hillside Farming for Soil and Water Conservation
Andean, Filipino (Ifugao), Yemeni, Ethiopian, Chinese (Yunnan), Nepalese, and Italian (Cinque Terre) traditions
Stepped retaining-wall agriculture on steep slopes — a land-management technology that has stabilised hillside soils and conserved water …
P.A. Yeomans' Keyline Plow and Subsoiling Pattern
Australian Dryland Agriculture (P.A. Yeomans, 1950s)
Pasture-management technique using a chisel plow drawn on a specific contour-based 'keyline' pattern to infiltrate runoff, deepen topsoil, …
Brad Lancaster's Rainwater Harvesting Earthworks
Sonoran Desert Adapted Practice (Brad Lancaster, Tucson)
Eight earthworks principles — observe, start at the top, infiltrate, small and slow, spread and infiltrate, plan for …
Solomon Islands Reef Fish Tabu — Customary Marine Conservation
Solomon Islands and broader Melanesian coastal communities; structurally similar to Fijian *qoliqoli* and Samoan *fa'asao* traditions
Customary marine-tenure rules — declaring portions of the reef temporarily off-limits to harvest — that produce documented fish-stock …
Incan Terraces of the Sacred Valley — Andenes
Incan and Pre-Incan Andean Agriculture
Stone-retained agricultural terraces (andenes) carved into the steep slopes of the Peruvian Andes, with internal drainage, fertile fill, …
Atacama Fog Catchers — Camanchaca Mesh Collectors
Chilean and Peruvian Coastal Innovation (FogQuest and earlier work)
Vertical polyethylene mesh panels intercepting the camanchaca fog off the Pacific, dripping condensed water into gutters and storage …
Companion Planting — Carrots, Onions, and Pest Confusion
Folk European Gardening, Codified by Louise Riotte
Carrots and onions interplanted in alternating rows: the onion scent confuses the carrot rust fly and the carrot …