Ask An Agroforester Fall '25: Alley Cropping at Any Scale - Kaitie Adams of the Savanna Institute

In this episode, Kaitie Adams of the Savanna Institute joined us to talk about Alley Cropping and shared her long experience working with this practice across multiple scales. Her experience as a farmer as well as demonstration farm coordinator provided valuable insight for alley cropping as a useful tool, while acknowledging limitations and contraindications. This series is hosted by Appalachian Sustainable Development, with support from the Edwards Mother Earth Foundation. Scroll past timestamps for guest links. 00:00 Introduction 01:08 About ASD 03:14 Funding and Training Opportunities 05:25 Kaitie Adams's Introduction and Relationship with Alley Cropping 08:32 Touching on the Basics of Alley Cropping 10:14 Alley Cropping Terminology 13:53 Alley Cropping Scales/ Highlighting Farms 14:48 Delight Flower Farm - Champaign, IL (Highlight #1) 18:39 Sola Gratia Farm - Urbana, IL (Highlight #2) 23:28 EarthDance Organic Farm School - Ferguson, MO (Highlight #3) 27:02 4-H Memorial Camp Farm - Monticello, IL (Highlight #4) 30:38 Hudson Farm - Urbana, IL (Highlight #5) 33:41 Sharing Gratitude Towards Collaborators/ End of Presentation 34:46 Quickfire Questions About Katie 36:48 Pre Prepared Questions 37:02 Spacing Considerations in Alley Cropping 45:10 Farms with Expanding and Mixing Tree Rows/Adding Another Tree Row in the Center of the Alley 51:02 Are (Farm Highlight #1) Maggie’s dogwood and elderberries coppiced every year? Can that keep the shrubs from covering multiple beds and let the light in? 53:01 Are alley cropping systems always transitioning? Is there ever a static system? 54:31 Last Pre Prepared Question: Where Alley Cropping Works Well/Contraindicated 58:58 Favorite Mechanized/Nonmechanized Tool on the Farm 1:00:05 First Audience Question: Are there specific trees that are contraindicated for alley cropping? 1:05:49 How Do Farms Prevent Black Locust spread 1:10:26 Are there any farmers that are using tree rows as trellis? 1:12:56 Techniques for Overcoming Farmer’s Skepticism 1:17:18 Groups Studying Beneficial Richness in Alley Cropping 1:18:20 What Factors Go Into North, South, East, And West 1:19:03 Adjustments for Herbicide Used Nearby 1:19:56 Ground Cover Established Under Trees/Best Way to Keep Weeds Out 1:21:22 Wrapping Up the Webinar https://asdevelop.org/programs-resour... https://www.savannainstitute.org/staf... https://www.savannainstitute.org/illi... https://www.delightflowerfarm.com/ https://www.solagratiacsa.com/ https://earthdancefarms.org/